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Employee Profile
Terje Gaustad
Assistant Professor - Department of Communication and Culture
Biography
Dr. Terje Gaustad is Assistant Professor at the BI Norwegian Business School and Associate Dean for the school's bachelor program in Creative Industries Management. He holds a PhD in Strategic Management from the BI Norwegian Business School and an M.A. in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California. His professional entertainment industry background includes producer credits for feature films such as the British comedies “Save Angel Hope” (2007) and “Nasty Neighbours” (1999), as well as positions as Chairman and CEO of Vanquish Alliance Entertainment, Entertainment Industry Analyst at Baskerville Communications Corp. and Motion Picture Coordinator for Business and Legal Affairs at Playboy Entertainment Group. He is also associated partner at Menon Economics, and he lives in Switzerland.
Research areas
Terje Gaustad’s main research interests are in 1) institutional and organizational economics applied to the entertainment industries, and 2) structuralist approaches to the art of storytelling and story-making.
Teaching areas
Terje Gaustad has developed BI Norwegian Business School’s executive education in production management, and he also teaches courses in creative industries management, cultural leadership, storytelling, and media economics.
Digitizing local cinema: Lessons on diversity from Norway
Rajala, Anne; Lindblom, Daniel & Stocchetti, Matteo (red.). The Political Economy of Local Cinema: A Critical Introduction
Digitization contains a promise of limitlessness, and the digitization of local cinemas is typically associated with intentions and expectations of greater repertory diversity. Yet, in the case of local cinemas, the promise of limitlessness encounters not only the physical constrains of single or few screens, which is typical of many local cinemas, but also the constraining influences of market forces. In theory, the self-regulated market can both increase and reduce diversity. Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail”-theory predicts that, with digital technology, local cinema film supply and consumption will be spread over a greater number of titles. However, Anita Elberse’s “Blockbuster”-theory predicts the opposite effect, that digitized local cinemas would increasingly focus on few, popular titles to maximize attendance. This chapter studies the repertory effects of digitizing Norwegian local cinemas. Within a period from 2009 to 2012, all local cinemas were equipped with digital projection technology, making Norway the first country in the world to fully digitize its cinemas. Yet, due to a virtual print fee introduced to finance the conversion, parts of the “analogue” business model stayed in force until 2016, when the fee was retracted. By studying local cinema repertory and attendance in 2008, 2013 and 2017 we can thus draw a picture of how digital technology affected local cinema in Norway. As to the effects of globalization and digitalization on cultural homogenization our results are ambivalent: We find elements of long-tail effects in the form of a greater number of culturally diverse titles offered to local patrons, but also blockbuster effects as local supply and demand remains concentrated around popular titles.
Gaustad, Terje (2019)
How streaming services make cinema more important: Lessons from Norway
The technocultural disruption triggered by digitization has radically changed the way in which we consume films outside cinemas and transformed content providers’ business models. In Norway, between 2010 and 2016, DVD/Bluray and subscription-based streaming services switched places as major and minor platforms for home video consumption. Hence, home video consumption has migrated from a high-yielding platform at the head of the home video release cycle to a low-yielding platform at the tail end, where films also face tougher competition from drama series and international content tends to surpass local content. A case study of the earnings generated by local films released by a major distributor in this period suggests that home video revenues have diminished, making local films much more dependent on theatrical revenues and vulnerable to changes in cinema-going behavior.
Gaustad, Terje (2018)
How Financing Shapes a Film Project: Applying Organizational Economics to a Case Study in Norway
Murschetz, Paul Clemens; Teichmann, Roland & Karmasin, Matthias (red.). Handbook of State Aid for Film: Finance, Industries and Regulation
This chapter explores key issues in film financing from the perspective of organizational economics. It examines the contractual relationships between investors and producers and analyzes how these relationships affect the formation and implementation of a single film project strategy. I argue that contracting problems can arise as a “natural” part of the financing process and can harm the project strategy in two important ways: (1) Through an incomplete alignment of objectives, which may lead to the formation of ambiguous strategies and (2) through a weak governance structure with insufficient contractual safeguards for the strategy implementation, which may result in deviations from the agreed strategy. Based on an examination of these two problem areas, I suggest a contracting-dependent model that leads to four generic film project strategies and further discuss the performance implications for each of these. Finally, to demonstrate the likely effects in a Scandinavian context, I apply the model to a case study of the current Norwegian film support system.
Gaustad, Terje & Gran, Anne-Britt (2021)
Den digitale filmformidlingens mangfold
Gran, Anne-Britt & Røssaak, Eivind (red.). Mangfold i spill: Digitalisering av kultur og medier i Norge
Kapittelet analyserer mangfoldet i den digitaliserte film- og kinobransjen. Analyser av data fra Film & Kinos databaser og befolkningsundersøkelser identifiserer en rekke mangfoldsgevinster: Digitaliseringens infrastruktur har skapt et større tilbud og økt konkurranse i distribusjonsleddet, og demografisk har vi positive mangfoldseffekter med spesifikt tilpassede tilbud for flere grupper. Samtidig bringer digitaliseringen en rekke utfordringer, med en slags digital ambivalens som resultat.
Gaustad, Terje & Eidsvold-Tøien, Irina (2021)
Opphavsrett, håndheving og mangfold
Gran, Anne-Britt & Røssaak, Eivind (red.). Mangfold i spill: Digitalisering av kultur og medier i Norge
Kapittelet analyser opphavsrettens betydning for mangfold i distribusjon og innhold. I en komparativ rettsøkonomisk analyse sammenlignes gjennomføringen av EUs Infosoc-direktiv i norsk, svensk og dansk rett. Funnene viser at variasjoner i gjennomføringen av direktivet har medført forskjeller i opphavsrettens effektivitet, og at norsk rett er den minst effektive. Effektivitetstap medfører reduserte inntekter for opphavere og utøvere, som igjen medfører et redusert mangfold i utbudet.
Gaustad, Terje & Booth, Peter (2021)
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Cultural Industries in the Nordic Region: Emerging strategies in film and drama productions
Salvador, Elisa (red.). Cultural Industries and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Grenseløs norsk film – mellom Hollywood og lokal patriotisme
Dagsavisen - Nye Meninger [Kronikk]
De Paoli, Donatella & Gaustad, Terje (1)
Film som kultur og næring - en utredning til besvær
Dagens næringsliv [Kronikk]
Gaustad, Terje & Svensson, Linnea E. (2021)
Prosjektstyringsverktøy for bærekraftig audiovisuell produksjon
[Academic lecture]. BAM! 2021.
Film- og TV-produksjoner må bli grønnere. Men hvor effektive er egentlig verktøyene produsentene har til rådighet for å styre prosjektene i grønn retning? I dette paperet argumenterer vi for at de må integreres bedre med andre prosjektstyringsverktøy for å få ønsket effekt.
Nordic Mission Possible: An Assessment of Covid-19’s Impact on the Nordic Audiovisual Industry and the Effectiveness of Government and Industry Measures
[Report]. Handelshøyskolen BI.
We have studied the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the restrictive and mitigating government and industry measures it has triggered for the audiovisual industry in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. This report considers impact directly on each feature film, documentary, and drama series project. By collecting data on projects, which are the fundamental organizing units for audiovisual production, results embody impact not only on production companies, but on all participants involved in a production (cast, crew, suppliers, financiers, etc.). Hence, this approach provides a fuller picture of the whole production sector.