The list of software tools below is interesting. Has there been research into statistical analysis of "artistic attributes" of movies, as input to decision making algorithms that can augment Visicalc-inspired tools?
"If you asked a bunch of executives without a creative bone in their bodies to craft a movie lineup for which the primary goal is to prevent failure, this is exactly what the defensive result would look like. It’s a bulwark that has been constructed using only those tools with which they feel comfortable — spreadsheets, P&L statements, demographic studies, risk-avoidance principles, and a calendar."
I interviewed for a financial analyst role with a film studio (not one of the majors) some five years ago. They had a predictive model for their movies which was built in Excel with VB macros and which had exhausted the dimensional limits of pre-2007 Excel. I'm not sure where you draw the line as far as what constitutes "artistic attributes" but it definitely included fields for such things as the star power of the actors and directors. It surely included extensive statistical analysis, but all ran inside a "Visicalc-inspired tool."
Part of their pitch was that they were looking for someone with an investment banking background (i.e. me) because they operated their production studio the same way you operate a private equity fund. I ended up declining the next interview because "like a private equity fund" didn't seem to have the same cachet as working at an actual fund, which I then went on to never do.
Free-to-play mobile game makers (some from casino gaming) analyze the behavior of paying players and have been financially successful at using Facebook demographics to isolate and target those likely to pay for F2P games.
Since Facebook also has access to Axciom offline purchases, it may be possible to correlate movie attendance with online and mobile activity profiles. If so, it will eventually be possible to segment incremental audiences who seek artistic films. Cineplex in Canada created VIP theaters with seat-side waiters, alcohol/food and selected films -- their attendance data will also be useful.
The list of software tools below is interesting. Has there been research into statistical analysis of "artistic attributes" of movies, as input to decision making algorithms that can augment Visicalc-inspired tools?
"If you asked a bunch of executives without a creative bone in their bodies to craft a movie lineup for which the primary goal is to prevent failure, this is exactly what the defensive result would look like. It’s a bulwark that has been constructed using only those tools with which they feel comfortable — spreadsheets, P&L statements, demographic studies, risk-avoidance principles, and a calendar."