Hollywood Economics: How Extreme Uncertainty Shapes the Film Industry

Front Cover
Psychology Press, 2004 - Business & Economics - 308 pages

Just how risky is the movie industry? Is screenwriter William Goldman's claim that "nobody knows anything" really true? Can a star and a big opening change a movie's risks and return? Do studio executives really earn their huge paychecks?

These and many other questions are answered in Hollywood Economics. The book uses powerful analytical models to uncover the wild uncertainty that shapes the industry. The centerpiece of the analysis is the unpredictable and often chaotic dynamic behaviour of motion picture audiences.

This unique and important book will be of interest to students and researchers involved in the economics of movies, industrial economics and business studies. The book will also be a real eye-opener for film writers, movie executives, finance and risk management professionals as well as more general movie fans.

 

Contents

Prologue
1
Tables
5
PART I
7
BoseEinstein dynamics and adaptive contracting
28
Quality evaluations and the breakdown of statistical
48
PART II
65
can star power reduce
71
risk
99
PART III
139
Was the antitrust action that broke up the movie studios
176
concentration measures
190
PART IV
207
Contracting with stars when nobody knows anything
231
How extreme uncertainty shapes the movie business
255
nobody knows anything?
267
255
299

analysis
122

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About the author (2004)

Arthur De Vany is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of California, Irvine and President of Arts Analytica, a consulting company specializing in energy, motion pictures and risk-return analysis.