Showbiz looks to read Romney tea leaves

With Mitt Romney now the official Republican presidential nominee, the question for Hollywood is what a Romney presidency would mean for showbiz.

Even with Clint Eastwood appearing at the convention, and Romney having gathered an array of endorsements and celebrities to support him, the candidate has fewer industry ties than John McCain in 2008 and George W. Bush when he first ran in 2000. Romney has never spoken to Friends of Abe, the fellowship of showbiz conservatives that has hosted a who's who of Republican leaders and popular figures, including Paul Ryan. Nor has he held a Hollywood-centric fundraiser like the previous GOP standard-bearers had by this point. The pressing question is how Romney's views would translate on the policy front at a critical time for the industry as it grapples with challenges including piracy, trade and runaway production. Romney has seldom addressed issues specific to Hollywood, but his campaign has said that he will offer robust protections for intellectual property; still, in a presidential debate he came out against the Stop Online Piracy Act, the anti-piracy legislation that was sidelined in January amid protests from Internet activists and the tech industry.