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Stardom and the Profitability of Film Making: Warner Bros. in the 1930s

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  • Michael Pokorny
  • John Sedgwick

Abstract

This paper examines the film production performance of Warner Bros. during the 1930s, placing particular emphasis on the manner in which Warners invested in stars. Warners are shown to have acted rationally in the sense of having consistently invested in previously successful actors. An assessment is then made of how successful such a strategy proved to be. Drawing a distinction between high and medium/low budget production, the deployment of established stars in high budget productions did not appear to have constituted a successful strategy. The production of medium/low budget films, by contrast, provided a more stable environment, in which there were clear returns to the deployment of previously successful actors. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001

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  • Michael Pokorny & John Sedgwick, 2001. "Stardom and the Profitability of Film Making: Warner Bros. in the 1930s," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 25(3), pages 157-184, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:25:y:2001:i:3:p:157-184
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1010964032248
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    13. Arthur De Vany & W. Walls, 1999. "Uncertainty in the Movie Industry: Does Star Power Reduce the Terror of the Box Office?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 23(4), pages 285-318, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Angelini & Massimiliano Castellani, 2019. "Cultural and economic value: a critical review," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 173-188, June.
    2. John Sedgwick & Michael Pokorny, 2005. "The film business in the United States and Britain during the 1930s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 58(1), pages 79-112, February.
    3. Moez Hababou & Nawel Amrouche & Kamel Jedidi, 2016. "Measuring Economic Efficiency in the Motion Picture Industry: a Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 3(3), pages 144-158, December.
    4. Michel Clement & Björn Christensen & Sönke Albers & Steffen Guldner, 2007. "Was bringt ein Oscar im Filmgeschäft? Eine empirische Analyse unter Berücksichtigung des Selektionseffekts," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 198-220, March.

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