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Speaker 1: Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and

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Speaker 1: analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Tuesday, February tenth, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty six. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co

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Speaker 1: editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in

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Speaker 1: La He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around

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Speaker 1: the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,

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Speaker 1: we'll hear from Variety's Elsa Caslasi, who unpacks the big

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Speaker 1: move that France has made to significantly expand the country's

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Speaker 1: national production tax incentive program and why that matters to

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Speaker 1: the US and Jazz Time. Gay brings us a report

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Speaker 1: on Variety's Artisans Awards that were handed out this past

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Speaker 1: weekend at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. But before we

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Speaker 1: get to that, here are a few headlines just in

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Speaker 1: this morning that you need to know. Paramount's Guidance is

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Speaker 1: still trying to entice Warner Brothers Discovery shareholders to take

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Speaker 1: another look at its offer for the company. Paramount has

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Speaker 1: pledged to give a twenty five cent per share bonus

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Speaker 1: for every quarter that the deal has not closed after

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Speaker 1: December thirty first twenty twenty six. Paramount calls it a

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Speaker 1: ticking fee. It'll be interesting to see what Warner Brothers

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Speaker 1: Discovery shareholders call it. Chapel Rone has exited Wasserman Music

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Speaker 1: amid the Epstein Files fallout. Company leader Casey Wasserman has

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Speaker 1: apologized for his past interactions with Glaine Maxwell and emphasized

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Speaker 1: that he knew of no wrongdoing at the time. But

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Speaker 1: when you're losing a star of chapel Rone's stature, the

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Speaker 1: fallout is significant. Director Greg Araki's I Want Your Sex

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Speaker 1: was the talk of Sundance. The comedy has found a

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Speaker 1: distributor in Magnolia Pictures. Dancing with the Stars is hosting

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Speaker 1: its first ever fan convention, Dancing with the Stars Cohn.

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Speaker 1: It will take place in Palm Springs, California, from July

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Speaker 1: first to August second at the Akrosher Arena. All of

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Speaker 1: these stories and so much more can be found on

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Speaker 1: Variety dot com. Right now and now it's time for

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Speaker 1: conversations with Variety journalists about news and trends in show business.

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Speaker 1: Elsa Caslassi, Variety's fabulous international editor based in Paris, gives

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Speaker 1: us a rundown of the big move that France made

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Speaker 1: to expand its production tax credit program. With a lot

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Speaker 1: of lobbying, French industry officials got over a big hurdle

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Speaker 1: that is being heavily debated in the US as well.

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Speaker 1: Elsa Caslasi, thank you for joining me on Sunday, while

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Speaker 1: all of America was fixated on the super Bowl, I

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Speaker 1: noticed that you put up a very interesting story about

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Speaker 1: France and expanding their production tax incentive program. Elsa, tell

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Speaker 1: me basically what has gone on? What has happened to

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Speaker 1: make you file that story on Sunday?

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Speaker 2: Yes, this week was something very very important for the

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Speaker 2: French industry was the fact that finally the tax incentive

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Speaker 2: has been expanded to allow for international productions to make

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Speaker 2: eligible the salaries of actors, so non European actors meeting

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Speaker 2: American actors basically, and that means that Americans actdoors salaries

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Speaker 2: now will be included in the tax rebate, will be

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Speaker 2: eligible for the.

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Speaker 1: Thirty percent rebate.

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Speaker 2: So that's a very big win for a lot of

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Speaker 2: people in France, like executive producers of course, but not

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Speaker 2: just that, it's a huge boost for the French economy

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Speaker 2: and the French industry, and it also helps train crews, So.

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Speaker 1: It's a big win. It's been fascinating to watch France

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Speaker 1: very consciously and explicitly say we are investing in our content. Business.

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Speaker 1: Content is one of the engines of the future for France.

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Speaker 1: This story also got my attention because the exact change

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Speaker 1: that was so significant. Making above the line costs eligible

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Speaker 1: to be part of the incentive is a huge push

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Speaker 1: in the US right now, where there are efforts to

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Speaker 1: get a federal tax incentive. With our politics right now,

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Speaker 1: I don't think anybody's holding their breath. I'm sure in

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Speaker 1: France the politics are the similar in the US. From

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Speaker 1: the layperson looks at this and says, wait a minute,

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Speaker 1: we're going to hand money to Tom Cruise. How did

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Speaker 1: France deal with the politics of that.

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Speaker 2: France is coming from, you know, we have like a

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Speaker 2: socialistic background, so of course, I think the idea that

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Speaker 2: we were going to have a tax incentive that would

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Speaker 2: basically help pay for Tom cruise salary was something that

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Speaker 2: a lot of lawmakers were against, and especially right now

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Speaker 2: France is going through a bit of a financial crisis

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Speaker 2: the country as at of depth, so I think that

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Speaker 2: idea to make some rebate on Actdoor salaries was really

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Speaker 2: something that.

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Speaker 1: No one wanted.

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Speaker 2: But in fact, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, has been

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Speaker 2: very active in building a lot of facilities in France,

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Speaker 2: a lot of studio facilities in Cruise, and he figured,

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Speaker 2: if we're not going to have the Hollywood shoots coming

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Speaker 2: to France and those facilities that we're spending millions in building,

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Speaker 2: they're going to be empty. So I think that at

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Speaker 2: the highest level of the government there was Macron who

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Speaker 2: was really in favor of that change. Some people in

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Speaker 2: the industry they really orchestrated this big lobbying push and

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Speaker 2: it worked. But I think that it was really not obvious. Honestly,

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Speaker 2: when I saw the news, I could not believe it.

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Speaker 2: I called the president of the CENC. I'm like, am

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Speaker 2: I reading? I mean, is it a fake news?

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Speaker 1: Like? What is that?

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Speaker 2: Seriously in the context that we're going through right now,

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Speaker 2: it's insane that it went.

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Speaker 1: Through because of you and your coverage. We've seen, bit

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Speaker 1: by bit, no less than Netflix co CEO Ted Surrandos

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Speaker 1: and the new Paramount chiefs David Ellison came over to

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Speaker 1: France to actively lobby for this, saying this will make

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Speaker 1: it much easier for us to bring our projects to France.

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Speaker 2: Ted Torondos and David Dillison played a very big role

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Speaker 2: in convincing Emmanuel Macron and convincing even lawmakers. What happened

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Speaker 2: is that tests Aroundos was in France last May for

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Speaker 2: an event that's called Choose Friends and it's an investment

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Speaker 2: focused summit, and he explained that it was really important

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Speaker 2: for the French tax rebate to include actor salaries. And

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Speaker 2: there was this big, big thing about Emily in Paris

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Speaker 2: going to Rome, and Macarme had been desperate about bringing

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Speaker 2: Emily back to Friends.

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Speaker 1: So I think that.

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Speaker 2: Macome was very receptive to Tests Aroundos's argument, even though

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Speaker 2: there was never a question really that Emily was going

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Speaker 2: to return to Paris. But I think that Macron was

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Speaker 2: really receptive. And also David Ellison was in Paris last

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Speaker 2: months to write his support for his bid for Warner Bros. Discovery,

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Speaker 2: and he also talked to Macron about this issue of

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Speaker 2: above the line cost. So I think that it was

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Speaker 2: like that when you say the stars were aligned, that's exactly.

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Speaker 1: What as you point out in your story. This is

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Speaker 1: also a very big ripple effect from Netflix coming in

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Speaker 1: and pouring money into French language and commissioned projects out

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Speaker 1: of France, and the government is smart enough to say,

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Speaker 1: if we put some structure around this, we could build

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Speaker 1: this into something that far out lives a moment in time.

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Speaker 2: But there is another problem now is French filmmakers making

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Speaker 2: movies with American stars, and when they make movies in

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Speaker 2: France in English language with American stars, then it becomes

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Speaker 2: more complicated and they don't get all the subsidies that

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Speaker 2: they would get if they were making the movie in French.

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Speaker 2: I think the next step will be for friends to say, hey,

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Speaker 2: if you're making a movie directed by a French filmmaker,

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Speaker 2: but it's not in French, then we'll still give you

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Speaker 2: the money. It's going to be next step.

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Speaker 1: You gotta find a Jody Foster who can pull off

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Speaker 1: flawless French in a movie like a Private Life, which

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Speaker 1: is so good and she's getting so much attention for

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Speaker 1: clearly that exact issue we're paying the actors salaries is

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Speaker 1: going to be an issue here as they try to

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Speaker 1: expand it. But I think it's one of those things,

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Speaker 1: even being in France, I think it's one of those

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Speaker 1: things where this just adds to the momentum for this

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Speaker 1: general concept. Yes, Elsa, that you've mentioned Guiton Bruell, I

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Speaker 1: probably didn't pronounce that right. He's the National Film Board president.

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Speaker 1: This is clearly a big win that I'm sure all

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Speaker 1: of France's distribution community is applauding today. Tell me about Guidon.

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Speaker 2: I think only Giton Bruell could have achieved that. He

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Speaker 2: is a new president of the CNC and is the

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Speaker 2: youngest one. He's like thirty something, and he lived in

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Speaker 2: the US for a very long time. He was the

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Speaker 2: head of the French Institute and he developed it off

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Speaker 2: cultural programs for French creatives who wanted to make movies

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Speaker 2: in the US. And he's also worked very actively in

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Speaker 2: the Los Angeles to attract international shoots and last for

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Speaker 2: US at the American French Film Festival in Los Angeles,

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Speaker 2: you know, which used to be called co CoA, and

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Speaker 2: he was there and he held a lot of meetings

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Speaker 2: with studio buses and producers and what it got from

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Speaker 2: those meetings was that basically Friends was completely sidelined and

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Speaker 2: like a lot of productions were not even considering coming

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Speaker 2: to France because they felt like it was too expensive

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Speaker 2: and they would go to London to Buildapez to Prague.

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Speaker 2: So you know, he went to the Ministry of Finance

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Speaker 2: and gave a big report on all those meetings and said, hey, guys,

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Speaker 2: like we really need to do something. If we don't,

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Speaker 2: then we're completely going to lose a momentum. And so

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Speaker 2: I think that because he has all these connections in

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Speaker 2: the US, had him lived there for a long time,

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Speaker 2: I think he you know, it gives us a lot

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Speaker 2: of advantages.

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Speaker 1: Is this a done deal or does it need any

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Speaker 1: more layer of approval?

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Speaker 2: So it needs one more layer of approval, which is

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Speaker 2: the European Commission. The European Commission needs to give its

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Speaker 2: final ren light. But everyone expects it to go very smoothly.

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Speaker 2: So the biggest thing was to go through the Parliament

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Speaker 2: and that's been done, so everyone is very confident and

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Speaker 2: it's expected to kick off in several weeks. Unfortunately, White Lotus,

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Speaker 2: you know, the fourth season is going to shoot in

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Speaker 2: Central Pay very soon, but apparently it's going to miss

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Speaker 2: those changes, so the actor salaries may not be And

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Speaker 2: by the way, speaking of hotels, the hotels are including

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Speaker 2: above the nine, but it's kepped at two hundred and

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Speaker 2: seventy euros for ferries and two hundred euros outside of Paris.

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Speaker 2: And when you know that the Chateau de la miss

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Speaker 2: Ardiere White Lottice season four is going to shoot, I

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Speaker 2: think the cheapest suite, I think is like six thousand euros.

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Speaker 1: Well, also, as always, thank you for covering all of

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Speaker 1: these things. I know you're off to the Berlin all soon,

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Speaker 1: so I have a great time. I know you will

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Speaker 1: work round the clock, but I hope you see some

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Speaker 1: good movies and get a good meal or two in between.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, Sin And now we turn to

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Speaker 1: Jazz ton Key, Variety's senior Artisans editor, who gives us

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Speaker 1: a full report on a magical night with artisans in

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Speaker 1: bal Me, Santa Barbara, which is one of my favorite

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Speaker 1: spots in the whole wide world. Jazz don Key, thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for joining me. Thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for having me back. Well, you're back in La County

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Speaker 1: after spending the weekend in beautiful Santa Barbara taking part

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Speaker 1: in the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Variety and the Film

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Speaker 1: Festival have handed out Artisans Awards, recognizing that just the

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Speaker 1: cream of the crop in below the line craft technical

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Speaker 1: work the magic of filmmaking. As anybody who knows anything

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Speaker 1: about filmmaking knows, this is the heart and soul jazz.

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Speaker 1: Nobody's tapped into this community like you tell us about

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Speaker 1: the Saturday Night event up in Santa Barbara. It sounds

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Speaker 1: like a magical night, It really is.

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Speaker 3: What's been so great, it's just seeing how the growth

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Speaker 3: for this event from when I first hosted it in

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Speaker 3: twenty twenty right through to twenty twenty six. We went

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Speaker 3: from the.

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Speaker 1: Libera Theater now we're at the Arlington Theater.

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Speaker 3: It was so hard this year to pick our artisan

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Speaker 3: honorees because the films are so great this year, but

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Speaker 3: we had a packed house thanks to the incredible pal

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Speaker 3: we you know. We had the legendary Jackfist, production designer

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Speaker 3: never won an Oscar recognized for Marty Supreme. We had

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Speaker 3: EJ from k POB Demon Hunters and.

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Speaker 1: The crowd went wild for her.

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Speaker 3: And we had representation from Sinners all the films in

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Speaker 3: contention in this Oscar race.

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Speaker 1: That's awesome and probably a nice opportunity to get out

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Speaker 1: of LA for people that haven't had a weekend in

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Speaker 1: weeks and won't have one for at least another four

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Speaker 1: or five weeks at this point. What interesting things came

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Speaker 1: out of those larger conversations.

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Speaker 3: So we had Andy Jorgensen, who who is from one

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Speaker 3: battle after another. He's the editor of the movie, and

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Speaker 3: these are people is who I speak with all season,

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Speaker 3: and I actually asked him, he said, like, Andy, what

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Speaker 3: was the hardest scene for you to edit? And he said, actually,

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Speaker 3: obviously aside from the incredible car chase, he said, it's

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Speaker 3: the DNA test sequence. It was much longer when they

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Speaker 3: first got it, and they had to trim it down

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Speaker 3: so that they could really just get to like the

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Speaker 3: moments between Sean Penn in that sequence and Chase Infinity

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Speaker 3: and really drive that tension. I was like, I've been

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Speaker 3: speaking to you all the time hall Cans, they just

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Speaker 3: discovered this. And it's the same with Ejo when she

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Speaker 3: was talking about playing Roomy in K Pop, Well, she's

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Speaker 3: said she's the singing voice of Rumy but also connecting

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Speaker 3: to the character. And you know, she told me how

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Speaker 3: she related to like just how much It's characters are

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Speaker 3: perfectionist and hard working to the fault, and that's like

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Speaker 3: a demon that she had to overcome. And then at

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Speaker 3: the end of the panel, conversation. I think my question

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Speaker 3: to everybody in the panel was like, you know, what

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Speaker 3: is a movie that inspired you or a song or

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Speaker 3: a book? And she was like Leo and Stitch and

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Speaker 3: then she did this incredible stitch impression that the internet

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Speaker 3: has gone wild. It's two hours and the audience laps

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Speaker 3: it up.

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Speaker 1: And tell us about the audience. Is it truly this

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Speaker 1: is a festival that reaches Santa Barbaras or do you

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Speaker 1: have a lot of people coming in from the outside.

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Speaker 4: We have a lot of people coming in from LA

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Speaker 4: but it really, you know, the large majority of that

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Speaker 4: is students from UCSB, the local voters, the local academy

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Speaker 4: voters who live up in Santa Barbara and the adjacent areas,

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Speaker 4: and yeah, just film lovers in general.

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Speaker 1: What did you take away in terms of the mood,

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Speaker 1: how people at the top of their game in the

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Speaker 1: below the line community. There's a lot going on in entertainment,

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Speaker 1: particularly in southern California with all of the challenges, all

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Speaker 1: of the drama. There's consolidation that is how happening that

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Speaker 1: is surely going to affect the job market. And then

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Speaker 1: there's also always the specter of AI and I have

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Speaker 1: no doubt that these were things that come up. And

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Speaker 1: these are creative artisans at the top of their game.

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Speaker 1: How are they feeling about the future of the business?

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Speaker 1: Touch specifically on the AI of it all.

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Speaker 3: So many of the artisans, especially in the panel conversation,

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Speaker 3: saying that the bear Cross will not be replaced by AI.

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Speaker 3: AI cannot do your job.

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Speaker 5: If you are looking to get into the field, get

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Speaker 5: a manual, go to libraries, read the books, study it,

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Speaker 5: learn it and craft you know and build.

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Speaker 1: Everything by AD. I think that was the key takeaway.

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Speaker 1: Eric Satan, who was the VFX supervisor.

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Speaker 3: Who we honored for Avatar, Fire and Ash, got a

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Speaker 3: huge round of applause when he said that James Cameron's

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Speaker 3: and the entire team this film was made without the

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Speaker 3: use of AI.

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Speaker 1: The same with the Frankenstein artisans. We all know Giama

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Speaker 1: del Tour. Everything in that movie handmade, handcrafted.

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Speaker 3: Again, huge round of a clause. It was very subtle,

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Speaker 3: but the message is very clear. D jobs can never

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Speaker 3: be replaced by AI.

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Speaker 1: You cannot stop the march of technology, always towards faster,

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Speaker 1: less expensive. That's economics one O one in terms of

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Speaker 1: what happens in a maturing market. But there's economics one

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Speaker 1: on one, and then there's also human beings one on one.

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Speaker 1: Benefit of you just being so tapped into this community

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Speaker 1: really gives us a sense of where people are thinking jazz.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for working tirelessly up and down California and

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Speaker 1: many other places. So appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: As we close out today's episode, here's a few things

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Speaker 1: we're watching for once again. The Berlin Film Festival starts

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Speaker 1: on Thursday. Variety will be all over it with digital

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Speaker 1: dailies and print dailies, so please keep your eyes peeled

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Speaker 1: to Variety dot com and on our social platforms. The

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Speaker 1: Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music. Library of

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Speaker 1: Congress has teamed with the Rogers and Hammerstein Estate to

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Speaker 1: present a touring exhibition on the original musical, which packed

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Speaker 1: such a wallop and has delivered so many indelible pop

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Speaker 1: standards into our musical lexicon. It starts today in Chattanooga, Tennessee,

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Speaker 1: home of the Chattanooga Chucchu, and runs through early August.

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Speaker 1: In Denver, it stops at the Pantagious Theater in Hollywood

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Speaker 1: in May. Before we go. Congrats to all of this

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Speaker 1: year's Oscar Nominees. Today is the day for the annual

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Speaker 1: Oscar Nominees Luncheon, where they take the class photo. Everybody's

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Speaker 1: still potentially a winner. The big night comes on March fifteenth.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. This episode was written and reported by

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Speaker 1: me Cynthia Littleton, with contributions from Elsa Kaslasi and Jazz

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Speaker 1: Tanke styx Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a review

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Speaker 1: at the podcast platform of your choice, and please tune

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Speaker 1: in tomorrow for another episode of Daily Variety