'Simply unworkable' - UK film-makers wary and bemused by threat of tariffs

Leading figures in the British film industry have reacted with a mixture of wariness and bemusement at the prospect of tariffs announced by Donald Trump on movies produced in "foreign lands".

- Andrew Pulver

Rebecca O'Brien, producer of a string of films by Ken Loach including Palme d'Or winners The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake said that tariffs appear "simply unworkable given how intertwined and global the film industry is".

"I can see that Trump watches Hollywood collapsing and losing its jobs to the rest of the world but that's because it's a very expensive place to make films," said O'Brien.

She added: "No doubt it'll take a while for the dust to settle, deals to be made and something or nothing to come out of this.

"What's for certain is there will be a pause in the industry while everyone runs around working out what to do. The fragile film economy definitely doesn't need that."

Stephen Woolley, producer of Carol and On Chesil Beach, called Trump's plans "ludicrous" and said: "I am sure no one has thought this through and in a world of international co-productions it's nigh impossible to regulate. One thing is for certain: those enemies of the state like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Tom Cruise who are presenting a national security threat by insisting on shooting their films in Europe have been warned!"