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- 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
- August 2022 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Pricing at Netflix: The Sequel
By: Elie Ofek and Amy Klopfenstein
This case continues the themes discussed in "Pricing at Netflix" (Case 521-004). Following the conclusion of the original case, Netflix developed new, high-profile original content, added millions of subscribers, and introduced another price increase in January 2022.... View Details
Keywords: Marketing; Advertising; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Finance; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Advertising Industry; North and Central America; United States
- July 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
Pricing at Netflix
By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg and Amy Klopfenstein
Since its launch in 1998 as “the Amazon.com of DVDs,” Netflix had evolved from a DVD rental company to a video streaming platform and producer of original films and television shows. As the company matured, it regularly increased prices and adjusted its product... View Details
Keywords: Pricing; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Finance; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; North and Central America; United States
- November 2018 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
The Reinvention of Kodak
By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively
The Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) was a name familiar to most Americans. The company had dominated the film and photography industry through most of the 20th Century and was known for making affordable cameras (and the “Kodak Moment”) and supplying the movie industry... View Details
- September 2018
- Supplement
AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (B)
By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia
The (B) case describes how AMC reacted to the threat from the subscription service MoviePass and provides AMC’s second quarter fiscal year 2018 results. View Details
- November 2016 (Revised May 2017)
- Case
The Black List
By: Henry McGee and Sarah McAra
Franklin Leonard founded The Black List in 2005 as an innovative approach to identifying potential hit movie scripts via crowdsourcing. As the annual Black List proved to hold the scripts of some of Hollywood’s most successful films, from “Slumdog Millionaire” to... View Details
- 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
Keywords: Entertainment; Movie Industry; Film; Creative Industries; Product Portfolio Management; Innovation; Branding; Talent; Blockbuster; Superstar; Film Entertainment; Media; Strategy; Talent and Talent Management; Creativity; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Marketing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry
- April 2016 (Revised February 2017)
- Supplement
Eastman Kodak Company: Restructuring a Melting Ice Cube
By: Stuart C. Gilson, John D. Dionne and Sarah L. Abbott
In May 2013, senior managers of GSO Capital Partners, an $80 billion credit-oriented investment firm owned by The Blackstone Group, are considering what to do next with their investment in the senior secured debt of Eastman Kodak Company. Once a great company and an... View Details
- August 2015 (Revised October 2023)
- Case
Eastman Kodak Company: Restructuring a Melting Ice Cube
By: Stuart C. Gilson, John D. Dionne and Sarah L. Abbott
In May 2013, senior managers of GSO Capital Partners, an $80 billion credit-oriented investment firm owned by The Blackstone Group, are considering what to do next with their investment in the senior secured debt of Eastman Kodak Company. Once a great company and an... View Details
- February 2015 (Revised April 2018)
- Supplement
Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (B)
By: Willy Shih
When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details
Keywords: AMC Entertainment; Wanda Group; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States
- December 2014 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)
By: Willy Shih
When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details
Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States
- 2012
- Working Paper
Risky Business: The Impact of Property Rights on Investment and Revenue in the Film Industry
By: Venkat Kuppuswamy and Carliss Y. Baldwin
Our paper tests a key prediction of property rights theory, specifically, that agents will respond to marginal incentives embedded in property rights when making non-contractible, revenue-enhancing investments (Grossman and Hart, 1986; Hart and Moore, 1990). Using rich... View Details
- October 2007
- Article
The Power of Stars: Do Star Actors Drive the Success of Movies?
By: Anita Elberse
Is the involvement of star actors critical to the success of motion pictures? Film studios, which they regularly pay multimillion-dollar fees to star actors, seem driven by that belief. I shed light on the returns on this investment using an event study that considers... View Details
- July 2006
- Background Note
Out of Frame: The Coming Digital Disruption of Hollywood
By: Stephen P. Bradley, Brian DeLacey and Reed Martin
The record opening of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, starring Johnny Depp, had finally provided the industry with incontrovertible proof that it was still possible to draw massive audiences to movie theaters. Grossing $136 million during its opening... View Details
- August 2005
- Teaching Note
Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios (TN)
By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel L. Loeb, Mark Veblen and Kathleen Luchs
- January 2005 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
Lean Forward Media
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Victoria Winston
Jeff Norton and Michelle Crames, the co-founders of Lean Forward Media, face several options for producing the world's first interactive DVD film for children. Their vision is to build a company whose products simultaneously entertain children, engage them actively in... View Details
- April 2004
- Supplement
Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios
By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel L. Loeb and Mark Veblen
Spreadsheet to (9-203-005). Download only. View Details
- September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
Giant Cinema
The owner of Giant Cinema must decide whether to invest in a digital projector, a new technology for screening films, or purchase a traditional projector. The impact of the new technology is uncertain, and the case describes probabilities for different outcomes that... View Details
- November 2002
- Background Note
Strategy and Sources of Motion Picture Finance, The
By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel J. Loeb and Mark Veblen
This case considers the alternative financing mechanisms for film financing, the evolution of film finance in the United States, and the nature of tax-motivated film financing in the United States and around the world. It develops the strategy driving motion picture... View Details
- November 2002 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios
By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel J. Loeb and Mark Veblen
The head of production for Rexford Studios must analyze the terms and value consequences of an international financing involving a German film fund. The financing involves a sale-leaseback structure where international tax rules give rise to a sizable economic pie that... View Details