Author(s)

Yilou Yan ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China

Corresponding Author

Yilou Yan

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the financial risks associated with film production to guide A24 in making strategic business decisions. The analysis incorporates eight key variables: US gross, worldwide gross, audience vote counts, film genres, run time, the involvement of acclaimed directors with prestigious award nominations or wins, critical scores from Rotten Tomatoes, and production budgets. A long-term multiple linear regression model identifies a strong correlation between film genres and worldwide gross, while the short-term model highlights critical scores and other factors as significant predictors of box office performance. Based on these findings, distinct strategies are proposed for short and long-term planning. In the short term, prioritizing films with strong critical scores is recommended, alongside increasing advertising budgets for highly rated films. Leveraging social media engagement, as indicators such as likes and comments are closely linked to revenue, is also advised. Additionally, integrating AI in screenwriting processes can help reduce production costs. For long-term growth, strategic recommendations include focusing on specific film genres, selecting experienced directors, enhancing audience engagement beyond traditional cinema, and expanding into streaming services, which have seen substantial growth since the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS

A24; Film Industry; Film Distribution; Financial Risks

CITE THIS PAPER

Yilou Yan, Recommendations to A24 to Control Financial Risks in Film Distribution. Financial Engineering and Risk Management (2025) Vol. 8: 26-35. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/ferm.2025.080204.

REFERENCES

[1] Kampers, L. (2023). Cool cinema sells : Examining the role of indie film company A24 in thecontemporary neoliberal US film industry. DIVA. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record. jsf?pid=diva2%3A1772074&dswid=3295  
[2] Pokorny, M., & Sedgwick, J. (2012). The financial and economic risks of film production. Film and risk, 181-196.
[3] Lasloom, N. M. (2020). The inevitability of financial risks in businesses and how to overcome them: Saudi Arabia in Focus. The Business and Management Review, 11(01). https://doi.org/10.24052/bmr/v11nu01/art-18 
[4] Nikolic, D., Kostic-Stankovic, M., & Jeremic, V. (2022). How does genre preference influence the importance of film marketing mix elements: Evidence during the COVID-19 pandemics. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 36(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677x.2022.2080734 
[5] Johnson, M. (2021). Hollywood survival strategies in the post-COVID 19 ERA. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00776-z 
[6] Eagan, O. (2020). The influence of film critics. Oscar Buzz and the Influence of Word of Mouth on Movie Success, 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41180-0_5 
[7] Basuroy, S., Chatterjee, S., & Ravid, S. A. (2003). How critical are critical reviews? the box office effects of film critics, Star Power, and budgets. Journal of Marketing, 67(4), 103–117. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.67.4.103.18692 
[8] Legoux, R., Larocque, D., Laporte, S., Belmati, S., & Boquet, T. (2016). The effect of critical reviews on exhibitors’ decisions: Do reviews affect the survival of a movie on screen? International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(2), 357–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.07.003 
[9] Kim, Y. J., Cheong, Y. G., & Lee, J. H. (2019). Prediction of a movie’s success from plot summaries using Deep Learning Models. Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Storytelling. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/w19-3414 
[10] Kennedy, A. (2008). Predicting box office success: Do critical reviews really matter?. Berkeley projects. 
[11] Ding, C., Cheng, H. K., Duan, Y., & Jin, Y. (2017). The power of the "like" button: The impact of social media on Box Office. Decision Support Systems, 94, 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2016.11.002 
[12] Cho, T. (2023). A Study on Dramaturgy for AI Screenplays: Writing Alternative Narratives Using GPT (Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo).
[13] Gabriele, M. (2023). A24: The rise of a cultural conglomerate. The Generalist. https://www.generalist. com/briefing/a24#evolution-a-cultural-conglomerate. 
[14] Fortmueller, K. (2021). Hollywood Shutdown. University of Texas Press. http://books .google. ie/books?id=xdskEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Hollywood+Shutdown&hl=&cd=1&source=gbs_api 
[15] Kasper, A. (2022). A New Studio Era: How Netflix is Becoming a Threat to the Film Industry. PDXScholar. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/honorstheses/1271/ 

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Information Systems and Economics
  
  
• Accounting, Auditing and Finance
  
  
• Industrial Engineering and Innovation Management
  
  
• Tourism Management and Technology Economy
  
  
• Journal of Computational and Financial Econometrics
  
  
• Accounting and Corporate Management
  
  
• Social Security and Administration Management
  
  
• Population, Resources & Environmental Economics
  
  
• Statistics & Quantitative Economics
  
  
• Agricultural & Forestry Economics and Management
  
  
• Social Medicine and Health Management
  
  
• Land Resource Management
  
  
• Information, Library and Archival Science
  
  
• Journal of Human Resource Development
  
  
• Manufacturing and Service Operations Management
  
  
• Operational Research and Cybernetics