agenda for team meeting 10/7/09 - leeds school of...

Final Deliverable

CU Team Members:

Adam Lightman (901)550-6165 [email protected] Paul (831)238-5050 [email protected] Peif (303)929-9644 [email protected] Suss (303)875-0871 [email protected]

Market Force Client:

Rushton McGarr (303)402-6916 – Office [email protected](303)881-4644 – Cell

Hitachi Mentor:

Mike Lampe [email protected]

Adam Lightman, Spencer Peif,Kyle Suss, & Keith Paul

Table of ContentsInterview Process Summary.............................................................................................2

Discussion Guide......................................................................................................3People We Contacted..............................................................................................5

Interview NotesSVP Digital Marketing (Universal Pictures)..............................................................8SVP Finance and Operations (Fox Searchlight).........................................................9VP Finance of Production (20th Century Fox)..........................................................10EVP Marketing Planning (20th Century Fox)...........................................................11SVP Sales and Operations (Overture).....................................................................12Worldwide Publicity (Overture)..............................................................................13SVP Marketing (Overture)......................................................................................14EVP Distribution (Paramount)................................................................................15VP Production (Warner Brothers)..........................................................................16SVP Post Production (Warner Brothers).................................................................17

Key Findings....................................................................................................................18Problem Area Matrix......................................................................................................19Status Reports................................................................................................................ 20Meeting Minutes............................................................................................................26Updated Risk Management Plan....................................................................................46Quality Assurance...........................................................................................................49Change Management.....................................................................................................52Lessons Learned............................................................................................................. 53

First Deliverable........................................................................following Lessons Learned

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Interview Process Summary

After analyzing our discussion guide with Rushton, we reworded and removed some of our questions to emphasize problems that Market Force could potentially solve. With this final discussion guide, we were ready to start conducting interviews.

Our primary source for finding contact information for studio executives was www.imdbpro.com. The website lists nearly all of the high-power executives from each studio. We could not find emails or direct phone numbers for any of these executives, but IMDbPro does have the main phone number for the studio office. Our first strategy was simply cold calling as many executives as we could. We called around 15 executives, and each time we would be connected to their personal assistant who would not let us talk to the executive or arrange a meeting. Spencer had a break through when he found a few email addresses and decided to email some of the executives instead of calling them. Within one day, two executives had emailed him back and set up a time for a phone interview. We realized that the best approach seemed to be emailing first, and then setting up a phone interview with the executives that were willing to talk to us.

We could only find email addresses for a few of the executives, but we realized that each studio’s email addresses followed a specific pattern. Fox, Warner Brothers, Disney, HBO, Miramax, Overture, Paramount, and Universal all assign email addresses as [email protected]. Using these patterns, we sent out around 100 emails and had 10 executives agree to be interviewed. We followed the discussion guide and recorded as much information from the interviews as possible. Many of the executives we spoke to were worried about having something they said end up on the internet, so out of respect for their privacy we have only associated their company titles with their interview notes.

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Discussion Guide

Finance1. How much does product placement play a role in financing?

a. How does a company get their product in your movie?i. Are there bidding wars to get into your movie?

b. How do consumers react to product placement?c. How involved is the company in how the product is portrayed? d. Does the studio have a separate department that deals with product

placement?i. Who should we talk to about this?

2. In addition to obtaining financing what other challenges are you facing?

Distribution 1. Are you concerned with the safety and security of digital distribution?

a. What risks does digital distribution bring about?i. What current services and jobs will digital eliminate?

ii. Does the audience see digital as lower quality than print?iii. Is there a connection between digital prints and an increase in piracy?

2. What are your short-term and long-term strategies for combating piracy?a. What could the theatres do to help?

3. What are your main concerns with the “in-theatre experience?”a. Do Producers and Directors have concerns with the “in-theatre experience” and

their lack of control about how their product is shown?4. What new problems are arising with the reemergence of 3-D?5. Does 3-D create new problems with the pricing of the movie?

a. Are you encountering pricing problems with theatres that provide combo-deals that package concessions with the movie ticket?

6. When you sell the movie to the theatres, are you running into problems with theatres that give preferential treatment and placement to movies from other companies?

7. What do you consider before releasing a movie overseas?a. Cultural considerationsb. Quality control

8. DVD sales are expected to fall over the next year across the industry, how is this impacting your studio?

a. Do you plan on using online sites, such as YouTube, to stream videos because DVD sales are expected to fall?

b. Do you plan on creating your own online distribution system?

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Marketing1. Marketing costs are extremely expensive, are you using new methods to increase the

effectiveness of your marketing campaigns?2. Since customers’ attitudes are always changing, what have you been doing to make sure

your ads are still effective? 3. Have you experimented with viral advertising?

a. Outlet? YouTube, Facebook, Websites, Posters, etc. b. What films/genres?c. Do you know how effective viral advertising is?

4. What marketing outlet gives you the best “bang for your buck?” a. Is it difficult to calculate ROI for new marketing outlets?

5. Is there a risk in over-advertising?6. Is it hard to market a film before it receives an MPAA rating?

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People We Contacted

20th Century Fox1 Dean Hallett - EVP Finance2 Daryl Cobbin - EVP Marketing3 Rita Drucker (call only)- SVP Feature Film Promotions4 Tomas Jeqeus - Co-President, International5 Grant Kahn - VP, International Licensing6 Pamela Levine (call only) - Co-President, Domestic Theatrical Marketing7 Bert Livingston - SVP Distribution8 Keith Rauch - Manager of Creative Advertising9 Julie Rieger - EVP Marketing Planning

10 Tony Sella - Co-President, Domestic Theatrical Marketing11 Carol Sewell - VP Publicity and Field Marketing12 Bruce Snyder - President of Domestic Distribution

Fox Searchlight13 Stephanie Allen - EVP Creative Advertising14 Sheila DeLoach - SVP General Sales Manager15 Jill Gwen - SVP Finance and Operations16 Jonathan Ross - Distribution17 Nancy Utley, President, Marketing

MGM18 Erik Lomis - President of Distribution

Miramax19 Jason Cassidy - EVP Marketing

Universal20 Adam Fogelson, Co-President, Marketing21 Eddie Egan, Co-President, Marketing22 Jeanne Cordova, Director of Marketing23 David Kosse, President, International Marketing24 Nikki Rocco, President, Universal Pictures Distribution25 Kori Bernards - SVP Media Relations26 Eddie Egan - President of Marketing27 Christian Grass - President of International Production28 Michael Moses - EVP Publicity29 Doug Neil - SVP Digital Marketing30 Scott Rieckhoff - VP Exhibitor Relations

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Warner Brothers31 Sue Kroll - President, Marketing32 Dawn Taubin - President, Domestic Marketing33 Veronika Kwan-Rubinek - President, Distribution34 Bill Daly - SVP Post Production35 Courtney Armstrong - SVP Business Affairs 36 Jon Berg - SVP Production 37 Kristy Carlson - VP Feature Casting 38 Patti Connolly - EVP Business Affairs 39 Bill Daly - Senior VP, Post Production 40 Christopher DeFaria - EVP Digital Production41 Bill Draper - EVP Production 42 Dan Fellman - President, Domestic Distribution 43 Kurt P. Galvao - Dir. Feature Post Prod. Assets & Technology 44 Jeff Goldstein - EVP Domestic Distribution 45 Jessica Goodman - EVP Production 46 Janet A. Kobrin - VP Intellectual Property47 Kevin McCormick - President of Production 48 David Mortimer - Director, National Publicity 49 Jack Nguyen - SVP Operations, WB International 50 Matt Reilly - VP Production 51 Angelina Speare - EVP Operations and Finance

HBO52 Eric Kessler, President, Sales and Marketing

Disney53 David Kornblum - VP Theatrical Sales & Distribution54 Chuck Viane - President of Distribution

Paramount55 Adam Kassan - VP Paramount Film Group56 Dan Butler - SVP Business Affairs57 Daniel Ferleger - EVP Business Affairs58 David Beaubaire - EVP Production59 Kimberly LoCascio - SVP Visual Effects60 Lee Rosenthal - EVP Feature Production Management61 Marty Cohen - President Post Production62 Paul Neinstein - EVP Business & Legal63 Richard Jastrow - Executive Director Post Services64 Teri Fournier - EVP Legal Affairs65 Mark Christiansen - EVP Distribution

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66 Megan Colligan - Co-President of Domestic Marketing67 Josh Greenstein - Co-Presiden of Domestic Marketing68 Amy Powell - SVP Interactive Marketing69 Steve Siskind - EVP Worldwide Marketing & Advertising70 Rod Smith - EVP Production Finance71 LeeAnne Stables -EVP Worldwide Marketing Partnerships72 Jim Tharp - President of Distribution

Overture73 Pete Adee - President, Worldwide Theatrical Marketing & Distribution74 Rachel Cadden - SVP Marketing75 Cecilia Conti - Marketing Coordinator76 Kristin Cotich - VP, National Publicity77 Kyle Davies - EVP Theatrical Distribution78 Jamie Denenberg - Director, Publicity Materials79 David Earl - Director of Accounting80 Greg Forston - SVP Theatrical Distribution81 Matt Garelik - SCP Theatrical Distribution82 Jackson George - EVP Creative Advertising83 Erika Hart Hindle - SVP Finance & Administration84 Adam Keen - SVP Worldwide Publicity85 Katrina Love - VP Creative Advertising86 John Sinayi - SVP Theatrical Distribution87 Tonay Toone - Director, Events & Promotions88 Bryan Yaconelli - VP Production Management & Finance

Summit Entertainment89 Richard Fay - President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution90 Jill Jones - SVP International Marketing91 Brad Kembel - EVP International Distribution92 Nancy Kirkpatrick - President of Worldwide Marketing93 James McGough - Manager, Finance94 Deborah Tellis - SVP International Disstribution95 Deborah Ortega - Director, International96 David Garrett - President, Summit International97 Bob Hayward - COO

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Interview Notes - SVP Digital Marketing (Universal Pictures)

Marketing is extremely necessary to the success of a movie, so studios don’t mind spending the money on advertising. Viral is partial to certain genres – Viral by nature is something shared

Trailer Mash-ups are good because they are unique to creatorComedy and Horror are best genres for viral

Hard to over-saturate market with advertising because movies are each a completely new product when they are released.Studios must be conservative when advertising before receiving an MPAA rating.When releasing a movie into theatres – want to get into as many outlets as possible.The In-Theatre experience is continually improving.When releasing a movie in 3-D, want to make that format as available as possible.

Don’t want to fight for the same screen, and if they need to go 2-D with the movie, that is OK.When considering using product placement, let the partnership team talk to advertisers.

Product must be organic to film.Focus groups are NOT necessary because movie makers only do product placements that make sense to character.Film makers are careful to not sell-out

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Interview Notes - SVP Finance and Operations (Fox Searchlight)

Whenever using product placement, it is important not to take the audience out of the moment.There is strong security in digital distribution, the piracy problem is with people bringing in camcorders.

International offices handle the international offenses.Every product placement deal is different

It isn’t common to rely on product placement as a substantial financing source.If you don’t believe in the movie, you find co-financers to share the risk

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Interview Notes - VP Finance of Production (20 th Century Fox)

Most of product placement is simply about using the product in the movie, not getting financing.

Product donated during production and returned afterwards.Majority of time, movie maker doesn’t get much in fees.A brand name product in a movie can be good for making the movie relatable to

audience.Currently Production costs are amortized over about 5 years of exploitation, but that window is narrowing as movies are going straight to On-Demand when going out on DVD ect.Consumers are demanding that movies be released on home video when they are released in theatres, but Studios don’t want to see movie theatres cannibalized because box office is a source of revenue.His biggest problem is making sure the right people are involved in production because having to replace people etc. costs money and reduces the production value.He manages slate deals.

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Interview Notes - EVP Marketing Planning (20 th Century Fox)

There is a big problem with using the internet for advertising and judging the effectiveness of that marketing.

People are trained to get things in small bits from internet.They have tried big things with internet but don’t see it as being nearly as effective as theatre trailers and TV commercials.

They love in-theatre trailers, but have mixed feelings towards Screen Vision.Screen vision creates a less attentive audience.If they have the movie stars on screen vision talking to audience about the movie – that could work well.

She is not involve in oversees marketing.She thought we touched on the big problems in her eyes.

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Interview Notes - SVP Sales and Operations (Overture)

In regard to the transition to digital distribution: "Every year I’ve been here, digital was going to take over in 5 years"“When the news reel came out they were going to kill the papers, but that didn’t happen”Reasons why people continue to go to movie theatres:

People want to leave the home.Parents want kids out of the house.Going to the movies is a nice thing to do.

He sees a huge trend toward 3-d visual, and there is even a small company in Germany doing 3d audio.

These things serve to enhance movie going experience and yet are hard to replicate at home.

Gaming will drive the 3d model.Who is going to pay for the equipment to get upgraded?

Many theatre owners are platform agnostic (they won’t commit to one platform, so they just don’t upgrade).Studios’ stance: "I don’t care how you play my film"He actually prefers film because “it’s cheaper and easier to just transport it”Satellite and internet connectivity are just another piece of inventory to monitor.Funds aren’t as free flowing as one would imagine with regard to paying for upgrading systems to digital.

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Interview Notes - Worldwide Publicity (Overture)

He says that somebody in the industry may tell you one thing while others say something elseWith regards to Product Placement:

Financing depends on the scale of the product.Product placement happens more in TV than it does in film.

ex. Spider Man is a Coca-Cola drinker - only Coke products in the filmProduct placement makes for strong promotions partnerships when marketing.Coke may pay a small fee or provide things to the film on backend, but mainly a

partnership.Consumers are pretty used to it now, but consumer reaction depends on how

the product is integrated into the piece.Use in James Bond not as "jarring" as say a Woody Allen movie

With regards to digital distribution:The film industry has had to compete with how the consumer is more

demanding.People don’t want to wait as long for things and are more complacent about

attending things (want things delivered)

Disney Key Chest: People are interested in it, but it’s not a proven commodity yetDisney is consolidating distribution teams, this affects everyone’s job.

Debating changing the windows of distribution, but it is very experimental still.Viral advertising:

Depends on the product and who you want to reach.

Could be very effective depending on audience

ex. paranormal activity - focused on online advertising as well as seeding, word

of mouth

Overture has utilized all of the outlets:

Facebook - applicable across all outlets

twitter - not reaching youngsters as much as Facebook

- Some sort of cost involved with using it on a mobile device

- Not as much feedback

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Interview Notes - SVP Marketing (Overture)

They use Twitter and FacebookWhen we do exit polls, the number one way to reach people is TV, then in theater, and finally onlineDVR not showing any issues, but newspaper ads are dying outHow to measure success:

Twitter - the more followers the better (couple thousand is successful)

Facebook - amount of friends

Web traffic - how many hits per site

People claim that they can monitor blogs and opinions, but it is not really worth the money.He said, “Disney key chest is great.”With Transformers, product placement played a role in saving costs for production.

Sometimes people would go to McDonalds just to get the toy.There are so many obstacles to overcome with product placement:

"Talent Approval" - approval from actorsWhen advertising, cutting through the noise is the biggest problem.

Ex. The big buzz that everyone was talking about was “Twilight is coming out this weekend.”

They couldn’t get any buzz of their own competing with such a big movie.Regarding A Christmas Carol

Disney promotes their movies on their own channelMany kids were saying "I don’t want to see the movie; it’s too scary"There is nothing funny, light hearted in the movie.Disney typically relies on the nag factor: "Mom, I want to see the movie." But there was no nag factor for A Christmas Carol.Disney tests the material though.

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Interview Notes - EVP Distribution (Paramount)

{Email}"There are several issue that have come up with the roll out of 3D. First is the availability and interoperability of 3D projection sites. There are at least 5 systems that will project 3D and they are not completely compatible. Christie has produced a very informative overview of the systems available and their requirements (attached). There is some disagreement on whether or not separate versions of 3D titles need to be produced to give the best results on each of the systems. Chief among the differences is the need for ghostbusting—a method of reducing ghost images produced by incomplete blocking of the opposite eye’s view of a frame, i.e., the left eye sees just a hint of the image meant for the right eye. Ghostbusting is generally associated with the systems using polarized glasses. I have heard that there are dozens of different versions of a certain high profile 3D title coming up, trying to perfectly match the 3D version to the screen it is being exhibited on. The problem is that the wrong version is likely to be shown on some screens so the exercise defeats itself. Single inventory is certainly preferable.

Second is the issue of the cost of the glasses. Some systems use reusable glasses which must be washed between each show. Other systems use disposable glasses which have a unit cost that adds up to millions of dollars per title. Distributors have been picking up this cost so far, but the model is changing.

Third is the production of 3D titles themselves. Shooting 3D is very challenging and expensive. Most live action 3D has been converted from 2D digitally (e.g., “G Force”). The cost of converting 2D to 3D is coming down, but it is still a $5-8 million dollar endeavor. Because there is currently no secondary market for 3D, all of the additional production cost must be recouped theatrically. Eventually 3D television will be a reality, but in the mean time, 3D is a difficult business to make money in as a distributor.

3D has added considerable excitement to the theatre going experience and I expect it will only get better. These issues will get resolved, but they are not trivial."

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Interview Notes - VP Production (Warner Brothers)

Piracy is a really big issue, especially in the digital age.A lot harder to police.Pirated movies are the worst nightmare for a studio.

Digital department in studio tweets and has a Facebook account. Need to find new avenues to get information on movies to the public.Tightening up penalties and scaring people are two of the ways to fight piracy.

He’d like to know the best way to combat piracy because he said “I don’t know how they’re doing that, exactly.”

Studios are now looking for wallets or investors because it is much easier to hedged your bets with a partner on bigger movies.

That way, risk is diversified if the movie doesn’t work.If the movie does work, you don’t get as much but if it is a big movie everybody wins.

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Interview Notes - SVP Post Production (Warner Brothers)

Product placement is an afterthought.Studio doesn’t get money for placing products in movies.Product placement is usually an exchange for something.Ex: Budweiser will give products to the studio that they need to fill a bar for the bar scene.Has never thought about finding out how consumers react to product placement.

Increased piracy risk in regards to digital distribution.It is difficult to take a print and pirate it.The move to digital is not happening as quickly as the people who sell the digital equipment say it is.A lot more upgrading of theatres is going to be required before things move to digital, but it will happen eventually.

Piracy tactics are confidential.Once the film is released, there is not much that prevents someone going into a theatre with a camcorder and recording it.All the films are watermarked, both visibly and invisibly so individual theatres can be identified if something ends up on video so the studio can identify what theatre it came from.

Most studios look for some sort of financial partnership.Thr.comProducer’s roundtable about how they used to go to hedge funds to finance films.WB self finances, but they do have partners.WB even co-finances with other studios - Paramount is one.

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Key Findings

In analyzing the data, we found 3 main problem areas that could apply to Market Force.

Is there a need to gauge consumer reaction to product placement?

o 3/3 executives that answered this question all said NO.

o The consensus is that movie makers are very protective of their art, and they will only use product placement that fits naturally into the movie.

How effective is online marketing?

o Out of the 4 executives that spoke about using the internet to advertise, all of them felt disappointed with the success of their online marketing.

o They all emphasized that TV commercials and in-theatre theatrical trailers are greatly preferred to online.

What can the studios do to combat piracy?

o Out of the 3 executives that spoke about piracy, all of them communicated that piracy “kept them up at night.”

o Piracy is a huge problem and the current strategies for combating piracy are not very effective.

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Problem Area Matrix

The following chart is an organized overview of our findings that we will give to Market Force. The “Urgency” column describes the problems’ urgency in the eyes of the studio executive. “Feasibility” is our assessment of how feasible it would be for Market Force to be able to provide a solution to the problem. Finally, “Willingness to Pay” describes our assessment of how willing the studio would be to pay for a service that solves the problem.

Problem Statistics Sector Affected Urgency Feasibility Willingness to Pay

Product placement could be

distracting and obtrusive to the

audience.

3/3 indicated this is not a

problem

Marketing,Finance,

ProductionLow High Low

Online marketing is not as effective as

television or in-theatre trailers

4/4 indicated this is a problem

Marketing,Sales Medium Medium Medium

The increase in piracy causes

decreases in sales across the board

for movie studios.

3/3 all shared the same sense of urgency

SalesIndirectly affects all

sectorsHigh Low High

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Status Report for the period ending October 21, 2009

Work completed since last period: Met with client regarding the project plan and scope. Each team member contributed research on the industry and possible problems

for the Go-To-Market Plan. Talked to Hitachi Mentor regarding how to cater our Go-To-Market Plan towards

the client.o Discussed how we should approach talking to the studios.

Completed final draft of the Go-To-Market Plan. Developed discussion guide for talking to the studios.

o Emailed copy of the discussion guide to client.

Planned but not accomplished: Meeting with client regarding the next step in the project.

o Plan was set for Monday or Wednesday this week but must be rescheduled due to time constraints from the client.

Convey competency to client about the industry and our plan of attack. Develop an incentive for the executives to talk to us.

Issues requiring assistance: Developing a set time to talk to our client on a regular basis. Gaining client confidence. Building team morale. The team is behind on deliverables, specifically the discussion guide. At this point

in time the team should be contacting the studios. Our client wants to approve our approach before we go forward, but it has been difficult for our client to find the time to go over our discussion guide and strategy.

Aligning expectations with both the client and professor.

Work to be completed during the next period: Arrange a meeting to get the discussion guide approved in order to obtain

contact information from the client for the studios. Update discussion guide to reflect comments from the client and mentor. Work with mentor before calling the studios to practice role-playing.

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Status Report for the period ending October 28, 2009

Work completed since last period: Arranged a time for a conference call with our client. Updated discussion guide to reflect comments from our mentor. Worked with mentor to practice phone calls.

Planned but not accomplished: Have conference call with the client to go over discussion guide. Still need contact info from client.

Issues requiring assistance: More practice talking to studio executives. Finding our own contact info online from sources such as www.IMDbPro.com. The team is behind on making calls to studio executives to set up interviews. Building team morale.

Work to be completed during the next period: Have a conference call with client to finalize our discussion guide and get

approval to start making calls. Start calling studio executives from contact info the client gives us. Call any contacts we find doing our own research.

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Status Report for the period ending November 4, 2009

Work completed since last period: Had a conference call with client to finalize our discussion guide and got

approval to start making calls. Morale of team increased because of approval from client. Began compiling list of studio executives, their positions, and the main phone

numbers to the studios (direct phone numbers unavailable).

Planned but not accomplished: Need to start calling studio executives from contacts we found. Still need contact info from client.

Issues requiring assistance: More practice talking to studio executives. Finding contact information online from sources other than IMDbPro. The team is still behind on making calls to studio executives and setting up

interviews with them.

Work to be completed during the next period: Call studio executives to get first hand information about the studios. Research more contacts and split up studios among team members.

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Work completed since last period: Interviewed two contacts from Warner Brothers. Both contacts responded to

emails, and set up a time for a phone interview. Made 6 phone calls, but every time we call a direct line the executive’s assistant

answers the phone and will not put us through or arrange a time for a phone interview.

Found new source of contacts.o http://www.hackforums.net/showthread.php?tid=11144

Split studios among Teamo Kyle - Paramount and Overtureo Spencer - Warner Brothers and Disneyo Adam – Universal, Fox (20th Century and Searchlight), Columbiao Keith – MGM and Summit

Planned but not accomplished: Still need contact info from client.

Issues requiring assistance: At this point in time the team needs to make as many calls to studios as possible.

Work to be completed during the next period: Call more studio executives to get first hand information about the studios

o We have emailed around 100 executives. Find more email addresses of studios executives. Start building PowerPoint for presentation. Discuss the presentation with our mentor.

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Work completed since last period: Put together first draft of PowerPoint presentation.

o Brainstormed different ways of creating tension (from 7 Slide Solution). Conference call with Mike Lampe about creating tension in presentation. Emailed all remaining studio executives for whom we could guess email

addresses. Morale of team increased because of approval from client.

Planned but not accomplished: Still need contact info from client.

Issues requiring assistance: More practice talking to studio executives. The team is still behind on making calls to studio executives and setting up

interviews with them.

Work to be completed during the next period: Call studio executives to get first hand information about the studios. Awaiting replies and have some interviews scheduled for over Thanksgiving

break. Analyze data from emails and interviews. Start putting problem areas matrix together.

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Status Report for the period ending December 2, 2009

Work completed since last period: Started compiling data for final deliverable

o Organized meeting minutes. o Formatted change management.o Everyone contributed their lessons learned.

Had two interviews over break (20th Century Fox and Universal). Keith met with CU alumni from MGM in LA

Planned but not accomplished: Start building Matrix We are no longer expecting to get contact info from client. Analyze data from emails and interviews.

Issues requiring assistance: The matrix that Rushton originally wanted seems to require a larger sampling (of

executives) than we have.o We need to figure out how to arrange our data into a useful matrix.

Work to be completed during the next period: Finalizing PowerPoint and presentation. Finalize matrix.

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10/07/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Review Mike Lampe’s preliminary suggestions for the Go-To-Market plan2. Adjust Go-To-Market plan based upon Jim’s suggestions3. Set up a time to conference with Mike Lampe

Notes

Mike’s comment:Tasks or activities are listed as objectives instead of the

issues at hand and the approaches to solutions.

Objectives that were used were designated at the start of the project by the project outline.

Solution:

The team made minor changes to the objectives but collectively feel that a radical change may confuse the client. The objectives were written as a collective effort between the Hitachi mentor and the client before we began the project.

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10/15/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Walk through Go-To-Market plan with Mike2. Discuss “the hook”

a. How to make the studios talk to usb. How we get them to remain on the phone

3. Discuss any necessary changes to help finalize interview and data collection plan

Notes

Mike suggests providing the studios some sort of incentive to provide us any information.

An idea that he has is to offer a final report of all of the information that we collect to send back to the studios. He believes that we will have to make this report anonymous in the sense that it does not tie back to any of the individuals that provided us the information.

Will the studios go for this?Will this be a direct turn down?How confidential will our interviews have to be?

The team plans to discuss this issue with Jim in order to hear a second opinion as to whether or not it is a wise idea.

Mike also believes that playing the student card will go a long way for us. However, the team still has some doubts. We placed ourselves in the roles of busy executives and decided that we would be skeptical about telling someone about problems within our company over the phone, even to a student.

The team will meet again 10/18/09 to finalize the Go-To-Market plan so that it caters to what the client wants to see, given his busy schedule.

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10/18/09

Agenda 7:00 P.M.

1. Finalize the Go-To-Market plan to cater to Rushton2. Prepare the agenda for our conference call with Rushton

- Secure a set conference time

Notes

The team finished editing the Go-To-Market plan to cater to the client. The next step is to consult with the Hitachi mentor regarding any necessary changes followed by the actual conference with the client.

Tentative agenda for phone conference:

Agenda for meeting 1. Team update 2 minutes2. Review Go-To-Market plan 15 minutes

a. Industry overviewb. Industry problemsc. Team data collection strategy

3. Review/discuss discussion guide 15 minutes4. Next step (studio contact info) 5 minutes

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10/21/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Create the first team status report for the period ending October 21, 2009.

Notes

The team utilized the text for the class in order to create the first status report.

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10/22/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Conference with Mike Lampe on suggestions for first deliverable.2. Recreate agenda for conversation with Rushton

- Focus on items Rushton cares abouti. Does he want a summary of our research?ii. What are the key points that we need to make to convey our

competency?

Notes

Mike’s comments

1. “On the agenda, do you have a clear objective in your mind about what you want from this discussion? You may not get a lot of time from the client so make sure you make the most of this meeting. The team should bullet point out the key outcomes from this meeting and make sure you achieve them before the meeting ends.”

Team response: Changed the agenda so that more focus was placed upon running through the discussion guide as opposed to explaining the research and background knowledge that the team has acquired.

2. “On the discussion guide, your questions tend to ask the obvious, things you already know. ‘Such as, has the economy impacted your business?’ The answer is ‘yes.’ I’d move past the obvious and ask them what part of their business has been most impacted by the economy. Some questions are phrased as Yes/No questions, I’d stay away from those.”

Team response: Rephrased questions so that a simple yes or no answer is not as easily possible. The team plans to explain to Mike that the purpose of the seemingly simple questions are to initiate a discussion where the interviewee tells as much about the topic as possible.

3. “Also, similar to the agenda. Make sure the information you really need is going to come out in the survey. The last thing you can afford is to have someone complete the survey and then find out you didn’t get the information you needed.”

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10/22/09 continuedTeam response: The team will have to prepare for each interview, noting the position of each executive and the particular questions that are applicable to their role within the company. This way, we can gather the necessary information during the conference and avoid a worthless interview.

4. “On the GTM plan, it is improving. The objectives still sound like activities. You start each bullet with an action word. I’d set an objective for what you want to achieve with this project. Define what a bulls-eye is for the project and then as the project progresses you can measure how close you are to the bulls-eye.”

Team response: The team feels that they are familiar enough with the objectives to continue moving forward with the project.

5. “Milestones are good, dates and assignments look good. I would add in specific activities related to each milestone. What specifically needs to be done to achieve the milestone? This is where you can make more specific assignments to the team members and it should increase productivity. Having everyone on the team assigned to a milestone will help drive individual accountability.”

Team response: The team has had success in the past with completing each milestone as a team, and we want to all be involved in each milestone. We will focus on delegating more tasks to individual members though, instead of always having multiple people working on the same task.

Tentative conference

In order to display competence of the project and industry to the client, the team plans to readily prepare for the upcoming phone call. We plan to stick to the agenda as closely as possible, as straying from this in the past has lead to unsuccessful encounters.

In addition, we plan to give a brief overview of our industry knowledge, but the team feels that running through the discussion guide will show the client the amount of background research done based upon the quality of our questions.

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11/02/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Review Go-To-Market plan- How to describe at a “high level”

2. How to get studios to talk to us- Student card?

3. Review discussion guide- Choose top questions

Notes

Rushton read the go-to-market plan- He wants to talk about how we are getting the info

Says we are singularly focused (i.e. just plan on dialing #s) What if we can’t get in via phone? How many people do we plan to talk to? How does the timeline look today?

Contact Information- Rushton said “Tell me what you need, I’ll pull some names and

numbers” regarding providing the team with contacts. He said he will only give us a few names (5 or 6) with which we need to create a network and find our own contacts.

Use Jigsaw/LinkedIn/Corporate websites to find new contacts

Call early in the morning They are 1 hour behind us Secretaries may not be in yet

Rushton comments on the discussion guide

Finance: Economic climate has obviously hurt the studios - Too obvious of a question.

Likes the product placement questionsMarket Force would be interested in audience reactions

Distribution: Digital distribution is an interesting subject to talk about

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11/02/09 continuedWhat changes in your world relative to today with digital

distribution?

International path an interesting subject as well

How do you look at alternative distribution channels?

How do you insure quality of distribution channels?

RedBox is a good subject to approach.

Piracy is a “BIG DEAL”Is there more to be done at the theater level?

Twist it to cater to Market Force

In theater experienceAre moviegoers concerned with what is beyond the

screen (i.e. the physical environment of the theater)?

Look at the key players we mentioned in the go-to-market plan“How does the director feel about…?”

3D movies are getting bigWhat problems or challenges are presented?

Pricing3D glasses (theaters do not always charge, even

though they are supposed to)Combo meals at theaters

Does offering this meal cause any problems between the theaters and

studios?

Marketing: Explore how the studios market

Focusing in on social media is a good idea because it is a new idea.

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Market Force already has a product that monitors whether or not a trailer is shown when it is

supposed to be.11/02/09 continued 2

Next Step

Compile a list of 50 people to contact.Rushton is going to get us a list of a few names and numbers.Reorganize timeline for project and send to Rushton.

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11/04/09

Agenda 6:00 P.M.

1. Conduct phone conference with Matt Connera. Mr. Conner worked in the industry in the past and is willing to lend us

advice on the project.

Notes

Matt specialized in accounting during his time in the industryCreated a custom accounting system at Paramount Pictures

Suggests Daily Variety as a source for industry informationConsidered the Wall Street Journal of the entertainment industryMay be able to reach out to Daily VarietySuggests sending some emails and telling them what we are doing

Issues with the industry according to Matt:1. Release timeline

Theatrical window (6-10 weeks in the U.S.)UK a month behind

Once the window closes, there is the airline window (4-12 weeks)

PPV, DVDPay window (HBO, Showtime)Cable (if the movie has not made a profit by here, this is

where it is made)Domestic/TVPay window

The windows are getting smaller

2. DVD sales are downStudios aren’t making as much cash after theatricalTheatre sales need to become better

3. Movies are being marketed more inexpensively25-40% marketing is viral marketingBest advertisement is still during Thursday primetime TV.

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11/04/09 continued

Utilize campus resources such as Lexisnexis searches, trends, and analyst reports

"I don’t think you’re going to have a lot of luck cold calling a studio to get them to do an interview with you guys"

Matt says that Market Force could be monitoring things like twitter to get customer reactions

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11/11/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Assign each group member particular studio(s) to contacta. What is the best way to contact the executives?

- IMDbPro- Jigsaw

b. How many people should each person contact?2. Review Rushton’s comments on the discussion guide and prepare a template

email to send the executives.

Notes

Assigned studios for team members to contact

o Kyle - Paramount and Overtureo Spencer - Warner Brothers and Disneyo Adam – Universal, Fox (20th Century and Searchlight), Columbiao Keith – MGM and Summit

The team has decided to email the studios first, asking permission to interview the selected individuals should they choose to participate. This decision was made due to Spencer’s success in conducting the first interview through this process.

The team feels this is an appropriate way to establish ourselves as students so that we are not cold calling during the day when the

executives are busy and can easily pass us off.

Email addresses will be found using IMDbPro, as this resource provides the names of numerous staff members at all of the major studios. Once the team establishes the protocol for the email

addresses at the studios (i.e. [email protected] or [email protected]), the names provided

by IMDbPro can be inserted so that the correct individual is contacted.

Rushton’s suggestion to use Jigsaw will not be utilized as the team members are unfamiliar with the site and view IMDbPro as the

most valuable resource.

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11/11/09 continued

The team reviewed Rushton’s comments from the conference and updated the discussion guide in order to cater to the issues that Rushton thought were most important.

Template

The team has created an email template for use when contacting the studios. Although not necessarily the exact wording each member will

use, the template provides a frame of reference for creating a short but informative email requesting a time to discuss several industry issues.

Mr. XXXXX,

I am a senior in the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, and I am doing a project on movie studios and the industry. If I could have a few minutes of your time to ask you some questions it would be much appreciated.

Respectfully,

NAMEPHONE #EMAIL ADDRESS

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11/13/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Begin working on slideshow for draft presentation2. Review 7 Slide Solution for help with presentation format

Notes

The team utilized the story that was developed for the first deliverable that incorporates the sections discussed in the 7 Slide Solution.

Changes were made to reflect updates to the project based upon the group’s understanding of the objectives.

The team began work on the slideshow for use during the presentation. For this meeting, focus was placed upon formatting. The team started working on

content for the first few slides as well.

The team has decided to continue working on the presentation on November 15th.

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11/15/09

Agenda 2:00 P.M.

1. Continue work on draft presentation slideshowa. Discuss how to incorporate 7 Slide Solution into our presentation

- What is the tension within our project?b. Are we presenting the presentation to the client or the class?

- In other words, who is the audience and how much background information do we give?

Notes

The team directed attention toward the content of the slides. Ideas were thrown out regarding the remaining pillars of the 7 Slide Solution.

There was much debate regarding the tension of our story. We were unclear as to whether the tension lies within our conflict with the client, the issues we faced with contacting the studios, or the problems that the studios are having.

The team discussed the content of the presentation in terms of background information on the project. Due to the short time frame of the presentation, we felt that providing too much background information would be unnecessary as the main purpose of the presentation is for the client to understand the findings.

Under the assumption that the presentation must follow the 7 Slide Solution, the team came to a stopping point due to confusion. A phone conference with the Hitachi mentor will help clear some of this confusion for further advancement on the presentation.

40


11/16/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Conduct phone conference with Mike Lampe about conflicts the team is facing with the presentation.

a. The team is stuck on the format of the 7 Slide Solution with regards to the tension slide

- As we are conducting a research project, does the tension lie within the troubles we have contacting the executives or the relationship with our client?

2. Complete draft presentation slideshowa. Formattingb. How to handle the slides that will incorporate our data after we complete

analysis

Notes

The team presented the issue with the presentation to Mike. We explained to him that we are under the impression that we need to follow the format of the 7 Slide Solution and that we are unsure how to present any tension within our presentation.

Comments from Mike

Remember the importance of catering the presentation to the audience

If the team cannot decide on one particular example of tension, try to present the story of the team and the issues faced with the project

It is not necessary to tell the story of the troubles experienced with the client during the presentation, as the focus should be on other issues that were associated directly with the project

The best way to convey a form of tension is to provide the relevant example and make sure to back it up with evidence

How did the tension affect the team?Why did the issue come about?Did the tension or issue change the direction of the project?What were the possible solutions to the issue?What path did the team take?

41


11/16/09 continued

Presentation

The team has decided to create the template for the final slides and explain to the audience our intentions regarding the analysis of data for the final presentation.

42


11/18/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Practice presentation speaking roles2. Discuss the team’s progress on the research aspect

a. How many people has each member contacted?b. Response rates?c. How many actual interviews have been conducted?

Notes

Team members practiced speaking roles.

The team decided to have Keith present the background information during the presentation, as he is the most familiar with the industry. Also, the team chose Adam to discuss the purpose of our final slides that are lacking information due to the time frame of the draft presentation.

Number of people contacted thus far:

Spencer: 20Keith: 14Kyle: 32Adam: 31

Results of interviews conducted thus far:

Spencer: 2 interviews conductedKeith: 1 interview conductedKyle: 3 interviews conducted

3 remaining interviews scheduledAdam: 2 interviews conducted

2 remaining interviews scheduled

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12/02/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Begin compiling data obtained from interviews

Notes

The team met up to begin compiling all of the data obtained from the interviews.

In compiling the matrix, the team focused solely on the facts obtained from the interviews. Our client has made it clear to us that the analysis of data should include only the topics that were discussed the most by the interviewees and not based on the interpretation of the team members.

The team plans to conduct analysis of the data on each member’s own time in order to cross reference the results.

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12/07/09

Agenda 12:00 P.M.

1. Attend meeting with Rushtona. Discuss key findingsb. Answer any questions the client may have

Notes

As the client has informed us that he can no longer attend the final presentation on 12/09/09, we have agreed to meet him for lunch in order to discuss our results.

The team presented the interview notes to the client and discussed the key findings and trends of these notes. In addition, the team described to the client the methodology for obtaining the interviews.

At the end of the meeting, the client informed the team that he may possibly be able to attend the final presentation should the weather in Chicago be too bad for Market Force to make the trip.

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Updated Risk Management PlanRisk/Cause Likelihood Impact How to

Minimize Cause

Current Status Action Items

ScopeRushton decides that we would be better utilized if we change our approach.

L H Don’t give Rushton a reason to believe that our approach is not working.

We have proposed other approaches to collecting this type of data and Rushton has told us that cold calling is the approach he wants us to take. A change in approach this late into the project is not feasible.

Stay the course with cold calling and emailing. Do not accept a scope change this late in the project.

Rushton decides that there is something additional that he would like us to ask about.

M M Keep Rushton informed on our progress so that he knows that his window of adding talking points is closing.

We have completed the majority of all the interviews that we believe we will be able to get. Rushton has not requested any changes to our discussion guide.

Continue to inform Rushton of our progress.

ResourceExecutive Assistants will not let us trough to the executive we need to interview

H H Email executive to by-pass assistant

So far, email has about a 10% response rate

We need to do everything we can to find more email addresses for executives

Our emails are flagged as spam by the studio’s email server

M H Tailor each email to the person we are sending it to (i.e. put their name in the email) - no mass emails.

No emails have been rejected as spam that we are aware of.

Continue to address each email individually.

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Updated Risk Management Plan (continued)Risk/Cause Likelihood Impact How to

Minimize Cause


Resource (continued)

We receive a phone call from an executive when we are not prepared to talk to them.

M M Keep discussion guide with us at all times. Also, set up meeting times with executives.

No executive has called us unexpectedly. All interviews have been scheduled for a specific time of window of time.

Avoid leaving open ended call times. Keep discussion guide at hand at all times during the west coast work day. If not prepared, try to reschedule interview.

Executives do not want their names associated with the interview.

H M Do not mention that the data will be given to a company unless asked directly.

Two executives have demanded that they not be quoted to anyone outside of the scope of the class.

Resource still utilized, but we will not associate their name with the findings.

Executives do not want to follow our discussion guide.

M H We need to actively steer the discussion towards our talking point, especially when they go off on tangents not related to anything Market Force could potentially help with.

It is hard to keep some of these executives on topic because they tend to only want to talk about the things they are most involved in. About 50% of our data is irrelevant to the discussion guide.

Analyze our feedback to identify talking points that lead to tangents and save those for last, after we have gotten most of our relevant data.

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Updated Risk Management Plan (continued)Risk/Cause Likelihood Impact How to

Minimize Cause


ScheduleExecutives want to talk to us at a time that we are unavailable.

Executives want to talk to us at a time that we are unavailable.





Executive wants to schedule an interview after the project completion date.

L M Inform executive that we need to conduct the interview by December 8th at the very latest.

No one has wanted to schedule an interview after the December 8th

Continue to inform any executive that wants to talk after December 8th of our time constraint.

Rushton does not have time to give us the guidance we need to go forward

M M Try to frame questions so that they can be easily answered in an email.

We should not need any additional input from Rushton to be able to complete this project.

Let Rushton know of any problems that require his assistance immediately so that he has the maximum amount of time available to respond.

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Quality AssuranceQuality Assurance Checklist for period ending October 21, 2009

Objective/DeliverableVerification

MethodDefects/

DiscrepanciesMethods for Addressing

DefectsStatus/Due

Date

Provide secondary research on movie studio industry

Client Feedback

Did not prove to the client we knew enough about the industry

Created agenda for next scheduled meeting to clarify for our team and our client what we would be talking about because our team was unprepared on how to convey our understanding during prior meetings

Closed / 10/21/2009

Deliver detailed Go-To-Market Plan

Hitachi/Client Feedback

Client did not have time to read

Schedule meeting in the near future to go through it with him

Closed / 10/21/2009

Receive feedback on Discussion Guide

Hitachi/Client Feedback

Meeting scheduled with client cancelled due to time constraints with client

Reschedule meeting Halted

Quality Assurance Checklist for period ending October 28, 2009


MethodDefects/

DiscrepanciesMethods for Addressing

DefectsStatus/Due

Date


Client Feedback

Client has not attempted to reschedule meeting

Find the most immediate time that is convenient for both the team and the client

Halted

Practice phone calls with Hitachi mentor

Mentor Feedback

Team wanted more detail from mentor and client on exactly how to approach studio executives

By having more practice talking to studio executives we figured out the most effective way to converse with the executives

Closed / 10/28/2009

Gather Client's Contact Info.

Information received from client

Client has yet to provide us with his contacts

Remind client that the team needs these contacts to continue on to the next step

Halted

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Quality Assurance Checklist for period ending November 4, 2009


MethodDefects/

DiscrepanciesMethods for

Addressing DefectsStatus/Due

Date


Conference call with client

Client did not believe some of the questions would gather useful information

Get rid of the useless questions, and rephrase poorly worded questions

Closed / 11/4/2009



MethodDefects/



Date

Gather Information from Studio Executives

Interview Studio Executives (primary sources)

Due to busy schedules, some executives were unwilling to talk or had to cancel previously scheduled interviews

Interview other executives that are available and willing to talk

Closed / 11/25/2009



MethodDefects/



Date

Gather Information from Studio Executives

Interview Studio Executives (primary sources)

Executives are taking longer to respond to our emails than we expected.

Continued to schedule interviews with studio executives in order to finish our interviews as soon as possible

Closed / 11/25/2009

Develop PresentationHitachi Mentor Feedback

Had difficulty developing a hook and creating tension in the presentation

Gather advice from mentor on how to best grasp the attention of the audience

Closed / 11/18/2009

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Quality Assurance Checklist for period ending December 2, 2009


MethodDefects/



Date

Interview Analysis and Results

Group and Client Feedback

Much of the information received from studio executives does not directly relate to Market Force

Include all information that could be relevant to Market Force, and think creatively for new connections

Open / 12/5/09

Develop Matrix

Similarity to example matrix that was given to us at the beginning of the project.

Problems in the movie studio industry are not blatantly obvious

Collaboration between team members and their respective interview notes to discover strongest correlation between Market Force and the movie studio industry

Open / 12/9/09

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Change Management

There were no changes throughout the project to scope, costs, or expected quality. However, there was a schedule change due to lack of communication and delayed approval from client needed to advance further on the project.

Change Request FormChange Request 11/2/2009Requestor Name Rushton McGarr Change Description New dates of completion

Reason for Change Team is behind on meeting deadlines, and client requested an updated time table.

Stakeholders Impacted Client and TeamImpact on Scope None

Impact on Schedule This requires the team to push back deadlines by one week.

Impact on Resources NoneImpact on Costs None

Impact on Quality

Team now has one less week to accomplish tasks. If studio executives need more time than we can give them, we will not be able to collect data from them. From our experience so far, no one has complained about our time frame.

Project Team Assessment

The best way to address this problem is to push back the final deadline one week. This solution is unrealistic, therefore the team will have to allocate more hours per week to meet our final deadline. We have been meeting at nights, and everyone can stay later than we have been staying during our previous meetings.

Status Closed

Approved Signature/Date

Email: November 2, 2009We sent our updated schedule as expected, and Rushton did not reply, indicating that he had no problems with the updated schedule.

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Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned Category Impact / ResolutionWe received conflicting information from our teacher and our client. Our client led us to believe that he would not be giving us any contact information for anyone in the movie studio industry. Our teacher told us that the client would be sharing this information with us, so we did not look into how we could get into contact with other executives. We later found out that the client would not be sharing the information with us after all. We learned that we should always verify information with both parties when two parties give us conflicting information.

Communication We missed out on a lot of time that we could be searching for and pursuing executives. There is a risk that executives will try to schedule interviews after the project completion date. We will not know the full impact until after the project.

When we first attempted to talk to executives we simply called the studios main number and asked to talk to that person. We would always get an executive assistant who told us that the executive could not talk to us. We then learned that most of their emails could be guessed once we found out one email. All the studios email addresses followed trends like [email protected] etc. We then decided to email the executive so that they we could establish contact before their executive assistant could block us out. This approach also didn’t put them on the spot, so they could answer us at their convenience. We learned that this email first approach worked the best.

Communication If we had tried calling everyone first, all we would have accomplished would have been frustrating a lot of executive assistants and not getting any data. The email first solution left us with a response rate around 10% and some good data. The only problem was that it was not possible to guess the email addresses for some of the studios.

It took us nearly a week of cold calling to come to the conclusion that the email first method worked the best. One person in the group had been using this method of a few days and getting results, but it was not till this person shared his tactics with us did we all start using this method.

Communication If we had been collaborating more regularly, we would have discovered this method earlier and had more time to implement it.

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We learned how to manage time better. The team and client were always very busy, so we needed to use different methods to contact the client and use his time most efficiently.

Communication At the end of the project we were constantly in contact sending emails, calling and texting throughout the day. This way the team was always updated on the latest news and if the client had changed anything.

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agenda for team meeting 10/7/09 - leeds school of...

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