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Film business school learns economics

The Florida Atlantic think tank cuts back on its social spending, though its director says it never overspent.

BOCA RATON - When the head of Florida Atlantic University's movie business think tank describes its work, he says it's trying to crystallize, even create, "a new, evolving discipline of motion picture industry studies."

The think tank is evolving, too. It may still cut a more glamorous profile than many college research centers, but two years after taking heat for its spending, a leaner Carl DeSantis Business and Economics Center for the Study and Development of the Motion Picture and Entertainment Industry is living down a reputation for being more visible at Cannes than on campus.

Its budget has dropped from an average of $250,000 a year to $211,000, but the partially public-financed think tank has added scholarships and undergraduate study tours. It has planned two new courses to round out a new undergraduate minor or master's concentration in the business of film, said director Bruce Mallen. A new noncredit class also is in the pipeline.

It's developing an archive of movie economics research. It's opening its screening room to local residents for a monthly film series.

Also, it has dropped some travel and parties that critics saw as more social than scholarly.

To university President Frank Brogan, that's as it should be. He pushed the film business center to be more student oriented, and he said he's "reasonably satisfied, at this point, that it's moving in a good direction."

So is Mallen, to a point. He's happy to spotlight new student, community and academic offerings, but he also laments what he sees as unfair pressure to curtail investments in the university's image.

"We're very delighted with where it's been, where it is and where it's going," Mallen said. "(But) I've cut back on things that I don't believe we should have cut back."

The DeSantis Center zooms in on a fairly unexplored academic territory: the economics of moviemaking, from financing to marketing to distribution. Its annual scholars workshop delves into topics such as "movie advertising and the stock market valuation of studios" and "measuring word of mouth's impact on theatrical movie admissions."

It's a niche, but a valuable one, said Jason E. Squire, a former studio executive. Business savvy is increasingly important even on the creative end of moviemaking. "Any school that specializes in the business side of entertainment studies is going to be on the cutting edge of the field," said Squire, who teaches at the University of Southern California and wrote The Movie Business Book.

Mallen, a former movie producer and Hollywood real estate developer, came to Florida Atlantic in 1996 to head its College of Business and launched the DeSantis Center a year later.

Carl DeSantis, the founder of vitaminmaker Rexall Sundown, gave $2-million to endow the think tank and another $1-million to build its stylish headquarters. The state matched the gifts.

Not all the attention has been welcome. The DeSantis Center's travel and social expenses - which at points included hosting parties at the Cannes, Sundance and Toronto film festivals - drew scrutiny from university officials in 2003.

An independent audit concluded the festivities fit under the broad terms of DeSantis' gift. But auditors pointed out expenses such as $10,000 for car services over three years and more than $25,000 on two trips to the Cannes festival, held on the French Riviera. Meanwhile, fundraising board member Herbert Gimelstob suggested the DeSantis Center was spending too much money on social functions, and then-trustee Rabbi Bruce Warshal said it was spending too little on students.

Warshal, no longer a trustee, said he hasn't kept tabs on the think tank. But Gimelstob said he is satisfied the DeSantis Center and everyone else at Florida Atlantic are following stiffer travel expense guidelines and requirements for justifying how donated money is spent.

For his part, Mallen still bristles at the criticism. The think tank's forays built the university's reputation, he said, and the spending was measured, considering its red carpet context.

"We never overspent, in my opinion. ... Words like "Cannes' and "limos' conjure up images (of extravagance), but we're in the movie business, and it's a natural thing to do," he said.

In part, the DeSantis Center made changes because it had to. It runs on investment income from its $4.3-million endowment, and a turbulent financial environment has prompted investment managers to tighten the think tank's belt in recent years, said Mallen and university fundraising officials.

The DeSantis Center has skipped far-flung film festivals in recent years, Mallen said. It also has stopped attending the American Film Market trade conference in Los Angeles because it's now held at the same time as the DeSantis Center's scholars workshop. Travel wasn't the only thing to go: The DeSantis Center hasn't given research grants in a couple of years, the director said. It still gives academic prizes that carry cash awards, however.

While some activities were cut, others have been spliced in, to the benefit of students such as Jaime George and Juan Sebastian Agudelo.

The DeSantis Center introduced Agudelo, a junior would-be filmmaker from Coral Springs, to industry insiders on a study tour to Los Angeles. The think tank gave George, a public television producer pursuing a business master's, $2,000 toward tuition and books.

"I think (the DeSantis Center's specialty) is an interesting angle to pursue ... because it's so hard to get into the creative side of the film industry, but there are many opportunities for people to get into the business side of it," George said. "There should be a place where you could learn about that."

[Last modified January 1, 2006, 00:28:15]