Film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post-production, film festivals, distribution, and actors. Though the expense involved in making films almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable filmmaking equipment, as well as an expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed independent film production to evolve.
In 2019, the global box office was worth $42.2 billion.[1] When including box office and home entertainment revenue, the global film industry was worth $136 billion in 2018.[2] Hollywood is the world's oldest national film industry, and largest in terms of box-office gross revenue. Indian cinema is the largest national film industry in terms of the number of films produced, with 2,446 feature films produced annually as of 2019.[3]
Statistics[edit]
Largest industries by number of film productions[edit]
The following is a list of the top 13 countries by the number of feature films (fiction, animation and documentary) produced, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, unless otherwise noted.[3]
Criticism[edit]
Censorship[edit]
Economic censorship happens when a company, industry or country takes steps to ensure profitability, usually by self-censoring content to please the group wielding their economic influence. That group can be political in nature such as the boycott of individuals or the banning or taxing by governments of certain products. This tool tends to have broader reach beyond the borders of a government than pure political censorship. Examples include Hollywood self-censoring any negative depictions of Nazis for most of the 1930's in order to maintain access to German audiences and avoid upsetting anti-semites at home, or major studios self-censoring any negative depictions of China or its ruling party after 1997 in order to maintain access to Chinese audiences.[196]
Covert advertising[edit]
Native advertising is information designed to persuade in more subtle ways than classic propaganda. A modern example common in the United States is copaganda, in which TV shows display unrealistically flattering portrayals of law enforcement, in part to borrow equipment and get their assistance in blocking off streets to more easily film on location.[197] Other reputation laundering accusations have been leveled in the entertainment industry, including the burnishing the image of Mafia’s Godfathers.[198]
Product placement also has been a point of criticism, with the tobacco industry promoting smoking on screen.[199] The Centers for Disease Control cites that 51% of teen smokers would not start smoking if films with smoking were automatically given an 'R' rating, which would save one million lives.[200]
