Independent audiovisual production companies as key actors on the modern audiovisual production market: a case study of the US, European, and Russian film industries

Section: Media Economics

This article is dedicated to the current state of film production markets in the USA, Europe, and Russia. Since the 1950s, the film industry in the USA and Europe has been influenced by socio-economic and cultural transformations; as a result, the classical vertically integrated studio system was gradually replaced by vertically disintegrated production networks comprising major studios, independent production companies, and specialized service providers. In Russia, the collapse of the studio system and the appearance of flexible production companies happened during the post-Soviet economic reforms in the early 1990s. Film production in Europe and in Russia is defined by protectionist policies and significant state funding of national products. The EU and the Council of Europe’s policy is mainly realized as coproduction, also involving several independent production studios. The flexible resource management inherent in the new film production system has helped lower costs and improve process efficiency. Independent production companies respond swiftly to shifts in demand, including in formats and genres, resulting in more diverse modern content. Flexibility and adaptability of independent production companies to the dynamic transformations of the media market have led to their predominance in the number of films and TV series produced in the USA, Europe, and Russia.

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To cite this article: El-Bakri T. V. (2025) Nezavisimaya prodakshn-kompaniya kak klyuchevoy aktor na rynke audiovizual’nogo proizvodstva na primere kinoindustrii SShA, Evropy i Rossii [Independent audiovisual production companies as key actors on the modern audiovisual production market: a case study of the US, European, and Russian film industries]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 6: 24–52. DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.6.2025.2452