Greenlight

Theatrical Business Development works in conjunction with

USHE Finance, Strategic Planning, Brand Marketing and
Media to determine the financial profitability of a film based on
the script or pitch, genre, attached talent, etc. At this point,
a box-office forecast is determined as well as USHE's
financial commitment for the eventual home entertainment release. If the analysis is favorable, the movie is
"greenlit"- approved to go into production. Similar
analyses are performed for Universal Studios Home
Entertainment Productions releases.

Production
Movie is filmed.
captures footage for bonus features based
on initial concepts and begins any necessary clearances with

DVD Production

Business & Legal Affairs.

Pre-release Planning
Based on available pre-release information (Gross Box
Office (GBO) forecast, synopsis/script, talent, theatrical
release date, etc.), Brand Marketing determines street
date and begins to identify marketing opportunities.
Finance, using Strategic

Planning comp analysis

and unit estimates, provides a range of unit and
P&L (profit and loss statement) estimates.

Theatrical Release
Film is released in theaters.

delivers
bonus-feature elements.

DVD Production
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APPROVAL

Pitch Title to Accounts

Sales pitches title to sell-through and

rental accounts utilizing insights,

analysis and initial volume forecasts
from Category Management and
works with Customer Marketing to
identify promotions for retailers. Sales
programs, Customer Marketing and
consumer promotions are reviewed with

Technical Operations

receives feature film

masters from the studio
and begins compression
and authoring for Blu-rayt",
DVD, EST (Electronic Sell
Through) and VOD (Video
on Demand).

Business & Legal Affairs.

Slide 1

Approve Business Plan and P&L

To determine optimal street date, Brand Marketing
uses analysis from Strategic Planning and works
closely with Sales to monitor competitive dates
and gather account feedback.

Brand Marketing works with Strategic Planning,

Sales and Finance to develop the title business
plan, which includes unit goal, price, product
and consumer promotions.

mix

Business Communications begins internal and

trade announce

and solicitation

process.

Master Data takes approved program information

and updates existing pre-planning data that feeds
all downstream systems across the company.

Fulfillment sends out serialized, watermarked

screeners to customers

Design Creative Elements

Based on direction from the CTCS
and CWO, Creative Services designs
required consumer and trade elements
(packaging, point-of-purchase
materials,
TV spots, trade ads, digital assets for
ESTIVOD, etc.).
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Define Brand Strategy

With the addition of the actual box-office
performance as well as any Theatrical
Marketing
Marketing

learnings (exit polls, Theatrical

Research, etc.) Brand Marketing

develops and communicates

overall Brand strategy.

positioning

and

Brand Marketing issues the Consumer

and Trade Communication
Strategy (CTCS)
and Creative Work Order (CWO) in the
Marketing Communication
System (MCS).
Title budget is developed

with Finance.

Research conducts

purchase intent research

where consumers' enthusiasm for a title, their
reasons for interest and their reactions to
creative executions-is measured.

Publicity, Digital Marketing and Media

identify opportunities
and begin executing
key campaign strategies.

Slide 2

at trade announce.

DVD

orldwide Mastering and

Check Disk Approval
Technical Operations assembles
all disc elements (trailer pod, menus,
feature, bonus features, audio tracks,
subtitles, etc.) to create the Cutting
Master Format (CMF)-the master from
which all discs will be manufactured.
Check discs of these grand masters are
created, reviewed (for functionality, player
compatibility) and approved.
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APPROVAL.

Pre-order Close
Deadline for accounts to submit orders to
ensure that product will arrive by street date.
Customer Service manages sales order
processing and data management for traditional
and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) customers.
Sales confirms account promotions, circular ads
and in-store placement.
Retail Operations determines store-level
allocation for VMI accounts based on
Category Management's comp title analysis.
Inventory Planning determines build quantities
based on customer orders, replenishment
capacity and comp titles.

Marketing Campaign
Digital Marketing campaign launches approximately two months before
street date with the updated theatrical website and social networking
campaign. Then, closer to street date, additional elements like search
and the e-mail blast are launched.
Consumers begin to see the Publicity team's press coverage
(broadcast, online, print), talent interviews, promotions, events
and grassroots efforts approximately four weeks before street date.
Media launches its campaign (TV,radio, online, Hispanic, print, out-ofhome, etc.) approximately one week before street date.

Manufacturing
COMPONENT SOURCING: Materials Management
works closely with Creative Services from the early
design phase to purchase and manage the inventory
of all required consumer packaging (litho, insert, sticker,
premium item, etc.) and corrugate components used
in the assembly of product.
REPLICATION: Discs are replicated from the approved
CMFs. Most DVDs are manufactured at a facility in
Guadalajara, Mexico, and are then shipped to one of
three assembly and distribution facilities: one in Memphis,
Tennessee, and two near Detroit, Michigan.

Distribution
Order Management
ensures product is
shipped and delivered
on time at the lowest
possible cost.

ASSEMBLY: Manufacturing and Logistics ensures that

all dry goods are delivered by the in-plant date to the
assembly and distribution facilities where finished goods
are assembled and packed out for shipment.

Slide 3

Street Date
Merchandising executes plans to ensure product
ends up on floor and on shelf with the optimal street
date execution .
Strategic Planning determines 26-week net ship
forecast based on initial performance, which Finance
then uses to forecast profitability of the title.
Credit monitors and verifies that customers
are within their credit line and that billing is
occurring as expected on shipments.

Replenishment
Based on analysis of consumer sales,
Retail Operations determines replenishment
quantities to maintain appropriate inventory at
store level for VMI accounts.

Post Analysis
Strategic Planning and Research
analyze performance data and inputs
from Brand Marketing, Finance,
Customer Marketing and Sales to
identify hits, misses and key learnings
to be applied to future releases.
Slide 4