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- March 2024
- Case
Ava DuVernay's Array: Disrupting the Hollywood Film Industry
By: Anita Elberse and Morgan Brewton-Johnson
In February 2023 acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay is filming her latest movie, Origin, a daring adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. With Origin, DuVernay is pioneering a method to finance the endeavor—through a combination of...
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- February 2023 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
Ronald Reagan: Changing the World
By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun
This case traces the rise of Ronald Reagan from small town Illinois to two-term president of the United States. An unlikely candidate for the world’s most powerful job, the case describes the different roles that Reagan filled over his life: radio announcer, Hollywood...
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- April 2022
- Teaching Note
Christie's and Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi: The Value of a Brand
By: Jill Avery
A sixteenth century Renaissance masterpiece, missing for 137 years, believed by many to have been destroyed, and then rediscovered less than a decade ago, becomes the most expensive painting ever sold, all the while surrounded by controversy. Did the buyer of Leonardo...
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- Fall 2021
- Article
Emboldening and Contesting Gender and Skin Color Stereotypes in the Film Industry in India, 1947–1991
By: Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones and Morgan Spencer
This article examines how the film industry influenced prevailing gender and skin color stereotypes in India during the first four decades after Independence in 1947. It shows that Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in India, shared Hollywood's privileging of paler skin...
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- October 2021
- Case
(180) Days of Quibi
By: David J. Collis and Terrence Shu
Mobile streaming app Quibi was ready to take the entertainment world by storm at its April 2020 launch. Backed by $1.75 billion, influential investors from Hollywood to Wall Street eagerly anticipated early success for this brainchild of Meg Whitman, former CEO of...
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- September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars
By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Alpana Thapar
In mid-2021, Maaz Sheikh, cofounder and CEO of STARZPLAY, a Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) provider that catered to the Middle East and North Africa region, was wrestling with how to find the right balance between continued subscriber growth and...
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Keywords:
Pricing;
Growth;
Profitability;
Subscription Business;
Business Model Innovation;
Fintech;
Subscription;
Performance Measurement;
Promotions;
International Marketing;
Streaming;
Competition;
Marketing;
Price;
Strategy;
Entrepreneurship;
Performance;
Measurement and Metrics;
Business Model;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Middle East;
North Africa
- August 2021
- Case
Wymsee
By: Julia Austin, Sarah Mehta and Tom Quinn
Wymsee was a company that aimed to develop a mobile application (app) that would allow television audience members to identify and purchase clothing or accessories worn by characters in the program they were watching, with the Wymsee founders taking a percentage of...
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Keywords:
Business Model;
Business Plan;
Business Startups;
Film Entertainment;
Television Entertainment;
Technological Innovation;
Knowledge Acquisition;
Product Positioning;
Opportunities;
Adaptation;
Mobile Technology;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
Technology Industry;
United States;
New York (city, NY)
- March 2021 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
Ayn Rand: Changing the World
By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer
This case traces the life of Ayn Rand from Russia to Hollywood to New York City. The case describes how Rand fled communist Russia and, in reaction to the deprivations she experienced under communism, developed a philosophy idealizing free will and personal...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Bollywood, Skin Color and Sexism: The Role of the Film Industry in Emboldening and Contesting Stereotypes in India after Independence
By: Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones and Morgan Spencer
This working paper examines the social impact of the film industry in India during the first four decades after Indian Independence in 1947. It shows that Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in India and the counterpart in scale to Hollywood in the United States, shared...
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- September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
- Case
AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)
By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia
In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie...
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- May 2018 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions
By: Anita Elberse
In March 2017, Jason Blum, the founder and chief executive officer of film and television production company Blumhouse Productions, has another blockbuster on his hands with the movie Get Out, produced for just $4.5 million. Remarkable returns for its micro-budget...
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Keywords:
Entertainment;
Media;
Film;
Movies;
Creative Industries;
Product-portfolio Management;
Entrepreneurship;
Innovation;
Talent;
General Management;
Strategy;
Marketing;
Blockbusters;
Film Entertainment;
Innovation and Management;
Talent and Talent Management;
Competitive Strategy;
Management Style;
Marketing Strategy;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry
- October 2017
- Case
Still Leading (B10): Louis Gossett Jr.— A New Role Erasing Racism
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone
Louis (Lou) Gossett Jr.’s exemplary life included a groundbreaking career in entertainment and a bold and audacious goal to erase racism. From the Broadway stage to television and the movie screen, Gossett earned major accolades in his field, notably becoming the first...
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- October 2017
- Case
LeBron James: Building a Hollywood Empire
By: Anita Elberse
It is June 2016. Superstar basketball player LeBron James and his childhood friend and business partner Maverick Carter are celebrating James’ third NBA championship. The duo will soon have to decide on a strategy for their media businesses—their film and television...
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Keywords:
Film;
Motion Picutres;
Superstar;
Innovation;
Creative Industries;
Talent;
General Management;
Celebrities;
Marketing;
Entertainment;
Sports;
Media;
Film Entertainment;
Innovation Strategy;
Talent and Talent Management;
Strategy;
Digital Strategy;
Sports Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry
- May 2017 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Raj Kapoor: The Socialist Showman
By: Geoffrey Jones and Snigdha Sur
This case examines the career of Raj Kapoor, the legendary Bollywood filmmaker of the postwar decades. It explores how Kapoor built RK studios after 1948 by releasing a series of movies that combined romance with social messages focused on the fate of the common man in...
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- November 2016 (Revised May 2017)
- Case
The Black List
By: Henry McGee and Sarah McAra
Franklin Leonard founded The Black List in 2005 as an innovative approach to identifying potential hit movie scripts via crowdsourcing. As the annual Black List proved to hold the scripts of some of Hollywood’s most successful films, from “Slumdog Millionaire” to...
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- October 2016 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
By: Anita Elberse
In June 2016, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is planning for the upcoming launch of an endeavor that is a first for a Hollywood actor with superstar status—a digital channel. The channel (named “Seven Bucks Digital Studios”) will be a new part of film and television...
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Keywords:
Entertainment;
Film;
Motion Picutres;
Superstar;
Innovation;
Creative Industries;
Talent;
General Management;
Celebrities;
Management;
Information Technology;
Strategy;
Talent and Talent Management;
Creativity;
Marketing;
Personal Development and Career;
Film Entertainment;
Innovation and Invention;
Digital Strategy;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry
- May 2016 (Revised April 2019)
- Case
Legendary Entertainment: Moneyball for Motion Pictures
By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld
Legendary, the Hollywood studio responsible for such hits as Jurassic World and The Dark Knight, decides to take the marketing of its films in-house, and to market them fan-by-fan. Owner Thomas Tull acquires the big-data-in-sports firm started by Matt Marolda and...
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- April 2016 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
The Walt Disney Studios
By: Anita Elberse
In December 2015, Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, celebrates the world premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens—only the latest in a string of big bets that he has overseen. Disney pursues a “tentpole strategy” that revolves around at least eight...
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Keywords:
Entertainment;
Movie Industry;
Film;
Creative Industries;
Product Portfolio Management;
Innovation;
Branding;
Talent;
Blockbuster;
Superstar;
Film Entertainment;
Media;
Strategy;
Talent and Talent Management;
Creativity;
Product Launch;
Brands and Branding;
Product Development;
Marketing;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry
- Article
Hollywood on the Yellow Sea
By: Willy C. Shih and Henry McGee
Wang Jianlin, one of China's richest men, is creating a rival to the American dream factory, from scratch.
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- September 2015 (Revised December 2016)
- Case
Wanda Studios Qingdao
By: Henry McGee and Willy Shih
Wang Jianlin, founder and Chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group (Wanda), kept close tabs on one of his flagship projects going up on the shores of the Yellow Sea. There construction was underway on Wanda Studios Qingdao, the largest film and production facility in the...
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