The Mad King Is Now Doubling The Price Of Movies...

By: Desmond Price

First I wanted to thank everyone for being a member of our community & helping this newsletter grow. Today I am asking if you’ll please consider supporting my work further, by clicking the button below (on your computer) and becoming a paid subscriber today. We are 15 people away from hitting our goal for this month

Now, for today’s story:

Just when you thought this timeline would not fall any further, Donald Trump is now attacking the movie industry, in the latest round of tariffs.

President Donald Trump announced an 100% tariff on all foreign-made films entering the United States, describing the decline of Hollywood as a “very fast death” and a national security issue.

“This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” he wrote on Truth Social, calling for movies to be made in America again. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded, “We’re on it,” though neither official offered implementation details, leaving questions about whether the tariffs should apply to streaming content.

Shares in Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Amazon declined following the announcement. Industry groups and executives expressed concern over the potential scope of the tariffs, which follow years of film production shifting overseas due to foreign tax incentives.

Research shows that in 2023, half of the United States big budget productions were shot abroad.

Source - Ground News

Unsurprising, many people in the movie industry have become frightened because of this news. When a lot of us think of the movie industry, we think of the A-list actors or movie executives that sit atop these multi-billion dollar giants.

However, over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to cover the issues of the working class folks in the industry.

Whether its the rank and file IASTE members, who work long and grueling hours, doing stage design, makeup, lighting, props, sound tech, wardrobe, etc.

Many working class folks power the movie industry, which could not operate without them (a larger story for another day).

Also, we saw in 2023, just how important writers are to the industry, most of them making less than $60,000 a year. And I’ll never forget learning that over 75% of actors in SAG are making less than $30,000 a year.

These are the folks that will be most impacted by a sudden drop in film production. It’s the real untold story of the tariffs in my opinion.

Yes, we are all going to feel the sticker shock of higher prices everywhere, but more importantly, how many jobs will be lost? How many lives will be turned upside down? How many people will be pushed to the brink homelessness (which is now criminalized), due to the domino effect of these increased prices across every industry?

It’s easy to get lost in how this will impact our lives directly, but so many people could be on the brink of ruin, if these Trump tariffs aren’t rescinded.

To view this attack on Hollywood as an attack on the wealthy elite of the entertainment industry, is just not true. In fact, those will be the people who will weather this moment without hardship.

Doubling the price of productions will only further harm everyone in the industry…a fact that Trump obviously does not care about.

Until next time, please stay in community & help your neighbors through these tough times. We’re stronger together.

Desmond

---

Thank you for being a member of the Independent Thought Substack.

As of today, we have 13,700 readers of this publication!

Welcome to all of our new readers & thank you for being a part of our growing newsletter!

If you appreciated this post, please share it on social media or with a friend.

If you liked this post, please click the heart ❤️ button & 🔄 button. This helps Independent Thought get recommended more within Substack.

This newsletter is 100% reader-funded. Please become a paid subscriber to support our work.