A comparative study of the U.S. and Korean film industries: history, structure, and finance
Open Access
- Author:
- Baxter, Patrick David
- Graduate Program:
- Media Studies
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- May 29, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Krishna Prasad Jayakar, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
- Keywords:
- history
film history
economics
finance
structure
arts
culture
political economy
industrial organization
South Korea
Korean film industry
Korea
Hollywood
movies
movie
films
film indutry
studio
studios
distribution
funding
independent film
independent
film company
digital
multi media
media
long tail - Abstract:
- This project is a comparative case-study of the U.S. and Korean (South Korea) film industries along historical, structural, and financial dimensions. The genesis of this thesis came through an overall fascination with the film industry globally as nations compete and cooperate with each other, as well as contend with the dominance of the U.S. film industry. It uses the industrial organization model focusing primarily on "market structure." Further, it applies A.J. Scott�s bipartite (major, independent) and tripartite (major, subsidiary, independent) models of the U.S. film industry. The analysis is mainly descriptive being informed by historical development. To elaborate on market structure, samples of studio/mainstream and independent films were collected in both the U.S. and Korean film industries. The samples were analyzed along production company affiliation, distribution affiliation, sources of funding, and other elements. Chapter one introduces the project and the research questions. Chapter two shows past literature related to this project and explains the case study methodology. It also explains the industrial organization model as well as A. J. Scott�s bipartite and tripartite models. Chapter three details the historical development of the U.S. film industry. It also describes and analyzes its structure bringing in the samples of major and independent films. As with chapter three, chapter four details the historical development of the Korean film industry. It also describes and analyzes its structure bringing in samples of major and independent Korean films. Chapter five analyzes the findings from chapters three and four, and compares the U.S. and Korean film industries. Finally, chapter six concludes the project discussing implications of the findings as it relates to cultural factors, economic factors, technological factors, and new modes of marketing. Similarities were found among the U.S. and Korean film industries regarding structure. There is similar consolidation with the ownership of large media conglomerates in the U.S. case, and chaebols (vertically and horizontally integrated multi-industry mega-corporations) in the Korean case. These similarities, however, have only come about since South Korea�s globalization policies after 1992. After 1992, the Korean film industry became increasingly similar to the U.S. film industry as it achieved major developments over a compressed period of time, especially with investment from chaebols. Differences were found mainly in government involvement where the South Korean government is much more involved with the film industry than is the U.S. government with its industry.