Over the first weekend in May, US President Donald Trump promised to put a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside of America.

He said the tariff was required to protect an industry that he felt was dying a fast death despite creating over $22.6 billion in exports with a positive trade balance for the US, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

The effects of a so far theoretical tariff were likely to have impacts on Calgary’s local film economy in much the same way as other tariffs have introduced uncertainty into the economy.

“We’ve said, it since day one, ever since the tariff conversation been happening for almost five months, was that nobody wins. There is no or could be any clear winner,” said Brad Parry, CEO of Calgary Economic Development which also operates Calgary’s Film Commission.

“It’s worrying not just for us. I think it’s worrying for the industry. This tariff whiplash that we’re sort of under all the time creates uncertainty for businesses. It’s really hard to make a plan when the ground under you keeps changing and the goal posts keep changing.”

Parry said the threat of imposed tariffs on film productions came as a surprise though, and with the new threat of tariffs being placed onto intellectual property and services beyond just the film industry.

“We haven’t seen a lot of traction on that, but this could also lead to other things that we have to be cognizant of,” he said.

In 2023, Alberta’s film and television sector represented $450 million towards the provincial GDP, with over 3,200 people employed in the industry. The majority of that occurred in and around Calgary, which in the same year, was the fourth largest location for filming in Canada.

Calgary was also selected by MovieMaker Magazine as the fifth best place to work as a filmmaker in 2025.

Q1 a spectacular start for Calgary’s film industry: Parry

Parry said that Q1 of 2025 had ended up being the busiest scouting package delivery for the industry in the past 10 years.

“We’ve had more inquiries coming in from everywhere about the opportunity to shoot here and to produce content here. So, for us, we have to keep our foot on the gas. We’ve got to keep talking and making sure that people understand why it’s a great place to come and build content,” he said.

Despite the tariff threat there wasn’t yet an interest to shift CED’s film strategy, he said.

“I don’t think we want to shift our focus. I think it’s important for us, because of relationships we’ve built over the last decade, to truly understand where the mindset is on some of these large studio projects,” Parry said.

“We’re going to be in a pattern of trying to get the information from our friends in the US. But more importantly, our job is to make sure that we get out there and tell our story consistently. Not unlike the other sectors, we need to make sure that we’re diversifying our partnerships and our trade partnerships, and film and TV is no different.”

Katherine Penhale, CEO of the Calgary International Film Festival, said that she was sincerely hopeful that a planned May 6 trip to the White House by Prime Minister Mark Carney would put some common sense back into the discussions.

“And we can stop deciding policy and tariffs based on tweets,” she said.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that she hoped that the Trump administration understood that film and television is best done cooperatively.

“I think it was really interesting reading the tweet from President Trump yesterday threatening the film sector anywhere but in the USA. I think it’s also fascinating that you have the White House walking it back today,” she said.

“Perhaps folks in the White House understand that film production and television production are best done at a global scale, with different sites working with each other to deliver the best possible programming for people who are fans.”

Cross-border is better than closed border

Penhale highlighted the commonality between Canada’s film industry and that of the auto sector, where products travel back and forth over the border multiple times by the time a finished film ever makes it into the hands of audiences.

“You lose something when you lose the opportunity to collaborate. You can look at things like Guillermo del Toro’s Shape of Water. That was a [Canadian-US] film co-production,” she said.

“Schitt’s Creek is a Canadian show that was picked up widely by US markets. So, that past history of really strong collaboration in the creative industries, that would be a huge loss, if that was to be reduced even somewhat through whatever hypothetical tariffs could be put in place.”

Penhale said you might see a production filmed in Alberta and then be sent to the US for post-production.

“We’ve had a permeable border for a long time with the United States. That ability to share that knowledge, that content, and to be able to really work closely on projects like films and TV shows is long standing, and it’s something that we pride ourselves on,” she said.

Still, Alberta made content would remain at the forefront of CIFF, she said.

“That’s something we pride ourselves on, because we think there’s great content made here in Canada, just like there’s great content made in other countries, and we’re happy to show it to Canadians and Calgarians. I have to believe that there’s going to be a way to continue doing that,” she said.

“But if it means there’s an opportunity to continue and maybe increase how much we’re we’re fore-fronting Canadian and Alberta content, that’s that’s not worst-case scenario.”

She said collaboration would continue regardless of what the Trump administration imposes.

“Opportunities to get folks together and to have these harder conversations about what we’re doing to support the development of local IP and really develop that local talent first, I think that’s a wonderful opportunity, and frankly, something we should be doing and we are doing,” she said.

“I really hope we don’t have to do that under under threat of no other option. I prefer to think every creative organization prefers to operate in an open doors approach, collaboratively, working together. No one wants to function under threat, and I’m hopeful that that’s not going to be the outcome here.”