The Economist hits the proverbial nail on the head, (bold highlights mine)
THE film-awards season, which reaches its tearful climax with the Oscars next week, has long been only loosely related to the film business. Hollywood is dedicated to the art of funnelling teenagers past popcorn stands, not art itself. But this year’s awards are less relevant than ever. The true worth of a film is no longer decided by the crowd that assembles in the Kodak Theatre—or, indeed, by any American. It is decided by youngsters in countries such as Russia, China and Brazil.
Hollywood has always been an international business, but it is becoming dramatically more so. In the past decade total box-office spending has risen by about one-third in North America while more than doubling elsewhere (see chart). Thanks to Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes and “Inception”, Warner Bros made $2.93 billion outside North America last year, smashing the studio’s previous record of $2.24 billion. Falling DVD sales in America, by far the world’s biggest home-entertainment market, mean Hollywood is even more dependent on foreign punters.
Read the rest here
Since I’ve learned about the importance of free markets, I have also veered from watching TV talent competitions or Film awards for the simple reason that I’ve realized that a handful of judges cannot substitute for the real voters—the consumers.
And that’s exactly the message of the Economist.
Where media contests are decided by the subjective preferences of select judges (typically represented here as ‘experts’-yes again modeled after technocratic government), they tend to get politicized, and importantly, overlook discovering talents with immense potentials.
The Philippines has two good examples:
One, our local version of the Oscar Awards, the Metro Manila Film Festival, have been repeatedly plagued by controversies.
I’d prefer to see local production outfits compete with international filmakers for international or even local migrant audiences than have second raters squabble over what I see as “mediocre” titles.
In the food industry, the dominance of Jollibee in the local market and her expansion as an international brand should serve as an example of how local outfits can achieve global competitive standards. If Jollibee can do it, so could other industries like media.
The problem is the dominant filmmakers or media outfits here appear to have either reached their comfort zones or have been operating as political enterprises.
Two, this is also why I’ve cheered for online discovered celebrities such as Ms. Charice Pempengco.
Ms. Pempegco’s early stints with the local TV contests had not borne fruit, instead it took the youtube and foreigners to discover her.
From this, it would seem that either the domestic audience did not appreciate her talents (or her type of music) or that local scouts or judges may have simply discounted her. I would suspect the latter because her overseas success has prompted the local audience to also embrace her.
I would even further my hunch: the reason she has not been recognized early on here is that there appears to be a bias for mestiza-looking with model shaped features for female celebrities (except in comedies). So mainstream talent scouts may have misjudged her from this angle.
Nevertheless the Economist shows how the US film industry has been globalizing.
And it is also likely that local entertainment industry will have to pattern along with the major trend or otherwise get consumed or overwhelmed by fast expanding international players who might likewise tap on the local audience.
As the Economist notes, (bold emphasis mine)
The success of a film outside America is not purely a marketing matter. As foreign box-office sales have become more important, the people who manage international distribution have become more influential, weighing in on “green-light” decisions about which films are made. The studios are careful to seed films with actors, locations and, occasionally, languages that are well-known in target countries.
Things are likely get done a lot differently from now on.
