Tariff threat ‘kick in the guts’ for film industry: Gold Coast mayor

The Gold Coast has spent decades trying to attract filmmakers to the famed glitter strip; mayor Tom Tate laments the potential effects of Donald Trump’s proposed tariff.

Behind the scenes on the Gold Coast film set for Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.

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The Gold Coast has spent decades trying to attract filmmakers to the famed glitter strip, and local mayor Tom Tate fears US President Donald Trump’s potential tariffs will be a “kick in the guts” for the industry.

“Investment in the Gold Coast film industry … it’s a 30-year vision,” Mr Tate said. “I really cherish our film industry.”

Mr Trump put the global film industry on alert on Monday after posting on social media that he intended to implement a sweeping 100 per cent tariff on all movies “produced in foreign lands”.

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“The movie industry in America is dying a very fast death,” the President wrote.

But by Tuesday, the Trump administration appeared to walk back the comments, with White House spokesman Kush Desai telling reporters “no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made” and further consultation with the industry would take place.

Queensland’s local film industry generated a $525m economic return last financial year and created 4000 direct jobs across the state, in production studios from the Gold Coast to Cairns. During that period, cameras have rolled on a dozen movies, including The Bluff, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Karl Urban, while parts of a total of 45 different projects have been produced in Queensland.

US President Donald Trump. Picture: AP Photo

State Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek has put pressure on the re-elected Albanese government to get answers and protect the economic investment.

“Filmmakers are coming here because of the incentives. Now we have someone saying, well, those incentives have meant that they’re going to bring in tariffs,” Mr Langbroek said.

Filming is under way in Brisbane on the Owen Wilson-led film Runner, alongside the next instalment in the Godzilla and King Kong “Monsterverse” franchise. Together, they are expected to create a $111m economic boost.

Queensland Education and Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek. Picture: Adam Head

At a national level, screen production in Australia generated $1.7bn in expenditure across 169 Australian and international film and television titles in the 2023-24 financial year, according to Screen Queensland. Of that, $768m was linked to 70 international projects. This figure was down on previous years due to the 2023 Hollywood writers’ strike.

The Cook government in Western Australia is spending $290m on a film studio in Malaga that is due to be ready by April next year.

WA Premier Roger Cook on Monday said Mr Trump’s tariffs were a clear disincentive for US producers and added to the deteriorating global economic environment. He said he was hopeful that demand from Australian filmmakers and US studios keen to capitalise on WA’s natural wonders would help insulate the new film studio from the tariffs.

“We obviously have a lot of domestic content that we can develop in WA and there are other film-producing countries right around the world, but we continue to believe that there will still be opportunities for us to attract US production houses,” he said.

“Don’t forget that at the end of the day, they need quality environments and opportunities to shoot in unique settings, and that’s also what WA offers.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom is reportedly attempting to smooth tensions between the Trump administration and the film industry by proposing a $US7.5bn ($11.62bn) federal tax incentive to bring production back to the US.

Many US states offer individual tax offers. Mr Newsom said a federal partnership would strengthen domestic production and “Make America Film Again”.

Additional reporting: Paul Garvey