CMU School of Drama


Friday, January 20, 2017

Donald Trump’s First 100 Days: What Can Entertainment Industry Expect?

Variety: Repealing Obamacare, renegotiating trade deals, and rolling back regulations and executive orders are said to sit atop the agenda for Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. But if there’s one thing to be gleaned from his transition period, it’s that one can never be sure when it comes to Trump. That’s especially true on issues that directly affect the entertainment industry, from a potential rollback of net neutrality to a lowering of the corporate tax rate.

6 comments:

Kelly Simons said...

This terrifying. There’s no way around it. I’m scared. I may not have understood all of the more complex terms and ideas in the article, but it boils down to bad bad bad. Trump wants to cut out anything that would make the American public happy. The one issue that resonated with me was the Chinese policies. The article states: “ But trade negotiations are expected to begin in February in which expansion of China’s film importation quota, currently at 34 movies, is on the table. Chinese government officials have suggested that they would be open to raising the quota, but it’s not known how they would respond if the U.S. takes on a more aggressive and even combative strategy against the country.”. This seems like a way to cut America off from other cultures by agitating our allies. It looks like Trump wants to seal America off from any kind of foreign arts or culture or people, and that is what’s the scariest idea of all.

wnlowe said...

I think that my greatest concern with the effect the new administration might have on the arts industry is mentioned in the article. Our foreign relations in the arts industry will be very important. More and more in our industry, interest is growing to gain inspiration from foreign sources or from minority groups. The new administration’s foreign relations and relationship with minority groups are expected to be less than pleasant — both in and out of the arts industry; therefore, it is concerning that the art industry will be negatively influenced somewhat drastically if access to foreign sources is cut off. As a side note, I question where there is any questioning what the incoming president will be doing in terms of the Correspondent’s Dinner. It at least seems to me that this event provides a stage which is exactly what he enjoys most and is publicity like what he loves most.

Alex Talbot said...

While this article does not mention it, as I believe it was written prior to any announcement, one of the things I am worried about in terms of arts in this administration is the National Endowment for the Arts. Trump has reportedly said he wants to cut the NEA entirely, which would be extremely crippling to the arts industry as a whole. And it really saddens me to see that an entire political party seemingly cares little for the arts and arts communities of this country, enough to cut a tremendous piece of funding for arts and arts opportunities across this country.
What also worries me about this administration is the stance of a majority of the Republican party on net neutrality. Recently, as the article said, the FCC won a case in favor of net neutrality, but the Republican party would like to roll back those regulations as much as possible. This would be a disaster, since this would allow corporations to limit not your speed of internet, but rather what you can access over the internet based on how much you pay--I.E. Comcast could not allow you to access Netflix because they have a competing streaming service. It would do an immense disservice to American internet users, and would make the internet another regulated place.

John Yoerger said...

Do we really even know how much of what Trump said will be true? Sure, he made some pretty outrageous campaign promises, but how do we know that he is going to act on all of the things he said considering he is already known to be the liar that he is? It is interesting to me how opposed everyone is to anything he says simply from bias. Don't get me wrong: He is a lot of bad things, but to play devil's advocate: Are there not some good things he could do for the Country? -- I suppose that is how you view what "good" would be because what I consider good is certainly a bit different from others. The Net Neutrality rulings are a strike that attempts to prevent monopolization, which is a direct blow to our capitalistic model and doesn't need to be hindered further. Big Business can do a lot economically for our country that is in, what, $20 trillion dollars of debt? Trump may be a monster but he is a monster who doesn't believe in big government, supports financial responsibility, doesn't like this trend of 21st-century cry babies, and can help bring the government out of the huge debt it is in. This is like financial 101. When you can't afford to pay for your home, you move out (or get foreclosed on) and then you save up your money, rent instead of buy, review your finances, and fix your debt, then go back to buying again. That is what the Country needs to do for a debt-free reality and it wouldn't be so bad if we stopped spending so much money on not bare essentials or important health related expenses and pushed towards an economically wealthy country. In the end, I think that is what Trump is trying to do. He and his counterparts may be making cuts to programs and laws that some find essential and I disagree with some cuts (like Planned Parenthood as it performs essential health functions) but other things, and YES, I'm talking about the National Endowment for the Arts, can be cut or minimized. If an artist wants money for their art, they can get a private donor, banks/loans, or save their own money, they don't need to take payouts from the government because that shouldn't be the role of the government in the arts.

Zak Biggins said...

Our 45th president already has the lowest approval rating in united states history for an incoming president with only 40% of the nation in favor of him, this is 4 points lower than Barack Obama's lowest approval rating during his 8 year tenure. Needless to say, this president is not widely reputed.

President Trump (it really hurts to type that) has done an excellent job at displacing blame on everyone but himself. For example, he has accused the media of construing information and encouraging violent protests. I am here to set the record straight. These so-called violent protests of which he turns to twitter about are nothing compared to the ones that occurred not four years ago for his predecessor. You don’t see anyone lynching a dummy of his body. Rather, we the protestors, are spreading the messages of love and compassion. Both of which are far stronger than the words of any politician.

It is no secret that the entertainment industry has launched a full forced war with this President. Hundreds of entertainment professionals (actors, directors, designers) openly supported his opponent in the 2016 election and numerous performers boycotted his request to perform at his inauguration.

President Trump has already released plans to cut the national endowment for the arts... which is terrifying. In under 24 hours the news of his proposed legislation received millions of views on social media , many already calling for his impeachment.

A wise woman once said we are “stronger together” and that “we are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, and all religions can make a home.” I pray Mr. President, that during your tenure you choose to make compassionate and intelligent decisions on behalf of this nation of immigrants.

Sarah Battaglia said...

I really wish I would have been more surprised by what I read but unfortunately it all just sounds like exactly the same crap we have been hearing for 18 months. Trump (I refuse to write president in front of that because it's a disgrace to the title and I still can't seem to get the words out of my mouth) is going to take away good things, he is going to get rid of healthcare he is going to eliminate the national endowment for the arts he will destroy any progress we have made on protecting victims of sexual assault or race related violence. I have excepted that even thought I will fight him ever step of the way things will happen and people will get hurt. However, what marching on Washington helped me to realize yesterday is that every single time he does something like that someone will decide to run for office, someone will finally start calling their representatives, and then in two and four years, hopefully we will come back stronger than ever and manage to get the country back in the direction of equality, and where the people actually want it to go. I am saddened at the truth of what is in this article but I am choosing to fight and be positive about the future. There are always bumps in the road (and this is a giant cheeto bump) but we'll get there, despite his being elected everyday another person comes of age who would have voted for Hillary. The future of this country is good, I truly believe that.