film-industry on S Anand

How isolated is Bollywood from world cinema?

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 10:05:45 +0000

These are the major group actors based on who they act with most.

Language. Not country. For example, the Spanish / Mexican group is across countries. But Indian actors divide into North Indian and South Indian. It’s language, not country.
Time period. Old American actors are a separate group from Hollywood. (Naturally. Brad Pitt was born after Humphrey Bogart died. They couldn’t have acted together.)
Genre. Hollywood Porn actors don’t act with mainstream Hollywood. Same with Japanese Porn, Hollywood TV, and Hollywood Horror actors.

How are these groups themselves connected? Do Chinese actors act with Hollywood often? How isolated is Bollywood from world cinema?

Hollywood is the core group

Take groups that act with other groups at least 5% of the time. Mainstream Hollywood acts with British and Hollywood TV/Horror actors. All other clusters are isolated.

Indian & Japanese clusters emerge

Let’s go more liberal. Take groups that act with other groups at least 2% of the time. Hollywood forms a big connected cluster. It includes most of Europe – British, German, French, Czech, Yugoslavian & Italian actors.

North & South Indian actors form the first non-Hollywood cross-language cluster.

The Japanese and Japanese porn actors form a cluster too. (Interestingly, it’s easy for a Japanese porn actor to act with mainstream Japanese actors. Hollywood porn actors find it far harder to act with Hollywood.)

Chinese & Korean cluster emerges

Chinese & South Korean actors form the first cross-country cross-language cluster.

Hollywood expands to act with Scandinavian, Spanish, Polish, Brazilian & Nigerian films.

Other film industries (Russian, Greek, Egyptian – even Hollywood Porn – are still isolated.)

World Cinema vs the rest

Among groups that act with other groups at least 0.5% of the time, we have:

Turkish & Iranian groups coming together
Indonesian actors acting with the Chinese
Hollywood expanding to cover Russian, Greek, Egyptian, and finally, Hollywood Porn. (It’s easier for Brazilian / Nigerian to act with Hollywood than to be a Hollywood Porn actor.)

At this point, there are 6 actor groups that act with each other at least 1 out of 200 times (0.5%).

World Cinema (Hollywood & friends)
Japanese (mainstream & porn)
Indian (North & South)
Chinese, South Korean & Indonesian
Turkish & Iranian
Filipino

One world of cinema

If we look at groups that act with other groups at least 0.5% of the time, we have a far more unified picture. Almost every actor group acts with another group at least 1 out of 400 times.

But even here, there’s an exception. Filipino actors – the most insular major actor group in the world.

So, how isolated is Bollywood from World Cinema? For its size, it’s one of the most isolated actor groups. (But not as much as Iranian/Turkish or Filipino.)

Comments

Dr Urmila 5 Jan 2022 7:36 pm: Hi Anand….i am not a technical person but I do use similar representations in my research as bibliometric, scientometrics etc…we use to understand the publication patterns… Any very interesting piece of information. I enjoyed reading
How to find a Chinese actor to cast in Hollywood - S Anand 20 Feb 2022 12:39 pm (pingback): […] For example, Hollywood actors act outside Hollywood just 10% of the time. Chinese actors act with non-Chinese actors just 1% of the time. […]

Can foreigners enter Hollywood?

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 13:25:46 +0000

An aspiring Malaysian actor posted on Reddit:

I am a 18-year old biracial Malaysian kid who wants to be an actor in Hollywood. I’m taking a diploma for performing arts in a college called Sunway University in 8 days and I’m considering pulling out of it because why do something that I like when my dreams might never be fulfilled and the price for taking this diploma is seriously expensive. I am starting to doubt my chances of making it to Hollywood and I suffer from extreme anxiety. Is it possible for someone like me to enter Hollywood? What are my chances?

Breaking into Hollywood is hard. As a foreigner, it would be even harder. So I asked myself:

Do Hollywood actors act with foreigners?

Let’s take Will Smith. He frequently acts with Martin Lawrence, Tommy Lee Jones, Jaden Smith, Jon Voight, and 84 other actors.

His every co-star is a Hollywood actor, except the Spanish actor Jordi Mollà in Bad Boys II, and the Dutch actor Marwan Kenzari in Aladdin. Will Smith acts with just 2% of foreign co-stars.

On the other hand, Jackie Chan is more cosmopolitan. He acts with:

Chinese actors like Yuen Siu-Tin in Drunken Master
Hollywood actors like Chris Tucker in Rush Hour
Japanese actors like Kumiko Goto in City Hunter – which is based on a Japanese Manga of the same name.
South Korean actors like Su-cheon Bae in Huo shao shao lin men – a Korean/Mandarin film
Indian actors like Disha Patani in Kung Fu Yoga - an Indo-Chinese film
Spanish actors like Eva Cobo in Operation Condor - shot in Spain
Danish actors like Pilou Asbæk in the upcoming film Snafu

Of his 224 co-stars, 70 are non-Chinese. Jackie Chan acts with over 30% foreign co-stars.

Are Chinese films be more foreigner-friendly? Should our Malaysian friend try there instead?

Is Hollywood less open to foreigners than other countries?

I took all movie actors across the world and broke them into groups using a community structure. Actors within the group act mostly within themselves, and less with other groups.

The largest group is Hollywood, with ~80,000 actors (mostly American). They act with each other 90% of the time and act with other groups only 10% of the time.

In comparison, the Chinese group has ~20,000 actors. They act with each other 98% of the time. When they do act outside the group, it’s mostly with Hollywood (0.5%), Japanese (0.3%), South Korean (0.3%), and Indonesian (0.1%)

Clearly, Jackie Chan is more the exception than the norm.

But among the large groups, there are 2 groups that are even more insular than Chinese actors.

The ~8,200 Turkish actors act only with each other 99.1% of the time, occasionally venturing to act with Iranian actors (0.2%).

Even more insular are the ~7,000 Filipino actors who act with each other 99.3% of the time. They occasionally venture out to act in Hollywood 0.2% of the time.

There are no other sizeable groups of actors that’re as insulated.

Hollywood is actually among the most cosmopolitan groups, along with the West European films. So, to our budding Malaysian actor, I’d say:

It’s hard to get an acting break. As a foreigner, it’s 10 times harder in Hollywood. But you’re better off in Hollwood or Western Europe than in any other country, where it would be 50 to 100 times as hard!

Comments

How isolated is Bollywood from world cinema? - S Anand 5 Jan 2022 3:35 pm (pingback): […] These are the major group actors based on who they act with most. […]
I tested the best ways to mail people - S Anand 6 Jan 2022 11:32 am (pingback): […] write more about did 100% worse at #4 than #2 (4.4% down to 0%) […]
Vidyasekar 21 Dec 2021 7:15 pm: I don’t know whether it has a business value or not. But it gives a hammer shot on the head and looks at the Cinema industry and its behaviors.
My Year in 2021 - S Anand 2 Jan 2022 1:36 pm (pingback): […] On learning, I discovered network clusters. My PyCon talk on movie networks is the start of a fascinating exploration of actors that I’ll write more about. […]
Vinu 1 Jan 2022 1:08 am: Interesting data driven view of comparing the level of tribalism (if I can use that term ) within the various film industries around the world. I wonder, though, If casting decisions are directly made by the actors or the initial production and directorial leadership. some stars will command more of a say in whom they will co-Star with and with whom they won’t… but I wonder if that’s relevant to but a small fraction. Its good mental gymnastics, but at the core, your advice is good ;)
How to find a Chinese actor to cast in Hollywood - S Anand 20 Feb 2022 12:38 pm (pingback): […] example, Hollywood actors act outside Hollywood just 10% of the time. Chinese actors act with non-Chinese actors just 1% of the […]

IMDBPro

Tue, 11 Dec 2001 12:00:00 +0000

IMDBPro – paid version of IMDB with some proprietary movie databases.