Abstract:

This study examined the characteristics of spatial agglomeration and network power distribution of Beijing film industry. We mapped the Beijing film industrial network by choosing 115 films produced mainly by companies in Beijing based on relational data among film companies from the titles, acknowledgments, and campaign posters of the films. We assigned companies to 16 districts of Beijing and outlined the film industrial division network of districts in Beijing. Then we analyzed the network's characteristics of spatial agglomeration with kernel density analysis and measured network power distribution and spatial differences by social network analysis. The results show that: 1) There were four kinds of clusters. The first was at the juncture of southeastern Haidian District and northern Xicheng District. The second was located at the juncture of Dongcheng District and Chaoyang District with Sanlitun being the core, facing the Imperial Palace on the west and CBD on the east. The third was in the middle of Chaoyang District, covering the core area of the CBD-Dingfuzhuang international media industry corridor. The fourth was a film and television base—the Huairou Film & Television Industry Park, Beijing, China, whose remote location was decided by recent city planning. The former three, due to path dependence with market mechanism, were situated in the old city. 2) Beijing film industrial network power distribution was extremely unbalanced. Four state-owned film enterprises occupied the center of power. They had highly organizational and institutional proximity, being closely related to China Film Group Corporation. They formed the passage for capital, personnel, technology, and information exchange with dependence on the equity network within the China Film Group Corporation as well as controlled and coordinated operation of the whole film industrial network of Beijing in various ways, such as implementing industrial policies, exercising administrative supervision, taking control of releasing channels of films, and leading innovation in science and technology. The power center of the Beijing film industrial network was neither producers nor investment companies or non-profit organizations, but state-owned film companies with high organizational and institutional proximity. However, the power of state-owned enterprises came from monopolized political resources instead of market competition. With the gradual opening of the Chinese film market to the outside world, market mechanism will become more important. The policy advantage of state-owned enterprises is gradually vanishing. Thus it is of great importance to boost the development of state-owned enterprises and improve their efficiencies, which will lead to the sustainable development of film industry in Beijing. 3) Network power distribution of Beijing film industry had obvious differences in space. The network power focused on five districts of the city: Chaoyang District was the core region of the network, while Haidian, Dongcheng, Xicheng, and Huairou Districts were sub-centers and the other 11 districts were on the periphery.

Key words: film industry, spatial agglomeration, network power, Beijing