In recent years the once ascending star of Asian cinema, Bollywood, is increasingly making its mark on foreign markets while Hollywood’s hit engine is losing traction in the East. Some of Hollywood’s biggest releases are missing in some Asian markets where home-grown cinema is on the rise. In Japan, for instance, an increasing number of successful movies which often stem from the global phenomena manga are locally developed and filmed. International film makers are increasingly seeing the challenges of making movies for a global market and selling across cultures.
 © istockphoto.com/ Oleksiy Mark |
In an effort to adjust to these dynamic cultural environments, Hollywood has started to produce Western-friendly versions of Asian films that they are now selling across cultures. For example, the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs was remade into the western version called Departed a few years ago and was a huge success in the West. This adaptation of films from one culture to another works both ways, evident in the recent remake of classic Hollywood success film Ghost for an Asian audience called Gôsuto.
Another illustration of this East-West relation and effort to sell films across cultures is the growing trade that now exists between Hollywood and the writing talent of Korea which gives American cinema fresh perspectives and exciting new voices in cinema. Koreans can take advantage of useful funding models and some protection from piracy while the international market of an American funded film also extricates the Koreans from an unpromising domestic export market.
The usefulness of co-producing manifests itself by increasing the skill set of the Korean workforce and giving Hollywood low-cost original content. Other international collaborations like the strong partnership between Hollywood and China together with Japanese ownership (via Sony’s presence) of most Hollywood studios is helping to redefine the international film market.
In a global economy, building cross-cultural cooperation with domestic markets is one of the safest and successful moves that most companies take. Such cross-cultural collaborations can be riddled with difficulties, however, mainly caused by different working values and communication styles. In order to avoid frustrations and, ultimately failure, cross cultural training courses help people working with international counterparts to develop the sensitivity required to successfully communicate, work and sell across cultures. Cultural awareness training can also help your business have more insight into new market preferences and trends which can help any company selling across cultures.
As with movies, successfully adapting products for other markets has become necessary for both large and small businesses. The influence of expanding Asian markets has an increasing impact on marketing strategies and product design. Being aware of cross-cultural preferences and expectations is crucial for anyone selling across cultures, whether a major producer of international films or a small business vendor.
© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011
© admin for Communicaid Blog | Cross Cultural Training and International Communication Skills, 2011. |
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Post tags: cross cultural preferences and expectations, global economy, global marketing, making movies, Selling across Cultures, selling movies across cultures
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