Hollywood is dying – but insiders fear Trump’s tariff threat may hasten demise
At Sony Production studios in Culver City, an area of Los Angeles steeped in the movie business, a steady stream of cars and lorries comes and goes through the security gate.
It occupies the MGM lot which dates back to 1924. Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Citizen Kane were shot here and, more recently, Interstellar and The Dark Knight Rises. But this is no longer the beating heart of movie making.
In Tinsel Town the bright lights of the film industry have been fading for some time. Production in Hollywood has fallen by 40% in the last decade, sometimes moving to other states like New Mexico, New York and Georgia, but more often outside the US entirely.
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A recent survey of film and TV executives indicates that Britain, Australia and Canada are now favoured locations over California when it comes to making movies.
San Andreas, a blockbuster film about a California earthquake, was shot in Australia. In America, a film about an Irish family settling in New York, was shot in Canada.
Although about a California disaster, San Andreas was actually shot in Australia. Pic: Jasin Boland/THA/Shutterstock
Trump’s movie tariff could deal knock-out blow to UK film industry, union says
The exodus of the film industry from Hollywood is mostly owing to economic reasons, with other countries boasting lower labour costs and more expansive tax incentives. But as productions have moved overseas, studios across Los Angeles are frequently empty and those who work behind the scenes are often out of work.
President Trump has approached this problem with a familiar reaction – sweeping tariffs, a 100% tariff on all foreign made films coming into the USA.
‘It’s a different kind of situation than producing cars overseas’
Justine Bateman is a filmmaker and sister of actor Jason Bateman. She is glad Trump is looking for solutions but does not understand how the tariffs will work. “I will say, I’m very glad to hear that President Trump is interested in helping the film business. But part of the problem is we just don’t have very much detail, do we?” she says.
“He’s made this big announcement, but we don’t have the detail to really mull over. He doesn’t even say whether it’s going to be films that are shown in the cinema or streaming movies, for example.
“Tariffs can be a profitable situation for when we’re just talking about hard goods, but something like a film and, particularly if you’ve got an American film that takes place in the south of France, you want to be in a particular location.
“So it’s a different kind of situation than producing cars overseas and bringing them back here.”
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At the Hand Prop Room in Los Angeles, they supply props for TV and film. The warehouse is brimful of virtually any prop you could imagine, from portraits of former presidents, to replica handguns to African artefacts and 18th century teapots. The walls are decorated with posters from some of the productions they’ve supplied, including Babylon, Oppenheimer and Ghostbusters.
Reynaldo Castillo believes the tariffs could be harmful to Hollywood unless properly thought through
‘It needs to be thought through’
In the past five years, the prop shop has been impacted by the COVID pandemic, by both the writers’ and actors’ strikes and the globalisation of the film industry. Business is at an all time low.
“It’s not helping when so many productions are not just leaving the state, but also leaving the country,” says Reynaldo Castillo, the general manager of the Hand Prop Room. “It’s Hollywood, we have the infrastructure that nobody else has and I think maybe to a certain point we took it for granted.
“I think we can all agree that we want more filming to stay in the country to help promote jobs. But you also don’t want to do something to hurt it.
“How does it work? Are there exceptions for X, Y, and Z? What about independent movies that have small budgets that are shot somewhere else that would destroy their ability to make something? It needs to be thought through and make sure it’s implemented the right way.”
The proposed £1.6bn takeover of a big chunk of ITV by Sky would be the biggest consolidation in British broadcasting in more than 20 years, and reflects fundamental changes in viewing habits and commercial realities.
For Sky, a deal that brings together Ant and Dec with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher would make it the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, and strengthen its hand in the battle with US streaming giants that have upended the entertainment business.
For ITV’s shareholders, who have seen the value of their investment decline as advertising revenue, like viewers, has migrated online, it may be a chance to say, “I own a terrestrial broadcaster, get me out of here.”
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Neither Sky or ITV would publicly discuss who made the initial offer, and both stress that talks are at an early stage, but privately, both sides emphasise the mutual opportunity.
For Sky, owned by US giant Comcast since 2018, there is the opportunity to create a larger pool of content and subscribers.
The deal would see it acquire ITV’s media and entertainment business, including its free-to-air channels and public sector broadcaster (PSB) licence, which runs to 2034, as well as the ITVX streaming platform, which has 40 million registered users.
Ant and Dec host I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! on ITV Pic: ITV
The ITV brand is likely to be retained, and the two companies run separately, but Sky would look to leverage its commercial and technology strengths.
ITV’s PSB licence includes the requirement that ITV’s app be “available, prominent and easily accessible” on online platforms, a crucial shop window as viewers access content directly.
Added to Sky’s existing 13 million subscribers for largely pay-walled content in the UK, it would add muscle as the broadcaster competes for attention, subscription revenue and advertiser spend.
The acquisition would be a restatement of commitment to Sky from Comcast. Having paid £31bn for Sky in a bidding war with Disney seven years ago, it wrote down that investment by more than £6bn in 2022, and earlier this year announced the sale of Sky Deutschland.
While it is navigating the conclusion of exclusivity deals with content providers, including with HBO that gave it rights to hits including Succession, the £5bn renewal of Premier League rights this season underlined the centrality of sport to Sky’s offer.
Sky would bring its own content and rights, such as those for Premier League football, to the table. Pic: PA
Scale matters because even companies as prominent in the UK as Sky and ITV are competing with giants, both for audiences and advertisers.
Netflix has 301 million subscribers worldwide and annual revenues approaching $40bn. Amazon, the largest retailer in the world, is now an entertainment content provider. In the US, Warner Bros. Discovery is considering a sale, having already rejected reported offers worth more than $60bn.
Google and Meta, meanwhile, gobble up to 60% of all UK advertising spend, a shift in the last decade that has hit ITV particularly hard.
US platforms dominate the streaming space. Pic: iStock
When it was founded 70 years ago, the third channel was the only way advertisers could reach television viewers. Today, it and Sky are competing for a slice of a shrinking pie, with one source citing an estimate that their combined UK advertising revenue is nine times smaller than Google and Meta’s.
Any proposed deal will face regulatory scrutiny from Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority, but both parties will argue that these commercial realities mean consolidation would strengthen the broadcast sector rather than weaken it.
ITV still generates critical and commercial hits and live moments. Last year, the largest audiences for sport (England’s Euro 2024 semi-final), drama (Mr Bates v the Post Office) and entertainment (I’m a Celebrity) were all on ITV.
Translating that into a commercial model that satisfies investors has proved difficult, with the general drift of the UK economy not helping. The 19% bump in the share price on news of the proposed takeover may be a welcome series finale.
Elon Musk could be on track for a $1trn (£761bn) pay package – if Tesla meets a series of extremely ambitious targets over the next 10 years.
The world’s richest man has the potential to become a trillionaire after the controversial plans were approved by 75% of the company’s shareholders.
It would be the largest corporate pay package in history.
However, it won’t be easy. As part of the agreement, Musk will need to deliver 20 million Tesla vehicles over the next decade – more than double the number churned out over the past 12 years.
He will be tasked with dramatically increasing the company’s valuation and operating profits.
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Musk closer to trillionaire status
Another requirement is for Tesla to roll out one million AI-powered robots – despite the fact it hasn’t released a single one so far.
Musk will also need to come up with a succession plan on who will replace him as the chief executive of Tesla.
As each step is successfully completed, he will receive more company shares and his ownership stake will rise – potentially from 13% now to almost 29%.
And even if Musk falls short of some of these targets, he could end up earning a lot of money.
Figures from Forbes magazine suggest the 54-year-old already has a net worth of $493bn (£375bn) – and while that means he has more money than anyone else on the planet, he isn’t the richest person in history… yet.
That title belongs to John D Rockefeller, the railroad titan who had a wealth of $630bn (£480bn) back in 1913 – when adjusted for inflation.
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The X Effect
Why?
Now is the moment Tesla wants to innovate, develop into robotics, self-driving and embrace the growth of artificial intelligence (AI).
It’s seeking a visionary leader to spearhead this move. And a lot of Tesla’s market value is tied up in this ambition.
Tesla’s board of directors, who oversee the management of the business, are adamant that only Musk can make the lofty ambitions a reality.
Some believe there’s no one else like Musk.
More shares in the company are “critical to keep Musk at the helm to lead Tesla through the most critical time in the company’s history”, said financial services firm Wedbush.
“We believe this was the smart move by the board to lay out these incentives/pay package at this key time as the biggest asset for Tesla is Musk … and with the AI revolution, this is a crucial time for Tesla ahead with autonomous and robotics front and centre.”
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Opposition
Not everyone is in favour of the pay package.
Major investor advice firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) warned the 10-year pay agreement reduces the board’s ability “to meaningfully adjust future pay levels in the event of unforeseen events or changes in either the performance or strategic focus of the company over the next decade”.
In a note, ISS said: “The high value of each tranche could also potentially undermine Musk’s desire to achieve all goals and create significant value for shareholders”, and that the goals “lack precision”.
Musk has described ISS and another major adviser, Glass Lewis, as “corporate terrorists”.
There was speculation he would walk away from the business if the package was not agreed on.
ITV has revealed talks with Sky, the owner of Sky News, over the possible sale of its media and entertainment (M&E) division in a deal worth £1.6bn.
Sky News understands the approach centres on the potential creation of a UK-focused streaming giant.
The division takes in ITV’s current broadcast operations and channels, which are largely dependent on advertising revenue.
The talks do not include the company’s studios arm, which makes shows such as I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
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“There can be no certainty as to the terms upon which any potential sale may be agreed or whether any transaction will take place”, a statement by ITV to the London Stock Exchange said.
“A further announcement will be made in due course if appropriate”, it concluded.
ITV shares jumped by 15% in early trading in response to the statement.
The potential deal involves ITV’s channels but not the company’s production arm. Pic: PA
Sky, which is wholly owned by the US media and entertainment firm Comcast, declined to comment.
ITV released its statement after news of the discussions were first revealed by Bloomberg News.
Just hours earlier, the company’s latest financial results showed it was moving to save millions of pounds due to an advertising slowdown.
ITV reported delays to some programmes over the coming months to save costs as a result.
Sky is owned by the US company Comcast
It predicted a 9% decline in ad revenues across 2025, with the most recent trends being blamed on advertisers pulling back on spending in anticipation of the chancellor’s budget later this month.
It is understood that a possible deal between Sky and ITV would seek to create a larger, more attractive proposition for advertisers in the UK streaming sphere through a focus on UK audiences.
ITV has long been the subject of takeover speculation.
The latest came from the Reuters news agency earlier this year when it reported early-stage talks with Abu Dhabi-backed group RedBird IMI about a possible merger of their respective production businesses.
French media group Banijay was also reported to have held discussions about a possible offer for ITV’s studio business or a full takeover.
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