Exploring cultural differences in the daily management of Chinese–Hong Kong film co-productions

From the late 1970s to 1990s, the Hong Kong (HK) film industry enjoyed glory days of being the largest Chinese film producer in the world, with an average annual output of over 300 films. In contrast, in 2014, HK produced only 51 films. To survive this downturn, HK film practitioners and co-producers have been compelled to go north to tap China’s new capital, new pool of viewers, new wave of talent, lower production costs and natural scenery for location shooting. However, entering the emergent Chinese film market is not easy due to its stringent government regulations regarding content and equity partnership. Adding to these complications are the differences in the socio-political structure, core values, and business and work practices of HK and Chinese film practitioners. This research investigates the cultural distances that exist in the daily management of film co-production projects, using Chinese–HK film co-production as a case study. This research is discussed in the theoretical paradigm of the six dimensions of cultural distance advocated by Hofstede (2011). This study adopts a qualitative research methodology. The primary data collection is conducted through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Secondary sources of data are collected from published reports, forum documentations, newspapers and archival records. Triangulation is used for data analysis. This study is a first attempt to use Hofstede’s cultural distance dimensions to explain the differences between HK and Chinese film practitioners. The findings indicate that there are industry-specific work behaviours and attitudes that deviate from Hofstede’ s (2013) Chinese and HK cultural distance national index. Therefore, this study proposes that future research should measure an industry-specific cultural index to compare with the national index. This study also proposes using structured project management methodology as a best practice to resolve conflicts between HK and Chinese practitioners by using established processes. This will enhance and uplift the managerial practices of the Chinese film industry to meet the best practices of international film co-production.