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- September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
- Case
Ming Min Hui at Boston Ballet
By: Edward H. Chang, David Allen and Annelena Lobb
This case asks how Ming Min Hui, the newly appointed executive director of Boston Ballet, should ensure that the company stays true to its art form yet relevant to its times. Hui stood out among ballet leaders as a young, Asian American woman with a Harvard Business... View Details
- (Revised May 2024)
- Teaching Note
Lyric Dinner Theater (A) and (B)
By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Jim Sharpe and Noah Fisher
This teaching note is associated with HBS cases 813-043 and 813-044. View Details
- March 2024 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Out of Hand Theater: Monetizing Creativity
Ariel Fristoe co-founded the Out of Hand Theater ensemble (OOH) in Atlanta in 2001. OOH began as a traditional theater nonprofit, which Ariel and her colleagues ran on a shoestring budget. But over the years, the group transformed: First, around 2010, OOH pivoted to... View Details
- August 2023
- Case
Salma Qarnain: Spaceships to Broadway
By: Leslie Perlow, Mel Martin and Hannah Weisman
Salma Qarnain, daughter of Pakistani Muslim immigrants, is an engineer trained at Stanford and MIT. She began her career building spacecrafts but 30 years later finds herself pursuing her calling, acting on Broadway. The case explores Qarnain’s career path, family... View Details
Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Job Search; Job Design and Levels; Happiness; Identity; Well-being; Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Talent and Talent Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Boston; California
- January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
- Teaching Note
Universal During COVID: The Future of Theatrical Windows
By: Hong Luo, Henry McGee and Carol Lin
The COVID-19 pandemic brought enormous disruption to the movie industry, closing theaters indefinitely by mid-March 2020, halting television and film production, and throwing theatrical release schedules into disarray. Shell had assumed the CEO position at NBC... View Details
- January 2021 (Revised October 2021)
- Case
iOpenEye: Theater and #MeToo in Nigeria
By: Caroline Elkins, Tarun Khanna and Joyce J. Kim
In 2014, Ifeoma Fafunwa, an award-winning playwright and director, founded iOpenEye, a commercial production company dedicated to driving social change through performance art. iOpenEye’s flagship theatrical production was called “Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True,”... View Details
- January 2021
- Case
Cinépolis
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Fernanda Miguel
Two weeks after Cinepolis released a documentary film about corruption, a judge ordered its provisional suspension, claiming it had to be edited before it continued to be shown, against Mexican cinematography laws. Cinépolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain... View Details
Keywords: Movies; Entertainment; Corruption; Risk Assessment; Communication Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Film Entertainment; Ethics; Leadership; Risk Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Mexico; Latin America; North and Central America
- January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
- Supplement
MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
In August 2017, MoviePass dramatically lowered its subscription price from $50 per month to just $10 for up to one movie per day. The idea was to rapidly scale the business to the point where they could generate incremental revenue streams form related businesses... View Details
Keywords: Market Entry; Growth Strategy; Profit Vs. Growth; Subscription Business; Cash Burn; Data Analytics; Get-big-fast; Buyer Power; Strategy Implementation; Movie Industry; Racing; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Consolidation; Cash Flow; Growth Management; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Mobile Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- July 2019 (Revised November 2022)
- Case
Backstage at Boston Ballet
By: David G. Fubini, Ryan Raffaelli, Begum Agca Okutgen and Julia Kelley
This case asks students to consider how to prioritize goals when placed in a new leadership role. In August 2014, Meredith “Max” Hodges became the youngest Executive Director (ED) in the Boston Ballet’s 51-year history. In her first year, she was able to claim several... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Managing Change; Strategy Execution; Priorities; Arts; Buildings and Facilities; Decision Making; Theater Entertainment; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; Marketing; Price; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; North America; Massachusetts; Boston; New England; Northeastern United States
- 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... View Details
- July 2016 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
Hamilton: An American Musical
By: Anita Elberse and Jennifer Schoppe
In July 2013, composer, writer, actor and rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail, and producer Jeffrey Seller met to discuss how to launch Hamilton, a new musical based on the life of the first Treasury Secretary of the United States, Alexander Hamilton.... View Details
Keywords: Entertainment; Creative Industries; Performing Arts; (General) Management; Blockbusters; Non-profit; Theater Entertainment; Strategy; Risk Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Arts; Creativity; Product Launch; Product Development; Marketing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- 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... View Details
- February 2015 (Revised April 2018)
- Supplement
Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (B)
By: Willy Shih
When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details
Keywords: AMC Entertainment; Wanda Group; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States
- December 2014 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)
By: Willy Shih
When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details
Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States
- October 2013 (Revised July 2025)
- Case
Rhythm & Blues
By: Willy Shih
The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly... View Details
Keywords: Post-production; Visual Effects; Digital; Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Los Angeles
- July 2012 (Revised May 2024)
- Supplement
Lyric Dinner Theater (B)
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Jim Sharpe
Supplements the (A) Case. Deborah Denenberg reflects on the results and actions taken during the 12 months following her first 6 months on the job. View Details
- July 2012 (Revised May 2024)
- Case
Lyric Dinner Theater (A)
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Jim Sharpe
Looking back at five years of losses, Rivka Belzer, a newly minted MBA, steps into her family owned business with their mandate to turn it around or close it. In her first six months, she has made a number of changes, with mixed results, but is beginning to show a... View Details
- October 2011 (Revised May 2015)
- Case
The American Repertory Theater
By: Rohit Deshpande, Allen S. Grossman and Ryan Johnson
When Diane Paulus, artistic director and CEO of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) first started in 2008, she attracted media coverage around an aesthetic that aimed to give the audience more ownership over the theater experience, excited theatergoers by... View Details
- July 2011 (Revised October 2011)
- Case
Lady Gaga (A)
By: Anita Elberse and Michael Christensen
In September 2009, Troy Carter, manager of up-and-coming pop star Lady Gaga, has to decide on a new course of action now that his artist's planned co-headlining arena tour with hip-hop superstar Kanye West has been cancelled. Carter knows that continuing the tour, but... View Details
- June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
- Case
Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin
The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models... View Details