An Ethnographic Study of a Multinational Media and Entertainment Conglomerate… Invited Paper Presented at the 14th Annual Archaeology Channel International Film Festival

1. An Ethnographic Study of a Multinational Media
and Entertainment Conglomerate…
*(and how to approach it to your benefit)
Eric C. Gibson
Archaeological Legacy Institute
University of Oregon
Department of Cinema Studies

2. But First: According to the terms and conditions that I
agreed to upon my retirement from AT&T, I must be
mindful of…
• NDA = Non Disclosure Agreements
• NDA = Non Disparagement Agreements
• TLA =Three Letter Acronyms
• Full Disclosure = I am an AT&T stockholder

3. Be advised: It is always all about the billions: A snapshot of the corporate
battlefield
AT&T market cap = $245.3 Billion Disney market cap = 181.0 Billion
Time Warner market cap = 76.9 Billion Google market cap = 630.2 Billion
Comcast market cap = $185.8 Billion Apple market cap = 768.4 Billion
Netflix market cap = 66.96 Billion
The total value of the shares that are publicly traded…Share price times the number of shares outstanding
(some magical thinking is involved on Wall Street)

4. NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading
media and entertainment companies in the
development, production, and marketing of
entertainment, news, and information to a global
audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a
valuable portfolio of news and entertainment
television networks, a premier motion picture
company, significant television production
operations, a leading television stations group,
world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of
leading Internet-based businesses.

6. Distribution
Network
Content
Creation
Customer
Content
Aggregation
HBO
Disney
Universal
EA
EMI
Etc .
Current* Media Content Distribution Example

7. Distribution
Network
Content
Creation
Customer
Content
Aggregation
HBO
Disney
Universal
EA
EMI
Etc .
“Disruptive” Media Content Distribution Example
This is why the mega deals are happening…

8. So…these are very big, multinational,
entertainment corporations driven to become
ever bigger (it’s what they do…really)
Kind of like a sturgeon… How does a filmmaker
approach this large fish?

9. Inside a media corporation, the seasonal
round…
•Q1 - The yearly revenue objectives and projects are launched &
previous year’s bonuses are paid
•Q2 - Training and hiring as needed
•Q3 – Checks and reviews of targets
•Q4 – Performance reviews and bonuses (“restructuring” often occurs)
Q4 is the most dreadful time to try to accomplish
anything...in the old days (pre 2005) it was said
SBC stands for “Surplused By Christmas”

10. To be successful in pitching a corporate
culture like this you need to accept that:
Corporations move at glacial speed…
(actually, glaciers are probably faster)
•It will take a long time to close a deal. Getting a deal done in a year is
quick
•Many deals take 2 years plus
•A deal will get done quicker if it is projected to generate significant
revenue! Shocking… I know, but nonetheless true
•Your project must make the Q1 road map or it will exist in corporate
purgatory

11. Corporate Daily Subsistence
• Many execs work very long hours, 10 hour days / 55 hour weeks
• Still, they are well-compensated and have low golf handicaps
• They are always accessible via text and email to their teams
• Four or five painful conference calls a day is normal
• They are reluctant to give out contact information to external people
• Key decision makers have many gatekeepers
• All the time they are aware of how they are progressing towards their
revenue targets (the stuff that really matters)

12. Preparation and Timing…
Best time of year to make
initial contact = Feb.
through May
• Teams are set
• Bonuses have been paid
• Vacations have not started
Worst possible time is
Nov. & Dec.
• Have to use vacation time before
EOY
• Pressure to complete objectives
is highest

13. Finding an Advocate…
• If you are fortunate enough to know someone at the Director Level
or above, half your work is done
• If not, you need to do some research…
• Look on the corporate web sites for links to business development
• There will likely be a Vice President listed
• Email or call the VP, and you will get the Admin. Assistant
• Admins are the key gate keepers (be nice to them)
• Tell them briefly what your project is about and ask for contact
information for a Director or Executive Director in the VP reporting chain
Awareness of the chain of command is
vital…do not try to work with more than
one group at a time. It causes internal
confusion

14. There might be something to
This social media stuff…

15. Corporate meeting customs, protocols, etiquette
• Initial contact is usually via email…
• Power point presentations need to be under 20
minutes (need to be a bit polished)
• Initial meetings are usually 30 minutes
• Bring you’re “A” game obviously
• If you are successful there will be many more
meetings with larger numbers of people
• Keep updating your presentation accordingly
• Ideally, you will be invited to the corporate campus
for a face to face meeting
• At lunch make an effort to pick up the tab, the corp.
will likely cover it after you make the attempt
• Dinners are usually covered by the hosting
corporation
• Business casual is usually the dress code
• Friday mornings are ideal times for meetings

16. After making contact ask them if they will be
At certain meetings and festivals…

17. Compelling content is of course content that generates revenue,
audience share, or good brand awareness or all of the above
Scientific reality is fine if it is compelling…
If not, we will lose every time against revenue
It is all all about the story…
It is all about the Revenue…

18. Regarding your advocate at the media corporation:
1.They need to be committed to your project
2.Have to be able to convey your vision
3.Tons of work behind the scenes that you will not be privy to…
• They have to make sure the project has a place in overall strategy
• They will have to re-convince and refresh “corp. stakeholders
on your value proposition”
• Oftentimes groups are restructured and you have to start over
again from square one
4.Persistence and patience pays off just like in archaeology
5.Be certain they are committed for the long haul
6.Beware of committees!

19. So what can be done?
Do you have a good story?
• Who is your audience?
• Other than archaeologists, does anyone else care? (Key question)
• Corporations like big issues
Is it perhaps time that archaeology had a more realistic public face ?

20. Tatiana Proskouriakoff