Thai film industry

I recently had the pleasure of writing a piece about the Thai film industry for the September-October issue of the mag.

Research and interviews were really quite like any other piece. With my background I'm pretty used to speaking to, and getting excited about, techy companies, geek products, social media gurus or internet trends.

This article however, was an opportunity to learn about a totally new topic and, an interesting one at that.

From my research and interviews it seems that the Thai film industry was not as successful as I had initially thought.

In a nutshell: the industry is badly in need of investment, big budgets film are not using Thailand and, with little signs that the Thai government or Board Of Investment (BOI) are promoting to international film communities, many are sceptical that change will come any time soon.

Private developments look the most likely way for the film industry to progress with the most notable project being a $264 million project in Chiang Mai, aka CNXWOOD (see this preview video for more). There are also whispers of a Chonburi-based initiative, backed by a number of investors which allegedly include Hollywood big shot Oliver Stone.

This aerial shot shows the impressive blueprint for Chiang Mai Wood. Photo courtesy of Creative Kingdom Studios.

My print article on the Thai film industry is in the September-October issue of Director (out this week) but you can catch a preview of it on the Director blog here.

Fascinating stuff.

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If you're on Twitter, I recommend following the following people who regularly cover Thai film industry news, views and updates.

- http://twitter.com/wisekwai [Anonymous film blogger Wise Kwai]
- http://twitter.com/scott_cos [Noted film industry analyst-cum-journalist, Scott Rosenberg]