Could Trump drive Hollywood out of Cuba?

Recent statement by US president-elect casts doubt on relations between the two countries

Cuba has experienced an impressive surge in Hollywood shoots this year, owing to recent efforts by the US to ease its commercial and diplomatic ties with the Caribbean island nation. The capital, Havana, has hosted three high-profile film and TV productions this year, including F Gary Gray’s Fast 8 – the latest instalment of the Vin Diesel action franchise. Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight was also shot on Cuban soil, as was the fifth season of House of Lies, starring Don Cheadle.

While there has been optimism about business between the two nations, a recent statement by American President-elect Donald Trump after the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has cast doubt on what the future could hold. “If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the US as a whole, I will terminate the deal,” Trump tweeted.

This poses the question of whether the former reality TV star and future US president will curtail a filming policy that has benefited both countries or not? The short answer is, probably not.

“I think it would be a terrible mistake to roll back the great strides made towards normalisation of relations with Cuba,” The Hollywood Reporter quoted Crash producer Bob Yari as saying. “Not only will it hurt the film and TV industry, it will continue a policy of punishing the Cuban people with no real return on that policy.” Yari also directed the Havana-set drama Papa Hemingway in Cuba in 2014, which was the first Hollywood picture to be shot in the country since Castro’s 1959 revolution.

It remains unclear what Trump means when he says he will seek “a better deal” with Cuba. He has said the Cuban government must improve its human rights record but the US also has been criticised for flagrant rights abuses at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in southern Cuba.

Many Cubans view Trump’s threat as “meddling” in internal affairs, as actor and Academy Awards voting member Jorge Perugorria expressed in a recent interview. Michael Pacino, head of production services company Cuba Film Productions, believes existing filming policies will undergo no changes under Trump. “He’s a businessman and if there is a way for American companies to do business in Cuba, he would be in favour of it. Yes, he’ll have to support the Cuban-Americans that helped him win in Florida but I don’t think that will mean reverting to old policies,” explained Pacino.

Even with the easing of restrictions, filming in Cuba still presents certain challenges, such as licensing issues and slow internet access. Additionally, the Cuban government finds itself juggling the needs of a fast-growing tourism industry for the first time, along with rising demand for filming authorisations.

This, according to Pacino, has left many US projects in limbo as they await government approval to film in Cuba. “There has to be some kind of quota,” he said. “Otherwise Old Havana would look like the backlot at Universal Studios. Can you imagine the malecon – Cuba’s iconic esplanade – being blocked off for every production that wanted to film there? There’s just not enough room for them all.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2016.

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