Blockbusters: Hit-Making, Risk-Taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment, Elberse Anita

Why the future of popular culture will revolve around ever bigger bets on entertainment products, by one of Harvard Business Schools most popular professors

Whats behind the phenomenal success of entertainment businesses such as Warner Bros., Marvel Entertainment, and the NFL--along with such stars as Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and LeBron James? Which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge over their rivals?

Anita Elberse, Harvard Business Schools expert on the entertainment industry, has done pioneering research on the worlds of media and sports for more than a decade. Now, in this groundbreaking book, she explains a powerful truth about the fiercely competitive world of entertainment: building a business around blockbuster products--the movies, television shows, songs, and books that are hugely expensive to produce and market--is the surest path to long-term success. Along the way, she reveals why entertainment executives often spend outrageous amounts of money in search of the next blockbuster, why superstars are paid unimaginable sums, and how digital technologies are transforming the entertainment landscape.

Full of inside stories emerging from Elberses unprecedented access to some of the worlds most successful entertainment brands, Blockbusters is destined to become required reading for anyone seeking to understand how the entertainment industry really works--and how to navigate todays high-stakes business world at large.