Christopher Maule

Understanding Hollywood's organization and continuing success

Integrated international marketing of films and related merchandise and close financial ties between distributors and roducers have evolved to cope with the risks of piracy, cost containment, opportunism, and revenue uncertainty. Our reading of the evidence is that this system has dominated because of its efficiency. In search of an explanation of why America remains the centre of this institutional and contractual web, we examine the impact of two world wars, the rapid commercialization of new technologies in the United States by aggressive managers, an open financial system and the ethnic diversity, language homogeneity, and size of the domestic market.

Some characteristics of successful technical entrepreneurs in Canada

The findings of a study made of 39 successful entrepreneurs involved in the establishment of one or more technologically based enterprises in the secondary manufacturing sector in Canada are presented. Most of these enterprises are small, with a present annual sales volume of less than one million dollars. A major purpose of the study was to examine the social and economic background of the entrepreneurs, the nature of the companies they started or with which they were involved, and their perception of the environment for entrepreneurship in Canada. Special emphasis is given to comparing Canadian-born with non-Canadian-born entrepreneurs. Where feasible, the findings of this study are compared with comparable studies conducted in the United States.

Cultural entrepreneurship and the Banff Television Festival

Cultural entrepreneurship involves a conception, an initial launch, and a transition to an established event. Each stage generates “wicked” coordination and financial challenges. We explore this important process by examining the history of the Banff Television Festival, an annual event featuring a competition, workshops, and providing a forum for developing projects. The documentation indicates that the anticipated problems of nonprofit activities — inefficient administration, crude management systems, slow adaptation and little innovation — were not characteristic of the Banff experience. Well informed industry “customers” and patrons have established an environment which generally encouraged managerial competence and creativity. This benign result may not generalize to other cultural initiatives, in particular to those that serve the public directly and draw patronage from diverse sources.

Canadian content rules for television: Misleading lessons for Europe

SummaryOur recommendation is that Europe and the EC should proceed with caution before implementing extensive mandatory television content policies. In the foregoing, we have attempted to outline the reasons why we feel content policies have not worked in the past in Canada, and why they will face increasing difficulties wherever implemented. The reasons are administrative, technological and financial. In addition we are not convinced by the economic rationales for content policy. However we do recognize the right of governments to pursue cultural policies similar to those represented by content policies, and elsewhere we have proposed alternative courses of action for governments to consider.Aside from tracing the evolution of Canadian content policies, our research has examined government funding of films and programs, the use of coproduction treaties and coventures and evolving technological considerations.(22) At present we are examining managerial aspects of film making and television production and distribution in the current international environment.

Rethinking Canadian magazine policy

This article examines the recent magazine dispute between Canada and the USA that was the subject of a World Trade Organization panel ruling in 1997. Canada withdrew or amended the offending measures and subsequently introduced new legislation which the USA claimed to be a replacement of one of the banned measures. This led to the continuation of the dispute and finally to a negotiated settlement in 1999. After examining the underlying facts and the arguments used in this and previous trade conflicts involving periodicals, the article concludes that a continuation of past protectionist policies offers only the possibility of more conflict. In order to bring about a rationalization of the Canadian magazine industry, a reorientation is needed towards a more open perspective. Comment is made on the relevance of these events for other countries.

Chapter 33 Culture in International Trade

Abstract Cultural allegiances whether inherited, imposed or chosen, affect economic activity. Many of these cultural layers – ethnic background, religion, language, ideological orientation, and artistic interests – spill over national boundaries. Cultural ideas travel the world along many routes from the Silk Road to modern electronic networks. Historically, peripatetic artists, composers and writers have responded to shifting patronage and market opportunities. More recently, firms in the cultural industries develop and produce content and distribute it as widely as the market will bear. Visual and performing arts and the cultural industries have both common and distinct international economic dimensions. In trade agreements, countries voluntarily limit their policy options in return for restrictions on the choices of the other member countries. Arguments for protection versus openness for cultural activities are more complex and nuanced than for other economic sectors because of a wide range of views on how international cultural policy affects individuals and the national culture. The inclusion of GATS and TRIPS in the WTO made the WTO a more important influence on international cultural policy than its GATT predecessor. UNESCO continues to play a complementary role. The Florence agreement (1950) encourages the free flow of cultural products and a convention addresses illicit trade in cultural property, a heritage issue. Currently, UNESCO is the focus of efforts to create a rules-based convention to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, which is designed to either separate international cultural policy governance from the WTO or strengthen the bargaining position of cultural industry interests in WTO negotiations. These discussions take place in circumstances where there are serious shortcomings in the measurement of trade in cultural goods and services.

State of the Canada-U.S. Relationship: Culture

The bilateral cultural issues of the 1980s and 1990s between Canada and the U.S. centered on trade involving Sports Illustrated, Country Music Television, Borders Books, film distribution and satellite television. These took place within the context of commitments in multilateral and regional agreements dealing with cultural trade issues. Except in the case of Sports Illustrated, the disputes were resolved in the political arena outside the provisions of either the World Trade Organization (WTO) or the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The cultural exemption/retaliation provisions of the latter have yet to be tested. With the new millennium, some of the old issues remain but new ones have appeared. This paper summarizes current and prospective issues and then focuses on two aspects of the topic. The first, the growing importance of foreign markets for the Canadian cultural industries, has received limited attention to date; the second is current, a proposal for an international agreement on cultural diversity to address the frictions that arise at the interface between domestic cultural policies and international trade and investment obligations. The two are related in that the thrust of the draft agreement is inconsistent with the direction being taken by prominent members of the Canadian creative community. Background Historically, Canadian cultural policy has been inward looking, espousing ways to protect Canadians from inflows from the U.S. while at the same time being supportive of Canadian cultural producers. The rhetoric of cultural protectionism repeats the following phrases: promoting Canadian cultural sovereignty and identity; assuring shelf space for Canadian products; allowing Canadians to tell their stories to each other; countering the commercial advantage enjoyed by U.S. producers that have a large domestic market and dump their product into Canada; overcoming American discrimination against the consumption of foreign content; supporting Canadian ownership of producers and distributors in the pursuit of national sovereignty, unity and identity; asserting that Canadian owners will cross-subsidize the production of Canadian content; affirming that cultural content is unlike that of other goods and services and cannot be subject to traditional economic analysis; and maintaining that trade in cultural goods and s ervices should be exempted from trade agreements. Most recently, this viewpoint has been expanded to include the need to protect and promote cultural diversity. Versions of this rhetoric can be found in the statements of those supporting existing Canadian cultural policies, and especially in the speeches of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and publications of this department. Seldom is an attempt made to evaluate whether the policies have achieved and are achieving their objectives. Elsewhere we have noted their deficiencies (Acheson and Maule, 1999, 329-48). The nationalist rhetoric ignores some inconvenient facts. Canadian consumers often choose not to watch the content that is the result of subsidies and tax incentives, especially Canadian films and television drama programs. Audiences for the Canadian public broadcaster have been dwindling. Canadian private broadcasters, film distributors and book publishers have been rewarded handsomely for importing foreign content and fight to maintain this privilege. At the same time, some are active exporters and are anxious to sell further ownership to foreign investors. The system of subsidies has been subject to abuse, in some cases supporting the importation of non-Canadian material. And technology is undermining the effectiveness of measures like content quotas. The U.S. rhetoric that counters the positive claims of cultural nationalism is that these industries are part of the entertainment sector of the economy that is governed by market forces. Whatever unique features the cultural industries have, they should be treated like any other industry as far as trade and investment negotiations are concerned; they should be subject to GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) commitments for goods and GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) commitments for services trade. …

Book reviews/critiques de livres

Limits to liberalization: Local culture in a global marketplace, Patricia M. Goff, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006. Anti‐americanisms in world politics, Peter J. Katzenstein and Robert O. Keohane, eds., Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007.

Overview of trade and culture

The Trade and Culture conference that was held in Ottawa November 28, 2001 addressed a series of different topics. This paper will not summarize the conference proceedings, rather it will address some of the different issues brought up by the discussants and participants. These include the Environment, Intellectual Property (IP), Corporate Reorganization, Trade Agreements and Domestic Cultural Policies.

Viewers' Choice: THe Effects of Technology, Geography and Policy

While all countries have faced similar technological developments in television production and distribution, each has chosen a particular combination of policies to allocate licences, influence content and introduce new delivery systems. The result has been differences in the choice of programs available to viewers, their means of funding and methods of delivery. Current technological changes are forcing a revision of these policies and the likelihood of converging menus of choice for viewers. In this paper we outline the choices currently or soon to be available to viewers in three capitals: Canberra, Ottawa and London. Reasons for the differences are noted along with indications of future regulatory issues.