Microsoft Film Industry Data Analysis

Project Overview

This project seeks to provide three data-driven recommendations to Microsoft as it enters the film industry as a new face. Using exploratory data analysis, we have aggregated data from Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, TheMovieDB, and IMDB and calculated financial and popularity metrics. We believe that Microsoft can use this information to make strategic decisions to maximize profitability and R.O.I (return on investment).

Business Problem

Microsoft sees all the big companies creating original video content and they want to get in on the fun. They have decided to create a new movie studio, but they don’t know anything about creating movies. You are charged with exploring what types of films are currently doing the best at the box office. You must then translate those findings into actionable insights that the head of Microsoft's new movie studio can use to help decide what type of films to create.

Data

Data were collected from Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, TheMovieDB, and IMDB. Data included several key metrics including: movie title, genres, domestic and foreign gross revenue, and popularity.

Methods

This project uses exploratory data analysis and the pandas library to determine the highest grossing film genres, map out their median popularity scores and R.O.I. Our approach sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the most profitable genres to produce movies in?
2. How can Microsoft maximize their worldwide revenue based on production budgets for films in the top grossing genres?
3. What is the relationship between the highest grossing film genres and their popularity?

Results

Question #1: What are the most profitable genres to produce movies in? ! Question #2: How can Microsoft maximize their worldwide revenue based on production budgets for films in the top grossing genres? ! Question #3: What is the relationship between the highest grossing film genres and their popularity? !

Recommendations

Our key recommendations are:

1. Microsoft should prioritize making a film in the top four highest grossing genres (i.e., Animation, Musical, Sci-Fi, & Adventure).
2. Microsoft should seek to make an Animation film, one of the most profitable genres, using a production budget from $50 million to $200 million USD so that their R.O.I (Return on Investment) is at least double their investment.
3. In order to earn at least $500 million USD in worldwide profit, Microsoft should manage the popularity of their Animation movies to have at least a score of 20 on The Movie DB.

Next Steps & Future Work

Further analysis could seek to unpack the popularity of animation movies and describe key characteristics