How to Score in Hollywood: Secrets to Success in the Movie Business

by Kevin Goetz

How to Score in Hollywood reveals the secrets to a movie’s success and profitability. Entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz shares how smart, data-driven decisions—from development to release—help filmmakers minimize risks and maximize returns.

How to Score in Hollywood reveals the secrets to a movie’s success and profitability. Entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz, founder and CEO of Screen Engine, draws on almost four decades of experience to show how strategic decisions—from development to release—help minimize risks and maximize returns. Armed with audience insights and data-driven strategies, Goetz demonstrates how every film should make money when made and marketed for the right price.

Key insights
-Recognizing what constitutes a big idea and developing it thoughtfully to set the foundation for success.
-Identifying the reason why a movie should exist and what it uniquely brings to the marketplace that will inspire interest and excitement to see it.
-Crafting films with a specific audience in mind and aligning production and marketing budgets to fit the size of its potential.
-Understanding how digital entertainment has reshaped audience behavior and perceptions of what makes a movie “theater-worthy.”
-Elevating both the concept and execution to ensure a film stands out in a crowded and competitive marketplace.
-Understand and embrace the challenges of genre-blending films, or “feathered fish,” with a clear-eyed approach, tackling complexities head-on instead of avoiding them.
-Using test audience feedback to guide the film’s development all the way through postproduction, identifying danger signs along the way, and increasing the chances of success.
-And much more!

For industry executives, filmmakers, film students, and film enthusiasts, How to Score in Hollywood offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the important processes that shape what consumers are offered to watch. From the initial greenlight to the final cut, Goetz explores the critical balance between creativity and commerce in filmmaking, highlighting the vital role of research at every stage to create films that resonate with audiences while also turning a profit.

Filled with entertaining personal experiences, industry stories, and actionable advice, Goetz illustrates how research, budget, and marketability influence a film’s financial outcome. Whether discussing low-budget indie hits or big-budget blockbusters, How to Score in Hollywood is an invaluable resource for those seeking to understand the art, science, and business of how movies are made, marketed, and released.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2025

Reviews

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do believe testing a movie is an underrated part of the project, but I also think there’s only so much to learn from this outing. Author Goetz is clearly an ace at what he does but it means he’s also coy about recognizing failures. All his flop stories are undisputed flops. Most of his stories are affirming success stories. And in a few cases, he twists an arm to make a movie sound more successful than it actually is. Thankfully he’s aware that movies are no longer dictated solely by box office and the canary in the coal mine has already arrived for traditional studios. But he also seems to miss a major point which is the vast majority of movies getting served are safe bet franchises, which don’t have the same approach to testing from the outset. I guess if you go into it knowing it’s not a “state of the biz” book but a slice of life and one very well told point of view, it’s probably more enjoyable. I still totally inhaled it because it’s my cup of tea, but it didn’t feel as informative as it could have, which is ironic given the subject. That said: any movie insider will not regret reading it, but it won’t be one of the top shelf picks either.

[Rikhia Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned more about society from this book than any other self-help book

[Anthony Mormile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful kernels of wisdom that get overshadowed by flashy digressions.

[Patrick Tarbox · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down to four, I liked this more than Audience-ology, though there are plenty of similarities and building from it, which is not a bad thing. There is less secretiveness in this, which is nice.