Week 3- Chinese Films in the US: Not a full house

This article is about a phenomenon that has been happening for a while- Chinese films in the US are not fairing as well as they hoped. Ironically, one of the main problems is the audience- there aren't many westerners there, and it's causing ticket sales to suffer. According to the statistics from EntGroup, international revenue for Chinese films declined to about $170 million in 2012 from about $330 million in 2011. In the past, Chinese films were highly successful in the US market. Movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon dominated the box office, and made $128 million. 

I found this article to be extremely interesting, because one wouldn't usually think that the reason why Chinese films are failing in the box office is because of the Chinese audience itself. The main audiences of today's Chinese films in the US are mainly Chinese students. The Chinese films today are played only in a very limited number of theaters and last for a very short time, so that may also be one of the problems that they face.

The past successes of the Chinese films in the us market was surprising to me, for I had no idea about the scope of the success of certain movies. The decline, however, can be explained by Stanley Rosen, a professor at USC. "The genre of Chinese film being distributed in the US has also changed. The most successful Chinese films in the US market before 2006 were action movies or martial arts movies, and dramas directed by famous directors such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Wong Kar-wai. On the 2012 list of the most successfully distributed Chinese films in the US, the number of action movies or martial arts movies declined and romantic comedies increased." This change in genre vastly affects the sales of movies, and results in a ranking Chinese film industry.

Despite these hardships, distributors in china still remain hopeful. They believe the film industry is in a transition period, and that the digital platform is the future. Theaters may be for the big budget, but they will always have extremely profitable franchises to build upon. It will be an interesting and exciting journey to see where this film industry goes in the future. 

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2013-08/30/content_16932154.htm

Munoz, J. (2014, March 24). CinemaCon: Hollywood Tested By New Distribution Models. Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/film/features/new-distribution-models-create-tug-of-war-between-studios-theaters-1201144965/ 

Week Two- Lions Gate and CBS Films Sign Movie Distribution Agreement

Recently, the Lions Gate Entertainment Corp acquired the distribution rights to all of CBS Films' releases. Starting with young adult comedy The Duff, which will be released in 2015, Lions Gate will arrange and organize all distribution of films produced by CBS Films on both domestic and international levels. Meanwhile, CBS Films will continue to produce movies, and plans on using the money saved on distribution to improve other aspects of production.

This is an extremely beneficial agreement to both sides, for CBS Films have now gained access to Lions Gate's extremely vast and powerful distribution network. Upon further investigation, I also found that Lions Gate's distribution of select films are under supervision of NBCUniversal Television Distribution under Universal Pictures. Lions Gate, on the other hand, now have access to a plethora of quality content.

Doing more research, I discovered that this is not the first merger Lions Gate has done recently. In Oct of 2014, they expanded the domestic home distribution agreement with Miramax, and claimed another 250 titles. Through Blu-Ray, DVD, EST, and Internet Video on Demand, the total number of Miramax titles now increased to well over 700. In addition to the Miramax titles, Lions Gate also had distribution deals with Sudiocanal and A&E. “Making movies is only half of the equation – today’s marketplace demands a strategic approach to marketing and distribution that is fluid and creative, and no company has demonstrated more vision and innovation than Lionsgate,” said CBS Films president Terry Press.

How will this affect Young Adult film's distribution? It may be surprising to hear, but Lions Gate is now a serious contender within the media circle against other huge distribution companies, like Comcast Corp and Walt Disney Co. Why? Thanks to the massive success of the young adult film franchise the Hunger Games. It is believed that the third installment, Mockingjay: Part 1, will take in as much as one billion dollars worldwide.

With this massive merger, we can expect many more of these symbiotic partnerships. Steve Beeks, the Lions Gate co-chief operating officer said that  their  partnership "unites two companies with powerful brands, complementary strengths and similar entrepreneurial cultures in a distribution agreement that extends the terrific Lionsgate/CBS relationship.” With the future of this company looking brighter than ever, it is clear that fire is catching within the distribution sector of film production. 

Article- http://variety.com/2014/film/news/lionsgate-to-take-over-distribution-of-cbs-films-wide-releases-exclusive-1201355190/ 

McNary, D. (2014, November 13). Lionsgate to Take Over Distribution of CBS Films’ Wide Releases. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/film/news/lionsgate-to-take-over-distribution-of-cbs-films-wide-releases-exclusive-1201355190/