Made in Hong Kong? Unpacking the transnational linkages of the Hong Kong film industry

Abstract

<P>EXTANT INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERATURE ON CULTURAL INDUSTRIES ACCENTUATES PRINCIPALLY THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF CULTURAL INDUSTRIES AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DYNAMICS WITHIN CULTURAL CLUSTERS, RATHER THAN PROFFER A CROSS-SCALAR PICTURE OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION PROCESSES IN CULTURAL INDUSTRIES. MOVING BEYOND ECONOMICALLY-REDUCTIONISTIC AND CLUSTER-BASED ANALYSES, THIS STUDY CONSTRUES THE PRODUCTION PROCESSES WITHIN CULTURAL INDUSTRIES AS INEXTRICABLY CONCATENATED TO PRODUCTIVE FACTORS ACROSS DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL SCALES. THE ANALYSIS FOCUSES PRIMARILY ON THE MUTATING CONFIGURATIONS (AND BY IMPLICATION, THE DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIES) OF FILM PRODUCTION NETWORKS IN/THROUGH HONG KONG. SUCH MUTATIONS ARE OCCURRING IN RESPONSE TO CHANGES IN MARKET DEMAND, LABOR SUPPLY AND INSTITUTIONAL (POLITICAL AND NON-POLITICAL, LOCAL AND NON-LOCAL) POLICIES. MY CORE ARGUMENT IS THAT WHILE THE FILM PRODUCTION NETWORKS IN HONG KONG ARE CERTAINLY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE IN THE PAST, THEIR E