Assignment Sample on OTEC1016 Supply Chain Logistics Management
Introduction
The negative impacts of Covid-19 have been experienced by all industries across the world and the film and entertainment industry globally has not been any exception at all. During the pandemic, due to several lockdowns and in order to maintain the protocols of social distancing all the film productions were shut down, which made the Supply Chain Management (SCM) of the film industry face severe losses. On the other hand, the people who used to work in different production houses had lost jobs and a worldwide chaos within the supply chain of film industry was created in relation to the film industry. Similar to the global film production sector, the UK film industry’s supply chain had also faced tremendous loss, since the country experienced one of the most horrific impacts of the pandemic and many lockdowns were also imposed in the country.
It needs to be mentioned that the film industry is a major contributor to the global economy and the arrival of Covid-19 and the complete shutdown of film productions indirectly affected the economy as well. The economic disruption became excruciating, since people had to stay at home and the consequences were experienced by various sectors, such as the restriction of mass gathering affecting the film and entertainment industry (Ozili and Arun, 2020). However, since the movie theatres were closed due to the pandemic, the Over the Top (OTT) platforms had become extremely popular as those gave people a chance to keep enjoying watching movies from the comfort of their homes. The unprecedented outbreak of Covid-19 saw a surprising amount of increase in the viewership of OTT media platforms and the lockdowns had a significant part to play in it (Madnani et al., 2020).
The impact of Covid-19 on the SCM within the UK film industry
The UK film industry is one of the most renowned and largest film industries across the world and many world renowned movies, TV shows and even live renditions of movies and more have been produced by the country’s entertainment industry. However, the unfortunate arrival of the pandemic had caused every production of every movie to be put on hold for a significant amount of time. The UK film industry produces a significant number of movies, TV shows every year and there are a lot of people whose livelihoods are attached to this sector and those individuals had suffered terrible consequences as many had lost their jobs. Apart from the actors, directors, producers, numerous jobs within the film industry such as the camera technicians, equipments carriers, make-up artists, costume designers, editors and other individuals who could not travel due to lack of proper SCM. The impact of the virus within the entertainment industry may be not that significant of a threat to human life, however, people making a living out of it, especially in film productions are experiencing its adverse effect quite strongly (Moon, 2020).
The UK film industry and its complete supply chain management contributes as one of the most relevant contributors to the country’s economy and the disruption in these sectors had quite a nerve-wrecking effect on the country’s overall economy too. Starting from multiplexes to the live productions of movies and plays also had to be closed owing to the rising Covid-19 virus and for that the owners of those along with other individuals related to live theatres faced grave consequences as well. The outbreak of Covid-19 had caused a significant drop in sales of tickets, distribution of movies with the help of SCM regarding the delivery of the movie rolls, which delayed the release of popular movies and that in turn have caused a decrease in the overall box office revenue and disrupting the supply chain management within the film industry (Kim, 2021). Most of the largest production houses in the UK, such as Archery Pictures, Eon productions and more had faced tremendous loss in its supply chain of film production. Since, distribution, casting and marketing for a film and more activities of the production process came to a halt. Similar to the UK production houses, other huge and most renowned companies such as Marvel, DC, MGM and more had also been subjected to such negative consequences as well and faced loss in the film production as they could not market their movies with the aid of SCM in the film industry.
The film industry’s SCM in the UK provides jobs to millions of people and the unparalleled impact of the virus had a negative effect on the mental health of many individuals that work in the industry owing to mass job loss. According to research, individuals who were employed during the peak of the pandemic had shown relatively lower levels of depression in comparison to people who had lost jobs during that time (Posel et al., 2021). The film industry and people related to its SCM have a significant effect on travel and tourism as well and the halt in productions of the UK film industry, indirectly affected the travel and tourism sector as well. In today’s age a competition is prevalent in alluring film producers to work on a project at a given location and as an example the TV series Game of Thrones had a positive effect on the hospitality sector of Dubrovnik, Croatia (Tkalec et al., 2017). In addition to that, although the restrictions in relation to the pandemic are slowly being uplifted, people are highly unlikely to go to the movie theatres again just the way people used to visit such places prior to the pandemic. Therefore, the UK government had to lower the taxes on movie tickets and other items that used to be found at such places, which in return had decreased the overall income of the country’s government. The revenue generated from the industry in the year 2020 was 75% less than 2019, which further indicates that the UK government faced enormous challenges in terms of operating in the sector, as result of countrywide shut down of cinemas and due to the gap of proper SCM in the industry (Cinemauk.org.uk. 2021).
Figure 1: Yearly cinema admission in different countries
(Source: Cinemauk.org.uk. 2021)
Furthermore, some of the smaller cinema halls had to be completely shut down due to lack of SCM in the distribution part, and as a result of being closed for an unprecedented amount of time, which again had a negative impact on the people that worked there and on the economy as well. Many social distancing measures are required to be taken in today’s movie sets and that further had caused significant disruptions in the making of a movie or show as the production houses could not move their sets to desired location as proper SCM of equipments and cameras was not possible. However, since the traditional ways of watching movies had become a matter of grave concern, the rise in viewership on the OTT platforms such as Netflix saw a significant surge and (Refer to Appendix 1).
Many UK movies and TV shows have found their places in these platforms, arguably making digital platforms the future of cinema. Movies are now being released on digital platforms that were previously used to be released in multiplexes, since the lockdowns have forced the industry to keep the shutter down amidst the pandemic (Kaur et al., 2020). On the contrary, the OTT platforms have given jobs to many people when traditional movie making and all other works related to it had suffered the ripple effects of the pandemic. Viewership has also increased significantly on these platforms and people are buying more subscriptions, since the pandemic has made these platforms the convenient ways to watch movies. Therefore, the multiplexes and movie theatres are likely to remain closed for a long time due to SCM in the form of improper distribution and few of them may go out of business as well, since people have found the alternative to watching movies without stepping out of home. In accordance with a survey conducted, streaming platform Netflix has been the choice of OTT platforms for almost 46% of the adults as opposed to the 58% viewer living in the UK (Rahman and Arif, 2021).
Figure 2: Percentage of viewership on different OTT platforms in the UK
(Source: Rahman and Arif, 2021)
The outbreak of Covid-19 has been extremely unfortunate for the UK film industry and that has given rise to the number of viewership on OTT platforms. This rise in the digital platforms has emphasized on the fact that the traditional approach to movies may become obsolete with time as well.
Recommendation on managing the SCM in the film industry under the context of Covid-19
Implementation of the Covid-19 guidelines in the film and drama production of the UK
The Film industry of the UK is one of the huge industries of the country as due to the massive negative implications of the Covid-19 the film sectors of the UK have suffered. According to the Covid-19 guidelines of the UK it has declared that every person in the UK needs to wear a proper face mask and cover in public places (GOV.UK. 2021). During this time the filmmakers, camera technicians, and related other technicians were not able to make film, the production of theatre has temporarily stopped and due to this reason many employees of the UK film industry have lost the jobs. Furthermore, at the beginning of the Covid-19 the film industry of the UK did not provide proper focus about the deadliest morbidity power of the Covid-19 and due to this reason the SCM within the film industry were hugely affected with Covid-19. On the other hand, social distancing and wearing masks was one of the most innovative ways to mitigate the transmission of the Covid-19 as the government of the UK also advised maintaining a social distance during film production. Moreover there was a restriction on travelling which affected the SCM of cameras and other required machines which affected the entire industry. In addition to that, the audience were also unable to watch their favourite movies, dramas, and theatres in the cinema hall as they could not be supplied in the theatres which have adversely impacted the growth of the UK film industry.
Moreover, the filmmakers of the UK needed to promote the movies and drama in the digital platform which was useful in maintaining the profit levels of the industry. According to a trusted website, it needs to be noted that due to the negative and adverse implications of the Covid-19 the Eastern European film festival has been streamed through online platforms (Hanzlík, J. and Mazierska, 2021). Additionally, at the initial stage the filmmakers of the UK have not given a focus on promoting the movie on online platforms and for that reason the film industry of the country has experienced massive loss. On a specific note, OTT (Over the TOP) platforms is one of the most innovative platforms which needs to be executed by the UK film industry as it is extremely useful in retaining the audiences during the Covid-19. Additionally, during this time outdoor shooting was totally restricted as there was huge possibility of Covid-19 vaccine and that was enough to ruin all operational activities of the film. The filmmakers of the UK need to do indoor shooting while maintaining the Covid-19 guidelines of the UK as the use of special effects is immensely essential to provide real to the audience as they could not relocate due to lack of proper SCM. In the digital era, the use of non linear digital tools or equipments effects has been increased day after day as the technology became extremely popular (Li and Wang, 2021).
Providing Covid-19 related health and safety training
It has been observed that the film and camera technicians normally have the traditional film training, however, this training is not enough during the Covid-19 pandemic, It may be advised that the filmmakers of the UK needs to recruit a health experts which will be extremely impactful to understand the Covid-19 symptoms of the film technicians and casts. According to the opinion of the British Film Commission (BMC) it is one of the biggest duties of the filmmakers of the UK Covid-19 specific health and safety training needs to be provided to the enforcement employees of a film (Bfi.org.uk. 2021). On the other hand, it is one of the responsibilities of the UK filmmakers to establish an effective SCM and communication channel in the industry or else the risk factors of the Covid-19 may be increased. Additionally, the filmmakers need to use digital technologies such as video calling applications which are extremely impactful in providing the pre-shooting brief to the cast and technical members of the film (Refers to Appendix 2). There are many advantages of effective SCM and communication channels as it is extremely suitable to develop teamwork and enabling trust among the time while poor communication may result in mistrust among the team members (Puscas et al., 2021).
Moreover, Marvel And DC are one of the richest film production companies in the world and for that reason it is extremely suitable for these companies to establish these changes in improving the SCM within the industry during the Covid-19 outbreak. It may be argued that the Covid-19 awareness among the all film members may be effective to mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 virus among the film industry members as the actors, actresses, filmmakers, camera technicians and other technicians of the country needs to use facility vehicles to maintain the social distancing and other Covid-19 guidelines. During the Covid-19 outbreak it was extremely essential for the project manager to manage the operational activities of the project due to the lockdown maximum employees were working from home (Jallow et al., 2020). The filmmakers of the UK need to hire skilful and creative members who have the credibility to generate an optimum output during work from scenario as the editing, dubbing and many works needs to be performed in remote working scenarios is one of the key which needs to be maintained in shooting floor as regular sanitization is immensely impactful in killing the germs of Covid-19. During the Covid-19 pandemic sanitization may be considered as one of the innovative and preventive methods to mitigate the transmission of the SARS-CoV2 as these prices play a crucial role in deal with the deadliest impact of the virus (Khan and Yadav, 2020).
Recommendations
During the pandemic the filmmakers needed to cast adult film actors and actresses as Covid-19 vaccination is one of the most effective ways in reducing the spreading of the disease. Additionally the people related to the SCM of the cameras and other machineries needs to maintain government guidelines regarding Covid-19. It is the duty of the filmmakers of the UK to establish a risk management system which will anticipate the risk factors which are related to Covid-19. Moreover, the filmmakers need to change the traditional thinking of film making and use innovative technologies such as VFX to avoid travelling in large groups. In addition to that, the filmmakers need to shoot in lonely a place which is extremely helpful in avoiding the social crowd during shooting. On the other hand the filmmakers need to think about the OTT audience as during the Covid-19 the numbers of audiences in OTT platforms have increased in a significant way. Moreover, many film productions have been fully stopped due to the harmful impact of the Covid-19 as many film producers of the country have decided to launch the film and series on OTT platforms which was due to availability of proper SCM in the film industry (Raghuvanshi and Saha, 2021).
In other responses, the short film makers have faced multiple challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic as the popularity of the OTT platforms also play a crucial role in boosting the confidence of the short film producers and other members of film industry attached to SCM. The main advantages of the OTT platforms and its products may take a huge time in making an episode of the series which is extremely impactful in inciting the profitability as well as reduce the cost of SCM in the UK film industry. Moreover, before the Covid-19 the launch of the films were conducted on physical platforms as it is the duty of the filmmakers to launch and promote the films in social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. One of the prime benefits of the social media applications is that most of the people in the UK are connected with social media which may create a positive impact in ensuring the profitability and sustainability of the SCM of UK film industry during the Covid-19 outbreak. Additionally, social media strategy is extremely effective for the film industry of a country as it ensures the success of the movie which ensures that social media movie promotion generate a profitable impact on the box office collection of the movie (Nanda et al., 2018).
Figure 3: Setting model in Cinema halls of the UK
(Source: GOV.UK. 2021)
Additionally, the filmmakers may use multiple innovative technologies to direct a movie if the as it is extremely suitable in operating the studio operation in a professional manner. Moreover, during the post Covid-19 situation the government needs to maintain the social distance in cinema halls (maintaining 2m distance) and the authority of cinema halls needs to allow only vaccinated audiences. Furthermore, it is recommended that the UK government needs to establish a routine Covid-19 vaccination drive as it is also essential in strengthening the public health structure of the country (Saxena et al., 2020). It needs to be noted that if the film technicians and casts are fully vaccinated before shooting for mitigating the Covid-19 related risk factors in the UK film industry.
Conclusion
Finally, it may be concluded that, the UK film industry had suffered tremendous losses due to the wake of the pandemic. The unprecedented arrival of the virus had disrupted all operations of the film industry and its supply chain management which has caused significant negative consequences on the overall economy of the country as well. The entertainment industry globally is regarded as a multi-billion dollar sector whose magnitude surpasses the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of various countries (Nhamo et al., 2020). The nationwide lockdowns and shutdowns of movie theatres have caused many businesses to go out of business and many people to lose their jobs too. Many ongoing productions had to be delayed for an unprecedented amount of time and some had to be completely shut down as well as proper SCM was unavailable. In addition to that, digital platforms have emerged as the new ways of watching movies and people are more prone to view a cinema on these platforms rather than going to a theatre.
References
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