The current rapid development of some Asian economies and the projected economic dominance of Asia in the 21st century are reasons enough to call it “the Asian century.” But will Asia’s economic growth entail an increase in political power and cultural influence? In this article the author looks at the topic through the lens of the film industry, a field of activity with a plethora of intertwined economic, political, and cultural factors. Cinema is studied here as an industry that produces “meanings” and is coupled with the concept of “strategic narratives.” According to some statistics, Asian cinema is becoming increasingly important in terms of the size of national film markets, but for a variety of reasons the U.S. remains the world’s most important exporter of motion pictures. The position of Asian countries in world cinematography is undermined by such global institutions as award ceremonies and film festivals that are held in the U.S. and Europe and tend to favor Western filmmakers. This article emphasizes the dramatic influence of digital transformation on modern cinematography and the opportunities it opens up for Asian film producers in creating a new, global streaming services market. Finally, the paper discusses development prospects for the film industries in four Asian leaders in this field—China, Japan, South Korea, and India. Japan and South Korea are likely to increase their cooperation with the U.S. in cinematography. There are great opportunities for cooperation between the film industries of India and China, but they are heavily dependent on political relations between the two nations. China’s film industry is expected to continue to develop rapidly.
Статья посвящена сравнительному анализу влияния стриминговых сервисов (Netflix и др.) на индустрию кино и сериалов в Китае, Японии, Южной Корее и, соответственно, на ресурсы и стратегии мягкой силы этих стран. Автор рассматривает особенности и факторы успеха стриминговых сервисов в сравнении с традиционной бизнес-моделью киноиндустрии. Исследование показало, что Китай очень ограниченно сотрудничает с американскими сервисами, не предоставляет им доступ на национальный рынок и не стремится продвигать продукцию национальной киноиндустрии посредством цифровых платформ – тенденция, которую автор объясняет стремлением сохранить культурный суверенитет. Южнокорейские профессионалы индустрии кино, напротив, активно сотрудничают с Netflix, что вписывается в общую стратегию по продвижению культурной продукции страны, основанную на использовании цифровых медиа и социальных сетей как канала дистрибуции. Эта тенденция поддерживается правительством Южной Кореи в рамках национальной стратегии мягкой силы. В Японии в последние годы также интенсифицируется сотрудничество производителей аудивиозуального контента (в первую очередь анимации) и американских стриминговых сервисов, чему способствуют ситуация на внутреннем рынке японских креативных индустрий, старение населения и необходимость в диверсификации доходов. Сотрудничество с глобальными цифровыми платформами, однако, сопряжено с рисками передачи управления национальными культурными индустриями под внешнее управление, размывания культурной идентичности страны. В заключении обсуждаются проблемы, которые рассмотренная тема ставит перед исследователями, подчеркивается необходимость учитывать стратегические задачи стран при оценке эффективности их стратегий мягкой силы.
The article examines the reasons for Netflix's economic success. It is noted that Netflix's growing popularity is an example of the processes of digitization and globalization characteristic of modern cultural industries. Among the main reasons for Netflix's economic success are an effective automatic system of recommendations and a high degree of vertical integration – a combination of the service of all stages of the film business: from the decision to produce content to its display to final consumer. The impact of Netflix on the practice of consuming films in the digital age has been considered, noting that the automatic system of recommendations used by the service and algorithms of search optimization can pose a threat to the free choice of consumers. Netflix's success is seen in terms of the West's unsymmetrical influence on global culture. The author concludes that Netflix's model is an example of the growing commercialization of cultural industries, the commodification of culture and carries certain risks of an aesthetic and cultural nature. However, it shows economic feasibility. For minimization of the related sociocultural risks it is important to keep alive a variety of forms of cultural production and consumption – a task in which the state can play a significant role.
For the last two or three decades, concepts such as ‘creative industries’ and ‘creative economy’ have become widely recognized and influential in both academic literature and business practice. Creative industries are believed to be a key engine of economic growth in the current era. In Japan, development of the nation’s creative industries is an essential priority of the state, and various measures aimed at achieving this goal have been implemented, which are often collectively referred to as ‘Cool Japan’ strategy. It is assumed that cultural and creative industries present Japan with a possibility to revitalize the national economy after the long period of unsatisfactory performance known as ‘the Lost Decade’ and to strengthen the country’s position on the global political arena. There are numerous academic studies dedicated to the analysis of ‘Cool Japan’ strategy and the accession of Japan’s creative industries’ performance. The authors of these studies, who are often sceptical of ‘Cool Japan’ strategy, highlight several factors hindering Japanese creative exports, such as insufficient international marketing efforts and underdeveloped international distribution networks. Furthermore, it is asserted that Japanese creative exports are restricted by the Japanese content producers’ hesitation to switch to digital technologies and by their focus on catering to the domestic market (‘Galapagos syndrome’). Collaboration between Japanese animation producers and Netflix is a notable exception. National creative industries policy could play an important role in overcoming of all challenges mentioned above.
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