在台灣建立影城連鎖研究：以美麗華影城為例

Abstract

Prior to 1998, local family-owned and operated single auditorium movie theaters dominated the Taiwan cinema exhibition industry. In that year, the opening of the 17-plex Warner Village Cinemas (WVC), a joint venture between Village Roadshow and Warner Brothers Theaters located in the Hsinyi District of Taipei, disrupted the entire dynamics of the market. For the first time an international cinema chain opened a state of the art facility in Taiwan forcing local operators to adjust their tactics and strategies, initiating the downfall of Shimending as the center of gravity for cinema exhibition. In the six years from the time of opening their first cineplex, WVC went on to open six other locations: Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung (2), and Hsinchu (2), but then decided to divest from the market. One of the sites that WVC had signed a lease for was the Cathay Life building in Tienmou; in light of the shareholders desire to depart from the Taiwan market, they sold the rights of this site to a consortium of local investors, WVUG, but maintained a management contract with the new owners. Another site that had been previously committed to by a local cinema exhibitor was the Miramar Entertainment Complex Cineplex. Miramar was unique in that aside from 8 mainline auditoriums, it would have the first commercial IMAX auditorium in Taiwan. Prior to the sale of the company to a consortium of local investors and Golden Harvest from Hong Kong, WVC secured the management contract for the Miramar cinemas. The first chapter provides background to the research and introduces the Case and the questions I seek to answer. Chapter 2 attempts to give an overview of the cinema exhibition industry with special focus on the particularities of the Taiwan market. Chapter 3 provides an introduction to WVC, Miramar, Tienmou, and the events leading to the breakup. Chapter 4 analyzes the market for cinema going in Taiwan, the differences between local cinema operators and international chains and the factors leading to the decision by Miramar and Tienmou to establish a company. The final Chapter attempts to answers the questions in Chapter 1. As Miramar was the driving force behind setting up the independent cinema exhibition company, I will focus more on Miramar than on Tienmou, but I will also introduce the background and other information on Tienmou when necessary.