Hmm... last I checked, American films make millions upon millions of dollars in foreign markets. Our movie stars are household names overseas. Sure, they may say that our entertainment pollutes their cultures but their euros, rubles, rupees and dinars speak otherwise.
China caps the number of foreign films admitted at about 20 per year; all of those are vetted by censors, and revenues are parsed out sparingly, with a U.S. studio's take at about 13%.
Sony has sidestepped this hurdle in part, but despite Sony's success with films like Kung Fu Hustle, which made about $100 million worldwide, one has to wonder how many more slow-motion flying warriors global audiences will turn out to see. Plus, with a scarcity of both theaters and Chinese who can afford a ticket, there's a long way to go before 1.3 billion pairs of eyeballs actually become an audience.
Of course, you have the pirates, but that's no money to the originators. A poor box office film, or any celebrity passe' still needs to depend on reruns in the foreign marketplace long after his face is only seen here in the US marketplace licking up a burger off his floor. Which (off track) reminds me that Dr. Drew has a new reality show which is called Celebrities in Rehab which aired last week. Jeff Conaway (Grease start) should be a "poster boy actor for what drugs can do" and you could scare your kids with his show. See no hope for this guy but guess miracles can happen. Dan Baldwin is also on the show and seems religion is pushing him to be public as a spokesman if he can make it through the 21 weeks of this rehab venue.
But back to case to the topic, you are correct; the European film festivals are now big markets to actors. I recall the one in Spain where Jessica Lange stated ( MRC reports ) she hated Bush and "its embarrassing to be American" published by a German source, September 26, 2002, Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
A Positive in film entertainment is Bella #1 rated film on Yahoo and Fandango winning the Peoples Choice Awards in Toronto. Independents with award quality films are working hard to push into this lucrative marketplace which Hollywood has always been able to keep closed to outside entrepreneurs. So comes change. Maybe for the better.
i have and it sometimes ain’t pretty.
Sure our stars are household names and so is Che, Fidel, Hugo and Kim Jong Ill.
I have sat in meetings and listened to high ranking members of foreign governments make disparaging statements about America that could only have come from film makers and their anti-American content.
One chief civil judge of a city of three million asked me if we still had slavery.
He had just seen Mississippi Burning.
Sure American films make big bucks overseas when compared to films made by some back yard Mexican film maker.
Wouldn’t you rather sit through a well made film no matter how anti-American as to sit though one that looked as it was made with a super 8 camera.
In most of the third world countries where I have done volunteer medical work the people just love a National Enquirer type of film or paper.
So therefore I take it from your post that you do not believe that Hollywood leaves a sour taste in most foreign film watchers minds?
