Earlier this month, President Donald Trump stunned the entertainment industry by proposing a 100 percent tariff on foreign-made films — and potentially television shows — as part of a plan to “save” what he called a “dying” Hollywood. So far, the White House says “no final decisions” have been made on whether it will take effect, but inside the industry, pushback is already mounting.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Katie Couric Media, The Boys creator Eric Kripke challenged the idea, arguing that while Los Angeles may no longer be the dominant production hub, slapping steep levies on international shoots won’t bring business back to the U.S. — and may only deepen the industry’s challenges. “What happens if your visual effects company is international? Do you have to pay double for that even if you’re making an American picture?” he posited.
Kripke knows what he’s talking about. The writer and producer behind long-running series like Supernatural and films like Boogeyman has spent his career navigating the economics of global production — filming in Vancouver, Toronto, and Los Angeles, chasing tax incentives and stretching tight budgets. Few creators have had a closer view of how — and why — the industry has moved away from its traditional home base.
Still, many in Hollywood remain hesitant to speak publicly. Some producers declined to comment on the record, and a recent letter to the president from Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone — two of his closest Hollywood allies — urging tax relief for the film and TV industry made no mention of the issue.
We spoke with Kripke about why tariffs aren’t the answer, what it would actually take to bring production back to Southern California, and how economic policy could shape the future of storytelling.
Katie Couric Media: How do you see the proposed tariff affecting filming in the U.S.?
Eric Kripke: The proposed 100 percent tariff on shooting internationally is a real and serious problem.
In my entire career, I’ve only shot in Los Angeles twice — it’s a lot of jobs lost in what is the center of the industry. However, tariffs are not the way to solve that problem. It’s confusing, a little scattershot, and I think almost impossible to implement because movies like Mission: Impossible or James Bond have to be shot around the world. Even though you’re shooting some of it in the United States, you’re also circling the globe.
What happens if your visual effects company is international? Do you have to pay double for that even if you’re making an American picture?
[Filmmaking] isn’t the same as importing products, where at the port, you say, “Well, if it’s coming from this place, we add this tax.” I don’t know how you would define what gets taxed and how those taxes would be implemented. It also infringes on free speech to a certain extent. I just don’t understand the legality of it.
What makes other countries like Canada so appealing for productions?
We shoot The Boys in Toronto for two reasons: The relative strength of the American dollar and the tax incentives and rebates that they give. So in effect, we’re getting an additional like 19 cents on the dollar, 20 cents on the dollar of every single dollar spent, which is millions and millions of dollars more than we would have had were we to shoot in Los Angeles. In terms of being able to stretch the dollar, that equates to a whole other action scene or a big actor that I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. These kinds of things really affect the quality of the show.
But filming in Canada used to be a mess. It wasn’t until they brought X-Files up there that it really modernized the industry in that city. The tragic thing is Los Angeles already has all the infrastructure that has taken these other towns decades to build, and now it has kind of just been sitting on its butt with amazing crew and sound stages just watching these other towns evolve into amazing production centers.
But one thing that’s not attractive about Canada is the weather — it’s horrible.
If the U.S., specifically California, offered more tax incentives, would it make us more competitive in the TV production space?
It would 100 percent [make us more competitive.] Southern California has to be competitive in its tax incentives. They’re so far behind not just Canada but also Atlanta and other production hubs like New York.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is actually finally paying attention to it. A bill is starting to circulate about drastically increasing the tax rebate. That’s how to get production home — you get them home with a carrot, not a stick.
It’s not just California: Other states need to really examine their tax incentives and find ways to make it attractive to film there. What they’re losing in tax revenue, they’re gaining in salaries and thousands of jobs. They’re also stabilizing the middle class who work on these productions, including carpenters, craftsmen, cameramen, and caterers.
But would studios go for these tax incentives?
Studios are primarily driven by how they can save money, which I understand. They’re a business, and their job is to try to save money. As much as it irritates me personally on a day-to-day basis, I get it. So if they can save as much money as they would save if they were to shoot in Toronto or Vancouver, for sure, they would choose Los Angeles. It would be simpler logistically: It’d be easier for them to get to set and save them money on plane tickets. If they want to yell at a director, it’s just a drive.
There’s quite a lot of production happening in the United States — it’s just not happening in Southern California. You can’t book a sound stage in Atlanta because it’s so busy. It’s the same case with New York State and New Mexico.
Do you worry that economic policies might ultimately shape the kinds of stories American television can tell and where they’re told?
The worse the economy gets, the harder it is to import things and mount productions. Productions are very much like giant construction projects — you’re just building things with equipment from all over.
This 100 percent tariff on movies produced outside the U.S. could have a really chilling effect on independent film. Worst-case scenario: Studios will become even more focused on Marvel or comic books, which is not great for variety. But they [make so much money], they’ll survive whatever happens.
What might not survive is the man or the woman with a really fresh vision and only half a million dollars or a million dollars to make their movie. Those people would normally have to make it in Canada, London, or Ireland just to get it on its feet. It couldn’t be worse timing for the tariffs because a lot of the [people being taxed] are very small filmmakers making very low-budget stuff. And if everyone’s scared to buy a movie that was shot overseas, there will be people whose dreams will get dashed over this. We live in a scary time, and there are bigger problems to tackle [than the film industry]. But [taxing it] is not helping it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
