Latest news with #movieproduction
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rome's 'Hollywood on the Tiber' plans comeback despite Trump tariff threat
By Enrico Sciacovelli ROME (Reuters) -Europe's largest film studio Cinecitta is aiming to re-launch Italy as a movie powerhouse, even as U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on foreign productions cast a shadow over the film industry globally. Cinecitta, the homonymous company that manages Rome's historic film studio, approved a five-year plan this week backed by the EU's post-COVID Recovery Fund, which includes building new high-tech sound stages and boosting production capacity by 60% by 2026. "We want to lead the game," said CEO Manuela Cacciamani. "Cinecitta must be a factory that works at full capacity... with excellence as a minimum standard." Founded in 1937 under Benito Mussolini's fascist rule, Cinecitta became known as the "Hollywood on the Tiber". It has hosted over 3,000 films, attracting world-renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese, Federico Fellini and Francis Ford Coppola. The company is targeting revenue of 51.9 million euros ($58.8 million) in 2029, almost double the 2024 figure, and aims to turn a 4.3-million-euro net profit after a loss of 11.6 million euros last year. Trump has said he will impose a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the United States to save Hollywood from "a very fast death", but has issued few details on how the levy would work. The tariff plan threatens to disrupt the current industry set-up, in which big U.S. productions rely on the services of studios around the world that can provide expertise, cheaper costs and striking location scenery. Trump's sweeping tariffs were temporarily reinstated by a federal appeals court on Thursday, a day after a U.S. trade court blocked them, ruling Trump had exceeded his authority. Cacciamani told Reuters Cinecitta was monitoring "with the utmost care" developments regarding the tariff threat. "The hope is that two historic powers of cinema worldwide, (Italy and the U.S.) which owe so much to each other, will continue to cooperate," she said. Italy's tax credit of up to 40% for film production is "among the most competitive worldwide", Cinecitta said, helping attract some of last year's international successes such as "Emilia Perez" and the papal thriller "Conclave". Among projects slotted for filming in Cinecitta this year is Mel Gibson's "The Resurrection of The Christ", a sequel to his 2004 "The Passion of The Christ". Gibson is one of Trump's "Special Ambassadors" in Hollywood, tasked with rescuing the U.S. film industry alongside actors Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone. His next film, being shot in Italy, would be exposed to the tariff. ($1 = 0.8828 euros) Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Rome's 'Hollywood on the Tiber' plans comeback despite Trump tariff threat
ROME, May 31 (Reuters) - Europe's largest film studio Cinecitta is aiming to re-launch Italy as a movie powerhouse, even as U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on foreign productions cast a shadow over the film industry globally. Cinecitta, the homonymous company that manages Rome's historic film studio, approved a five-year plan this week backed by the EU's post-COVID Recovery Fund, which includes building new high-tech sound stages and boosting production capacity by 60% by 2026. "We want to lead the game," said CEO Manuela Cacciamani. "Cinecitta must be a factory that works at full capacity... with excellence as a minimum standard." Founded in 1937 under Benito Mussolini's fascist rule, Cinecitta became known as the "Hollywood on the Tiber". It has hosted over 3,000 films, attracting world-renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese, Federico Fellini and Francis Ford Coppola. The company is targeting revenue of 51.9 million euros ($58.8 million) in 2029, almost double the 2024 figure, and aims to turn a 4.3-million-euro net profit after a loss of 11.6 million euros last year. Trump has said he will impose a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the United States to save Hollywood from "a very fast death", but has issued few details on how the levy would work. The tariff plan threatens to disrupt the current industry set-up, in which big U.S. productions rely on the services of studios around the world that can provide expertise, cheaper costs and striking location scenery. Trump's sweeping tariffs were temporarily reinstated by a federal appeals court on Thursday, a day after a U.S. trade court blocked them, ruling Trump had exceeded his authority. Cacciamani told Reuters Cinecitta was monitoring "with the utmost care" developments regarding the tariff threat. "The hope is that two historic powers of cinema worldwide, (Italy and the U.S.) which owe so much to each other, will continue to cooperate," she said. Italy's tax credit of up to 40% for film production is "among the most competitive worldwide", Cinecitta said, helping attract some of last year's international successes such as "Emilia Perez" and the papal thriller "Conclave". Among projects slotted for filming in Cinecitta this year is Mel Gibson's "The Resurrection of The Christ", a sequel to his 2004 "The Passion of The Christ". Gibson is one of Trump's "Special Ambassadors" in Hollywood, tasked with rescuing the U.S. film industry alongside actors Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone. His next film, being shot in Italy, would be exposed to the tariff. ($1 = 0.8828 euros)
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Trump film tariffs: ‘Worst thing' people can do is panic, says producer
The 'worst thing' anyone in the film industry can do is panic about US president Donald Trump 's warning about a 100 per cent tariff on non-US films, award-winning producer David Puttnam has said. 'I think the problem is we're giving an extraordinary amount of credibility to an entirely ignorant tweet,' he told RTÉ radio's Today with Claire Byrne show. Mr Puttnam said that in 'four out of five, five out of six of the big policy statements he's made, he's retreated from. 'The biggest issue was the uncertainty caused by president Trump's comments. Mr Puttnam said the president's threat as 'incredibly ignorant because it's a very, very, very complicated business. 'You've got to remember that, first of all, only 28 per cent of revenues are generated back in America. So it's 72 per cent of all the money that movies make is made outside the United States. READ MORE Mr Puttnam said there was a reason why some TV series were made outside the US because audiences wanted to see such locations.' [ Trump film tariffs could hit thousands of jobs in Ireland, industry figures warn Opens in new window ] 'This is a stupid move. It will undoubtedly, I think, blow up in his face, pretty well everything blows up in his face, but he's gonna cause far more chaos than he'll solve. He'll bring a few jobs back to the United States, but I promise you, every American involved in making and distributing movies today is very, very worried. They're not sitting there thinking, oh great, this is a bonanza for America. It ain't. 'We may start to have to go back to making films for relatively inexpensive sums of money but that's a creative challenge and it's also a creative opportunity. You'll be interviewing people two or three, four years from now who have made very good films as a direct result of Donald Trump's plundering. The co-chief executive of Element Films, Ed Guiney has also expressed concern and confusion Mr Trump's tariff comments. 'Honestly, we're all scratching our heads. I mean it was very disconcerting to wake up to that bombshell yesterday morning ... I suppose since then, as is often the case with Trump, things have moderated and changed. And now the White House are making more, I won't say positive, but they're kind of qualifying the statement, I suppose,' he told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland. [ Trump orders 100% tariff on foreign-made movies to save 'dying' Hollywood Opens in new window ] 'But it's really hard to understand how a tariff would be imposed because so much of the activity that happens in the world is actually owned by American studios. These things are services, they're not products in the way that you know you traditionally imagine tariffs being imposed on a product. 'I think behind it, there is definitely an anxiety in the States in that there is a lot of what they call runaway production. In other words, American film and television production that shoots all around the world. And actually, we benefit from it hugely here in Ireland. 'As is well known, we have an amazing crew base here and we've very decent incentives and a very buoyant industry. And same with the UK and Canada. But I think there is a feeling that a lot of American stuff should be shooting in the US, but actually that's largely down to the cost base in the States, which is very high, and also the incentives. And there are incentives in some of the states of America. So I think the other thing that's emerging in this is a conversation around whether there should be a federal tax incentive in America to keep American production at home.'
