Deadline.com's annual analysis of single-picture profit/loss indicates marketing costs continue climb and often surpass the production expense of major-studio films. The reality of surging marketing costs runs counter to some (ill-conceived) predictions that social media and other online media would replace costly TV advertising (ill-conceived because wide-reach TV is need to … [Read more...] about Global P&A Often Surpasses Production Cost
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Biometrics Researcher Gets Hollywood Funding
A neuro-analytics startup, which is hired by Hollywood movie studios to conduct exotic audience research, bagged $13.5 million in venture-capital funding from an impressive list of investors. The company, Spark, received early Series A investments from former Disney chief Michael Eisner, actor Will Smith, and Silicon Valley financier Peter Thiel. “The New York-based company … [Read more...] about Biometrics Researcher Gets Hollywood Funding
Disney Researches Biometric Audience Reactions
Walt Disney Co. is analyzing facial reactions from movie-house audiences to divine consumer response and assemble data quickly so it is actionable, according to an article in Fast Company. Movie-audience testing goes back a century, of course, where consumers tell researchers their feelings. More recently, testing rack physical reactions like smiles, frowns and eyes opening … [Read more...] about Disney Researches Biometric Audience Reactions
Late-stage ‘Kong’ Surge Salvages BO Premiere
"Kong: Skull Island” opened to a so-so $61 million in domestic box office for its premiere three-day weekend, which trade publication Deadline says is a triumph. The $185 million-budget yarn was trending as a flop just a few weeks earlier. The Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures film was headed a mid-40s million dollars opening when it first landed in pre-release … [Read more...] about Late-stage ‘Kong’ Surge Salvages BO Premiere
Worries about Second-weekend Fadeout
Glossy big-budget movies fade amazingly fast at the box office, notes a New York Post article. Two decades ago, a decline of 40% in box office revenue for the second was considered severe. Now 60% occurs frequently, though that’s somewhat explainable by bigger opening weekends (which skew the comparisons). That's for so-called "tentpole" films that are big-budget, … [Read more...] about Worries about Second-weekend Fadeout
Audience Tracker NRG Sold to Stagwell
Nielsen’s storied National Research Group film marketing firm has been sold to Stagwell Media, another company in movie consumer research. Stagwell looks to be a consolidator buying other entertainment research companies. “The Stagwell Group LLC is a registered investment adviser, formed in December 2014 by Mark Penn who serves as the Managing Partner and President of … [Read more...] about Audience Tracker NRG Sold to Stagwell
‘Pixels’ Pulls 34.3m Vid Views in 24 Hours
Sony Pictures says the trailer for its animated “Pixels” movie generated 34.3 million online streams in its first 24 hours, which is best ever for the studio. The prior best was 22 million streams for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” “The studio leveraged official channels as well as social pages for Sony, Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures international markets, Sony Electronics, … [Read more...] about ‘Pixels’ Pulls 34.3m Vid Views in 24 Hours
Academics Try to Dissect Film Critic Biases
Two college doctoral candidates in France attempt to quantify biases of U.S. film critics in their college thesis paper, which left “New York Post” newspaper critic Kyle Smith amused. Toulouse School of Economics Ph.D. candidates Fanny Camara and Nicolas Dupuis dissect tendencies of movie critics in their paper “Structural Estimation of Expert Strategic Bias: The Case of … [Read more...] about Academics Try to Dissect Film Critic Biases
Warners Vows to Trim $2bn Marketing Spend
The $12.3 billion-revenue Warner Bros. movie studio revealed it spends $2 billion a year on marketing, which studio chief Kevin Tsujihara promised to trim during a Wall Street conference. Studio parent Time Warner Inc. wants to slash that expenditure by $200 million, as part of a broader plan to goose up its stock price. This comes after refusing a buyout offer from Rupert … [Read more...] about Warners Vows to Trim $2bn Marketing Spend
Merchandise Follows ‘Star Wars’ Game Play Data
Merchandise licensees for the Disney “Star Wars” property can look at game play usage data by country to help forecast demand for products ranging from key chains to toys. The data comes from “Star Wars Commander,” which is a free-to-play mobile game that has been downloaded 5 million times, according licensing data authority EPM Communications. Merchandise … [Read more...] about Merchandise Follows ‘Star Wars’ Game Play Data