RESEARCH / 01
Growth is moving towards monetisation and audience access.
PwC projects 7.2% annual growth for internet advertising and 6.1% for OTT video, compared with 3.5% for box office. These are broad sector forecasts, not a valuation of the AI film opportunity.
HiChina’s reading: content suppliers should specify who pays, what is bought and how repeat demand is created. Brand commissions, distribution services and platform-specific content require different rights, assets and measurement. A production centre creates value when it can coordinate these routes alongside production.
Recommended entry route
Before a slate is commissioned, define the buyer, format, territory, pricing assumption and evidence needed to validate demand. Track repeat commissions, accepted deliveries and attributable revenue, not output volume alone.
RESEARCH / 02
A larger box office can coexist with slow audience growth.
PwC forecasts cinema admissions growth of around 1% annually to 2030. BFI reports 123.5 million UK admissions in 2025, still 30% below 2019; CNC records a decline in French admissions in 2025.
HiChina’s reading: revenue growth and audience growth must be separated. A film’s commercial case needs its own audience proposition, release route and marketing budget. An international catalogue should be prioritised title by title, not pushed into every territory with the same assumptions.
Recommended entry route
Use a territory shortlist, comparable audience pathways, local buyer feedback and a costed adaptation plan. Start with a limited rights package and expand after evidence of demand.
RESEARCH / 03
AI economics must be measured at accepted delivery.
National production and media figures do not isolate AI-generated film revenue. The sources used here do not support a defensible global AI-film market total, so this site does not publish one.
HiChina’s operating view: a cheaper generation attempt can still raise total delivery cost through retries, supervision, rights review, post-production and integration. Model providers, compute firms and labs should therefore be assessed within the same production task, using authorised materials and a human acceptance standard.
Recommended entry route
Measure total cost per accepted shot or minute, first-pass acceptance, rework hours, delivery time and traceability. Include compute, licences, people, storage and post-production. Fix the quality target before comparing prices.
RESEARCH / 04
Local knowledge is an operating resource.
China and Japan report high domestic-film shares, while Thailand’s figures describe inward production rather than cinema demand. These are different forms of market opportunity.
HiChina’s reading: internationalisation requires more than translating content. Local rights holders, producers, editors, distribution teams and enterprise customers should shape the project early. Research and technology partners create more value when tied to these real workloads.
Recommended entry route
Choose a market hypothesis, assign a local lead, map rights and channel requirements, and agree one pilot. The next stage depends on creative approval, commercial evidence and feasible delivery economics.
