Who are the Big Winners of Q4?

Happy New Year! Everyone at Spherex wishes you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2023.

What’s that old saying, “Out with the old, in with the new”? Or maybe it’s, “What’s past is prologue” or “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Whether your perspective is optimistic or pessimistic, the end of the old year and the start of a new one requires retrospection.

Content Censorship

Unsurprisingly, Q4 continued the trend of increased censorship of political, religious, culturally critical, and LGBTQ+ content over the first three quarters of 2022, all of 2021 and 2020. Here are a few examples, as reported in Spherex’s World M&E News.

• Indian regulators question whether the color of a bathing suit insults religious sentiments
• Myanmar’s censorship board must first approve all foreign film and TV content
• Russia added a journalist portrayed in the documentary “Navalny” to its “Wanted” list
• China’s cultural regulations are causing independent filmmakers to look for ways around them with mixed results
• Pakistan terminates the independence of its Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) and places it under the political control of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
• The Turkish Culture Ministry demanded its investment back from the producers of an award-winning film after a campaign by conservative media claimed it was “LGBT propaganda”
• Catholic groups in South Africa, Kenya, and Brazil boycotted Netflix over LGBTQ+ content
• Countries and media companies announce rules or ban generative AI content, including China and Getty Images
• New content regulations went into effect in Ireland, Singapore, and Jamaica
• Disney films “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Black Adam” were banned in China due to the former film’s portrayal of an LGBTQ+ relationship and one of the latter’s lead actors, Pierce Brosnan, past comments regarding the Dalai Lama.

External to these actions impacting M&E is the increase of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in the news media around the world, often echoing the opinions of political and religious leaders. From the US to South America to Europe to Africa to Asia and Australia, the increasingly threatening anti-LGBTQ+ commentary and laws will continue to pressure the M&E industry to avoid creating or distributing such content. Thankfully, 2022 was also the year some in the industry began to resist those pressures, some later than others. Even then, those efforts were met with a direct political response intended to punish their perceived non-compliance.

Now for the Good News

Q4 wasn’t all doom and gloom. The big winners of the quarter, in fact for the entire year, are foreign film and TV titles. During this quarter, they were not only recognized for their quality by being nominated or winning more industry awards than ever before but more were picked up for distribution in the coming year. Thanks to streaming, more were produced and released to international audiences than ever before. Top films from India, South Korea, and Europe have begun to prove audiences are finally overcoming that “1-inch subtitle barrier.”

• Five foreign titles released in Q4 grossed over $1.06B in box office revenue, four of which were not in the domestic US market.
• Trade publications worldwide, including the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and The Guardian (UK), include foreign titles in their “Best of” lists for 2022.

A Year to DEI For (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)

Diversity, equity, and inclusion began to take hold in Hollywood and elsewhere heading into 2022, and there is hope that the trend will continue. Two studies released yesterday (2 Jan 2023) indicate while that trend may have stalled due to the economy, signs of progress and hope are also visible.

San Diego State’s study found a 1% decline in the total number of women and people of color (POC) in top creative roles in the 100 top-grossing titles in 2022, but it increased by 1% when looking at the top 250 titles. USC’s study found “no change between 2021 and 2022.”

The optimism comes from the study’s finding that “Films with at least one woman director employed substantially more women in other key behind-the-scenes roles than films with exclusively male directors. On films with at least one woman director, women comprised 53% of writers, 39% of editors, 19% of cinematographers, and 18% of composers. On films with male directors, women accounted for 12% of writers, 19% of editors, 4% of cinematographers, and 6% of composers (top 250 films).”

Evidence of this optimism is reflected in the fact that several titles up for major film awards this season were directed by women of color. If you look at the cast and crew of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till,” Jessica M. Thompson’s “The Invitation,” and Domee Shi’s animated Pixar film “Turning Red,” you’ll see a highly diverse team of professionals. 

While censorship continues to be something M&E considers, it is essential not to lose sight of the increased tolerance and inclusion happening simultaneously. We anticipate this will continue to be encouraged, produced, and recognized in 2023.

Happy New Year, everyone! We’re looking forward to it!