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Over the last twenty years in the nation of China, one thing is clear; the nation has undergone and still is experiencing an economic expansion that is unprecedented in modern history. According to the World Bank, over 800 million Chinese citizens have risen out of poverty since 1990. That number alone is twice the number of the U.S. population. What was once a country that used to make up a large percentage of the world’s poor has now mobilized into a significant portion of the world’s middle class. Just over a decade ago, the GDP Per-Capita of China was $3,500. Today? $8,600. As you can imagine, all globalized industries that go beyond a nation’s borders will be affected by this socio economic phenomena. Within this project, I aimed to learn and uncover the changes that have occurred within the world of film from this systemic change.
This website will exhibit the correlation between the growing middle class in China and the film industry. This theory will be exhibited to you via video, text, and socioeconomic analysis.
Why China?
Many facets of life in China and across the world will change considering that hundreds of millions have risen out of poverty within one nation alone. It would be a challenge to grasp everything that will occur but there is one aspect that intrigued me the most, and that is the world of film. For decades Hollywood and the United States has been the gorilla in the room in regards to worldwide filmmaking. Hollywood is the undisputed capital of the film world. However, what happens when there are potentially 800 million new consumers for those films in the eastern hemisphere? China and it’s consumers will have more influence than ever in regards to large budget filmmaking and the type of stories that are told in the future. To put it simply, there is now a large influx of capital from the new Chinese middle class and film production companies that wasn’t utilized for entertainment and leisure. Money in the entertainment industry that didn’t exist prior to today.
Some topics that will be raised are
- Are film producers and studios around the world beginning to tailor content towards the Chinese audience?
- What is the role if any of the Communist party in the distribution of domestic and international films?
- Will Hollywood continue to reign as the capital of the film world?
- How is the middle class in China involved in the evolution of the film market in China?
- The history of film in China and its influence to the current state of film today
Logan Kelly
Logan Kelly is in his final year at New York University studying Creative Production, and the Business of Entertainment and Media. His professional and academic work in the past several years has revolved around the study of the intersection of creative work and commerce. Through this mission, Logan’s work has ranged from a university published economic paper on the power of the anonymous web browser Tor to producing the New York film premiere of Red Bull Media House’s first feature film Blood Road.