The Regional Rootedness of China’s Film Industry: Cluster Development and Attempts at Cross-Location Integration

China’s film industry has its historical roots across the four geographical divisions of northern, eastern, western, and southern China. Each of these four film-producing regions has their own characteristics with divergent historical heritages and cultural resources. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) the division of administrative regions included a territorially divided management policy of film enterprises. Such policies promoted the regional development of China’s film industry while simultaneously exacerbated the complex contradictions between and among the clusters produced. In the 1950s, four major state-owned film studios were established in Beijing, Shanghai, and Changchun. Under the planned economy model, films were purchased and sold exclusively by the state through these studios. Since the 1990s, China’s film industry has undergone deep institutional reform, with film distribution and exhibition gradually moving towards the market and private enterprises beginning to actively participate in film production and distribution. The film industry has since begun to actively explore the generative potential of the existing industrial clusters, experimenting with film co-production and cross-regional business operations across the regions. With the goal of constructing a film and television alliance, the film industry has sought to maximize the advantages of different regions to promote the integration of these historically and regionally distinct sectors in an open and tolerant manner, laying the foundation for Chinese films to leapfrog into the global film market.

Otherwise

This chapter shows that if seen from the film distribution-exhibition end, film history in India appears remarkably different from the iconic ‘family films’ which played in the premier theatres. It analyses the fringe exhibition sector, in which action, horror, sleaze genres flourished via dubbing, remakes, informal rehashing and insertion of pornographic ‘bits’. Situating the eruption of Bhojpuri cinema vis-a-vis these genres and their working-class patrons, the chapter establishes its continuity with the informal media economy of pirated disks, microSD data transfers and illegal settlements, all of which constitute the suboptimal transactions of Bhojpuri songs, music videos, films but also Hindi/Tamil/Telugu action films. Arguing that these transactions constitute the ‘meanwhile’ temporality of transitory urban settlements perpetually negotiating their legality with urban planners and administrators, the chapter situates a meanwhile subjectivity of the provincial migrants which remains sandwiched between the superhighways of global modernity and the crumbling infrastructures of provincial life.

Im Vestibül der Algorithmen

Online-access to audiovisual content is rapidly changing the system of film distribution and film presentation. The streaming portal acts as a threshold for online access to moving image works. Algorithms and artificial intelligence are increasingly taking over the selection and curation of audiovisual content and direct viewers’ attention via personalised recommendation systems. The article outlines the market development towards online access to audiovisual content and analyses selected aspects such as artwork (thumbnails) and genres to explore the functionalities of accessory (paratexts) to the film for recommendation systems in video streaming portals and data analysis. From the analysis, the article derives preliminary considerations on requirements that result from the use of artificial intelligence technologies for promoting film and visual literacy in cultural heritage institutions.

Peculiarities of Ukrainian Films Distribution at the Present Stage

The relevance is determined by the need to reconsider the attitude to the traditional system of film distribution in the new reality. Under conditions of quarantine, the film and the audience actively interact mainly outside of cinemas. Current distribution practices have changed significantly over the last year. Cinemas have almost lost movies and viewers, and filmmakers are trying to minimize the negative effects with new content delivery channels. It is important for various representatives of the film industry to quickly and effectively adapt to new conditions of film consumption. The methodology. We used the methods of analysis and synthesis in the study of certain characteristics of the domestic rental repertoire, rental conditions of national films, audience preferences. The comparison revealed the features of distribution at the present stage, new opportunities for the distribution of film products in the modern audiovisual space. The method of generalization is used in determining the relevance of study issues, the degree of its theoretical development, identifying positive and negative features in the film practice of Ukrainian distributors, trends in modern film distribution. The purpose of the article is to analyze and highlight the trends in the distribution of Ukrainian films. The results. Perspective channels of content distribution in the conditions of crisis of cinema rental are considered. It is proved that different types of television, online distribution segment in practice show interest in new Ukrainian cinema. It is established that Ukrainian film producers and distributors partially use modern mechanisms of distribution of national films. The topicality. It can be stated that the topic of distribution of national films in the current conditions of cinema crisis is insufficiently studied. There is a lack of study in this regard. We have made an attempt to analyze in detail the topical issues of the development of Ukrainian cinema, which have not received sufficient comprehensive coverage of modern domestic science. The practical significance. The gradual recovery of the film distribution industry and the film industry is associated with modern methods of delivering films to the audience. The analysis shows the need for further study in this direction. The materials of study can be used in the development of the distribution strategy of national films, in the preparation and practical activities of various representatives of the film industry.

Film distribution by video streaming platforms across Southeast Asia during COVID-19

The pandemic of COVID-19, which forced cinema theaters to close and left exhibitors without revenue over a long period, may have dramatically changed the film business and its future. This paper seeks to examine the changing dynamic of film distribution through video streaming in the Southeast Asia region as a result of the impact of the pandemic. Some films may be chosen for video streaming media platforms as their alternative option for release into theatrical distribution. This pandemic also has changed film-viewing habits and behaviors among audiences. Several news reports have substantiated that Southeast Asian viewers are streaming more online video content due to COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic it appears that there is an accelerated shift to streaming media platforms across Southeast Asia countries. Local streaming platforms feed users their unique and culturally distinctive locally produced content which could be distinguished from that offered by global players. In 2020, some new streaming media platforms were launched for distributing film content to their targeted markets locally and internationally. Through the use of a review of trade and business press as well as interview, this paper attempts to identify and present areas of regional change and regional players which deserve systematic discussion and analysis.