Cinema Economics: Box-Office Splits, Concessions & Screen Scheduling

About this course

A movie theater economics course that runs one fictional multiplex, Northgate Picturehouse, in a spreadsheet, for cinema managers and staff, people in film distribution and exhibition, media students and analysts. You measure every show by average ticket price and occupancy, pay film rental under a sliding-scale floor and a 90/10 split over the house nut, work out concession margins and spend per patron, fit shows into a screen day from runtime, ads and cleaning, compare seat-hours offered, sold and earned by screen, test premium formats and a matinee price cut with an elasticity, decide which films hold over from their per-screen average and week-on-week drop with decay curves, and build an annual P&L with break-even admissions and the occupancy they need. Fictional cinema and films with illustrative terms, and no affiliation with any cinema chain or studio. The first lab is free.