The senior management major presented her research on film studios' strategies for profit maximization.
White’s paper is based on her interest in the business behind the motion picture industry.
“Enamored by celebrities and films, people often forget about the behind-the-scenes people and business taking place,” White said. “Box-office numbers are reported online and in newspapers, but the strategy and executive decisions are not in the view of the general public. I wanted to learn about studios’ film selection strategy, and this topic gave me that opportunity.”
White’s thesis advisor is Matt Valle, Martha and Spencer Love Term Professor of Business.
The paper’s abstract reads:
This paper will detail the antecedent factors purported to lead to film revenue and profit. Hypotheses will be offered regarding the impact of various antecedent factors on profit, and the model will be tested using archival data from industry sources; a sample of films produced during a 4 year period will be subjected to regression analyses. Data includes information on eleven antecedent factors proposed as part of the prediction model. Subsequent analyses will review the differences between an industry focus on revenue versus profit. Implications will be offered regarding the development of more robust project portfolio selection models for film studios.