Publications

April 2016 (Revised June 2019)
Case

The Walt Disney Studios

By: Anita Elberse

In December 2015, Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, celebrates the world premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens—only the latest in a string of big bets that he has overseen. Disney pursues a “tentpole strategy” that revolves around at least eight... View Details

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Web

Investing in Emerging Industries | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

In 1929, Lehman Brothers helped establish AVCO (Aviation Corporation, later American Airlines, Inc.), and in the 1930s, the firm supported Transcontinental & Western Air (later Trans World Airlines, Inc.). The motion View Details

August 2012 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Netflix: Valuing a New Business Model

By: Francois Brochet, Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

In autumn 2011, Netflix was working to right the ship after publicly stumbling through a price hike and strategic shift and then retreat. The company was changing its business model to focus on streaming video service rather than the DVDs by mail that had brought the... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Online Business; Asset Recognition; Accounting; Performance Evaluation; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States; Canada; Latin America; West Indies

27 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

Ford v Ferrari. Only judges from the sound editing branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences vote in the category. Interest is confined to a small group of experts, much like a group of VCs... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Web

Impact of the New Medium - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

out a leader of film until it stopped automatically. Taking the picture simply required extending the bellows, setting the shutter, focusing the lens, and pressing the exposure lever. After pushing the film-release button, customers... View Details

23 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Brand a Next-Generation Product

and motion sensor. But the researchers manipulated the experiment in two key ways. In some cases, participants were told that they were among several people taking pictures at the wedding, indicating a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Mar 2010
News

John Crowley’s Extraordinary Measures

members they’d been cast to play: John; his wife, Aileen; John Jr.; Megan; and Patrick. But the eeriest moment was coming face-to-face with his Hollywood “family.” “They were putting together photo shoots re-creating our family pictures... View Details

Keywords: Sarah Auerbach; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries

March 2019 (Revised July 2020)
Case

MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

In August 2017, MoviePass dramatically lowered its subscription price from $50 per month to just $10 for up to one movie per day. The idea was to rapidly scale the business to the point where they could generate incremental revenue streams from related businesses... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry; Growth Strategy; Profit Vs. Growth; Subscription Business; Cash Burn; Data Analytics; Get-big-fast; Buyer Power; Strategy Implementation; Movie Industry; Racing; Entrepreneurship; Market Entry and Exit; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Disruption; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

16 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Crowdsourcing Is Helping Hollywood Reduce the Risk of Movie-Making

Success at the movie box office can be difficult to predict. For every surprise hit film like Crazy Rich Asians, there’s a massive flame-out like Justice League. Unlike television, where a station can test a pilot before committing to a series, studios must spend... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Motion Pictures & Video

March 2024
Case

Ava DuVernay's Array: Disrupting the Hollywood Film Industry

By: Anita Elberse and Morgan Brewton-Johnson

In February 2023 acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay is filming her latest movie, Origin, a daring adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. With Origin, DuVernay is pioneering a method to finance the endeavor—through a combination of... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Intellectual Property; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Disruption; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie... View Details

Keywords: Exhibitors; Movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

June 1992
Case

Arundel Partners: The Sequel Project

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and William A. Teichner

A group of investors is considering buying the sequel rights for a portfolio of feature films. They need to determine how much to offer to pay and how to structure a contract with one or more major U.S. film studios. The case contains cash flow estimates for all major... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Debt Securities; Contracts; Cash Flow; Valuation; Capital Budgeting; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

09 Mar 2017
Cold Call Podcast

IDEO is Changing the Way Managers Think About Thinking

Keywords: Re: Ryan W. Buell; Motion Pictures & Video; Motion Pictures & Video

August 2014 (Revised June 2019)
Case

MRC's House of Cards

By: Anita Elberse

In March 2011, Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk, co-chairmen and co-chief executive officers at independent production company Media Rights Capital (MRC), are debating whether to accept a licensing offer from Netflix for their most ambitious project to date, a new... View Details

Keywords: Television; House Of Cards; Asif Satchu; Modi Wiczyk; Netflix; Media Rights Capital; Information Technology; Change Management; Marketing; Television Entertainment; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?

By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta

In July 2009, Jason Kilar, the chief executive officer of Hulu, is debating whether the online video aggregator should move away from a purely advertising-supported model, and whether it should participate in an industry-wide initiative to develop and test... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Television Entertainment; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry