I was talking to my friend today and he was shocked that I had no problem naming 10 2017 films that grossed 150m domestic in 60 seconds during trivia last night. I told him how I check the box office every day and how it just becomes engrained in my mind. He started quizzing me and I could tell him what things opened to and closed with from all across box office history. He was shocked that I could retain all that and predict stuff. He told me there must be a way to make a career out of this, but I was doubtful.

Are there any jobs that use extensive box office knowledge?

Anything at a studio regarding analysis, marketing, etc.

It's always hard to convert trivia knowledge into a career. It's a great parlor trick but to turn a hobby into a career requires a more specific skill set. If you can land an interview where that kind of knowledge is respected, you'll have a leg up. Ultimately it's not the ability to recite facts that employers will primarily want, but rather what you can do with those facts, but all that knowledge can at least help build rapport, and convey your passion for the industry.

I've made my way into predictive analytics now, at Illinois State University. My goal is still market research analytics in the movie industry, but at least for now I'm doing what I like and feel one large step closer to getting there. My coworkers knowing that I did box office predicting helped get me into analytics here, and I'm sort of the sole person doing it at the university as of right now. So, just make sure the right people know what you're capable of.

An alternate route is going your own way and doing a blog or website, though there is plenty of well-established competition there. I think the guys who started Cinemascore and NRG were just movie and stat geeks who carved their own niche.

I think if you want in the industry be realistic about what you're good at and what type of job you can really compete at if you're willing to put in a lot of work and work your way into it. I honestly thought I would be in the industry by now, though I'm actually fairly happy at the moment where I'm at. Probably helps to realize that it will take more time and effort than you initially imagine to break in, unless you're really lucky or have amazing contacts. The box office knowledge is the kind of thing that will be a nice cherry on top that could make you stand out among your competition, but it's probably not going to get you in the door by itself.

I consult with theaters in my region, tabulating data and interpreting it for the purposes of screen/auditorium allocation, as well as specific theater staffing needs. I don't make a living from it by any means, but as Ryu said, getting your foot in the door and given the opportunity to share your knowledge, experience, and skills is a great start.

I live in KY, not exactly a beacon of the entertainment world. In L.A., New York, or a handful of other places, I might be more aggressive about translating my work/hobby into a respectable salary, most likely at a major studio.

My career, and one of my graduate degrees, is in market intelligence/research/analytics. While I can't speak specifically to the entertainment industry, the core skill-set is the same:

- an ability to synthesize disparate sources of information and tell a story (anyone can spout figures or make projections but what you do with that information, the 'so what?,' is key)
- an ability to partner with specialists. depending on the field, there might be a sub-field, if you will, where people have niche expertise. You can't know it all but partnering with those who can supplement your area of responsibility is important. in the entertainment context, say you are an Exhibitor Relations rep working for the studio. You provide projections for your higher ups and work with the public relations arm to broadcast that projection. You might be good at that but may know very little about the home video space nternational markets. In that case you'll need to partner with a consultancy or maybe it's as simple as a coworker, to get the full picture. I can't stress enough how federated this space is.
-forecasting is also a critical component of this space and will set you apart if you are able to both provide relevant, timely and actionable intelligence in the present (predicting the OW gross for example) but paint a picture on what the future looks like. This, again, goes beyond 'estimating what next week's OW will look like' because any job with that role in its job description will likely include responsibilities where you project out not just that film's boxoffice trajectory but also that of the entire revenue channel (home markets, return on investment from distribution deals, return on investment from the actual production costs, metrics from the marketing efforts, what that film's performance tells you about the market place and consumer demand, and much more). All oriented toward forecasting the future.