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Marketing International. Movie Films Worldwide. November 2010. 1. Why have American movies been so successful over the last half century?. Economics and marketplace conditions Massive American home market ( fixed costs are amortized => exporting at marginal costs)
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Marketing International Movie Films Worldwide November 2010
1. Why have American movies been so successful over the last half century? • Economics and marketplace conditions • Massive American home market(fixed costs are amortized => exporting at marginal costs) • Important financial resources for movies • The Hollywood cluster • Powerful distribution with ‘lock-in’ systems • Huge marketing investments before and after the movie appears in theaters
1. Why have American movies been so successful over the last half century? • Story, Genre and Pace • The Method : Adoption of an introspective, non verbal style in interpreting roles • Easy, simple and universal story, roles are often stereotyped • Minimization and simplification of dialogue, no contextual/local cues • Emphasis on visuals, happy ending, sophisticated use of music • English is an international language • Use of popular/well-known actors
1. What was the contribution of the American melting pot ? • Producers in America had to appeal to their local market to different ethnic, religious and social groups (very heterogeneous – melting pot - like the international market). • Directors and producers come from different social, national, linguistic, and cultural background • => They have « at home » what it necessary to create a global movie
1. Was the fascination for the American culture and way of life the prominent reason for that success? • The « American Dream » has been loosing attractiveness ... • ... It might have played a role some years ago • But particularly now, movie films which are conceived for the global market have few local US cues. • Many really local US films are not for export
2. What is the future of local movies? • Local “cultural products” => rely on viewers who enjoy identifying to and recognizing themselves in local movies (e.g. German comedies, Indian love movies or French psychological movies). => quite difficult to export • Financial limitations : smaller base to amortize fixed costs, need for public subsidies, limited capacity for marketing expenses • Local movie theatres networks are often US: launch? • Local cues and a certain originality and exotic can be appealing. However, it must be «digestible» for cultural outsiders. • The choice is a difficult one. However a decision is required.
2. What is the future of local movies? • No clear trend difficult to prospect for the future from this graphic because figures fluctuate over years • Many direct and indirect subsidies • There is a market for local movies
3. If you were a ROW film director ... • Follow the key success factors of US movie films • Choose a scenario based on universal appeals in terms of action, science fiction, suspense (comedy? history?) • Clear storytellingwith little or no cultural idiosyncrasies, reducing language content(or no dialogues at all : l’Ours, la Guerre du feu) • Popular actors, music • Making the movie in English (to avoid dubbing for the US market, subtitles ) • Promotion, marketing, distribution agreements. (problems with the US block booking system) • Differentiate the films from the ones on the market • Coproduction with other countries, agreement with TV channels and derived products should also be considered • Make a pure piece of Art, based on thorough aesthetics • Story based on a global bestseller novel (etc)
4. Should film making be seen as an industry or as an art? • Originally: art. But now technical, financial, human resources needed are huge. Each movie is a business per se. It is an investment and revenues are essential. Now, it is consumer goods (e.g. byproducts) rather than a piece of art. • commercial success versus? In line with? artistic value • Blockbuster (mass consumption) vs independant films (films d’auteur) • debate within the WTO on cultural products : exception culturelle and déclaration de Mons
4. Should film making be seen as an industry or as an art? • Movie films excluded of the final act of the Uruguay Round (1995) • The actual state: • Article IV of the GATT treaty - The market share of US movie - Directive « Television without frontiers »- « Déclaration des Mons » • The US negotiators wants: • 49% of the EU TV channels to be free of any ruling • Information and pre-consultation of the American government before EU takes any step for legislating about movie films and public subsidies • Sharing of the tax on DVDs in proportion of the market shares
4. Should film making be seen as an industry or as an art? • The « cultural exception » (Déclaration de Mons) • Maintenance and development of all national or EU financial help policies in the audio-visual sector • Exemption from these programms of the most favoured nation clause • Maintenance of the power to regulate image transmission (broadcasting) technologies for the EU; • Freedom to develop in the future all policies likely to help the audio-visual sector • guarantee from the U.S. governments that these issues would not be further debated during future WTO negociations