The aim of this study is to explore the correlation between contemporary political agenda and film themes, how and if the antagonists’ behavior is depicted in relation to whom the political opponent was at the time of the making of the film. The literature is concurrent: movies are used to spread norms and political messages. There are several examples; during the Cold War people and antagonist behavior could clearly be linked to the Soviet Union. During the Gulf War the antagonists was often depicted as Arabic terrorists, but after the war the villain character became unclear and was often represented by natural disasters, organized crime, corruption etc. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Arabic terrorists once again became the new antagonists. The film selection is made out of the five most profitable movies (adjusted for inflation) that take place in our world that was produced during the Cold War, and five films that fill the same criteria that was produced after the Cold War. My goal was to see if I could see a correlation between the political agenda at the time of the making of the movie, how the antagonists are portrayed and what political themes were addressed. Unexpectedly, I found no such correlation in my film selection. However, I could see similarities in certain genres, such as action, thrillers and adventure movies, that support the theories in the literature. / Jag studerar huruvida man kan dra en parallell mellan den rådande politiska agendan och filmens politiska teman samt hur skurkgestaltningen ter sig i relation till vem den politiska motståndaren var då filmen gjordes. Litteraturen är tydlig kring att film används för att sprida normer och politiska budskap. Det finns flera exempel kring hur man under kalla kriget främst hade Sovjet eller personer och beteenden som tydligt kunde kopplas till Sovjet som skurkar. Efter kalla kriget, i samband med Gulfkriget, blev det under en tid araber för att därefter vara en mer oklar skurkroll (ofta naturkatastrofer, organiserad brottslighet, korruption, etc.). Efter terrorangreppen mot USA den 11:e september 2001 fick man återigen en tydlig motståndare och den arabiske terroristen blev den nya antagonisten. I min studie utgår jag från de fem filmer som drog in mest pengar (justerat för inflation), som utspelar sig i vår värld och som kom under kalla kriget, samt de fem filmer inom samma kategorier som kom därefter. Detta för att se om jag kan se en tydlig parallell mellan den rådande politiska agendan och hur skurkarna gestaltas samt vilka politiska teman som tas upp. Oväntat nog finner jag att ingen sådan tydlig koppling finns i de exemplen. Jag finner liknande paralleller inom vissa genres, såsom actionfilm, thrillers och äventyrsfilm, men ingen direkt koppling till filmen generellt kan göras.

The research in this thesis will focus on China’s increasingly important role in the global film industry, including the dynamic between the Chinese government, the Chinese film industry, and Hollywood. The first chapter gives a comprehensive overview of the history of artistic trends in postsocialist Chinese film since 1979. The following chapter provides a history of the commercial and economic developments regarding the Chinese film industry after Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms and open door policy. In the third chapter, a detailed analysis of the different Chinese state entities and their functions provide insight into the history of the political and regulatory framework of the Chinese film industry. The fourth chapter examines Hollywood’s role and response to China’s burgeoning film industry and market including case studies of top western film companies that have been heavily involved with China. It also focuses on the challenges the domestic Chinese film industry faces in response to government censorship and competition from Hollywood. Finally, the conclusion offers predictions for the future state of the Chinese film industry, and discusses the implications surrounding the growing relationship between the China and Hollywood.

There are many perceived advantages of developing a film from a comic book series such as its preexisting built-in audiences, easy marketability, licensing opportunities of comic book characters, and easily adaptable stories. All these qualities make the comic book conducive to film adaptation and profitable franchises. Studios have also taken notice and have been producing comic book inspired films in record numbers in the past decade. This thesis will investigate the comic book-to-film phenomena and will attempt to quantify whether it is in fact as lucrative as it appears. In order to quantify the effect of the comic book variable on film's success, this study will utilize the ordinary least squares method. By regressing the comic variable along with all other control variables, we hope to determine if the effect of the comic variable varies between two different measures of success.

長久以來台灣電影一直積弱不振，這有歷史的脈絡因果，也有現實的市場背景，所幸從2008年《海角七號》的票房奇蹟，開始帶來國片復甦的契機，2010年起接連幾年，國片每年都有「票房佳作」的出現，可惜量都還太少，但這也已經證明國片不是不會賣座，而是要怎麼「賣」？ 於是本研究以《海角七號》、《艋舺》、《那些年，我們一起追的女孩》、《陣頭》、《大尾鱸鰻》歷年台灣賣座國片為分析對象，探討對內：本身行銷預算不足，商品又不具備市場吸引力，對外：又要面對有高預算做行銷宣傳，產品又有市場吸引力的強大競爭者下，如何在困境中突破重圍，透過對其實務的行銷作為的研究分析，建構可以依循複製，能逆境轉勝的劣勢行銷的方法，以期讓後續其他台灣國片業者，更甚讓同樣處於困境劣勢的企業體、創業家有所依循，共創台灣產業新未來。 / Movie market has been in a down term for long time in Taiwan. It was due to historical context and market practical reasons. But fortunately, “Cape No. 7” brings hope to Taiwan Movie industry after it created a miracle with unbeatable broken record of box office in 2008. Taiwan Movie was booming since then, it is not the matter of whether there is a market or not, but how to “Sell”? Here we used five successful movies in recent years as our research targets, including “Cape No. 7”, “Monga”, “You Are the Apple of My Eye”, “Din Tao: Leader of the Parade” and “David Loman”. By researching and analyzing their original ideas of how to identify the target market with low budget, and unattractive productions which have to face the strong competitions who have strong budget support for market promotions as well as strong market appearance. How do they break the plight? Thus developed a methodology of constraint marketing, providing a way to the other Taiwanese films industry, even more, to those beleaguered companies and entrepreneurs to follow! Eventually, create a brighter future to Taiwan Movie industry!

The film industry is one of the creative industries and is often referred to as cultural economy. The filmmakers are trying to maximize their profits and attract as many consumers as possible. One of the most important indicators for producers are box office sales of cinema tickets. The thesis examines national film preferences in Europe, based on these revenues. The aim is to reveal how feature film genre preferences differ among countries in the European Union. The first part of the thesis focuses on the theoretical background and setting the issue in the context of economics. It is followed by construction of data-set, which is then examined by regression analysis. The dependent variable is represented by box office sales. Finally, the results of the analysis are interpreted and explained.

Shakespeare's vast cultural capital does not often translate easily to financial capital.Whether those who invest in Shakespeare seek financial, educational, or cultural gain, anunderstanding of capital conversion as it relates to Shakespeare industries can inform decisionsand clarify goals. After clarifying and delineating what we have and know of Shakespeare before1616 and what has been created by culture regarding him after 1616, we label the latterShakesaltation, then seek the key to converting his cultural capital to financial capital. ApplyingPierre Bourdieu's states of cultural capital to the Shakespeare industry illustrates why manyinvestments fail, few succeed, and why: cultural capital must be in its institutionalized state inorder to be convertible to profit. Juxtaposing three case studies of Shakespeare industries (Film,Cultural Destination Tourism, and the Bard Branding practice in various industries), analyzedusing Bourdieu, confirms that Shakesaltation — the ideals and myths that have been createdaround Shakespeare beyond his death — are the key to profiting from Shakespeare.

Machine learning is a central technology in data-driven decision making. In this study, machine learning in the context of demand forecasting in the motion picture industry from film exhibitors’ perspective is investigated. More specifically, it is investigated to what extent the technology can assist estimation of public interest in terms of revenue levels of unreleased movies. Three machine learning models are implemented with the aim to forecast cumulative revenue levels during the opening weekend of various movies which were released in 2010-2017 in Sweden. The forecast is based on ten attributes which range from public online user-generated data to specific movie characteristics such as production budget and cast. The results indicate that the choice of attributes as well as models in this study were not optimal on the Swedish market as the retrieved values from relevant precision metrics were inadequate, however with valid underlying reasons. / Maskininlärning är en central teknik i datadrivet beslutsfattande. I den här rapporten utreds maskininlärning isammanhanget av efterfrågeprediktion i filmbranschen från biografers perspektiv. Närmare bestämt undersöks det i vilken utsträckningtekniken kan bistå uppskattning av publikintresse i termer av intäkter vad gäller osläppta filmer hos biografer. Tremaskininlärningsmodeller implementeras i syfte att göra en prognos på kumulativa intäktsnivåer under premiärhelgen för filmer vilkahade premiär 2010-2017 i Sverige. Prognostiseringen baseras på varierande attribut som sträcker sig från publik användargenererad data på nätet till filmspecifika variabler så som produktionsbudget och uppsättning av skådespelare. De erhållna resultaten visar att valen av attribut och modeller inte var optimala på den svenska marknaden då erhållna precisionsmått från modellerna antog låga värden, med relevanta underliggande skäl.

Each year, only around 10% of the produced films will go to theatrical release, and 90% of the produced films might be the missing jewels lost in time. In Taiwan, movie distributors will act as this filter role to find out those 10% films. In this case, we will introduce the basic knowledge of the industry and discuss the evaluation process of the distributors and at the end reaching our conclusions and suggestions.

本文從差別取價之觀點切入，討論目前具價格僵固性之表演藝術產業的票房收入情形，在消費者受多種因素影響其購票決策時，廠商如何採取最適因應策略、以使營收極大化。本文以折價票及座位調整作為廠商策略，建立一經濟模型探討在不同座位種類、座位品質、及外在條件時，廠商採取各策略之最適反應。 從結果我們發現，就座位調整來說，當為兩種價區時，只有當外在條件好時增加高價區可增加營收，在其他外在條件下則不然；而若增加為三種價區座位，除特定區間外，所有的外在條件與座位品質組合皆能找到一增加營收的最適座位調整方式。而另一方面就折價票之效果，則是不論條件為何、皆不能增加營收。

Cotutelle avec Sorbonne-Nouvelle / Par l'entremise d'une enquête ethnographique effectuée auprès de 229 cinéphiles français ayant fréquenté les salles de 1957 à 1964, nous examinons les différentes lectures que ces spectateurs — alors adolescents ou jeunes adultes — ont pu effectuer de The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). D’autres succès au box-office tels The Young Lions (1958), The Guns of Navarone (1961) The Longest Day (1962), The Great Escape (1963) ou encore Quand passent les cigognes (1958) et les films français comme Le Passage du Rhin (1960) sont aussi examinés auprès de nos 229 participants afin de cerner l’approche qu’ils ont adoptée face à un film mettant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale en image. En analysant non seulement le discours de nos participants sur les films, mais aussi leur « récit de vie », nous établissons les « traces » (tel que l’entend Janet Staiger dans ses travaux sur la réception) qui ont contribué à former le contexte de réception dans lequel ils ont « rencontré » les films. Nous traitons donc des notions de cadre d’interprétation et de stratégie interprétative. Ce qui veut dire que nous nous penchons dans un premier temps sur les circonstances qui amènent les spectateurs à attribuer une identité générique au film. Puis, suite à cette identification générique, nous examinons la stratégie interprétative choisie par les spectateurs dans leur lecture du film. Ainsi, nous pouvons voir que le vécu personnel de l’Occupation, ou sinon le roman familial de 39- 45, a orienté la lecture des films. Nous constatons aussi que la Guerre d’Algérie a produit une forte polarisation des opinions sur l’armée; ces prises de position sur l’armée ont des répercussions sur la lecture de The Bridge on the River Kwai. / Through an ethnographic inquiry carried out among 229 French moviegoers who went to the movies at least from 1957 to 1964, we examine the different readings that these spectators - then in their teens or young adults - could carry out of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Other huge box-office hits such as The Young Lions (1958), The Guns of Navarone (1961) The Longest Day (1962), The Great Escape (1963) or even The Cranes Are Flying (1958) and French films like Le Passage du Rhin (1960) are also examined with our 229 informants in order to identify the approach they adopted when faced with a film depicting the Second World War. By analyzing not only our informants' discourse on the films, but also their “life story”, we establish the "traces" (from Janet Staiger's reception theory) that helped shape the reception context in which they have encountered the films. We therefore deal with the notions of interpretation framework and interpretive strategy. This means that we first look at the circumstances which lead viewers to attribute a generic identity to the film. Then, following this generic identification, we examine the interpretive strategy chosen by spectators in their reading of the film. Thus, we can see that the personal experience of the Occupation period or otherwise the family’s story of WWII guided the readings of films on WWII. We also find that the Algerian War produced a strong polarization in the opinions about the Army. These positions on the Army have repercussions on the reading of The Bridge on the River Kwai.