Abstract
This article investigates De Vany's (Citation2004) application of the Pareto distribution to the careers of actors and directors by considering a sample of movie producers. The results support the Pareto distribution for describing the ‘number of films produced’ and the ‘sum of box office revenue’ earned by a producer. The results suggest that a producer is more likely to produce another film as the number of films which they have already produced increases. Also, although an early career producer faces more chance of securing a further film by pure luck, an established producer greatly benefits from his/her previous success.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Arthur De Vany for guidance and the research assistance of Haishan Yuan.
Notes
1A full list of the films and producers used in this study is available from the author on request.