"We level designers — you would come and explain what it is that the goal would be. This level should look like Piranesi, the famous architect. We’d go and look at books and try to come up with a level that looked like Piranesi. You’d come by and shake your head and we’d go back to look at books again. I used to wonder, why is Amy mad? And it wasn’t until I became a creative director myself that I understood the curse of being a creative director, which is this: you have the vision for the game. You know what it is you want to be making. You explain it to someone. If they get it instantly, you’ll never see that person again on the project, because you don’t need to communicate. The brilliant people on the project who are — realistically you’ll see them three times in the course of the game. If you have a masterful UI designer and you can explain the vision, you’re done. You spend your time almost exclusively with the people who don’t understand what you’re trying to do. That’s the load you bear. And so we just didn’t get it."

"Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."

"Dave: Hey, what's going on? What are you two doing? Larry: We're just playing this really cool computer simulation game, where you get to interact with thousands of people in a virtual world. You can earn virtual money and buy virtual property, and... Dave: Oh, yeah, yeah, I heard about this game. I heard it's so realistic that you guys can't get dates there, either"

"Someday there's going to be a genius—an absolute genius—who writes something so brilliant, so involving, so magnificent, that you'll just weep for joy."

"Since we’ve figured to some extent how these pieces of the brain that handle addiction are working, people have figured out how to juice them further and how to bake that information into apps."

"Few good computer games have been written so far. Of the good ones, some are computer adaptations of games like Chess and Othello which existed first in another form. These games are good if they add a dimension to the play of the game that is not present in its original form, (such as the possibility of solo play), and do so in an aesthetically pleasing form. My personal opinion is that such computer adaptations will play a trivial role in the future of computer games and the best ones will be those which take unique advantage of the computer capabilities."

"X Circle X X Double Left Square Right Trigger Down Square Square."

"In my opinion, RapeLay's storyline went too far. However, if a game creator wants to express something and create content out of it, a government or public entity shouldn't have the power to restrain it."

"Research has demonstrated that some game design choices improve the way people focus and increase feelings of well-being. Other design choices can trigger addictive behavior. While research is ongoing, experimental studies have shown that some military FPS games can cause players to become measurably more militarist in outlook. In a “realistic” military FPS game, the presence or absence of rules of engagement, for example, will dramatically change how the player approaches a mission. When the military itself consults on the design of such a game, this leads to a number of uncomfortable questions about why those choices were made."

"Unlike print, radio, television, or movies, video games are an interactive format that allows them to affect people differently than more traditional forms of broadcast media. Ian Bogost, a professor of media studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has argued that the interactive nature of video games makes them an inherently persuasive medium—a system of “procedural rhetoric” that encourages players to create abstract mental models for how systems work and to form judgments about those systems through the act of playing. The design of a game’s models and systems of interactions are intentional choices by the designers, and they set the terms for how a person encounters the game. One video game designer called this effort to induce a certain type of player reaction “emotion engineering” in the design process."

"It's true that Americans spend billions of dollars on video games every year and that the United States has the highest firearm murder rate in the developed world. But other countries where video games are popular have much lower firearm-related murder rates. In fact, countries where video game consumption is highest tend to be some of the safest countries in the world, likely a product of the fact that developed or rich countries, where consumers can afford expensive games, have on average much less violent crime."

"Making political statements are for other people to do. We want people to smile and have fun when they play our games."

"Within Latin America, there is an important and hidden level of semi-professional, almost artisanal, production of feature films,especially in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Like “Nollywood”, these films which are not released in theatres but rather circulated via street vendors or streaming on-line (mainly YouTube) are viewed by large audiences,with some titles becoming popular “hits”."

"This analysis has highlighted some unique trends in the global cinema sector. First, there is a tendency for the “global film industry” (dominated by Hollywood productions) to produce sequels, prequels and adaptations (non-original ideas) that are targeted to mass media, children and youth, resulting in a concentration of world production. Second, film production is highly concentrated with 7% of the countries with regular film production making 55% of all feature films globally. India itself produced 20% of all films worldwide. Blockbusters outside of the USA have mainly been USA-produced comedies, breaking records all over the world. National productions or coproductions that are not distributed by Hollywood major studios have had almost no circulation beyond national borders. In the period 2005-2011, world admissions dropped by 12.8%, while box office revenues rose by 27.8% (average ticket price increased by 46%, especially since the 3D boom). Market concentration is still very high; Top 10 countries represented around 75% of world box office and 85% of world admissions. The concentration for admissions slowly increased from 85% to 90% between 2005 and 2011. Similar to patterns in the world macro-economy, the BRIC group (Brazil,the Russian Federation, India and China) is increasing its market share of the world film market (both production and admissions). China is the main star of this story: based on conservative estimates, by early 2020 the Asiatic giant will surpass USA as the main film market in the world. Other regions, like Latin America , have improved their film market indicators, but they are still low (except for Brazil and Mexico) in comparison to other regions. There are many individual countries that had impressive box office growth (21 countries with increases from 102% to 556%), in comparison with admissions rises (10 countries increasing from 100% to 156%). In other words, the world film screen market is losing spectators but increasing revenues–mainly due to increased ticket prices. In the context of many large countries,such as China, the Russian Federation and India,“lacking cinema screens, the development of their cinema infrastructure could give a push to the world film market”(Miller, 2008)."

"The number of screens in Latin America grew on average by 65% in the 2000s. This percentage was led by Mexico and to a lesser extent;Brazil and Colombia (see Figure 11). This growth took place in a context of high geographic and class concentration, in addition to the high cost of tickets –in Latin America just one family outing to the family represented the equivalent of 10% of average local monthly income. Nevertheless, Latin America still remains “under screened”, including the giant Brazil, which has only around 2,500 screens fora population of almost 200 million inhabitants,representing only 1.1screens per 100,000 inhabitants. Regardless of whether one country has more or fewer screens, the geographic concentration of the screens is extremely important in all Latin American countries. In Mexico, only 7% of cities had a screen, and in Brazil, the second largest Latin American exhibition market, only 10% of cities had a theater (González, 2011). These patterns are especially acute in digital cinema through its flagship: 3D (the vast majority of Latin American digital screens are 3D). In 2007, 19 screens were digitized in Latin America. Since 2008, especially 2009, many digital screens opened in the entire region. Nevertheless, the rate of digitization in the region remains one of the lowest in the world (22% in 2011) (see Figure 12)."

"The cinema market in Latin America has faced drastic changes over the last few decades. Up until 40 years ago, national private companies dominated the Latin American film markets, especially exhibition. Through globalization, film distribution and exhibition are now mainly controlled by Hollywood studios and the multinational companies associated with them (Guback 1969, Getino, 1984-1987,Rey, 2005). In Latin America, there are fewer numbers of movie goers: the frequency of attendance in the region is on average 0.8 movies per year per person, except in Mexico (1.7), a country that has the fifth largest exhibition market of the world. Nevertheless, box office showed an increase of 127% during the 2000s, due mainly to the constant increase in cinema ticket price: prices doubled during the last decade (due primarily to the cost of 3D screening which typically is at a premium price)."

"Viewers in Latin America have access to about 9,756 screens. On average,there are 210 commercial releases per year. Depending on the country, between 5 and 130 national films are produced a year, primarily as a direct result of the national support received by the governments of the region over various decades. During the first decade of the 21st Century, Latin American countries produced 2,400 feature films (see Figure 8), with growth throughout each decade (on average 350 films were produced per year between 2005 and 2011). This is a sharp increase from the 1980s, when on average 230 films were produced annually or the 1990s with 90 films per year (Getino, 2005). Film production in Latin America increased partly as a direct result of the public policies developed to support the field (with the exceptions of Paraguay and a few Central American countries). These policies have been present in most of the subcontinent since the 1930s (mainly in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru). The subsequent decades saw further support in the form of subsidies, tax incentives,soft loans, prizes for quality and screen quotas (there were even state producers, state distributors and state exhibitors, mainly in Mexico from the 1940s to 1970s and in Brazil in the 1970s). In the early 1990s, most countries in the region experienced a drastic reduction in public support, affecting the national film sectors negatively. Nevertheless, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a re-emergence of public policies favorable to the film sector, mainly in relation to production. The three major film-producing countries, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico,resumed their growth. During the 2000s, most Latin American countries implemented national legislation supporting the film sector. Argentina and Brazil returned to maximum production peaks with over 100 films produced annually, surpassing records set in the earlier “golden years”. Mexico also increased film production, but the country is only just reaching the number of films produced during its golden years (between 1940 and 1980), which was also about 100 annually. Other Latin American countries showed more modest increases in the number of films produced. Due to new national film policies in some of these countries, they have begun regular production of films for the first time in their history."

"The Latin American film market shows contrasting situations between countries. On the one hand, there are countries that in the last decade have more than doubled the number of screens, admissions and/or box office (i.e.Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru). Brazil entered the world Top 10 list with the highest admissions of any Latin American country during the last decade, while Mexico has the fifth largest number of screens in the world. On the other hand, some countries encountered modest growth or even stagnation in the number of screens available (i.e. Argentina and Uruguay)."

"One of the reasons for the sharp increase in the number of cinema admissions in China has been the prodigious growth of its economy and the increase in the standard of living and disposable incomes of the middle class. These newly wealthy citizens can now afford to go to the cinema to enjoy both national and foreign movies. This growth has spurred the continual and rapid construction of theatres: “China is building something like 10 screens a day”, said Christopher Dodd, MPAA chairman and CEO on March 2013 (The Hollywood Reporter, 2013). And despite the tremendous increases in average ticket prices, Chinese spectators continue to fill theaters.Although the number of new multiplexes has risen steadily, China is still lacking screens (as seen in Section 3.3) in comparison to its population and market. In 2011, China had approximately 2,000 theaters and 9,286screens across the country –making it the second largest national exhibition market in the world. However, this represents only one screen per every 136,000 people. In contrast, the USA had approximately 40,000 screens in 2011,with a population of approximately 280 million, representing one screen per every 7,000 people. China will need to construct some 170,000 screens to reach the same level of screen density as in the USA."

"Over the few last decades, the rate of economic growth of the Chinese economy has been enormous compared to most,if not all,economies in developed countries. As a result, this growth has been evident in the film market, where by 2012 China became the second largest consumer of feature films in the world in terms of box office.During the same period, the USA market has faced stagnation or experienced little increase in terms of admissions. If this trend continues, China will surpass the USA as the world’s Number 1film market by 2020.The film market in China has grown four to five times faster than its GDP over the last decade (and its GDP is one of the fastest growing in the world)and the growth in the film market has been even more impressive. In fact, between 2005 and 2011, box office in China grew on average by 43% per year (50% over the 2008-2011 period), while the cinema market box office of the USA grew on average by just 2.2% annually (see Figure 5). The difference in the number of admissions is remarkable: while admissions grew on average by 15.6% annually in China between 2005 and 2011, in the USA market there was an annual average decrease of -1.4% (see Figure 6). This growth occurred despite the dramatic increase in ticket prices that occurred in China during this period. The average admission price in China multiplied 3.5 times, an increase of 253% between 2005 and 2011, whereas the average ticket price in the USA increased by only 23.8%."

"In 2007, the USA accounted for 70% of all digital screens; by 2001, the share had dropped to 46%. The greatest growth occurred in Europe. In the 2000s, the mainstream film industry (Hollywood and multinational companies) declared that digitization of screens would reduce copy fees and other related costs, opening more theaters, penetrating territories with a low level of screens, allowing national film producers and filmmakers in developing countries to increase their market share and reinforcing cultural diversity (De Luca, 2004, 2009)."

"[C]ountries that had the fewest number of screens in 2007 were almost exclusively from Africa. Nevertheless, some countrieswith fewscreensin other regions still had important markets,such as China, India and the Russian Federation. Latin America also generally has a low number of screens, but two countries stood out: Bolivia (2005) and Paraguay (2006). This is a more recent situation, because until the 1970s Latin America had many screens distributed all over its territories (Getino, 2005)."

"The difference between box office and admissions is even clearer when analysing BRIC countries (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India and China). While BRIC countries accounted for 9% to 17% of world box office, the rate for admissions was impressive, between 49% and 56%: BRIC countries accounted for one-half of global admissions (mainly, because of India) between 2006 and 2011."

"[O]ver the last several years the exhibition market in India has changed, possibly accounting for variations in the film market. The main change in the exhibition market is the multiplex (Pendakur, 2012). In India, there still is a plethora of mono screens in the southern half of the country, with an average ticket price of US$ 0.50. These screens are still the most popular for Indian moviegoers. Around 1,000 multiplexes have emerged in large Indian cities, with a ticket price of around US$3.30. These multiplexes account for most of the Indian revenues generated for Hollywood blockbusters. Nevertheless, films from USA account for no more than 7% to 10% of the Indian box office (Ernst & Young-India Film Council, 2012). Additionally, no Hollywood films are in the Indian Top 10 films."

"As Iberoamerican expert Octavio Getino said, “Never have people watched so many movies... but mainly not in theaters” (Getino, 2012)."

"Although it may appear that ticket prices in developing countries are low, when compared with the average income and the cost of living, ticket prices in these countries are relatively high compared to developed countries: one trip to the movies with friends or family can represent almost 10% of monthly income (González, 2012)."

"Other countries with important increases in their box offices overthe period 2006 to 2011 include: Belarus, Romania,Ukraine and Venezuela. Several Latin American, East European and Asian markets doubled their box office during this period. Nevertheless, the majority of these countries represent small markets and the increase in some of them is explained by high inflation rates, as is the case for Argentina,Belarus and Venezuela."

"There were 7 countries that had “very high” annual film production (more than 200 feature films) between 2005 and 2011, producing on average 3,561 films yearly and representing 57% of the world’s feature films. There were 11 countries that had a “high” level of film production (between 80 and 199 feature films per year), producing on average 1,259 feature films annually. The very high-and high-level groups together accounted for 78% of global film production on average over this time period, representing the production of 4,820 films annually. The “average” production category (between 20 and 79 feature films per year)accounted for an average annual production of 16% of the world’s films. (1,013 films on average per year). Finally, one-half of countries were classified in the “low” or “very low” levels of film production. They accounted for 6% of total average annual feature films produced."

"Analysing all films, regardless of their format of production (theatrical release or video production) provides an overview of the cinema sector worldwide. Table 7 shows that global film production has increased significantly in recent times, with total production rising from 5,735 movies in 2005 to 7,442 in 2008. Production continues to grow but at a slower pace since 2008."

"Countries which do not have the facilities and resources to produce films for theatrical release are using video format to reach their audiences. As shown in Table 6, Nigeria–with an average production of 1,000 movies per year –is the third largest producer in terms of volume. As a result of new technology and video production, the emergence of new film producers, such as Mauritius, has been possible. While the country did not produce any feature films before 2009, Mauritius increased its production from 19 to 30 films between 2010 and 2011."

"Nigeria has a very high number of audiovisual productions (see Map 1)–on average releasing 966 films per year between 2005 and 2011 –but they are semi-professional/informal productions, most of them almost artisanal with limited or no theatrical release. While 1,074 films were produced in 2010 in Nigeria, national movies sold only 117,563 tickets (26% of market share of that year), in a country with a population of about 160 million inhabitants."

"When analysed at the country level, the increase in the world film production is highly dependent on the Top 10 producers which represent around 65% of world production,as shown in Table 4. The countries with the highest increases in production between 2005 and 2011 were: China (260to 584, 124.6%), the United Kingdom (106to 299, 182.1%) and the Republic of Korea (87to 206,148.3%). Other countries with significant increases were: Germany (45.2%), Spain (40.1%) and Italy (58.1%). Outside of the Top 10, several countries showed important increases although the level of production was smaller, including: Brazil (42 to 100 films, 136%), Iran (26 to 76 films, 192%), Turkey (28 to 70 films, 150%), Viet Nam (12 to 75films,525%in 2010), and Mexico (71 to 111 films, 56.3%). The level of production for the rest of the world grew at a smaller rate between 2008 and 2011."

"World film production continued to grow from 2005 to 2011,with a 39% increase. During this period, about 100 countries produced professional feature films for theatrical release, with an average of 5,987 feature films being produced per year, as shown in Table 3. The figures also show that there has been stagnation in the world film production since 2008, with total film production remaining at around 6,500 releases per year over the last four years for which data are available."

"As has been the case throughout the 2000s, in almost all countries feature films from the United States of America (USA) (or USA coproductions in conjunction with primarily European countries) dominated the Top 30 (see Table 1) in 2010 and 2011. Almost all of these films were distributed by the six major Hollywood studios (with 50% of them released in 3D). Furthermore, the number of animated releases aimed at child-youth audiences was significant, in addition to sequels, prequels and adaptations. The rise and importance of 3D films evident between 2005 and 2011. However, many of the films that are ranked from No. 15 to No. 30 are typically nationally-produced or non-USA-produced films,mostly distributed by local companies."

"The digitization of movie production and their exhibition in multiplexes has been one of the primary reasons that cinema has continued to attract audiences to theatres in many parts of the world. At the same time, the cinema sector has had to face the impacts of the financial crisis of 2008, which slowed down growth in many sectors of the economy."

"Examples of countries with diverse film markets include Morocco and Georgia. In Morocco, films from the United States represent approximately one-third of audience share. Interestingly, the audience share for foreign films (excluding American films) is 42%, which is significantly higher compared to any other country for which there is data. A similar pattern is seen in Georgia, where 50% of films viewed are foreign (non-American), followed by 27% of audience share for national movies and 24% for American movies. In some countries, the audience for national films approaches similar levels as for films produced in the United States. This is the case in France, where 41% of films viewed are national and 46% are from the United States. In the United Kingdom, the share of national movies is 36%, which is relatively high for Europe. This can be partially explained by several sequels, including the Harry Potter series, being in the national and global Top 10."

"[T]here is little diversity in film consumption in Latin America, where movies produced in the United States account for at least 80% of total market share of attendance. National films in the global Top 10 are almost nonexistent in this region, with the exception of Brazil, where locally-produced films account for a 10% share of attendance. The same situation prevails in Australia and Canada, where more than 80% of the audience share views American films. Although for most countries the share of the audience viewing national films is quite low, there are notable exceptions. The Republic of Korea is the only country where the audience share of national movies accounts for the majority (54%). This could be explained by national policies that impose a quota on the distribution of national films."

"The international filmmaking industry faces some shortcomings regarding diversity in its sources, some of the characteristics of films made and the majority consumption of feature films. Therefore, it is imperative to strengthen and renew some public policies and civil society strategies with the aim to strengthen diversity in (and of) the filmmaking industry. Policies should address the complex and changing relationship of the film industry with the audiovisual sector and cultural industries in general. The principle of equitable access upheld by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions states: “Equitable access to a rich and diversified range of cultural expressions from all over the world and access of cultures to the means of expressions and dissemination constitute important elements for enhancing cultural diversity and encouraging mutual understanding.” (UNESCO, 2005: Article 2.7). Making this principle a reality involves diversifying and strengthening the fabric of feature film production centres, changing the structures governing the distribution of films at international scale, and implementing policies to encourage diversified film consumption."

"According to the three categories in the UIS 2014 Questionnaire on Feature Film Statistics, there is a clear pre-eminence of fiction feature films versus documentaries and animation movies. Additionally, all countries offering information on the production of fiction, animation and documentary feature films show a clear imbalance among the categories. There is a strong geographic concentration of the revenues from the commercial screening of feature films in theatres. The top 10 markets, led by the United States/Canada, China and Japan, held three-fourths of global revenues during the 2012-2013 period. China, the most heavily-populated country in the world, is seeing a sustained increase in its gross box office for feature films in theatres (in 2013, it exceeded US$3.6billion). It appears that the world’s second film market in terms of gross box office is ready to overcome, in the near future, the stagnated market of the United States/Canada. India, with average ticket prices well below those prevailing in the top revenue markets, is the top country in terms of volume of tickets sold. In 2012, Indian theatres received more theatre goers than the United States, China and Japan together. Even though there are noticeable differences between countries and inside countries at the global level during 2012 and 2013, the average price of theatre tickets continued to grow. The 2005-2013 period saw an increase of 40% in the average ticket price. The most popular feature films watched in theatres in 2012 and 2013 confirm a very high concentration of consumption of blockbusters produced (or co-produced) and distributed by U.S. majors. They are mostly action/adventure movies, some with animation techniques, targeting children and adolescents, supported by multi-million budgets and international advertising campaigns. As has been the case in recent years, mass consumption of feature films in theatres has favoured the franchises of various series and bringing to the big screen stories that were originally created as [[comics."

"In 2012, the number of feature films greatly increased throughout the world, and the following year a new production record was hit: 7,610 movies. However, the sustained growth of global production during the 2005-2013 period has not undermined the weight of the main production countries: India, the United States, China, Japan and most Western European countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain. This finding, in the attempt to analyse the diversity of sources, reveals a high degree of concentration of production in the economic superpowers and in some of the most heavily-populated countries of the world. A special case in point is India, the country with the second-largest population, and the number-one film making country, which is experiencing a major growth in production. India produced 1,041 movies in 2005 to 1,724 movies in 2013. The number of feature films produced in 2013, mostly with digital technology and at multiple sites, represented over one-fifth of worldwide production. International feature film co-productions, driven by the public sector and private production companies, were common in some countries of Western Europe and the United States. France had the largest number of co-productions in the 2012-2013 biennium. Production companies view co-productions with companies from other countries as a means of taking advantage of the film making grant programmes of various countries and of extending the reach of films. Increased production does not necessarily lead to a better and larger dissemination of films. The dominant positions of the U.S. majors in many markets directly impact the diversity offered,i.e.what content reaches the screens and how. For instance, the European space, comprising countries with a prominent tradition for production, repeatedly expresses the lack of reach of its feature films across borders . Most countries have monolingual (in their respective official languages) or bilingual film production. Again, India stands out for the wide spectrum of local languages in its movies, none of which has a share over 17%. In countries with multilingual film production, there are one or several drivers for this: a historical presence of different social groups within the country and/or large migrant groups, geo-cultural proximity with companies speaking other languages, and the development of strategies for commercial penetration in new markets, among others. Dubbing policies implemented by countries are unfavourable for the recognition of languages other than those of the place where foreign films are screened."

"As mentioned extensively by film industry experts, most of today’s film consumption is outside the traditional cinema circuit. Televisions, streaming media players, computers, tablets and smartphones are popular platforms for watching and enjoying feature films for a major portion of the world’s population. However, the theatrical release of a feature film continues to be a major effort vis-à-vis commercial exploitation in the rest of the film consumption windows (free-to-air and pay television, DVD, online platforms)."

"The Preamble of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions reads, “Linguistic diversity is a fundamental element of cultural diversity” (UNESCO, 2005). Albornoz and García Leiva (2016) state that advocating linguistic diversity is an imperative for the international community, as every language reflects a one-of-a-kind vision of the world, with its own value system, its specific philosophy and its particular cultural characteristics. A language provides support to an identity and is an essential element of an irreplaceable cultural wealth. Feature films, as well as other cultural expressions, provide a channel of expression and dissemination for approximately 6,000 languages which are spoken in the world.11Asseveral studies have pointed out (Ranaivoson, 2007; UIS, 2011), diversity is a multidimensional concept. Stirling’s definition (1998, 2007) of diversity includes a combination of three components: variety, balance and disparity. Variety refers to the number of different categories defined; specifically for films, we may ask, how many languages can be identified in the cinematographic production of a country? Balance refers to the extent to which these categories are represented: what percentages of each language are used in films? And disparity refers to the degree of dissimilarity that exists between the different categories: how different are the languages used? Thus, the larger the number of categories and the more balanced and disparate the categories, the more diverse the system."

"The goods and services derived from cultural industries are, by nature, vehicles of the expression of values, customs, languages, gastronomies, etc. This is the view of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which states that “cultural activities, goods and services have both an economic and a cultural nature, because they convey identities, values and meanings” (UNESCO, 2005, Preamble). Since its inception, cinema has been a major vehicle for the cultural expression of nations. This has been complemented from the middle of the last century by television. Feature films –the main industrial product of the sector –can be analysed based on various characteristics: film genres, aesthetics, languages used, ideas expressed, social sectors represented, patterns of behaviour, etc."

"In contrast with the wide-ranging dissemination at the international scale reached by U.S. productions, the distribution of feature films beyond the borders of the countries that produce them is a serious problem in regions such as Europe and Latin America. As mentioned by the European Commission when launching its ‘European Film in the Digital Era’ strategy in 2014, “the number of movies made in Europe went from 1,100 in 2008 to 1,300 in 2012, but for the most part they are only screened in the country of their production and rarely reach distribution across borders”. Therefore, the European Union has a new strategy aimed at the“need to take full advantage of the new distribution methods to drive cultural diversity and competitiveness” (EC, 2014)."

"A key sector for analysing the diversity of the film industry is distribution. Distribution companies are directly linked to the diversity offered to potential spectators, acting in many markets and reaching diverse audiences through cinema complexes. Focusing on the distribution of feature films in theatres, the world’s most successful films were distributed and promoted by companies belonging to the U.S.majors: Buena Vista (an affiliate of the Walt Disney Company), Sony Pictures Releasing, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Warner Brother and Paramount Pictures. These companies have a dominant position in several countries of the world (in Latin America and Western Europe, for instance) and rule the distribution of both Hollywood blockbusters and locally-produced films that are likely to become commercial hits in their respective markets.In addition, often the U.S. majors operate in foreign markets in a coordinated fashion, to the detriment of local productions and independent distributors, as can be seen in Spain (TDC, 2006). This has a negative impact on the diversity of feature films that the markets can offer to local audiences. Thus, many feature films do not access screening slots in the theatres of their country of origin."

"The international co-production of feature films, which involves companies from two or more countries that finance and produce films, can be considered a gateway to diversity of cultural expressions as it enables the exchange of human resources –both technical and artistic–across countries and,undoubtedly,facilitates the circulation of films across two or more film markets. In this regard, for instance, the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production(CE, 1992) considers international co-production as “an instrument of creation and expression of cultural diversity”. It is worth noting that international co-production is a practice that started in the mid-20th century among companies from countries with major historical, cultural and/or linguistic ties. Furthermore, since the late 20thcentury, governments from wide political spectrums have been encouraging co-productions with other countries through international programmes, such as the Ibermedia Programme introduced in 1996 for the Ibero-American area. In a highly competitive and globalised market, international co-production is a way for film production companies to broaden their markets of operation."

"With the exception of large U.S. companies whose feature films are distributed and seen on the five continents, production from the other four leading countries generally have geographically more restricted circulation. Feature films produced in India, for instance, are popular with the Indian diaspora, as well as Afghanistan, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan."

"By 1990, movies were either rented or sold at much more reasonable prices directly to consumers (known as sell-through). Video rentals reached a plateau, but video sell-through sales continued to grow. By 1992, the value of video sell-through sales exceeded the domestic theatrical box office for the first time. Home video caused a significant downward shift in the box office; for instance, the domestic box office represented 80% of studio revenues in 1980, but by 1992 it decreased to no more than 25%."

"The percentage of people who actually go to a movie theater has declined from a high of 65% of the population in 1930 (before television) to about 10% over the last several decades."