This short handbook collects essays on all aspects of the motion picture industry by leading authorities in political economy, economics, accounting, finance, and marketing. In addition to offering the reader a perspective on what is known and what has been accomplished, it includes both new findings on a variety of topics and directions for additional research. Topics include estimation of theatrical and ancillary demand, profitability studies, the resolution of evident paradoxes in studio executive behavior, the interaction of the industry and government, the impacts of the most recent changes in accounting standards, and the role and importance of participation contracts. New results include findings on the true nature of the seasonality of theatrical demand, the predictive power of surveys based upon trailers, the impact of the Academy Awards, the effectiveness of prior history measures to gauge cast members and directors, and the substitutability of movies across different genres.
1. Critiquing Hollywood: the political economy of motion pictures Janet Wasko; 2. Film production in the digital age: what do we know about the past and the future S. Abraham Ravid; 3. Movie industry accounting Harold L. Vogel; 4. Theatrical releases and the launching of motion pictures Charles C. Moul and Steven M. Shugan; 5. The films exhibition business: critical issues, practice, and research Jehoshua Eliashberg; 6. Profits out of the picture: research issues and revenue sources beyond the North American box office Charles B. Weinberg.
