Hollywood has been in a noticeable slump from labor strikes to streaming domination and consumer behavior to the rising prices of everything at the box office. Unbeknownst to many moviegoers, this has been a bullet point for the Trump Administration, and now they have their man to rectify what’s been wrong in Tinseltown. 

The “Midnight Cowboy” himself and proud Trump ambassador, Jon Voight, has been named a “special ambassador” to the entertainment industry for the White House. 

Variety shared that the Oscar-winning actor of iconic films like Deliverance, Coming Home, Runaway Train, and Heat, and his producing partner Steven Paul, have submitted a comprehensive plan to President Trump “to rescue the entertainment industry.” 

The plan includes federal incentives for production and post-production, co-production treaties with foreign countries, infrastructure subsidies for theater owners and production companies, job training, and changes to the tax code. It also calls for tariffs in “certain limited circumstances.”

Those tariffs are being met with severe blowback from many production companies nationwide. This past weekend, President Trump announced a “100% tariff on movies produced outside the country.” The objective for the staggering tariffs was proclaimed on Truth Social. 

“The movie industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump said. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” He later exclaimed that the incentives to bring filmmakers to other countries were “a national security threat” and “propaganda.” 

Working closely with the president, Voight and Paul introduced the tariffs to bring business back to America. To which, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on Xwitter: 

We’re on it. https://t.co/r5zCLxZrem

— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) May 4, 2025

Despite that endorsement, Trump has now softened the tariff announcement through an official statement via the White House Office of Communications saying that “no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made.”

Voight is one of the entertainment ambassadors who met with the president over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago. The other two, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson, attended, along with Paul and SP Media Group/Atlas Comics President Scott Karol—each of whom had a voice in this presentation. 

According to the story, the plan culminates “months of meetings” between Voight, his fellow ambassadors, and many other anonymous entertainment stakeholders, including “representatives from studios, streamers, unions, and guilds.” 

“The President loves the entertainment business and this country, and he will help us make Hollywood great again,” said Voight in a statement released to the media. “We look forward to working with the administration, the unions, studios, and streamers to help form a plan to keep our industry healthy and bring more productions back to America.”

Aside from being a respected producer with Voight, Paul is also a serial entrepreneur in Hollywood, having created SP Media Group (SPMG), Crystal Sky Pictures, SP Releasing, SP Distribution, Echo Bridge, and Artist’s Only Management. His comments speak to the business side of Hollywood, which is where this plan will focus. 

“The American film industry, and Hollywood, is a beacon for teaching the American Dream to the world and is an engine for job growth and career opportunity,” said Paul. “We look forward to working with the administration, the unions, studios, and streamers to help form a plan to keep our industry healthy and bring more productions back to America.” 

No details of the plan outside tariffs have been released.