Research Paper on he Film Industry: A Major Driver of US Economy Growth

Introduction

Over the years the television and film industry has grown tremendously, which has therefore boosted the economy and demand in all corners of the world. It can, therefore, be said that the film and television industry has increased the U.S. economy rendering it, one of the key drivers in contributing to the growth of the economy in the United States of America. The film industry provides most of the entertainment products which are seen in most homes throughout the world. In 2006 it was estimated that Hollywood alone accumulated a total revenue of $25.82 billion which was 85% of the tickets sold in the world (K, 2007). According to Lucee (2007), MPAA has been able to give $49 billion to the local businesses and supported more than two (2) million jobs all over the states and has provided better wages to the workers gaining over $16 billion export worldwide. Due to this, the U.S. government has dramatically supported the film and television industry in both bilateral and multilateral trade entities because of its importance in its economy. Jobs that are directly related to television and film shows, have drastically increased, due to the rapid growth and development of creative content and the digital transformation of the industry. Therefore, this research study seeks to examine, gauge and discuss the extent of the MPAA's influence on U.S trade relations based on the given research questions.

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• How does MPAA influence US trade relations?
• What are the effects of piracy towards MPAA's and the US economy?
• What are some of the government's trade relations with other countries?

History and Background

MPAA's is part of the American trade association which represents five major together with Netflix. It was founded in 1922 as MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America) until it was rebranded as (Motion Picture Association of America) in 1945 by Eric Johnston. The main goal of this association was to bring about the viability of the film industry in America. Early in 1930, the association established some guidelines for film content which in return brought about the creation of the production code (Henry, 2013). This code entailed moral rules and guidelines regarding what was acceptable and unacceptable in the films. The system also referred to as "Hays code" prohibited things such as sex perversions, coverage of adultery, and white slavery, among others. Though in the early 1930s, the economic impacts due to the great depression, pushed the industry to make films that would bring about more audience even if it meant disobeying the code. Recently the association has also been able to advocate for effective reduction of piracy, market expansion and also protection from copyright.

In the early stages, the MPPDA played a more significant role in ensuring that it protected the film industry from censorship. In 1956, the code was revised, and this time around it allowed some subjects which had at first been rejected, these included; use of narcotics, blasphemy and abortion. In 2004, the industry appointed Glickman as their leader, during his leadership his primary focus was the expansion of the united studios, protection of film content and issues regarding tax. In recent days MPAA has embraced technology as a way of distributing content, it has also been able to launch a coalition of entertainment companies whose main objective is to draw MPAA's resources together with the aim of reducing online piracy by use of legal efforts and research. MPAA's activities span the span of diplomatic, political, and economic blocks.

The MPAA's Economic Influence

The MPAA's is one of the nation's contributors towards national economy. In 2005 it was estimated that MPAA had employed over 359 thousand people. By this period, most of the employees lived in California even though MPAA's contributed significantly to other economies of other states. The number rose significantly since by 2007 this industry had created over 2.5 million jobs in which each employee had an average salary of $74,700, which lead to an accumulation of $13.6 billion in trade surplus and $41.1 billion wages to American workers. Over 478 000 people have been employed directly by businesses that are related to the MPAA's. This includes those in movie theatres, television broadcasters, online ventures and cable companies. It also supports over 1.7 million indirect opportunities/jobs at which thousands of companies do gigs with the industry. Such include hardware and lumber suppliers, transportation companies, retailers and tourist attractions. In 2007 the average salary of employees in the core production industry-related was $75,000, which was approximately above/higher than the average nationwide salary. Motion Picture Association of America remains the successful exporter of American products. In 2007, it was estimated that there was a surplus of $13.6 billion of the total U.S. private- sector trade surplus in terms of services given. This was larger than the combined surplus of other sectors which included medical services, insurance services and computer sectors (Lee, 2007).

The international market is also essential for MPAA, and it is believed that the global revenue from MPAA member companies has doubled since nearly if not all half of the income is now obtained from outside the U.S. which, therefore, makes the international market relevant to American jobs. In both 2007 and 2008, MPAA's contributed to the economies of all the 50 states in Columbia. These states found the production more beneficial that they had to enact some specific incentives to increase film production in their countries. In 2011 3.2% or $ 504 billion of the nation, Gross Domestic Product was attributable to arts and culture, which included films and movie productions. The report indicated that the gross economic output was $916 billion for the arts and culture industries which included $100 billion cable television production. The report stated that since 1929 the GDP had been growing by 3% in which research development and entertainment had added over $471 billion to the overall economy of the nation by the end of 2012.

The American Image and Hollywood

In most parts of the continent, every common man sees foreign movies that are not Chinese or Indian as an American. To them, the American film industry forms the foundation of the film. In all over the world, Hollywood has dominated the way of thinking of the audience and the filmmakers. Hence, Hollywood has managed to sell the image of America to the rest of the world. Hollywood is a unique American event. It is defined as a system of the U.S. entertainment industry, which revolves around six (6) significant companies that are part of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Hollywood film industry is referred to as an American ideological medium way of communication, which has a significant influence on other movies to the rest of the world. This is a global industry that is geographically situated and concentrated with most of its entities and offices located in Southern California with the right global image. Hollywood has been able to promote the national ethos of the United States and has been able to shape other movie industries across the world (Ibbi, 2013).

The U.S. has been able to sell its likeness to the entire world through Hollywood. Hollywood as served as a way to praise and uphold the virtues of Americans by way of promoting and enhancing national cohesion through a positive national image. MPAA's American leaders have been able to persuade other countries to embrace their style of leadership and vision of "liberal capitalist." Hollywood has helped build the U.S. public image that is characterized by equality, freedom, prosperity, and positive photos, which have been reinforced through storylines in different movies and films. Hollywood has dramatically influenced the public image of the U.S.; this has instilled fear in other countries since they believe that their cultural identity would be altered and tainted by Hollywood influence.

Promotion of American Culture through Hollywood

American films are watched in most parts of the world, not only in America itself. American film industry dominates most of the market share across the world film industry. Most people find it worthy of watching these film movies due to their smooth storytelling and actions. The promotion of American culture is an event in which Americans want to control and dominate the world by spreading out its culture and traditions through films. Through films, Americans have continued to make some of the American values meaningful and use the movie as political tactics across the world. Film act as a global method of communication since it can reach a considerable amount of audience. It paramount to understand that the United States is the only superpower in the world and therefore, its decision of promoting its culture internationally, has more significant effects to other nations around the globe because films have a great sense and ability to capture people's imaginations hence directing a sense of what is right and real (Maisuwong, 2012).

Hollywood is viewed as a double-sided turf since it can influence the people around the world and give several impacts, which are either positive or negative. As mentioned in this context, American is Superpower, therefore, it impacts all sorts of aspects such as politics and economy. It is vital to understand that Hollywood films contain rude words and aggressive words in which most of the audience can copy and adopt in their daily lives. Hollywood works as a tool that affects the thinking and culture of world populations. Hollywood has gained a lot of benefits across the world due to its Hollywoodization. It has been able to take advantage of its popularity over local audiences, and this has made it ready to distribute movies in other forms of languages (W, 2012). Through Hollywood, Americans have been able to reconstruct their values by way of accepting new social benefits, change of attitudes, ideals, and social benefits. Some of the motivations of promoting American culture through Hollywood include:

• Propagandas to bring out the bright and ethical wills of America
• Promotion and enhancement of American nationalism
• Spreading out values, ideologies, and lifestyles of Americans to the rest of the world
• Liberalization of the world through freedom of expression and human rights
• Publication of American reputation

Political Economical Analysis of MPAA's In the U.S.

There has been a cordial relationship between banking and the film industry in the U.S. Banks played an essential role in the creation of the American film industry. American film industry served as a unique commodity in a capitalist economy. It acted as an ideological approach and also a communication medium. The production was capital intensive by nature. Since its inception, Hollywood has continued to impact national U.S. politics and social wellbeing. MPAA's enjoyed cordial relationship with the government because most of the organization's leaders and some of the employees had a high level experience and worked closely with the federal government (Lee, 2007).

In such, the first president of MPAA' S was a former U.S. postmaster, and others included B. Johnson, who was an advisor to the president. MPAA's was preoccupied with persons with vast experience and had a significant influence on the government of the day, and they included trade specialist, diplomats, and lawyers. During the Second World War, Hollywood worked closely with the U.S. government in which it helped the government with secretive and essential information during the campaign. Due to these political and econo...