Will Trump Make Hollywood Great Again?
©Mark Schiefelbein, Associated Press
Hollywood was in deep crisis even before the California fires and even though the impact of the disaster is yet to be fully grasped, it is clear that the 100-year-old film empire will now have to fight for its survival.
According to FilmLA, which handles film permits in California, on-location filming in the L.A. region fell 5.6% in 2024 and shoot days totaled 23.480 which was the second lowest after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. At the same time, stats showed a 25% drop in payrolls by December while jobs in creative entertainment in the US were 40% below the 2022 levels. Some statewide data even showed that employment in the film industry went down to the levels of the early 1990s.
Thousands of people busy in the sector are believed to have lost their homes and there are currently no signs that Hollywood would be able to help them rebuild their lives in California after a reported halt in commissions. At the same time, filmmakers are concerned that production budgets will rise due to the demand for building materials which the studios need as well for their sets. In fact, already in 2024 on-location production was down more than 35% against pre-pandemic 2019 which FilmLA explains with the so-called “streaming wars” which reduced the film budgets of the studios and the consequences of the strikes, but also the soaring inflation in the US played a role in this.
In 2024, California’s share of all motion pictures was down to 27% — from a high of 46% in the 1990s, according to BLS data. This is explained with the fact that many productions were moved to other States, but also abroad – to the UK, Canada, Spain, Czechia, Hungary (which saw record 1-billion revenue from cinema productions), etc.
Seeing the treacherous situation, in November last year Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed more than doubling California’s tax credit for film production to $750 million. If approved, the measure would come into effect in July, so the first positive developments could be observed only in the second half of the year.
It is still not clear whether President Donald Trump would take the recovery of Hollywood to heart, given the industry’s overwhelming support for the presidential candidate of the Democrats. Some US media have even speculated about an upcoming backlash against the entertainment giants which could lead to further shrinking and more mergers on the market. Trump’s initial reaction to the disaster was to name Mel Gibson, Jon Voigt and Sylvester Stallone his “Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.”
“It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, and a week later he met Democrat and (former) bitter enemy Gov. Newsom to discuss the first steps for the recovery of the region. “They’re going to need a lot of federal help,” Trump noted.
So now the question is: Will Trump make Hollywood great again?
According to FilmLA, which handles film permits in California, on-location filming in the L.A. region fell 5.6% in 2024 and shoot days totaled 23.480 which was the second lowest after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. At the same time, stats showed a 25% drop in payrolls by December while jobs in creative entertainment in the US were 40% below the 2022 levels. Some statewide data even showed that employment in the film industry went down to the levels of the early 1990s.
Thousands of people busy in the sector are believed to have lost their homes and there are currently no signs that Hollywood would be able to help them rebuild their lives in California after a reported halt in commissions. At the same time, filmmakers are concerned that production budgets will rise due to the demand for building materials which the studios need as well for their sets. In fact, already in 2024 on-location production was down more than 35% against pre-pandemic 2019 which FilmLA explains with the so-called “streaming wars” which reduced the film budgets of the studios and the consequences of the strikes, but also the soaring inflation in the US played a role in this.
In 2024, California’s share of all motion pictures was down to 27% — from a high of 46% in the 1990s, according to BLS data. This is explained with the fact that many productions were moved to other States, but also abroad – to the UK, Canada, Spain, Czechia, Hungary (which saw record 1-billion revenue from cinema productions), etc.
Seeing the treacherous situation, in November last year Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed more than doubling California’s tax credit for film production to $750 million. If approved, the measure would come into effect in July, so the first positive developments could be observed only in the second half of the year.
It is still not clear whether President Donald Trump would take the recovery of Hollywood to heart, given the industry’s overwhelming support for the presidential candidate of the Democrats. Some US media have even speculated about an upcoming backlash against the entertainment giants which could lead to further shrinking and more mergers on the market. Trump’s initial reaction to the disaster was to name Mel Gibson, Jon Voigt and Sylvester Stallone his “Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.”
“It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, and a week later he met Democrat and (former) bitter enemy Gov. Newsom to discuss the first steps for the recovery of the region. “They’re going to need a lot of federal help,” Trump noted.
So now the question is: Will Trump make Hollywood great again?
