Veep creator Armando Iannucci insists Hollywood is scared to finance Donald Trump project
Veep creator Armando Iannucci is planning a new project based on Donald Trump's speeches, but he's struggling to get financial support from the United States.
Veep creator Armando Iannucci has claimed Hollywood is too nervous to fund his Donald Trump project.
The 61-year-old Scottish showrunner - who was the mind behind HBO's political satire, as well as BBC's classic British political sitcom The Thick Of It - has admitted plans for a screen project based on the US President's speeches isn't getting any support in America.
Speaking at a Creative UK event, he said of chats with US buyers: "I got a lot of, ‘Yeah, you wouldn’t get the money for that at the moment, I’m afraid.’
"So I said, ‘Why not?’ [They replied] ‘Well, you know, if you want what comes with it…' ”
Armando has been warned that pursuing the idea in the US would be met with backlash.
He added: "[I’ve been] talking to journalists out there who say, ‘If you’re on the list, your life is made miserable.’
"[The message was], the inland revenue will come calling, you better lawyer up, you will spend the next four years just weighed down by legal issues you have to get through.”
Armando - who also created Hugh Laurie's space sitcom Avenue 5 - didn't reveal whether the project would be a film or TV series, while he is open to the idea of pushing forward without American financing.
He teased: "Let's see what happens."
However, he pointed out that even film projects in the UK are being impacted, particularly after Trump's threat of a trariff on non-US movies.
He said: "Nobody knows how it works, but that’s not the point.
"The point is, there will be financiers in America about to give money to a project going, ‘Do you know what? Let’s just see how this plays out before I hand that over.’
"And so you’ll have another project sitting there."
Last last month, Trump insisted he was reviving a policy idea he previously floated earlier this year, noting he would set a 100 percent levy on international film productions.
He wrote on Truth Social: “Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby’.
“California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit. Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100 percent Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
