Name of Researcher Hoiting Lau (Student Number: 81126051)

Research Project: Film industry in Mainland China review and analysis

Affiliation: Graduate school of media and governance

 

 

Appreciate for the help of Mori fund, I am allowed to do may site visit during the past half year in mainland china. The fund help with my tight budget and greatly push up my research level in depth.

 

From Late November,2012 to early February,2013 , I have been travelling to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai as well as Macau for my interview. The interview location and progress has slightly changes as planned early. Thanks for the kindles of the interviewee; they have broadened my networking and research groups.

 

My first visit back to Mainland China is arrival in Hong Kong for arranging interview through networking with some insiders in the industry. I have been able to meet some distributor and arrange interview for January and February in hong kong and shanghai. Informal talks are made during the process and help me to widen my way of thinking, on the other hand recommendation has been made on visit on exhibition site, which are still under construction in mainland china. After arrangement and connection made, my formal interview progress started off from late January to February.

 

As of limited on fund, I cannot spend so much money on hotel but only for transportation and flight ticket. I stayed over at my friends as to save for flight ticket fees via difference location.

Many of my days are in construction site in the suburb as interviewee are brining me along and explaining difference stage of changes in the exhibition and distribution sectors. On site experience is very useful for me as it give rise to question on my point of view being a researcher as well as audience and owners. According to the interviewee, vertical integration is the big focus on the film industry during this few years.

 

Part of my interview questions are sampled as below

For Distributors	For Exhibitors
1.How often will you go to the screening and film     festival for import films? How many films do one    distribution chain usually imports per year?	1.     How many screens and new cinema are built         and planning to build within this year?
2.If the quota system rises to 100 or without quota    scheme ,do you think it will boost the distribution    market?	2. What is the percentage of the total revenue for     selling food and beverages, rent the cinema for     social event?
3. As of the rapid raises in the number of new     screens and co-production cinema, do you think       is the golden time to distribute more contents?	3. Is group tickets and half price day essential for      the profit making and promotion the chain of     cinema?
4. How does it affect the revenue making?	4. How do you think of the integration of distribution     and exhibition with new capitals?
5. Without any connection to the market, is it      possible to distribute films in a revenue making      way?	5. Do you expect the regulation to change and     government will provide more subsidies to boost     the growth of the film industry?
6. Is Quota system actually helping the balance of    the domestic market in Mainland China or is it     Damaging its growth?	6. How do you think about the failure of Taiwan     movie market after the deregulation of quota     system? If the same case happens to china, do     you take it as valuable time for profit making?

 

Overall, with application on the mori fund, enable me to push up my knowledge and allow me to go through stages on my research.

My next stage is to interview professional working in film industry in japan, hoping that I can add up my knowledge gained to further brush up my research.