Using a proprietary, project-level dataset on the film industry, I study a cross-section of expected returns on real investments. Expected returns are increasing and concave in the idiosyncratic dollar variance of a film's payoff, unlike in markets where such risk can be diversified. Expected...

The aim of this paper is the definition of a daily index representing the risk-return on investments in the American film industry. The index should be used to predict the riskiness and the expected return of movie projects at the level of the overall industry and then to determine a premium for...