Back in 2012, The New York Times published an article with a title The Age of Big Data. Even then this respectable publisher already predicted the reality of 2018. Steve Lohr described in details how the collection and application of consumer data can be relevant and is already imperative to the future of every industry. Basically, back then he described what Big Data will be used for very soon (today): it is a tool which deciphers consumer buying habits based on transactions, web traffic, and social media interactions.
What changed over the six years is the mechanisms of analysis and the means the world continues investing into Big Data analysis. Today these are not clerks who work overtime to calculate the ticket sales manually, but rather complex machine learning algorithms. They are able to handle far larger data sets and identify patterns that are otherwise imperceptible to humans. With the received data analysis today large film studios are able to predict and alter for the greater profit literally everything: from the structure of a screenplay narrative to the cast and crew are chosen for a particular project.
Let’s put the heavy theory into a simple example “ Netflix. The company collects all data related to its viewers: social media likes, who watched their content, how long the content was watched, when it was watched, and even on what devices it all happened. Collection and analysis of all this information together with the open social media profiles of its viewers create the basis for the upcoming Netflix films. Today this filmmaking company doesn’t begin a single project without the analysis of all this information because the data doesn’t lie.
Big Data is The New Oil
Richard Whittington, who was the SAP Labs Senior Vice President and General Manager of Media Industry Solutions in 2013, opened Tribeca Talks Industry panel discussion that year with the above quote. And his quote remains up-to-date even today. Big Data is about the statistics that help with creating the right greatly selling content. And since this is the foundation of every film, there is no secret why film studios pay that much attention to the collection of this information.
This oil helps studios determine the idea, the characters, the topic that the audience will be sympathizing to. For example, let’s take The House of Cards. The creators knew that 2013 should be the turning point “ the US elections. So based on that, they created the plot. The main character’s (Francis Underwood’s) political preferences had to attract an even greater audience, while the fans of the cast were to double the views. And all this was analysed far before 2013 because the studio started the project several years before.
Big Data can find the audience
Ads, social media, comments, website feedback forms “ all these means are now the best information collection tools. They collect people’s response, divide it into groups, analyse it, and then predict the audience for every particular topic and flow in a plot. Just remember the huge success of Gerard Molen’s 2016: Obama’s America. The release of that film was a carefully planned strategy of the film producers. Even though the IMDb gave only 5.1 rating to the film, more than 60% of all Americans (who were the target audience) watched it. Isn’t that the success?
Socialization of Big Data
What is great about big data, according to the producers’ team from Red Rock Entertainment, is that the analytics is easily accessible for filmmakers of all levels. Of course, more money can guarantee you greater means for analysis and prediction. However, even on the basic level, Big Data can save even an independent film.
For example, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. records lie within the public domain. Everything that people post or comment is right there at your disposal. With the help of basic Google Analytics tools you already are able to evaluate the mood of your potential target audience and choose the best release date for your film to get the best box office return.
Big Data analytics is free
And, finally, the greatest advantage of Big Data in its current form is that it’s free of charge. One can access Big Data information without the need to invest millions into the analysis processes. Today the border between the great studios and independent films is being erased owing exactly to the technological advancements like Big Data.
And the final though. While Big Data can and will help you alter your film plot, character’s description and traits, and even reshoot some of its parts in order to get a better return on investment, there is one this you should always remember. The film is a combination of e-commerce and art. While Big Data does help with ROI and e-commerce part, any film should remain a piece of art to touch the souls of the viewers and so remain interesting at all times. Don’t repeat the story of Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid and their America’s Most Wanted Painting, don’t turn art into numbers
