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Does the value of an Oscar nomination or win still help a film enjoy higher box office revenues, an increased market share of theaters, and a larger share of the rental market?

Studies have established the financial benefits associated with a best picture Oscar. But in the last decade, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made two noteworthy changes impacting the race for best picture.

First, in 2001, the best animated feature category was introduced, recognizing up to five animated films in a separate award category. More recently, in 2009, the Academy increased the number of nominees in the best picture category from five to 10 with a goal of increasing recognition for deserving films.

That got economists at Holy Cross thinking: How does the value of an Oscar nomination or win vary over time with the number of award categories and number of nominees per category?

A study conducted by three professors of economics — including two from Holy Cross — investigates how these benefits differ as competition within and across award categories changes. Using a panel of weekly box office data for nominated and non-nominated films from 1999 to 2011, the economists tested for changes in revenues and market share of nominees and winners as the number of nominees and categories increases over time.

The research was conducted by Melissa Boyle ’00, assistant professor of economics at Holy Cross, Victor Matheson, associate professor of economics at Holy Cross, and Lesley Chiou, associate professor of economics at Occidental College. Economics majors Megan Quinn ’13, of North Easton, Mass., and Meredith Stevens ’11, of Duxbury, Mass., provided research assistance as part of last year’s summer research program at Holy Cross.

With Oscar nominations announced on Jan. 24, and the big awards show on Feb. 26, we sat down with Boyle and Matheson for the results of their research. The envelope please …

1. Why did you decide to pursue this research?

Melissa teaches Economics of the Arts, which is an upper-level elective in the major, so this is right up her alley. Furthermore, among her numerous papers in the field of cultural economics is a paper on the impact of a Tony Award nomination on Broadway play and musical ticket sales which was published in the Journal of Cultural Economics. This paper is essentially an extension of that work.

Economists are naturally interested in the way the world works, and anytime something changes in a major way this allows us to examine how people make decisions in the real world. In 2009, the Academy changed its nominating procedure for Best Picture for the first time in over 65 years, providing us with a perfect opportunity to observe what happened.

2. What did your research show?

The Academy Awards serve two economic purposes. First, the show itself is a popular television event that generates significant advertising revenues. In the face of declining viewership, the Academy decided to increase the number of films nominated for best film from five to 10. The thought was that with more nominated films, more fans might have one of their own personal favorites nominated leading them to tune in to see how their movie fared.

Academy Award nominations also serve as a signal of quality (much like a college degree from any highly selective college like Holy Cross), so ticket sales typically increase for films that are nominated for best picture. With the increase in the size of the pool, however, the Academy has watered down that signal. So, is a best picture nomination worth less now than in the past?

In fact, the data show that the answer is “yes.” Following the increase in the number of films nominated, the “nomination boost” from a best picture nod has fallen significantly.

3. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ governors instituted another new procedure last summer that calls for five to 10 best-picture nominees. Do you plan to analyze this year’s box office results following Oscar season? 

More data is always better, and with yet another change in the nomination procedure, we have yet another chance to see what happens.

News Coverage:

• Holy Cross researchers find Oscar value dwindling (Telegram & Gazette, Feb. 24, 2012)

  

Mark Ferraguto ’05, of Hartford, Conn., received the Paul A. Pisk Prize for the best scholarly paper given by a graduate student at the American Musicological Society. Ferraguto, who is working on a Ph.D. in musicology at Cornell University, is the latest in a long line of students to see marked success after having been taught and mentored by Jessica Waldoff, associate professor of music at Holy Cross.

Ferraguto’s paper, titled “Beethoven à la moujik: Russianness and Learned Style in the ‘Rasumovsky’ String Quartets,” continues the work on Beethoven that he began as a Fenwick Scholar, the highest academic honor bestowed on a student at Holy Cross. Students selected as Fenwick Scholars design a program of independent study and research, with the consultation of one or more faculty members, to be conducted during their fourth year at Holy Cross.

Waldoff, who was in attendance at the meeting, served as Ferraguto’s Fenwick advisor.

“I was absolutely thrilled when the Pisk Prize was announced and bursting with pride,” says Waldoff. “The Pisk is a huge honor. Mark was sitting just one seat over from me in the same row so I was one of the first to congratulate him.”

She says Ferraguto’s recognition is well deserved.

“I have been expecting great things of Mark for many years now. He was a standout from his first semester with me, and then he won the Fenwick, and then a Mellon Fellowship. He keeps his head down for a long time and then whatever he comes up with is even better than you expected — something that redefines excellence,” says Waldoff.

Ferraguto describes Waldoff as an “exceptional mentor.”

“When I tell faculty members from other colleges about the music department at Holy Cross, they express disbelief and astonishment that a college of its size has sent so many students on to advanced degree programs in music. This is a wonderful testament to Jessica’s abilities as a teacher and adviser, as well as to the overall caliber of the music department,” he says.

Daniel DiCenso ’98, assistant professor of music, who was also in attendance at the event, says, “Mark joins a veritable ‘who’s who’ among up-and-coming young scholars. Mark’s award was an especially nice Holy Cross moment.”

“No sooner was the award announced than did my cell phone begin buzzing with text messages from fellow Holy Cross alums in the audience excited about the news,” he says.

A number of recent Holy Cross alums, currently faculty or graduate students in musicology, were in attendance at the business meeting, including Fenwick Scholar Catherine Hughes ’07, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Fenwick Scholar Evan MacCarthy ’03, who received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and is now a college fellow in the music department at Harvard; Maria Purciello ’98, who received her Ph.D. from Princeton University and now holds a tenure-track position at the University of Delaware; and Megan Ross ’11, currently on a presidential scholarship at Boston University.

They also share another thing in common: they are all Waldoff’s former students.

“For such a tiny department, Jessica’s students have an exceptionally impressive track record,” says DiCensco. “Though we don’t have any hard statistics, her former students and I believe that there is no other single college or single undergraduate mentor with so many recent graduates in the field. Period.”

Others of Waldoff’s musicology students have gone on to achieve success in music in recent years. For example, Marissa Biaggi ’00, who did her Ph.D. at Princeton University on the prestigious Beinecke Scholarship, is now a creative content editor for the Metropolitan Opera and Mark DeLello ’98 did an M.A. in musicology at Duke University and is now a research and media specialist at the Brandeis University Library.

For his part, DiCenso, who was one of Waldoff’s first music majors, now holds a tenure-track position at Holy Cross. Among other academic pursuits, he studied music at the University of Pennyslvania, and this summer he is expected to graduate from Cambridge University where he was the first Holy Cross student to be a Gates Scholar.

So what is Waldoff’s secret formula for breeding success?

“Colleagues at graduate institutions often compliment me on our students and have asked me what our secret is. I wish I knew,” she says. “We do everything we can to help our students, but they are very special. We take great pleasure in their success.”

In fact, Waldoff says it’s “old-fashioned hard work” that helps students succeed.

“One of the great advantages of teaching at a place like Holy Cross is the opportunity to work individually and in small groups with students who have the talent and desire to succeed,” she says. “For those who want to go on to graduate programs, I tailor assignments and tutorials to provide preparation they need. When there is enough interest among current students, I teach a 400-level seminar titled Musicology, which I developed in the fall of 1997 for interested students.”

Related Information:

• Music

Holy Cross students in a communication, advertising and marketing club recently put the skills they’ve been honing to good use — on themselves.

On a brisk November night, 18 students from TheAgency, a student-run organization for students interested in communication, advertising, and marketing, traveled to New York to meet 18 alumni working in those fields.

Thanks to Anne Fink ’85, senior vice president, PepsiCo Sales and a member of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees, the group landed a space at the sleek headquarters of TBWA, an international advertising agency in midtown Manhattan. The venue featured intriguing architecture and mod colored couches, and the walls were ornamented floor to ceiling with famous ad campaigns for companies such as Gatorade, Pepsi and McDonald’s.

With a one-to-one student-alumni ratio, the event offered a personal and comfortable environment for a networking event. Students had the opportunity to meet with an impressive list of graduates, including Martha Datlen ’09, marketing coordinator at Katz Sports Marketing, Amy Phillips ’95, senior director of communications at ESPN, and Shawn Feddeman ’95, vice president of communications, NBC owned television stations.

Offered by the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies and under the guidance of prebusiness advisor David Chu, TheAgency provides students with experiential learning opportunities in communication, advertising and marketing.

At the event, Chu stressed the importance of the networking reception.

“The network of alumni for students interested in marketing, advertising, communication, media, and public relations is not as structured as the finance career networks that students have access to at Holy Cross,” he said, “so having ways to connect with graduates working professionally in the field becomes critical.”

The club has hosted an array of speakers and career panels. On Oct. 18, Jack G. Hughes ’54, a former ad executive, who in his decades of experience has worked for industry leaders such as Ford and SC Johnson, spoke on campus about innovation in the industry. On Nov. 14, Matt Schnaars ’00, vice president of national accounts for ESPN and Disney, came to Holy Cross to present a workshop titled “Preparing Yourself for a Career in Media.”

McCall McIntyre ‘12, a co-chair of TheAgency, started organizing the event in May of 2011. With the help of Ellen Ryder, director of Public Affairs at Holy Cross, she reached out and discovered a network of helpful alumni.

“We made it a goal for our club this year is to establish a closer relationship between students and alumni in communication, advertising and marketing, with this event being the kick-off,” said McIntyre. “It was great to see first-hand how supportive and enthusiastic alumni were about our efforts.”

This event has the potential to be even bigger and better in years to come and in light of the great turnout, TheAgency co-chairs plan to make this an annual event for group members.

Julie Halpin ’84, CEO of The Geppetto Group, an agency focused on integrated marketing programs and new product ideas for youth, answered questions about her own beginnings in the advertising world. “I was lucky to start out in a big agency that had a structured training program,” said Halpin. “There were people there who knew what they were doing that I could watch.”

Along with many alumni in attendance that evening, Halpin helps Holy Cross students interested in communication, advertising and marketing in another important way. Each year, The Geppetto Group offers one internship position through the college’s Summer Internship Program http://offices.holycross.edu/sip.

In this regard, the event provided some students with the unique advantage of meeting individuals looking for interns through the College’s program.

Aside from career advice, students also received information only a fellow Crusader could give. “Try and get into Business Law with Economics Professor Scott Sandstrom,” said Bryce Nantes ’08, a senior management consultant for KPMG Advisory. “It is one of the classes I am really glad I took.”

Students, clutching multiple business cards, were thrilled as they left. Melissa Kondak ’06, NBC News marketing and production manager, stayed well past the expected end time of 9 p.m. and talked with students all the way down the stairs, out of the building and onto the city sidewalk.

Harry Chiu ’12, another co-chair of TheAgency, was among the last of the students to leave. “It was a fantastic opportunity to meet so many wonderful alums,” said Chiu. “They are so passionate about both their job and seeing their fellow Crusaders pursue successful paths in similar careers.”

Related Information:

• Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies

The latest addition to the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies is the Finance Boot Camp, a four-day immersion in understanding the institutional framework and career specializations in Wall Street.

Here are six things you need to know about the program.

1. Alumni were the impetus behind the new offering. Loyal alumni eager to help Holy Cross students land jobs in the field of high finance believed that students could be better prepared for their Wall Street job search. They suggested the workshop format.

2. The boot camp covered all major areas of finance. Topics included “Entrepreneurial Finance: Venture Capital & Private Equity,” “Introduction & Overview of the Divisions of Wall Street,” “Wealth Management, Alternative Investment & Hedge Funds,” “Sales and Trading & Equities and Bonds,” and “Investment Banking.”

3. The program was entirely taught by alumni. Like all other COES offerings, the boot camp material was taught by alumni working in the finance sector. “We had a mix of alumni from Boston and New York as well as younger and older alumni. Students could get perspectives from people who are starting their careers in finance and those who hold the highest position within an investment bank,” says David Chu, prebusiness advisor and director of COES. Alumni included Tom Flynn ’87, venture partner at SV Life Sciences, David M. Joy ’74, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, Inc., Brendan Johnson ’92, managing director at Morgan Stanley, and Corey Maple ’11, Analyst at Goldman Sachs.

4. Admission was highly competitive. Students interested in taking part in the weeklong program had to apply like they would a job, including submitting a cover letter, resume and recommendations. They were also required to have their application material reviewed by the College’s Career Planning Center. Those who made the cut were interviewed by a COES staff member. Still, that didn’t deter the 78 students from applying. Out of those, only 30 were accepted into the program.

5. It was an honest-to-goodness boot camp. Students were expected to endure long days. One day students worked from 9 to 9, says Chu. “It was intense, as it should be because the students need to get a feel for what it’s like to be working on Wall Street. It’s always changing, you’re always on your toes and you work hard,” he says.

6. The program exceeded students’ high expectations. “It was everything I expected and then some,” says Matt Croglio ’12. “I can’t say enough good things about the alumni who came back. I was very pleasantly surprised to find these very busy alums so invested in our future.” “I gained a broad understanding of how the finance industry operates and all different fields that are open to us,” says Caroline Knuff ’12. Courtney Kokulis ’13 says she is now prepared to answer a number of challenging questions that a prospective employer might pose during a job interview, like “What keeps the chairman of the Federal Reserve up at night?” Xin Yuan ’14 says “getting a job or internship in finance is no longer a mystery.”