Making Markets for Japanese Cinema: A Study of Distribution Practices for Japanese Films on DVD in the UK from 2008 to 2010 Jonathan Wroot PhD Thesis Submitted to the University of East Anglia For the qualification of PhD in Film Studies 2013 1 Making Markets for Japanese Cinema: A Study of Distribution Practices for Japanese Films on DVD in the UK from 2008 to 2010 2 Acknowledgements Thanks needed to be expressed to a number of people over the last three years – and I apologise if I forget anyone here. First of all, thank you to Rayna Denison and Keith Johnston for agreeing to oversee this research – which required reining in my enthusiasm as much as attempting to tease it out of me and turn it into coherent writing. Thanks to Mark Jancovich, who helped me get started with the PhD at UEA. A big thank you also to Andrew Kirkham and Adam Torel for doing what they do at 4Digital Asia, Third Window, and their other ventures – if they did not do it, this thesis would not exist. Also, a big thank you to my numerous other friends and family – whose support was invaluable, despite the distance between most of them and Norwich. And finally, the biggest thank you of all goes to Christina, for constantly being there with her support and encouragement. 3 Abstract The thesis will examine how DVD distribution can affect Japanese film dissemination in the UK. The media discourse concerning 4Digital Asia and Third Window proposes that this is the principal factor influencing their films’ presence in the UK from 2008 to 2010. The distributors’ actions establish the UK market that exists for Japanese films, and that these consumer demands are best pursued through the medium of DVD. As a result, the distribution and marketing materials for the film releases often highlight the discs and their DVD labels as much as the production background and content of the films. This fact leads to the following questions: how are DVDs of Japanese films made distinctive? How important is the DVD format itself, as well as the labeling of the films as Japanese? An effective methodological strategy is needed to answer these questions. The thesis’ approach allows for an integrated analysis of relevant sources within the fields of Japanese film, DVD media, and film distribution and marketing. DVD packaging, special features, trailers, websites and reviews are all essential parts of 4Digital Asia and Third Window’s DVD distribution processes. Multiple analytical approaches can integrate methods of close textual analysis required for the study of various sources that represent film distribution. Therefore, the discourses circulating the DVDs, and the influence of DVD dissemination strategies of Japanese films in the UK, will be investigated. They reveal that the distributors’ practices communicate how Japanese cinema is distribution on DVD in the UK, and act as a means of identifying the market that exists for these films. 4 Contents Introduction 6 Chapter One – Packaging DVDs of Japanese Films: Films, DVD Labels and their Consumable Identity 44 Chapter Two: DVD Special Features: Exploring the Purposes of Promotional Material as Additional Viewing Experiences 74 Chapter Three: Trailers – How the DVD Labels’ Re-Use Japanese Promotional Texts to Distinguish Themselves 100 Chapter Four: DVD Labels’ Websites: How Distributors Promote and Provide New Experiences to UK DVD Viewers 138 Chapter Five: Reviews of DVD Releases: NEO Magazine and the Critical Reception of Distributors 174 Chapter Six: After 2010: Continuing Practices and Processes within the Distributors’ Later Actions 210 Conclusion: Distinction and Visibility: The Influence of the Distribution Practices of 4Digital Asia and Third Window 244 Appendix One: DVD release details 252 Appendix Two: DVD cover and website images 260 Appendix Three: Third Window Films’ Newsletters 301 Bibliography 316 5 Making Markets for Japanese Cinema: A Study of Distribution Practices for Japanese Films on DVD in the UK from 2008 to 2010 Introduction It is widely recognised by those working in the film and video sector that distribution is the vital link which connects producers to audiences throughout the whole sector, from the commercial film industry to grassroots community initiatives. But to those outside the sector, that link is largely invisible… ---Julia Knight and Peter Thomas.1 Distribution plays a crucial role in film culture – it determines what films we see, and when and how we see them; and it also determines what films we do not see. ---Ramon Lobato.2 Following these statements, distribution can be argued as the most important process in the film industry. It is especially crucial for niche areas of cinema, such as for Japanese films released in the UK. Despite their importance, film distribution practices are perceived by researchers as being under-examined as well as invisible.3 However, such practices are becoming visible in order for particular companies to establish themselves within certain markets. 4Digital Asia and Third Window are two UK distributors who accomplished this during the years of 2008 to 2010, when they were both active. The labels established a market for Japanese cinema within the UK, and provided these films predominantly through DVD releases, distinguishing themselves amongst the wide variety of Asian media products that are becoming increasingly popular in the UK. The thesis will therefore investigate the extent to which DVD distribution practices affect Japanese films released in the UK, as the actions of 4Digital Asia and Third Window pose several questions about wider trends concerning Japanese cinema. How are DVDs of Japanese films distinctive? How important is the DVD 1 Julia Knight and Peter Thomas, Reaching Audiences: Distribution and Promotion of Alternative Moving Image (Bristol: Intellect, 2011), p.13. 2 Ramon Lobato, Shadow Economies of Cinema: Mapping Informal Film Distribution (London: BFI, 2012), p.2. 3 Ibid; Sean Cubitt, ‘Distribution and Media Flows’ (193-214), Cultural Politics, 1:2 (2005), 193-4. 6 format itself, as well as the labelling of the films as Japanese? By answering these questions, it will be determined how influential DVD labels’ actions are within the UK market. Answers to these questions will also intervene in the fields of Japanese cinema studies and research of the DVD format. Furthermore, the market that 4Digital Asia and Third Window established is still present within the UK, which their actions after 2010 illustrate. Distribution is a vitally important process within the whole of the film industry. As David Sin explains, it is often: ‘…referred to as 'the invisible art', a process known only to those within the industry, barely written about and almost imperceptible to everyone else. Yet arguably, distribution is the most important part of the film industry, where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience.’ 4 Without distribution, films would not end up in places of exhibition and consumption, such as cinemas, film festivals, retail outlets and digital streaming sites. Distributors negotiate rights from filmmakers and production studios in order to distribute media within a particular format or country. Depending on a film’s perceived market, the distributor can decide whether or not to release it in cinemas, through physical media (for example, DVD and Blu- Ray), or by digital means (such as streaming and downloading). This is often linked to the marketing and promotion of the film as well. Most large production studios (such as those in Hollywood) may carry out these processes themselves. However, there are a great number of independent distributors within all countries around the world that release films from other countries. Their actions represent their understanding of a particular market, and which films audiences are most likely to “connect with” in a certain country. Therefore, distribution is a highly revealing process within the film industry, as it can give scholars a great deal of information about a film’s dissemination – in addition to audience research, reception analysis and analysis of sales figures. As a result of 4 David Sin, ‘What is Distribution?’, BFI Screen Online website, accessed 06/06/2013, http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/distribution/distribution1.html. 7 distribution’s significance, the fact that 4Digital Asia and Third Window both predominantly released Japanese films on to DVDs in the UK from 2008 to 2010 is also revealing. This behaviour demonstrates that the market for these films in the UK was best served by the DVD medium at this time. Sales information for DVDs is not publically available for the UK market, making analyses of audiences and consumption figures difficult.5 However, the material that needs to be generated for digital media distribution, such as DVD, is made distinctive by distributors and can subsequently be examined. For instance, a release of a DVD brings with it the generation of the physical product itself; the media contained within it; marketing materials such as trailers and websites; and reviews by various publications.6 Making distribution practices distinctive therefore appears to be an effective aid for bringing certain products to the UK, such as Japanese films. How distribution can be made visible, and the potential benefit this has for DVD labels and their film releases, will be revealed by studying 4Digital Asia and Third Window. The many materials and processes utilised within distribution mean that it can be thoroughly investigated, as well as demonstrating