I have been charged with creating insights that will help Microsoft make the best decision as it begins to create original video content. I have conducted an analysis on whether the popular movie genres or the movies performing well at the box office are the company's priorities. I have provided the findings of my work to the executives of the movie studio. My analysis was aided by various data resources, utilization of descriptive statistics, and visualizations of the movie industry, which have led to the conclusion that higher budgets usually foster box office gross. In addition, I have given recommendations of studios to benchmark, majorly the relative aspects in their production process. This analysis will help Microsoft to divert the suitable expenditures to production, marketing, genre, release time, and leading studios for co-production purposes to attain maximum outcome.
Microsoft seeks to broaden its horizon by venturing into the movie-making industry. Hence, I have been tasked to prepare a business analysis. I have, therefore, considered the top-grossing films worldwide. By studying the most commercialized movies, which have witnessed more significant revenue, I have made recommendations that Microsoft should consider. I have based my analysis on four main factors:
Movie Genre: Which genres of movies are currently the most successful? Time of Release: When is the most profitable time of year to launch a movie? Production Budget: What budget level tends to result in the highest box office revenue? Additional Recommendations: What other characteristics do top-grossing movies typically share based on the analyzed data? Based on the data information I was working on, I took into account when the changing and unpredictable times were more sensible and realistic in the movie industry.
I utilized 4 data sources for this analysis, limiting the data from the year 2016.
Data Source One; imdb.title.basics.csv.gz. This is obtained from the IMDB website, wherein basic information such as run time, genre, and year of release of the top movies is covered. Data Source Two; title.ratings.csv. This collection of ratings is a complementing feature that is meant to be associated with the movies covered in the basics dataset. Data Source Three; tn.movie_budgets.csv. This data stream details the budget for Hollywood movies with the most significant historical gross sales. I used it as a platform to correspond budgets and determine how top-grossing blockbuster movies can be facilitated. Data Source 4; bom.movie_gross.csv. The dataset includes global and US gross earnings of movies from 2010 through 2019. I was selective about the movie data, and I only extracted from movies that were released since the year 2016 to have the most recent data.
I incorporated descriptive statistics as well as visualizations to analyze trends in the movie production industry.
My analysis and findings have shown that the highest profits were observed during the first half of the year, with April, February, June, and December standing out as the top-performing months. April emerges as a more favorable choice for movie releases compared to June. Furthermore, December emerges as a strong contender for the third-best choice due to its position as the most profitable month in the second half of the year.
For Microsoft Studios targeting the international market, it should consider the top 10 movie genre that generated the highest foreign gross income. If Microsoft is targeting both markets, they should consider the top 10 movie titles with the highest total gross income. The year 2018 saw the highest total gross. To achieve a similar or higher total gross, I recommend that Microsoft's new movie studio create films similar to those produced in 2018. Additionally, Microsoft should visit the studios that produced the top movies of 2018 to benchmark and understand how these successful movies were created. Creating movie titles that appeal to both local and international audiences is crucial for Microsoft. This is because an increase in domestic gross tends to lead to an increase in foreign gross, as demonstrated in the data provided above. Microsoft should aim for a good return in total gross, which can be achieved by producing movies that resonate with audiences worldwide.
For future analysis, it would be beneficial to include an examination of streaming services to gain further insights. Additionally, using an updated dataset that includes additional elements such as award-winning movies would be valuable.