President Donald Trump's film tariff threat adds to stress for those in B.C.'s flagging film business
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U.S. President Donald Trump's recent threats to put a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside the U.S. was not the news the lagging B.C. film business wanted to hear.
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'The pandemic, the strike, the reduction in productions all over North America, and now Mr. Trump. To say that the cumulative effect has been less than positive is an understatement,' said veteran location scout Tonya Hartz. Hartz, who worked on productions such as Watchmen, See, So Help Me Todd, counts herself among the lucky ones working consistently since the strikes.
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But that hasn't been the case for many others in her field.
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'Scouts are paying bills instead of buying groceries,' said Hartz. 'The only ones that can survive an enduring cycle like this one are the highest-paid categories, the most senior members with deep savings, or members who have side hustles.'
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Film and TV production business is down 20 per cent across the globe. The lingering effects of major strikes, budget cuts by streaming services, and studios shifting toward more conservative, share-price positive, business models have led to a major industry contraction.
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Here in B.C., the industry expects about 30 productions to be rolling during its usual peak summer season. In good years, that number would easily be double.
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According to Creative B.C., the province's TV and film industry, the third-largest production hub in North America after Los Angeles and New York, contributed $2 billion to the provincial GDP in 2023, employing around 26,000 full-time workers. Those numbers are down substantially from 2022, when the industry employed close to 50,000 full-time workers and contributed $2.7 billion.
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'We've got 15 signed productions under our agreement,' said business representative Crystal Braunwarth. That number would have been double in 2020, Braunwarth said.
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With production numbers already down, Trump's Truth Social statement spread further unease across the industry. Braunwarth said she fielded over 50 calls from members after Trump's post went up.
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'Our members have been through a lot over the last four years,' said Braunwarth. 'So it's another thing that we are going to face — whatever it is.'
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