With the U.S. considering a 100% tariff on foreign films, Malaysia based producer Bill Donovan warns of major impacts on global co-productions and indie filmmakers.
00:00As the U.S. considers imposing a steep 100% tariff on foreign-made films, what could this mean for international co-productions and independent filmmakers everywhere else?
00:13Bill Donovan, a Malaysia-based producer known for his work on films like Marvel's Thunderbolts and Crazy Rich Asians, shares his insights on the potential impacts.
00:23Bill Donovan, for film funding, I don't think it should adjust much. I mean, what we might have to see is far, you know, let's take Malaysia as an example.
00:33You know, we are basically there offering a really powerful incentive, a cash rebate to bring in, to bring in international production.
00:42Right now, the greatest players in that are the U.K. and the U.S.
00:46When you take into account that there will not be tariffs from the U.K. affecting their market, we could easily see a lot more of their production come our way and a lot less of the U.S. shows able to afford to leave their own country to come out and take advantage of the rebates.
01:05So I think when you think about things like co-productions and small independent films, if you're a U.S. filmmaker, you rely on those international rebates and those international partnerships where the cost of doing production is less.
01:23And the rebates are far more aggressive than what you get within the United States.
01:29So these small indie companies and these co-productions would have a hard time surviving.
01:36I also don't believe, by the way, to start with, that we'll ever see a hundred percent tariff.
01:42It's not a sustainable tariff, even for the U.S. market.
01:45If you can imagine a studio who films so many of their films outside the United States, suddenly doubling the cost of making a film because of the tariff their own country puts on them to bring it back to their market to air.
02:04So I don't think it's sustainable.
02:06And I think time's going to show that it'll never ever land at a hundred percent.
02:12If there is a tariff, it'll be far more digestible.
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