An exploratory case study of a regional screen production business developing fiscal sustainability, commercial responsibility, and competitive advantage in the market

Abstract

The objective of this research was to create, and then use for increasing knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship, an exploratory case study to examine a regional screen production business interacting with local, national and global markets to develop fiscal sustainability, commercial responsibility, and competitive advantage. By documenting a dynamic period of technological growth and diversification in the sector through the case study, the research developed a framework and theoretical understanding informed by interactions with markets for visual products and programs that are created for public exhibition and dissemination. Positioned in the context of a value chain for independent film and documentary production, the research used an exploratory case study to address a gap in the literature that exists between the producer of visual products and programs and the consumer. The exploratory company was established in the Australian independent screen production sector and it is anticipated that the outcomes will provide an example of transformative benefit to entrepreneurs and researchers wishing to establish or investigate enterprises in this industry, with the potential to assist other industries if it were to become the subject of future research in those other areas. The research consisted of a series of iterations that evolved a long-term perspective for the case study company through which a wiser company emerged. Commencing in the position of the author as filmmaker, proactively operating as an entrepreneur, the research took the form of an intellectual and practical investigation that identified a need for further examination and a reinterpretation of the marketplace. I took a regional perspective and entry position by forming Reed Films Pty Ltd to use as a vehicle for the research activity. By operating and monitoring the firm’s interactions with regional, national, and international organisations, institutions, and individuals, as the company principle, I began my emergence as a producer of programs for dissemination to local, national, and international markets. A different value chain for independent film and documentary production was established, and the research provided an alternative operational and strategic method for securing funding. The research successfully demonstrates that the exploratory company examined, and discovered through action research, a new mode of interacting with local, national, and global markets for a screen production business from a regional entry position. This has resulted from an interpretative journey, equipped and assisted by the development of the ‘parabolic scramble’1 framework that became a consistent narrative metaphor throughout the thesis. The research revealed, through developmental stages resulting from action learning/research, a new interpretation of the screen production industry for the exploratory company and others interacting with markets. The resultant thesis describes an eclectic journey where a cluster of ideas led to a new approach that drove discovery to inform and fulfil the objectives of the research. This has facilitated a regional screen production business in developing fiscal sustainability and competitive advantage in the market with an ethically robust structure. Based upon a foundation of the resource based view of the firm, learning action research effectively helped me derive a new approach to the value supply chain involved in film production.