Reading Time: 4 minutes
At the end of two weeks of intercession for Hollywood, our prayers were answered through President Trump… in a controversial way.
I’m in a bi-weekly prayer meeting with artists in New York City and Los Angeles, led by Hector Ramírez in Spain. Each time we meet, we focus on the prayer needs of one of the members of the group. By April 21, we’d run out of members to pray over, so we turned our sights on Broadway and Hollywood.
Post a prayer for your state!
Among the many things we covered, one of them was for “job openings” for Christians working on Broadway and in film production.
Our prayers were answered on May 4 when President Trump posted on Truth Social:
I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!
Daily Caller reported “American Manufacturers Overwhelmed With Orders After Trump’s Tariff Crackdown On China,” so why not try it with the film industry?
I’m not claiming our group turned the tide! Many have been praying for Hollywood for decades, and for good reason. But I thought the timing was important to point out. May it encourage all of us that our intercession is essential.
The Controversy
The President’s post garnered a great deal of reaction.
Kevin Rudd, who was the prime minister of Australia and now serves as Australia’s U.S. ambassador, said, “What happens if we all lock down our countries with competitive, punitive arrangements against each other’s movies? Movies are the way in which we kind of understand each other more.”
Others are claiming it will slow film production in their part of the world.
Vanity Fair cried: “What Does Trump’s Insane ‘100% Tariff’ on ‘Foreign’ Movies Even Mean?”
Here’s What It Means
I learned first hand it was cheaper to film outside the U.S. in the mid ‘90s when a production company flew me to Toronto to perform in a commercial which would be broadcast in America.
Strong unions drive the costs of U.S. movie making up. Though 78% of films lose money, everyone wants as big a percentage as they can get from films that do well. This is why producers often choose to film overseas where U.S. union rates and rules don’t apply.
On May 8, the new tariff became the top story on Variety.com when their journalist, Tatiana Siegel, landed the first interview about the tariff with Jon Voight, who suggested the idea to President Trump.
Earlier, the President had asked Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone to form a committee to help the U.S. filmmaking industry. Voight said:
Every studio has a lot of smart people, and they have maneuvered the write-offs and the gifts that are being given out throughout the world to lure people to different countries. They take advantage of them. Now we’re saying, ‘Hey, we have to have that here.’ Let’s have the level playing field. But really, we need more than that. We need to be competitive.
Siegel wrote, “What may come as a surprise is President Trump’s interest in intervening on behalf of an industry that almost universally loathes him.”
Voight responded to that animosity: “There’s been a battle, but now it’s time to put that aside. It’s come to a point where we really do need help, and thank God the President cares about Hollywood and movies.”
Siegel reported that Voight worked with at least one Democrat to put the proposal together. Voight said, “This shouldn’t be political. I don’t know the political identities of the people we’ve talked to. We’ve talked to a lot of people here. I don’t distinguish them on their party affiliation.”
Keep praying for Hollywood!
Another reason President Trump wants to slow down our consumption of foreign films is “messaging and propaganda!” But soul poison can come from within as well.
While we want opportunities for filmmakers, we also want them to be using the most persuasive of all art forms to point people to the Lord, not away from Him.
Pray the tariff helps Christian filmmakers.
Last September, we reported on The House of David, which came out as Amazon’s second most-watched show with 22 million viewers in its first 17 days. They’ve been greenlit for a second season, but they film in Greece, so this could affect them negatively.
The Chosen, on the other hand, films entirely in Texas and Utah. They had two spots in the top ten at the box office the weekend before Resurrection Day, with Season Five Parts 2 and 3. IndieWire reported “It Was a Very Good Box Office Weekend for Jesus,” as a third film about the Lord was in the top ten, King of Kings, a cartoon of Charles Dickens telling his young son the greatest story ever told.
For years, we’ve prayed for better films. Now that they’re gaining momentum, let’s pray they have every advantage.
You can join our group in praying our full prayers for Broadway and Hollywood as I recorded them outside Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on April 23:
Since we mentioned The Chosen, you may like to know that Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus for the series, took the time to pray over you, intercessor:
Post your prayers for filmmakers below.
Rich Swingle has presented in 42 nations on six continents, mostly with his own one-man plays. He and his bride Joyce Swingle have 41 screen children. They have developed a “singing play” about the Welsh and Asbury Revivals. The Swingles live in New York City. www.RichDrama.com. Photo Credit: Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash.