Will Trump have a chilling effect on Hollywood? Insiders say it’s already happening

Eight years ago, Hollywood proudly donned the mantle of anti-Trump resistance.

This time around, the industry’s reaction can best be summed up by the tale of two Trump films.

Just two weeks before President Trump’s inauguration, Amazon Prime Video made an unexpected announcement — the company would release a documentary about Melania Trump, with the first lady serving as an executive producer.

Meanwhile, another Trump-related movie — “The Apprentice,” a biopic that chronicles the president’s rise to power decades ago — still has not secured a streaming deal, despite two Oscar nominations for lead actor (Sebastian Stan as Trump) and supporting actor (Jeremy Strong as New York legal pit bull Roy Cohn).

The contrasting fates show the more muted mood in liberal Hollywood. There is a general sense of unease among industry insiders about what’s to come, the speed with which Trump has enacted sweeping executive orders across the federal government — and the seeming buy-in from corporate leaders — and how that all could influence future creative content.

“I don’t think that people have really figured out what to do yet, how to express themselves or what’s going to be the most effective,” said Tom Nunan, co-head of the graduate producers program at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. “It’s hard to be creative when you’re afraid.”

Major Hollywood players were loathe to confront Trump, even before his election. Despite its much-anticipated debut in Cannes last May, “The Apprentice” struggled to lock down a domestic theatrical distributor, particularly after Trump’s then-presidential campaign threatened to file a lawsuit to stop the film.

“There was definitely reticence about getting involved with the movie after our Cannes premiere,” said Amy Baer, one of the film’s producers. “Enough to cool any potential interest we had.”

While some distributors passed outright, there were others that “politely stepped away,” she said.

Briarcliff Entertainment then took on the film. The distributor is no stranger to controversial or political topics, as it also released Michael Moore’s documentary “Fahrenheit 11/9” about the first Trump presidency. By the time the deal closed, the team had just weeks to mount a theatrical release and marketing campaign before the election.

The film is available to rent and buy digitally through Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. Briarcliff is in conversation with “various streamers,” but a company spokesperson said by email that there wasn’t anything yet to report.

Other films with political messages have faced a similar predicament. “Union,” a documentary about the first organizing effort at an Amazon warehouse, has also failed to get a distribution deal, despite making it to the Oscars short list, according to the Ankler.

Even in that climate, the news of the Melania Trump documentary caught some in the industry off guard. Not only has the documentary market this year been tough, but the quick pickup seemed in contrast to the fates of other politically minded films.

The naming of the documentary’s director, Brett Ratner, also turned some heads, as it will be his first major film since he faced allegations of sexual harassment that were raised nearly a decade ago by some female associates. Ratner has denied the allegations.

Besides the hefty $40-million price tag Amazon reportedly paid to license the documentary, the news came just months after Amazon Executive Chair and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos declined to run a planned editorial endorsement in his paper of former Vice President Kamala Harris. (Bezos said at the time that not endorsing presidential candidates would help restore trust in the Post.)

Observers saw the two actions as linked, an attempt to curry favor with the new administration, and very much at odds with how the entertainment industry mounted a public resistance against the first Trump presidency.

During the last Trump administration, the entertainment industry launched a number of colorful and rich projects that challenged the norms of the time, just as Hollywood saw cultural shifts during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Richard Nixon.

After Trump left office, films like A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Netflix’s comet satire “Don’t Look Up” explored themes of large-scale destruction and what it takes to stop it. Former President Obama and Michelle Obama’s media company Higher Ground Productions last year expanded its high-profile first look deal with Netflix.

The recent fires in Southern California probably have also damped the mood in Hollywood, which was already dour because of an ongoing financial retrenchment.

“Right now with crisis and the fires, there’s a little bit of fatigue and certainly a little bit of shell shock from the speed with which the Trump administration has rolled out some of their proposals,” said Steve Caplan, principal strategist at Los Angeles-based communications firm Message, who has worked in politics, advertising and entertainment for decades. “But people will be taking stock as the midterms and the governor’s race grow nearer.”

Nunan of UCLA described Trump as a “tipping point” or “force multiplier” for more liberal people in the industry who were already facing difficulties due to the current production slowdown.

“Just kind of a feeling of defeat has pervaded this place,” he said. “And it’s really unfortunate.”

It’s no secret that Hollywood has backed Democratic politicians for decades. Stars including George Clooney and Julia Roberts appeared at fundraisers for former President Biden, with many in the entertainment industry later calling for Biden to quit the race after his disastrous first debate performance. Many of those Hollywood power players enthusiastically switched to support Harris during her campaign.

That may partly explain the current mood in Hollywood. At the Golden Globe Awards, held just weeks before Trump’s inauguration, the show was largely politics-free, with host Nikki Glaser and presenters mostly staying away from commentary on current events. (By the time the Grammy Awards were held earlier this month, however, award winners did not hold back.)

The long lead time for film development means that it’s too soon to tell whether the new administration — and Hollywood’s reaction to it — could have any effect on current or future projects. But Caplan of Message says the signs aren’t good.

“If you look at the direction things are going, and the strategic decisions that are being made by brands of all kinds, companies of all types, it would indicate it’s a very difficult environment to get these things done,” he said. “We will see if creative and content is part of that, but early indications are that it will be a challenge.”