Every industry today is affected by the big data explosion.  It is difficult to name an industry that is not consolidating, interpreting and applying the trends they find in their data.  The data they collected will help them make better, well-informed decisions in the future. This is the recipe to success in the future marketplace.

What is Data Analytics?

Data analytics in movie making is a rapidly advancing technology that helps with everything from scripts to marketing campaigns for distributors. Data Analytics involves analyzing data to identify trends or patterns which can be used to help companies achieve their core goals.

The movie industry is one of the industries that utilize this data gathering and interpretation.  In the film industry, data analytics is extremely valuable as it allows companies to create more suitable movies and to direct market them to key markets.

Even film creators such as Eli Roth have recognized the importance of data in making marketing decisions for the promotion and distribution of films.  Because of big data analytics, film producers now have comprehensive target market information to ensure they are a success.

How do they gather the data?

There are lots of ways companies can collect data. The most likely outcome for the move industry is that it will turn to big data analytics firms who will gather large amounts of data from numerous sources.

This data might come from social media, video on demand platforms such as Netflix, and even from movie theatres that keep track of seat sales which will indicate which movies are most popular.

How to make a successful data-driven marketing strategy?

Studies show that any data-driven marketing strategy will be successful if it allows filmmakers to target and connect with the right audience.

Often, audiences decided to watch films simply because of a good marketing strategy and not on the merit of the film. One example is the rather mediocre James Cameron movie Avatar, which thanks to some clever marketing, managed to get most of us into theatres to watch it. Many people confessed to only have gone to watch the film for its 3D effects.

While this meant huge box office returns for Avatar, there is the risk that such a strategy could backfire for other films as word of mouth quickly spreads against the film.

What are the Advantages?

Using data analytics technology, film producers can get a good understanding of audience reaction to the film at a very early phase of the production. Largo Films, now offer a service that can accurately predict audience reaction at the scriptwriting phase.

After analyzing the script with the aid of data analytics, the company provides a report that allows the script writer the opportunity to make adjustments to satisfy the tastes of the audience.

Using this technology, producers can even get predictive analytics regarding the box office potential of the movie in many different countries, something which allows producers to weigh up the risks or potential losses vs. expected income etc.

The effectiveness of digital marketing can greatly help independent film creators.  By being able to target marketing to their specific audiences, they can be truly independent of the bigger studio production companies for distribution or financial support. This means they get a much bigger slice of the profit pie too.

What is the use of Data?

The film industry is a marriage between art and commerce.  The possible utilization of big data in business will appeal to the financial side of the industry.

Financing a movie is a very risky business. There are lots of advantages as well as disadvantages to the current business model. At the moment, studios are asked to finance films they think will make money. This means that there is a range of interpretation as to what films will make money and what wont. The downside of this model is that studios tend to opt for making lots of big blockbusters rather than more creative films.

Through the data collected from various social media or platforms, studios can clearly. Through the identify markets for all types of films. This means they can actually diversify their portfolio to make more films for all of us.

Amazingly, this new technology will become so accurate that it will one day influence the cast of the film, the selection of the director, and even the release date of the film.

A good example of big data already in action can be seen with companies like Netflix, who have a unique access to their user’s behavior.

Netflix can now accurately predict what a given user is likely to want to watch in the future.  It uses the data it gathers and identifies trends. Subsequently, the platform is able to accurately predict what each user is likely to want to watch next.

When enough data is collected and is able to be interpreted, the sky is the limit on how much big data analytics can change the movie industry.

Conclusion

Big Data is going to be huge! The film industry is and must continue to embrace the opportunity to develop its use as fast as possible. The benefits of understanding how a movie will perform and who will want to see it cannot be overstated.

Currently, the movie industry is in a continual cycle of having to gamble hundreds of millions of dollars a year on movies that it has no idea will succeed. From small independents to massive studios, the time has come for big analytics to change the way that the movie industry does business.

 

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