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Anyone from the music or movie industry care to compare VC to your business? I figure most big studios are also operating under the power rule, but I haven't s

Anyone from the music or movie industry care to compare VC to your business? I figure most big studios are also operating under the power rule, but I haven't spent a lot of time researching it.

bhewes 11y ago
I come from the book publishing world. Pretty much the same thing one book's sales make up for the other 20 books published.
jonnathanson 11y ago
I come from the film and TV world. Pretty much the same way of thinking applies to projects in that space -- with a key difference being that the projects there are usually zero-sum. Only one TV network can win the bid on a hot property. So you end up with insane bidding wars on pitches, scripts, and projects that get hot. Film is sometimes slightly different, in that two or more studios can co-finance a film and share in distribution profits (though this occurs through convoluted means, and for all intents and purposes, there is usually a clear winner among the herd). Ultimately, however, the same power law usually applies. One hit is often said to cover the cost of 10 or more failures, and then some. (Of course, the converse is sometimes true: one massive failure can tank a studio's year, and occasionally even a studio.) I'll tell you this much: Disney doesn't give half a shit about any and all box office failures in fiscal 2015 when "The Force Awakens" made $920M+ at the domestic box office, to say nothing of its billion+ more overseas and untold billions in merch. And on any given year, if it had the choice, it would much rather have one hypothetical "Force Awakens" and a handful of flops than, say, a better average return per movie without an outsized monster hit.
- erichocean 11y ago
  Confirmed. (I'm also from Film and Television.)
hkmurakami 11y ago
I find it fascinating that Legendary Pictures was funded through PE firms, then has now been sold off to a Chinese firm for a handsome profit.
- jonnathanson 11y ago
  PE and HF financing of film slates is one of the bigger trends to have reshaped the industry in the last several decades. Legendary is a particularly noteworthy example, but there are many others like it. Similarly, the big studios often turn to investment banks to finance film slates. The highest levels of the movie business, like the highest levels of most corporate America these days, are virtually indistinguishable from the finance industry.

Anyone from the music or movie industry care to compare VC to your business? I figure most big studios are also operating under the power rule, but I haven't spent a lot of time researching it.

bhewes 11y ago

I come from the book publishing world. Pretty much the same thing one book's sales make up for the other 20 books published.

jonnathanson 11y ago

I come from the film and TV world. Pretty much the same way of thinking applies to projects in that space -- with a key difference being that the projects there are usually zero-sum. Only one TV network can win the bid on a hot property. So you end up with insane bidding wars on pitches, scripts, and projects that get hot. Film is sometimes slightly different, in that two or more studios can co-finance a film and share in distribution profits (though this occurs through convoluted means, and for all intents and purposes, there is usually a clear winner among the herd). Ultimately, however, the same power law usually applies. One hit is often said to cover the cost of 10 or more failures, and then some. (Of course, the converse is sometimes true: one massive failure can tank a studio's year, and occasionally even a studio.) I'll tell you this much: Disney doesn't give half a shit about any and all box office failures in fiscal 2015 when "The Force Awakens" made $920M+ at the domestic box office, to say nothing of its billion+ more overseas and untold billions in merch. And on any given year, if it had the choice, it would much rather have one hypothetical "Force Awakens" and a handful of flops than, say, a better average return per movie without an outsized monster hit.

erichocean 11y ago
Confirmed. (I'm also from Film and Television.)

hkmurakami 11y ago

I find it fascinating that Legendary Pictures was funded through PE firms, then has now been sold off to a Chinese firm for a handsome profit.

jonnathanson 11y ago
PE and HF financing of film slates is one of the bigger trends to have reshaped the industry in the last several decades. Legendary is a particularly noteworthy example, but there are many others like it. Similarly, the big studios often turn to investment banks to finance film slates. The highest levels of the movie business, like the highest levels of most corporate America these days, are virtually indistinguishable from the finance industry.