Innovation Dynamic in the Film Industry: The Case of the Soho Cluster in London

Abstract

In the last 10 years, there has been a shift from a focus on the direct economic contribution of the creative industries to their innovation capacities and indirect economic contribution. Two main strands of literature have tried to capture this. The first strand looks at innovation characteristics and processes in the arts and the creative industries (sectoral perspective). The second strand concentrates on the way these industries cluster and directly contribute to local and regional economies (spatial perspective). However, there is little work focusing on the innovation outputs of creative industries and on how clustering really impacts their innovation performance and dynamic at the local and regional levels. This chapter tries to fill this gap by combining both sectoral and spatial perspectives. By using original data, the chapter discusses the Soho film cluster in London in order to examine the innovation dynamic of the film industry in a particular place. Innovations in the creative industries often differ from those in manufacturing or other sectors. As such, the particular nature of innovation in film industry is presented. The film industry can be highly innovative, both producing and adapting innovations. Our analysis of the Soho film cluster documents the impact of clustering on the innovation performance of firms in the sector and demonstrates the impact of geographical proximity on innovation performance through a high degree of embeddedness of the film industry in local and regional labour markets and in favouring local and international innovation linkages.