In investing, we intuitively think we should make a number of small bets. A blockbuster strategy is the opposite. It means making fewer huge investments. But it turns out to be safer. Anita Elberse betblockbusterfew Change image and share on social
With so much money invested in their most promising projects, Hollywood executives will understandably do everything in their power to make their products a success in the marketplace. Therefore, the most expensive films often also get the highest marketing budgets, and are slotted into the most favorable opening weekends. Anita Elberse budgetexecutiveexpensive share on social
Anyone can see that, say, superheroes and vampires perform well at the box office. That in turn can trigger competitive bidding situations and soaring fees for people who can bring these properties to the screen. The result can be a dramatic increase in the costs of production. Anita Elberse bidboxbring share on social
Most large media firms make outsized investments to acquire and market a small number of titles with strong hit potential, and bank on their sales to make up for middling performance in the rest of their catalogs. Anita Elberse acquirebankcatalog share on social
As demand shifts from offline retailers with limited shelf space to online channels with much larger assortments, the sales distribution is not getting fatter in the tail. Anita Elberse assortmentchanneldemand Change image and share on social
Because making movies is such an expensive endeavor, other media such as books and comics have long been a more feasible way to experiment with truly new ideas. Anita Elberse bookcomicendeavor Change image and share on social
What you get when you put all your resources behind a product, is you get everyone to join in. Anita Elberse joinproductput Change image and share on social
If you are the record label who owns Lady Gaga, and you have a new artist coming up, you can say, 'Let's have the artist play just before Gaga.' Now you've exposed the huge Gaga audience to the new artist. It's similar to showing a trailer before a movie. The hit creates a hit. Anita Elberse artistaudiencecome share on social
I spend way too much time watching television, going to sports games, going to movies. It struck me that there's an awful lot of data in the public domain for these sectors. The movie industry publishes weekly sales numbers - not many industries do. Anita Elberse awfuldatumdomain share on social
The average movie-goer in this country sees six films in a year. That's one every two months. What the studios are trying to do is make sure it's their movie. Anita Elberse averagecountryfilm Change image and share on social