Bucks and Herts filmmaking faces uncertainty amid proposed US tariffs
US president Donald Trump this week suggested imposing tariffs on US films produced abroad
The UK film and television sector could suffer a blow if Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on non-US films is implemented, warns a Hertfordshire University professor.
The US president said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he has authorised government departments to impose the tariff "on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands".
Here in the UK, such tariffs could be particularly detrimental in regions like Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, where international productions have long been embedded in the local filmmaking and heritage.
"We have the best craft people, we have the best artists and crews. That's why America comes to us. This is why we make more Hollywood films than Hollywood does."
Howard Berry, Deputy Head of the Screen Department at the University of Hertfordshire said: "The announcement is extremely problematic because it's one of those typical Trump things where it's a headline, but with no detail.
"He hasn't provided any explanation as to how you determine the nationality of a film, and there is no mechanism that already exists to do that anyway."
There is a complexity to classifying a film’s origin.
According to the University, out of about 90% of the films that declare themselves to be US studio based, 24% are made in the UK and another 19% are made in Canada.
A notable example is The Shining, which is a Warner Brothers film with an American director, an American screenwriter, but filmed almost entirely in Borehamwood at Elstree Studios.
Questions therefore arise around how to determine the nationality of such a production and what the tariff proportion would translate into for a film with such an identity split.
The upcoming Cannes Film Festival—a key moment for international film deals— is another concern for Pr Berry, who warned the announcement could already be having a chilling effect on new projects.
He said: "The film industry is cautious. It could already be scuppering projects that are in the early stages of perhaps being greenlit, but now people could be backing off.
"That could be potential hundreds of jobs being lost already."
Highlighting the UK’s reputation for high-quality production, Pr Berry added: "We have the best craft people, we have the best artists and crews. That's why America comes to us. This is why we make more Hollywood films than Hollywood does."
Philippa Childs, head of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu), said the UK industry is "only just recovering" from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, when many productions were delayed or cancelled.
"The UK is a world leader in film and TV production, employing thousands of talented workers, and this is a key growth sector in the Government's industrial strategy," she said.
"These tariffs, coming after Covid and the recent slowdown, could deal a knock-out blow to an industry that is only just recovering and will be really worrying news for tens of thousands of skilled freelancers who make films in the UK.
"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."
Pr Berry added: "Filmmaking is multinational. You go to the best visual effects house, you go to the best sound studios.
"Yes, I'm sure they could film Paris or wherever they want in the world inside a sound stage in Hollywood, but it's not going to be the same thing as Tom Cruise climbing up the skyscraper in Dubai, is it?"
As for local implications, there are fears tariffs could have a detrimental effect on tourism, the two industries being closely linked.
"The UK is very savvy to screen tourism and we are very good at marketing the fact that the world comes to us to make its films." On productions like Wicked, currently made at Sky Studios Elstree, he added: "That's something that we are well aware of as a huge important marketing potential for the country."
"If Star Wars is suddenly taken out of the UK, where it's been made since it began, that's the loss for the UK industry in many ways, in particular in tourism."
From the perspective of a university with close ties to film studios locally, the training of an up-and-coming workforce for the film industry and for the screen industries could be hugely slowed down.
The UK is already projected to face a shortfall of 30,000 skilled workers for the industry in the coming years.
The university's Propeller scheme, set to train students into the industry by giving them opportunities to work as crew on real films whilst they're students, is nonetheless going ahead.