2000년대 한국영화 상영업의 변화양상에 대한 고찰-직접배급방식의 도입 이후를 중심으로-

Abstract

The term ‘film exhibition business’ refers to all the practices that make possible for the audience to watch a film at certain given time and places. When we speak of ‘film exhibition’, compared to the term ‘theater business’, it is relatively put more weight on the practice of screening a film than operating theater facilities. In this study, I tried to explain the major characteristics of Korean film distribution industry in the 2000s, focusing on changes of film exhibition business. The second chapter investigates the why and how the current film industry system was established: the introduction of ‘direct distribution’ caused the separation of the field of distribution and of exhibition, and the major film circuits began to develop the multiplex cinemas. These changes generated conflicts between distributors and exhibitors struggling over profits of the domestic market. In dealing with the conflicts, the problem of unfair contracts and opacity of the film market has been partially solved and Korean film industry has showed qualitative growth as well as quantitative expansion: several Korean films reached the 10-million-viewer-mark from 2012 to 2014. However, in spite of the efforts of establishing a fair market process, there still are many problems left to be solved. In the third chapter, I looked through what film exhibitors had been trying to do for the better future of the market such as introducing various price policies, improving overseas sales, establishing art houses etc. In my opinion, even if the changes caused by these new attempts might lead to new problems, they still can be the platform for the better future environment of Korean film industry.