This book explores the roles cultural intermediaries play in East Asian cinema. Based on extensive original research, and viewing cinema from the social science perspective which emphasizes the social processes entailed in the cultural production, circulation, and consumption of films and the social relations they involve, rather than studying films as texts, the book examines issues such as the differences between individual and collective intermediaries, the diverse resources and services that they mediate, their social background and targeted audiences, and the political implications of their work. One important conclusion is that cultural intermediaries have been central to creating the whole "idea" of East Asian cinema.

This book addresses some of the questions that have been brought to light by the varied experiences of culture industry workers and consumer publics across East Asia over the past decade. For over twenty years, the creative industries have been seen as the engine driving global economic transformation, as a way out of the dilemmas of de-industrialization, and as key to the projection of national soft power. The chapters in this book cover the former ‘Tiger Economies’ of South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, as well as Japan and China, and focus on a number of different industries – cinema, television, graphic design, fashion, and literature. The authors include sociologists, anthropologists, and cultural studies scholars, who approach the topics of creative work, government policy, and entrepreneurial strategy from a variety of perspectives. The chapters examine the varied political, economic, and social structures that influence the development of creative industries within the region and reveal how the careers of creative industry workers in different cities and different industries can vary. They also show how the development of the creative industries can affect many aspects of society, including city planning, policing, democratic politics, and ethnic and national identities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Culture, Theory and Critique.

The contributors analyse the subject of Asian pop culture arranged under three headings: 'Television Industry in East Asia', 'Transnational-Crosscultural Receptions of TV Dramas' and 'Nationalistic reactions'.

This book intends to examine the relationship between East Asia and Southeast Asia across three themes: historical perspectives, economic flows of capital and people, and socio-cultural connections. While a substantial number of chapters in the book focus on overseas Chinese (living in Indonesia) and their connections with China and Taiwan historically and contemporarily, they also provide in-depth knowledge of international relationship between East Asia and Southeast Asia.Part One, 'Contending Regional Approaches', consists of four chapters that help readers understand the involvement of East Asia from a historical context. The first chapter on Taiwan before 1975 is followed by a chapter on Taiwan's strategy toward Southeast Asia after the 1980s. The remaining two chapters focus on China-Southeast Asia and Japan-Southeast Asia relations.Part Two, 'Economic Flows of Capital & People', consists of six chapters that mainly examine the flow of capital and people between Indonesia and Taiwan from the colonial period to the present and how this flow changed both societies.Part Three, 'Socio-Cultural Connections', consists of three chapters. This part is a unique contribution to the scholarship that focuses on the transformation of both traditional and popular culture among Southeast Asia, China, and Taiwan by focusing on different agents.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of transactional forms of the digital across the Asian region by addressing the platforms and infrastructures that shape the digital experience. Contributors argue that each and every encounter mediated by the digital carries with it a functional exchange, but at the same time each transaction also implies an exchange based on social relationships for the digital age. In capturing the digital revolution through case studies of economic, informational, and social exchanges from across the larger Asian region, the book offers a richly contextualized and comparative account of the pervasive nature of the digital as both a medium for action and a medium of record.

A pathbreaking collection of essays on early Chinese-language cinema

This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the global landscape of documentary film festivals, looking at its contemporary and future challenges. Contributors from across the globe reflect on how documentary has positioned itself within both internationally renowned and more alternative festivals, including IDFA (Netherlands), Cannes IFF (France), Sheffield Doc/Fest (UK), Dockanema (Mozambique), Ismailia (Egypt) and Zinebi (Basque Country, Spain), among others. With a special focus on industrial and curatorial developments, this second in a two-volume set looks at recent changes occurred in the festival circuit, such as the proliferation of markets and co-production forums, the inclusion of interactive and VR forms within their programs and the irruption of VOD platforms, and analyse how these affect the future of documentary aesthetics and its production/distribution contexts. This volume is organized in two sections: the first reflects on how the documentary festival circuit has become a key industry node for contemporary documentary and identifies new curatorial trends at documentary and major film festivals. The second gives voice to professionals working for festivals and institutions who collaborate with them, who share inside knowledge and concerns, regarding the future challenges to be faced by documentary in the near future.

Critics frequently describe the influence of "America," through Hollywood and other cultural industries, as a form of cultural imperialism. This unidirectional model of interaction does not address, however, the counter-flows of Chinese-language films into the American film market or the influence of Chinese filmmakers, film stars, and aesthetics in Hollywood. The aim of this collection is to (re)consider the complex dynamics of transnational cultural flows between American and Chinese-language film industries. The goal is to bring a more historical perspective to the subject, focusing as much on the Hollywood influence on early Shanghai or postwar Hong Kong films as on the intensifying flows between American and Chinese-language cinemas in recent decades. Contributors emphasize the processes of appropriation and reception involved in transnational cultural practices, examining film production, distribution, and reception.

Based on extensive original research, including in studio archives, industrial surveys, official records, trade journals, and English and Chinese newspapers, this book explores the role of the American film industry in the development of cinema in China. It examines the Chinese industry’s response to the American industry and the consequences of this response. It also considers the attitudes of Chinese film practitioners towards Hollywood and the contribution of those figures who acted as intermediaries between the two industries. Overall, the book casts much new light on the early development of the film industry in China and demonstrates the huge influence Hollywood had on it. Winner of the inaugural 2021 New Zealand Asia Society Book Award, second prize.

'The first edition of The Cultural Industries moved us irrevocably past the tired debates between political economy and cultural studies approaches. This second edition takes on new and vital targets, for example claims that the Internet is replacing television in everyday media consumption.... In the process, Hesmondhalgh provides us with an essential toolkit for making critical sense of the digital media age, and our places within it' - Nick Couldry, Goldsmiths College, University Of London 'This book sets a valuable standard for communication studies. Hesmondhalgh integrates cultural research with political economy, organizational sociology with public communication policy studies, global with comparative analysis, and intellectual property law with technology changes. I've successfully taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the USA and France using the first edition, and this one is better still' - John D.H. Downing, Global Media Research Centre, Southern Illinois University Praise for the first edition: 'This lucid, careful and sophisticated book orders the entire field, for the US as well as Europe, and at one stroke becomes the state of the art, the standard' - Todd Gitlin, Columbia University, USA This book is a powerful antidote to journalistic hype about change in the cultural industries. Significantly expanding, updating and revising an acclaimed first edition published in 2002, it · analyses how, why and in what ways cultural production has changed since the 1980s · guides the reader through existing approaches · scrutinises facts and debates about the role of culture and creativity in modern societies · provides new material on copyright, cultural policy, celebrity power, the digital distribution of music and many other issues Like its predecessor, this exciting new edition of The Cultural Industries places transformation in the cultural industries in long-term political, economic and cultural context. In doing so, Hesmondhalgh offers a distinctive critical approach to cultural production, drawing on political economy perspectives, but also on cultural studies, sociology and social theory.