How Did Hollywood Do It?

I have written posts about the way the Hollywood studios countered the recessions before (October 24). 


The chart on your left tells the story in more specific terms. It is an interesting story, one that I hope has lessons for others.

In 2009 the sales of DVD’s by the Hollywood studios collapsed. The collapse was dramatic and quite sudden,  dropping by nearly two thirds between 2007 and 2009.

But, amazingly, their total revenues did not collapse. Revenues dropped, but not by nearly the same mount. Why?

Because the studios raised their international sales, from below $7bn to nearly $9bn, which helped to close the gap left by the collapse of the studio’s DVD revenues.

The front runners in this turnaround were Fox and Sony.

Next week the Westminster Media Forum, on Monday 29^th November in London, is holding a workshop event called  The UK creative industries in the international market. Guest Speaker is David Moody from BBC Worldwide’s Director of Strategy.

At that event, I hope to be able to say more about how and why they did this, and how they achieved this turnaround.

I will also be asking what lessons there might be for the UK and other European countries.