At the start of the year, President Donald Trump appointed three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood: Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight.
As the 100th day of the presidency approaches, it remains unclear exactly what they’ve been up to, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Trump said the three actors, all vocal supporters of the president, would be his “eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest.”
He added that Hollywood had “lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries,” but that his three ambassadors would be part of the effort to bring it “back — bigger, better, and stronger than ever before!”
Pamela Buzick Kim is the co-founder of Stay in LA, a campaigning organization that works to boost local film and TV production.
“We have reached out to all three and never heard back,” she told the LA Times.
She added that the radio silence has prompted concerns that the ambassadors are “just a bumper sticker.”
“Are they going to actually understand what the needs and issues are and fight for the industry as a whole here in the States?” she added.
A California Film Commission spokesperson told the paper that its executive director, Colleen Bell, had a “productive” discussion with Voight - but didn’t share additional information.
A person connected to the entertainment business task force formed by LA Mayor Karen Bass last year told the LA Times that they didn’t know of any discussions with the envoys.
Democratic Rep. Laura Friedman, a former film producer, told the outlet: “I haven’t heard of anyone having any outreach from anyone from that group.”
“It doesn’t seem like a serious effort to me,” she added.
The U.S. film and TV industry has struggled to rebound from the pandemic, labor strikes, and the recent wildfires. Significant incentives have also prompted productions to move out of California to states like Georgia and New Mexico, as well as countries such as Australia, the U.K., and Canada.
The nonprofit FilmLA released a report this month showing that in the first quarter of 2025, on-location production decreased 22.4 percent compared to last year.
Buzick Kim told the LA Times that when Stallone, Gibson, and Voight were announced as ambassadors, “I think we were all curious about what those three think and what they think is the issue. Because I don’t know if any of them have a history of speaking out on this front.”
Gibson told the paper in a statement that he was “surprised” to get the nod.
“I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised. Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can,” he said.
After Voight was appointed, his business partner, Steven Paul, a film producer and chair of the SP Media Group, said in a press release that he had been named Voight’s “special advisor.”
“We will be working within the industry to find ways to bring runaway productions back to America while working with the government to explore a potential federal tax incentive tied to a pro-American cultural standard, among other initiatives that support independent American productions,” the release said.
The statement indicated that Voight, Paul, and Trump had a conversation in February about an “America First” film production initiative.
