The inaugural symposium of the recently formed Screen Economics Research Group (SERG) was held at the University of Sydney on June 12 2009. It brought together participants from industry and academia to discuss the economics of the film business. There were a variety of perspectives brought to bear on the topic, spanning marketing, economics and media studies. CSB will be making available video recordings of the symposium presentations in three instalments.
In this first installment, focused on industrial structures and strategies, film producer Jon Silver (QUT) talks about the role of strategic marketing in Hollywood’s early and ongoing success:
Darlene Chisholm (Suffolk University, Boston) discusses differentiation among the film offerings of Boston movie theatres:
Michael Pokorny (University of Westminster) discusses the way that Hollywood hedges its bets by maintaining a diversified slate of projects, and explores the relevance of film genre within this ‘portfolio approach’ to risk:
And Dean Brandum (RMIT) discusses the limitations of Hollywood’s ‘roadshow’ exhibition strategy during the late 1960s and early 1970s:
For a full summary of the day’s discussions, click here.
