Abstract
This chapter opens with a layout of the film distribution economy spectrum. It sets out the definition of the formal, semi-formal, and informal economies, sets up the theoretical grounding of distribution and exhibition as intermediary spaces, and explains how they are tightly inter/connected to each other. The chapter then provides a historical landscape of the film distribution and exhibition system in the Philippines from stand-alone cinemas to the rise of multiplexes. It also presents an overview of their existing business practices, the power structure, and power struggle that exists within the film value chain, and how distributors and exhibitors exercise their power in flexing their economic muscles, which in turn can influence and alter the cultural signification of the whole filmmaking process.
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Lim, M.K. (2019). Distribution and Exhibition as Intermediary Spaces. In: Philippine Cinema and the Cultural Economy of Distribution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03608-9_5
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