Trump's Return: A Survival Guide for Hollywood
Agents, execs and producers on how they'll navigate the next term and my own principles for the industry to live by
Well, here we are. The day we swore would never come, which we couldn’t survive, which we’d leave the country if it ever came to that. Now it’s here and so still are we.
For those here in Hollywood in the Democracy coalition, as bleak as it is, the path forward is murky. Is it time for total resistance, laying down in the streets in the path of every statement and edict? Or is our moment just to shut up and sing?
As the smoke from the fires faded, I found myself lost in a new haze, as did many others, of how one should behave in what may be unusual — even dangerous — times. A big part of that “unusual” environment involves the behavior of those who run our very own industry and what principles they are willing to defend.
But finding the way through means first acknowledging the reality of where we are. I speak here as one not particularly tied to any point in our political spectrum, but who is fearful for the underpinning of the political system itself, given that we have a President who has attempted to undermine that system in the past, who has pledged to do so in many different ways again, and who fulfilled that pledge on day one with the pardoning of the January 6 perpetrators.
So looking it in the eye, here’s a few basics we have to swallow:
Minority Status. We are not part of the ruling coalition here. We do not speak from a place of dictating to America how things are going to be or demanding they follow our lead — or else!
Fringe of the Fringe. In particular, no one is looking to hear more from Hollywood. The idea that Hollywood star power can sweep anyone to victory in a “vibes election” is probably one of the more harmful delusions the Democratic Party swallowed last year.
Hollywood’s Leaders Are Not With Us. The problem with the Silicon Valley incursion now reveals itself. Much of Hollywood is now owned by the biggest companies in the world (or would like to be), which have all sorts of business interests with the government, from contracts to regulation. For those who weren’t on the podium yesterday, this couldn’t come at a worse time — with the winds of consolidation in the air and a President who has shown himself amply prepared to use the levers of government to reward friends and punish enemies (see the various handlings of the Warner-ATT deal and the Fox-Disney deal), putting your neck out as an enemy of his administration is a dangerous position for any CEO, whatever their private beliefs.
Creative Freedom is No Longer Sacrosanct. With the oligarchs falling in line, they have been quick to make it clear they aren’t going to let their little entertainment divisions jeopardize their bigger deals. In the past, companies from General Electric to Coca-Cola have, for all their capitalist avarice, more or less understood that allowing their media holdings basic freedom within the confines of general consensus was the price of owning a studio. Amazon’s owner and Apple’s CEO have more than made clear that they don’t subscribe to that tradition. Iger has been walking back his company’s commitment to on-screen representation. Where do you think the Larry “MAGA” Ellison-owned Paramount is going to fall? Frankly, would any mid-level exec at any company feel that this is the moment to test their boss’ commitment to staying on the President’s good side?