Publications

August 2005
Supplement

The Passion of the Christ: An Interview with Bob Berney, President of Newmarket Films

By: Anita Elberse and John A. Quelch

Keywords: Motion Pictures and Video Industry

June 2001 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Sampa Video, Inc.

A video rental store is considering offering home delivery service. Management must value the project under different financing strategies and methods, specifically adjusted present value (APV) and weighted average cost of capital (WACC). View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Cost of Capital; Entertainment; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

September 2017
Supplement

Actera Group: Investing in Mars Cinema Group (B)

By: Victoria Ivashina and Eren Kuzucu

In summer of 2010, Murat Çavuşoğlu (HBS MBA 1994) led private equity firm Actera Group’s investment in Mars Cinema Group (Mars), the leading movie exhibitor in Turkey. Immediately after acquiring Mars and merging it with the second larger player in the market, AFM,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Value Creation; Transformation; Valuation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Turkey

January 2021
Case

Cinépolis

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Fernanda Miguel

Two weeks after Cinepolis released a documentary film about corruption, a judge ordered its provisional suspension, claiming it had to be edited before it continued to be shown, against Mexican cinematography laws. Cinépolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain... View Details

Keywords: Movies; Entertainment; Corruption; Risk Assessment; Communication Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Film Entertainment; Ethics; Leadership; Risk Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Mexico; Latin America; North and Central America

July 2010
Teaching Note

Xanadu on Broadway

By: Anita Elberse

Teaching Note for 508062. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Film Entertainment; Decision Choices and Conditions; Failure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan

By: George P. Baker III

Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the store managers to "sweat the details," to keep the stores neat and well organized, and to deal courteously and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Sales; Management; Employee Relationship Management; Situation or Environment; Success; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

2007
Working Paper

A Taste For Obscurity: An Individual-Level Examination of 'Long Tail' Consumption

By: Anita Elberse

Because online retailers are often able to provide products in a more cost-efficient manner than bricks-and-mortar stores, online channels are characterized by a vast assortment of products. Proponents of the "long tail" principle recently argued that the demand for... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Product; Renting or Rental; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

July – August 2008
Article

Should You Invest in the Long Tail?

By: Anita Elberse

The blockbuster strategy is a time-honored approach, particularly in media and entertainment. When space is limited on store shelves and in traditional distribution channels, producers tend to focus on a few likely best sellers, hoping that one or two big hits will... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

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August 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Barbie: Reviving a Cultural Icon at Mattel

By: Elie Ofek, Ryann Noe and Sarah Mehta

The 2023 release of the live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Media; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy; Entertainment; Gender; Public Opinion; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

March 2013
Case

Excel Entertainment

By: Mukti Khaire and Namrata Arora

Keywords: Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

November 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Supplement

Hollywood in India: Protecting Intellectual Property (B)

By: Lakshmi Iyer and Namrata Arora

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

August 2005
Teaching Note

Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios (TN)

By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel L. Loeb, Mark Veblen and Kathleen Luchs

Keywords: Taxation; Finance; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

June 1988 (Revised September 1991)
Case

General Cinema Corp.--1987

By: W. Carl Kester and Richard P. Melnick

Keywords: Motion Pictures and Video Industry

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21 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Shabana Azmi: Leveraging Bollywood Fame into Social Good

think? Deshpandé: She made an impact on her industry in terms of being able to be successful in both parallel and mainstream cinema. These are two different audiences, an upper middle class intelligentsia... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Motion Pictures & Video

January 2014 (Revised February 2015)
Case

YouTube for Brands

By: Thales Teixeira and Leora Kornfeld

This case examines the changes employed by YouTube to make the massively popular site more attractive to brands. Building from its base of amateur, user-generated content, YouTube had turned to experimenting with professionally-made content and organizing its videos... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Internet and the Web; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry