Boyhood director Richard Linklater isn’t putting much stock in President Donald Trump’s film tariff threat.
The Texas-born filmmaker was asked about the president’s plan at Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, where he is debuting his new movie, Nouvelle Vague.
“The tariff thing, that’s not gonna happen right? That guy changes his mind like 50 times in one day,” Linklater said of Trump. “It’s the one export industry in the U.S., it would be kind of dumb to… Whatever, we don’t have to talk about that.”
On whether it has become more expensive to make films in the U.S., Linklater added: “I think the true indie film, the no-budget film, has cost the same for the last 60 years. It’s always about how much you have, so that doesn’t change much.”
Earlier this month, President Trump revealed he was starting the process of putting in place 100 percent tariffs on any movie made outside of the U.S.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump claimed on Truth Social. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.”
The president argued that it was an issue of national security and propaganda.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” he said. “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
“Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” he added. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
It remains unclear how such a tariff would work and whether it would be applied only to theatrical releases or also include streaming, as well as how it would differentiate between movies and TV shows.
Movie producers have more often chosen to film in low-cost production locations as Hollywood blockbusters get more and more expensive.
One union said Trump’s tariffs could be a “knock-out blow” to the industry, with many filmmakers having left the U.S. for countries such as the U.K. and Canada as they try to lower production costs.
The U.K. Media Union Bectu issued the warning, with boss Philippa Childs telling the BBC: “The government must move swiftly to defend this vital sector, and support the freelancers who power it, as a matter of essential national economic interest.”
Before starting his second term, Trump appointed three actors, Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone, to serve as “special envoys” to Hollywood, which he said was a "great but very troubled place.” But it remains unclear what they have achieved so far.
"They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK - BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he wrote at the time.
Nouvelle Vague. chronicles the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s debut 1960 classic Breathless, which starred Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo as star-crossed lovers in Paris.
Zoey Deutch, who plays Seberg in the film, said at the Cannes press conference that “it would be nice to make more movies in Los Angeles.”
“The history and the studios and the culture and the crews, it would be so beautiful,” she said. “I just finished doing a movie there and it was magical in the same way that Paris is magical and has this history. I would love for there to be more movies in Los Angeles.”
Linklater agreed, adding that he “really admires” the French for “taking care” of their film industry. “They make sure it’s healthy and they nurture it and they help it. The government, everyone is all in,” he said. “From production to distribution, they care. And our country, the U.S., could use a little bit of that.”
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