Publisher's Synopsis
There are many books about films published, but few of them focus specifically on the industry or studios which produced the films in the first place. There are hundreds of films produced and released every year, in different genres, languages, and variable quality levels for distinctly segmented audiences and media distribution. While a fair proportion of these films are still associated with Hollywood and the U.S. film industry, the actors, financing, production, and post-production functions involved have become more dispersed across different locations and entities. The history of the motion picture business has seen national industries rise and fall; but contemporary film markets have become more international or global in scope, as newer industries have emerged in China, India and elsewhere with government assistance.
This book will analyze the economics of the U.S. film business as an evolving and competitive industry engaged in production of motion pictures for distribution to a wide range of audiences and media devices. There are economic issues of risk and uncertainty impacting returns on investment in the film industry which this book will address. How can economic theories of industrial organization and strategic management influence and reduce current variations in market performance or explain past variations of it in the film industry? The scope of the book will focus on the studios involved in motion picture production, both the major and minor (i.e. “independentsâ€) studios within the film industry.
Although the focus of this book is on U.S.-based studios, this focus is complicated by emerging film industry trends that expand the value chains of movie production geographically, and diversify its content distribution channels to other media. This industry trend and other diversifications of revenue streams are also addressed.
