Trump Trade War to Cast Shadow Over Banff Fest

Amid perhaps the more immediate threat of grizzly bears and moose roaming the perimeter of the Banff World Media Festival, several other pressing matters are sure to dominate the discourse at the upcoming event: Donald Trump and his tariff war, a brutal industry contraction and AI are just a few of the timely issues set to come up at the annual Canadian Rockies media conference, which focuses on content in the development stage.

The U.S. president ignited industry-wide debate in early May with talk of a 100 percent foreign movie tariff, a federal tax credit and Americans possibly taking part in official international co-productions. With Trump at the G7 leaders summit in nearby Kananaskis from June 15 to 17, his presence will be impossible to ignore in Banff, even if his tariff regime has hit a U.S. court roadblock.

“I think there will be absolutely talk about the tariffs,” Banff fest executive director Jenn Kuzmyk tells THR. “How could there not be, both in terms of the impact on domestic production but also foreign location shooting, which is a big part of our industry. There are definitely concerns around that.”

Trump’s tariff on Canada and repeated threats to make the northern neighbor a “51st state” have stoked tensions between the U.S. and Canadian film and TV production sectors. But a disrupted entertainment industry that depends on open trade for global expansion won’t distract creatives in Banff from showcasing nascent projects to potential investors and collaborators.

This year’s conference will see Canadian producers doubling down on developing global relationships, especially with European co-producers. “That’s not just a reaction to the tariffs,” says Kuzmyk, who adds that Canada is actually well positioned to thrive during this current disruption thanks to several well-established co-production treaties: “The really great thing is Canadians have been doing co-productions for decades.”

The 46th edition of Banff will include keynotes by notables like Chuck Lorre, the Big Bang Theory co-creator and king of broadcast sitcoms, and Oscar-winning film music titan Hans Zimmer (Dune: Part One and Two, Oppenheimer).

With an eye to the future, the fest will devote its final day on June 11 to AI. One panel will debate setting legal frameworks and regulations on the transformational technology, while a second will showcase the latest in AI tools and workflows. “AI will be part of the discussion at almost every meeting and every panel that takes place at Banff, in some way, shape or form. It’s part of the industry now,” Kuzmyk says.

As the Canadian industry also looks to anchor itself in a fast-changing global media landscape, on June 9 Banff will present a panel with Canada’s “Big Four” private broadcast CEOs, together on one stage as each battles cord-cutting, streaming competition and other economic headwinds. Banff delegates will closely examine the success of creators in South Korea, which will be the event’s inaugural Country of Honor. “[Korea] has created an excellent model for Canada,” Kuzmyk says. “They’re not the biggest territory in the world, but they have had an outsized cultural impact on entertainment and pop culture globally.”

But Kuzmyk is quick to point out that Banff is all about balance, with the suits on one side and creatives on the other. “There needs to be [a focus on] both the business side and the creative side,” she says. “This is a festival for co-productions, a festival for collaboration.”

She adds: “The festival is really here to celebrate the amazing content created around the world and to spur new content, new collaborations. We really embrace that.”

This story appeared in the June 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.