한국영화 간접배급구조에 대한 연구

Study on the “indirect distribution system” of Korean Films

Distribution of Korean films had been based on “an indirect distribution system by regions”, which was formed in the late 1950s and had been effective until 1990s. This system is a way of block-booking by regions, which divided Korea into six commercial blocks; Seoul including its neighboring districts, Pusan area, Gwangju area, Daegu area, Daejeon area, and Kyungi area. Distributors in each region payed production companies for distribution rights in their own regions, which guaranteed their rights to screen films in the region. This system was managed to be effective until 1998, when multiplex theaters were established and wide release became a common way of releasing a film. This system, however, has been criticized by various studies as having distorted the Korean film market by preventing those who made films from taking the box office revenues enough. This study starts with questioning this existing criticism. The study suggests that if putting the system in a historical context of Korean film industry, the system had played not only a role of distribution but also a very important role as investors to production. In this regard, the study tries to reread the meaning of “the indirect distribution system of Korean films” under the overall historical context of the Korean film industry. In other words, the status of the system is worth being evaluated in a more positive way, when it is put in the whole film industry system of production, distribution, and screening. Secondly, by examining the system itself, this study attempts to characterize the Korean film market by regions at that time. The market sizes of regional film industries can be projected by analyzing the ratio of per regions. Thirdly, this thesis aims to balance discourses on the indirect distribution system of Korea, which has been established historically.