Cinema Business and Management
PROFESSOR MARCO CUCCO; PROFESSOR LUCA MOSSO
MODULE I: Professor Marco Cucco
COURSE AIMS
The course aims to explain the trends and the economic principles that characterise
activity of the film industry, in the different phases of the value chain (production,
distribution, and exhibition) and in the entire life cycle of a film (including in the
television and ancillary markets). The course also aims to analyse the film industry
with respect to its historical development and its current configuration, with a
continuous comparison between Europe and the United States.
COURSE CONTENT
The course studies cinema as an industry, and film as a product to be created,
packaged and sold on the market.
For this purpose, the course will analyse:
– the principal phases of the cinematographic value chain (production,
distribution and exhibition), taking into consideration the birth, historical
development and current configuration of the industry, with a continuous
comparison between Europe and the United States;
– the production, distribution, and promotional strategies adopted for different
product types (in particular for blockbuster movies, American independent
films, European national productions, and international co-productions), which
will be compared in terms of economic performance at the box office;
– the markets in which films are distributed after being shown in theatres and in
which there is economic value (television market in its multiple forms, the
merchandising market, etc.);
– policies (supranational, national and sub-national) adopted in support of and in
defence of the film industry.
The course will place a special emphasis on analysing blockbuster movies, which
represent Hollywood's most important product in terms of costs and revenues, and
the most sophisticated product in terms of production, distribution and promotional
strategy.
At the end of the seminar, the student should be able to identify the economic
principles that govern the running of the film industry, the strategic variables on
the basis of which market decisions are made, and the different areas in which the
film product has economic value. In addition, after analysing the four product
types listed above, the student should be able to acknowledge, and to reflect
critically about, the differences that exist between the U.S. model of film industry
and the model existing in Europe.
READING LIST
T. BALIO, Hollywood in the New Millennium, BFI Publishing, Basingtoke, 2013.
M. CUCCO, Il film blockbuster. Storia e caratteristiche delle grandi produzioni hollywoodiane,
Carocci, Rome, 2010.
M. CUCCO-G. RICHERI, Il mercato delle location cinematografiche, Marsilio, Venice, 2013.
T. GANTI, Producing Bollywood. Inside the Contemporary Hindi Film Industry, Duke University
Press, Durham and London, 2012.
A. JÄCKEL, European Film Industries, BFI Publishing, London, 2003.
G. KING, New Hollywood Cinema. An Introduction, I.B. Tauris & Co., London, 2002 (ed. it.: La
Nuova Hollywood. Dalla rinascita degli anni Sessanta all’era dei blockbuster, Einaudi, Turin,
2004).
P. MCDONALS-J. WASKO, The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry (eds.), Blakwell Publishing
Ltd, Oxford, 2008.
F. PERRETTI-G. NEGRO, Economia del cinema. Principi economici e variabili strategiche del settore
cinematografico, Etas, Milan, 2003.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures and audio-visual presentations.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Interview about themes covered in class and required reading materials (to be indicated).
MODULE II: Professor Luca Mosso
COURSE AIMS
The course proposes to examine the practices within the Italian film industry. The
economics of the business will be compared with the artistic and organisational
aspects, with an illustration of the interrelationships of an industry constantly
working with cultural and economic variables.
A significant emphasis will be placed on relationships with private and public
institutions in promoting films and enhancing the value of films.
With the analysis of cases and interviews of industry insiders, the course will also
look at the status of the producer and how that status has changed over time.
COURSE CONTENT
With this course, students will delve into the functioning of the film industry,
starting from cases and key positions, and from a reflection about the practices
prevalent in production and promotion of the cultural product.
The main topics to be covered are:
– The cinema: an inter-related system. Market, institutions and public policies
from the standpoint of producers, distributors and theatres.
– The film producer: role, functions, activities. Presentations and case histories.
– The relationship between the author and producer in developing the film
project. The phase of development as a matrix of the film.
– The set: economics, organisation and technology. The impact of the digital
revolution.
– Festivals and cultural organisations: a new paradigm.
– Development labs and production boutiques. The role of festivals in the
development, production and marketing of films.
– Cultural policy and entrepreneurial initiative: analysis of several successful
models.
The focal point of interest is independent cinema - the area in Italy that is best
responding to the challenges of international expansion of film distribution and
technological change.
READING LIST
B. CORSI, Produzione e produttori, Il Castoro, Milan, 2012.
M. ABIS-G. CANOVA, I festival del cinema. Quando la cultura rende, Johan & Levi, Milan, 2012.
Notes with a broad selection of cases and contributions to be made available to the students.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures, audio-visual presentations, meetings with and presentations by producers and
managers in the arts field.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Interview about themes covered in class and required reading materials (to be indicated).
NOTES
Further
information
can
be
found
on
the
lecturer's
webpage
http://www2.unicatt.it/unicattolica/docenti/index.html, or on the Faculty notice board.
at