“The chat in the UK market is let’s keep calm and see what happens.”
That was the verdict of Paramount UK boss Sarah Rose on Donald Trump and Jon Voight’s controversial film and TV tariff plans currently spooking the sector.
The UK market is a huge beneficiary of U.S. film and TV production and British film bodies, for one, are already planning to sit down with the government to discuss what could be a dramatic fallout if the tariffs get rubberstamped.
Speaking on a Question Time panel at today’s Creative Cities Convention (CCC), Rose appealed for calm.
“It’s a tweet,” she added. “There are lots of people analyzing it but the chat in the UK market is to keep calm and let’s see what happens.”
While Rose held back from commenting in depth given that her bosses are American and currently going through a knotty sales process, she did say, “My U.S. colleagues wouldn’t say Hollywood is dying” in response to some of the POTUS’s claims.
The tariff plan is more than just a tweet now, however, with Deadline revealing Voight’s blueprint in full yesterday.
Jane Turton, who runs The Traitors super-indie All3Media, which has a presence in the States, noted that TV as well as film falls under the tariffs plan per Voight’s proposal.
Concurring with Rose, she said Trump is “not talking about a failing Hollywood but is possibly talking more about tax breaks and incentives.” “The UK has made a huge success of its relationship with the States and [the U.S.] is still a net exporter of IP,” she added.
But Marcus Ryder, who runs the UK’s Film & TV Charity, said it is not enough for senior figures like Turton and Rose to simply claim they need more detail.
“Often [Trump] tweets stuff and it does become policy,” added Ryder. “What is disconcerting is you’ve got two people here saying they don’t know what it means and that is disempowering. It means anxiety and uncertainty is sky high with regards what it means to people’s livelihoods.”
The panel were speaking at the CCC after YouTube UK boss Alison Lomax. BBC Director General Tim Davie and ITV Studios boss Julian Bellamy will speak tomorrow.
