The big pictures: sources of national competitiveness in the global movie industry

Abstract

The competitive dynamics of the global film industry are not frozen in time. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) studios have pursued an utterly transparent strategy of buying out or otherwise dominating their domestic and international distribution chains, while generally avoiding cooperation with other nations’ producers. This strategy has gone unchallenged largely because other nations and film production companies have lacked perspective on their own position and potential in the global film industry. With keener use of existing tools, including co-production, these countries can establish themselves. For instance, Canada, having co-production treaties with both mainland China and Hong Kong while no other nation has co-production treaties with either, has uniquely positioned its film industry to enter the Chinese mass market either directly or via Hong Kong’s free trade without the crippling import expenses that other foreign producers face. However, Canada’s producers to date have made less creative use of the co-production treaty with China, using it to more easily access low-cost animation inputs.