Tariffs, Gatekeepers & The Studio-Owned Streamer Scam: Why Hollywood's Real Enemy Isn't Overseas—It's In-House By Filmmaker Berserk

Tariffs, Gatekeepers & The Studio-Owned Streamer Scam: Why Hollywood's Real Enemy Isn't Overseas—It's In-House

By Filmmaker Berserk

The U.S. government is talking tariffs—again. This time, it’s not about steel or soybeans. It’s about Hollywood. Yes, you heard that right.

With more major studios outsourcing their productions to cheaper international locations—Canada, Eastern Europe, even Southeast Asia—the government wants to slap tariffs on movies made outside U.S. borders. Their justification? “Protecting American jobs and preserving our entertainment industry.” That is a good intention- but even they probably don't realize the magnitude of the business operations underneath this polished and dream fueled business set in delusion. 

So let’s be clear: that’s a smokescreen. A damn good one. But the real cancer in the film business isn't international production.

It’s the fraud-friendly infrastructure right here at home:
👎 The distributors who fudge reporting and take the revenue.
👎 The producers who play gatekeeper while pocketing fees you never agreed to.
👎 The streaming platforms that are no longer neutral—they’re owned by the studios themselves.

This isn't about national pride. It's about studio control, corporate consolidation, and the illusion of choice.
And the government’s new “tariff plan”? It doesn’t hit any of that. I wish so bad it did. Instead, it punishes the independent filmmaker who found a way to make their dream affordable abroad. Please government, let me explain to you that independent filmmakers can't cut a break through outside sources- we have to create and cut our own breaks! We are preyed upon constantly and by everyone! 

I know first-hand after Executive Producing a Feature film, making it SAG, hiring an Oscar winning Producing team who guaranteed distribution- they drug us along over budget, kept us in a deficit and ultimately, we spent 1.3 million only to walk away with a SAG expensive film- with no deal.

So, I moved on to another distributor Vision Films-I later learned that she signed us based on that long list of credits (your own team is the loyal fan base), we were unaware at the time, as they stole the film and destroyed marketing by charging us a $30k "marketing fee". I saw red flags and thought- what?

They (the distributor) would take first in revenue on this back end "Deal". Distributors know that the actual marketing was done by our cast and crew upon the release.

Distributors' secret is that the most money a movie will ever make is upon the release because everyone who worked on it, shares their work with friends, family and on their social media just before the distributor holds a scheming "red carpet event" - distributors watch as all the cast, crew, their friends, families share it on social and dollars roll in on rentals and sharing by the cast. The distributor banks on that first in revenue, then revenue stops-

They go onto the next film, while you wait for a payout that never comes. They charge the next film for technical fixes and all kinds of services, then the next red carpet where they watch the cast and crew promote and rent the movie.

Think about it- a distributor signs a movie- takes first in revenue say at $30k, spends only a couple months to get that movie out onto streaming- they hold red carpet to make you feel like something special is happening, then its all over and they move onto the next victim film team!

Now lets look at their business model, Vision films has about 1000 movies in their library. $30,000.00 per film X 1000 = $30 Million.

I have a lot of information like this within Filmmaker Berserk detailing the business process and how filmmakers can work with it now that you know what is up. 

With this business model- they have to keep the fear in talent and industry professionals. This means they have the money to do just that and pay off institutions who educate and employ you all to be on their side, thus solidifying their gates.

Oh and if you talk about it, you are blacklisted. Everyone runs in fear from you as they are desperate to keep the dream and the facade alive. They have a heck of a business going, don't they?

Then on top of all this Hell- the distributors report filmmakers in a deficit every quarter! Thats right, they say the film owners, owe THEM money while they are sitting on the sidelines of another red carpet cast of victims, watching that cast and crew unknowingly be the loyal fans of their own work!

We were reported in a deficit of $46,000.00 every quarter. For what? We spent 1.3 Million on the motion picture, you get 20% of the earnings on my asset for NOTHING! Apparently it's not enough, these greedy people want more. 

After 24 years in the industry, working with Investors who have access to the reporting (Directors do not have access to the reporting if the film was funded by an outside source) Directors who do not fund the movies are hired to provide their services during production and they do not have any idea how much their movies earn. Those that do, they will provide receipts. 

We see every filmmaker on one knee with a tear in their eye grieving loss in some form on every production- I made it my life's work to educate-

 I'm getting the funding back of those who believed in me- when I said let's invest together, only to get taken.

I'm doing it through helping others see the business model for what it is, grieve a bit and then build your empire.

Filmmakers have an avenue now with Filmmaker Berserk. They must do the work on the back end to get there- but all this dreamy bull has to go if we want to see returns or fame on our productions. 

What They Won’t Tell You in Film School- the further I dive into this through my online business- the more I witness of these gatekeepers holding hands far and wide, this includes the education system for tuition paying film entrepreneurs, where they also make students sign a back-end deal to profit off their student's work. 

The film industry’s biggest problem isn’t “foreign locations.”
It’s the invisible money game that starts when you define your budget and continues long after you wrap your movie right through to the exhibition of it on the streaming platforms, whether by distributor or self-distribution means. 

Here’s what most filmmakers search every day in desperation:

• “How to finance an independent film”

• “What is a completion guarantee?”

• “How to get a sales agent”

• “What are film deliverables for distribution?”

• “What is gap financing?”

• “Film distributor red flags”

• “How to protect IP in film”

• “How to pitch a movie to Netflix”

• “What is negative pickup?”

• “How to build a film brand”

• “Is self-distribution worth it?”

• “How do streamers pay filmmakers?”

• “Who provides gap loans for films?”

We get it. Because we lived it. Because we got f*cked by the very system that told us we were “playing it safe.”

Tariffs Won’t Save Filmmakers. Education Will.

At Filmmaker Berserk, we’re not crying about location tax credits. We’re not wasting breath begging for better streaming revenue splits.

We’re building a f*cking army.

An army of filmmakers who understand:

• Every clause in a distribution contract

• What producers’ reps actually do (and how they rob you blind)

• Which deliverables are battle-tested, not just made-up bulls*t

• How to vet a sales agent before they vanish with your back end

• How to turn your film into a brand—not just a piece of content

Because Berserkers don’t wait for permission. We build empires.

What the Industry Should Be Policing

If the government really cared about “protecting filmmakers,” here’s what they’d be enforcing:

• Oversight on distribution reporting

• Transparency laws for producer fees

• Regulation of studio-owned streaming services acting as both buyer and seller

• Crackdowns on “paper” funding scams where middlemen take credit (and money) they didn’t earn

Instead? They’re talking about taxing the few filmmakers who managed to stay afloat by shooting smart outside the U.S.

It’s a joke. And not the funny kind.

Your Movie Is a Business. It's important to learn to Run It Like One.

The Filmmaker Berserk Master Course is the anti-film school.
It’s not theory. It’s straight from the battlefield.

We give you:
✅ Full distributor contract breakdowns
✅ SAG vs non-union financial comparisons
✅ Post-production budgets with real invoice receipts
✅ Quality control failures (and how to pass the first time)
✅ How to write sales decks and pitch like a f*cking assassin
✅ Real-world film deliverables checklists
✅ Email templates to sales agents and reps (no begging, just deals)
✅ The blueprint for building monthly revenue with your film
✅ NFT licensing, direct-to-audience strategies, and more

And we hold every single piece of golden paperwork from a feature film that went through hell and lived to tell it. I wanted to write about these tariffs because Im so sick of the real problem being ignored! 

If distributors don't pay out- how will Investors feel about funding projects and providing SAG jobs? Then SAG treats the investor like the enemy forcing more jobs onto production, paying bonds and minimums while handing the film over to a distributor who doesn't pay- then coming after the film owner for bank wires or they will be blacklisted. Yeah- I went through all of this. THEN I see cast from my movie- who got paid well by me, who had set demands, only to go work for free on a production after with the same team. 

Changes need to be made- one filmmaker at a time. 

Whether people get the program or not, I don't care- but it is here, available and life changing. 

Final Thought:

Don’t fear tariffs. Fear ignorance.
Because if you don’t know how the business really works, you’ll get taxed by every distributor, agent, union, university and streamer you meet—long before the government gets their cut.

I'm Krista Grotte Saxon- feel free to contact me to shake hands, yell at me or just inquire. I stand firm.

[email protected]

Join the Rebellion.
Become the Brand.
Be the F*cking BERSERKER.

Vist Filmmakerberserk.com