The impact of Hollywood majors on the local film industry. The case of Poland

The aim of the article is to investigate the sector of cinema distribution in Poland, especially to identify the degree of concentration within the Polish film distribution market, and to evaluate the effects of the Hollywood dominant position in distribution on the performance of national distribution companies in Poland. The article presents the results of the research carried out between the years 2002-2018. The results of the quantitative research for the film distributors operating in Poland in the analysed period were presented together with market capacity, market share ratios and measures of market concentration (C4 and HHI indices). The study provides empirical evidence on the influence of major US distributor studios on the local film industry. At the same time, it turns out that the concentration on the cinema distribution market in Poland is high and US distributors dominate the Polish film industry. Yet, the research does not confirm that the American oligopoly has had a negative effect on the distribution of national films. As the cinema distribution market in Poland is still poorly recognised by the researchers, the article is a valuable addition to the existing research gap.