Innovation and Disruption in Asia: Entertainment

 

This post is part of an ongoing series on Innovation and Disruption of technology and business in Asia. Visit the archives of previous posts here.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ASIANS!

When it comes to entertainment in film, music, and television, as well as distribution and market size, North America is still inarguably the global leader. But the economic growth in Asia has fueled the formation of its own global entertainment trends sparking a cross-culture exchange that sees Hollywood catering to the wants of the Asian market, as well as importing Asian entertainment for domestic audiences.

 

Rise of Animation: One example is how Asian animation culture has conquered the world. Of the global markets for Japanese animation export—the US represents the second largest behind only China. Recognizing the demand, Netflix has green-lit production on over 30 anime series for their platform.

Asian Box Offices Have Money: On the other hand, since international box office revenue is now more than twice as large as U.S. domestic revenue, the economic incentive for Hollywood studios to cater to the preferences of international audiences is larger than ever, and Asian markets are their priority. Three of the top five international box office markets for Hollywood are in Asia – China, Japan and India.¹

Asian Representation in Hollywood: In America’s domestic market, we also see a growing presence of Asian Americans in mainstream entertainment, including Ugly Delicious hosted by Korean American chef David Chang, and the highly anticipated RomCon Crazy Rich Asians, the first Asian-majority cast movie produced by a major Hollywood studio in 25 years.

Written by Selina Guo

Planning Director, Admerasia

Entertainment is not the only industry disrupted by Asian innovation. There are eight more! Download the link at https://www.admerasia.com to read the entire report.

Footnotes:

¹ WSJ, Hollywood’s Biggest Misses Are Hits Overseas, 2017