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Jon Voight is taking his role as special ambassador for Hollywood seriously.
The “National Treasure” star met with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida over the weekend just before the president announced 100% tariffs on filming overseas.
“It’s come to a point where we really do need help, and thank God the president cares about Hollywood and movies,” Voight told Variety this week. “He has a great love for Hollywood in that way. We’ve got to roll up our sleeves here. We can’t let it go down the drain like Detroit.”
Trump appointed Voight along with Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as Hollywood ambassadors in January soon after taking office, referring to it as a “great but very troubled place.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S HOLLYWOOD AMBASSADOR JON VOIGHT ROLLS OUT PROPOSAL TO ‘MAKE HOLLYWOOD GREAT AGAIN’
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he wrote on Truth Social at the time. “These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
Voight told Variety the goal was to “give people back their dignity and their jobs,” without going into specifics about the plan, adding, “Something has to be done, and it’s way past time.”
Although some in the industry have reacted negatively to the tariffs proposal, Voight said he’s been getting positive feedback.
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“We’ve gotten a lot of good response from people,” he added. “We’re really rolling up our sleeves and working. I think we have a good plan, and we’re just beginning. This little team of mine has worked very hard to try to figure out things. The union people and producers give their expertise and understanding to this problem, and we’re working together. A lot of people had a lot of input and we’re listening to everybody.”
Voight said the studios have taken advantage of financial incentives to shoot abroad.
“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,” he told Variety. “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.”
Voight also said he thinks that both he and Trump have been treated unfairly by those in the industry who lean left.
“But what’s the difference? Who cares?” he said. “I mean, there’s been a battle, but now it’s time to put that aside. And I must say, in all of the interactions we’ve had [on addressing runaway production], politics has never come up. Never.”
“This shouldn’t be political,” Voight added. “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. And If we can come up with [a plan that can be executed], he’ll back us. He wants us to be the Hollywood of old. If we all come together, I believe we have a bright future.”
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