🎬 Box Office Inc - Movie Studio Simulator

A full-stack Movie Studio Tycoon simulation game where you build a cinematic empire, hire talent, produce blockbuster movies, and dominate the global box office.

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🚀 Open Source Programs

This repository is an official participating project in:

• 🌟 ECSOC 2026
• 🚀 ELUSOC 2026

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting any contribution.

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🎬 Overview

Become the head of your own movie studio and experience every stage of filmmaking—from discovering scripts and hiring actors to managing production, marketing, and worldwide theatrical releases.

Every decision affects your studio's reputation, finances, and long-term success.

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✨ Features

🏢 Studio Management

• Financial management
• Studio reputation system
• Weekly payroll
• Revenue & expense tracking

🎭 Talent Management

• Hire Writers
• Hire Directors
• Recruit Actors
• Manage Production Crews
• Talent progression

🎥 Movie Production

• Script marketplace
• Multi-stage production pipeline
• Marketing campaigns
• Movie release management

📊 Simulation

• Weekly simulation engine
• Dynamic box office
• Audience & critic ratings
• Financial analytics

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🛠 Tech Stack

Layer	Technologies
Frontend	React, Vite, Redux Toolkit, TailwindCSS
Backend	Node.js, Express.js
Database	MongoDB Atlas
Deployment	Vercel

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💻 Local Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+
• MongoDB

Backend

cd backend
npm install
npm run dev

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Create .env files using the provided examples before running the project.

Seeding the V1 Market

To seed the simulation with 99 AI competitor studios, 1,000 actors, 300 directors, 500 writers, and 300 composers:

cd backend
node src/scripts/seedIndustryMarket.js

Documentation & Architecture Guides

• 📖 V1 Release Architecture & Quality Gate
• 🧪 V1 Simulation Acceptance Report
• 🏗️ System Architecture
• 🤝 Contributing Guidelines

Environment Variables

Backend (backend/.env)

Variable	Required	Description	Example
MONGO_URI	✅ Yes	MongoDB Atlas connection string	mongodb+srv://user:pass@cluster.mongodb.net/dbname
JWT_ACCESS_SECRET	✅ Yes	Secret key for signing access tokens	your-64-char-random-string
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET	✅ Yes	Secret key for signing refresh tokens	your-64-char-random-string
CLIENT_URL	✅ Yes	Frontend URL used for CORS	http://localhost:5173
PORT	❌ No	Port the backend server listens on	5000
NODE_ENV	❌ No	Environment mode	development
JWT_ACCESS_EXPIRE	❌ No	Access token expiry duration	15m
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRE	❌ No	Refresh token expiry duration	30d

Frontend (frontend/.env)

Variable	Required	Description	Example
VITE_BACKEND_API_URL	✅ Yes	Backend API base URL	http://localhost:5000/api

Tip: Copy backend/.env.example to backend/.env and frontend/.env.example to frontend/.env, then fill in your values.

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🌍 Deployment

Deploy using Vercel and MongoDB Atlas.

Required environment variables include:

• MONGO_URI
• JWT_ACCESS_SECRET
• JWT_REFRESH_SECRET
• CLIENT_URL
• NODE_ENV
• VITE_BACKEND_API_URL

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📁 Project Structure

backend/
 ├── api/
 ├── src/
 │   ├── config/
 │   ├── controllers/
 │   ├── models/
 │   ├── routes/
 │   ├── services/
 │   └── utils/

frontend/
 ├── src/
 │   ├── api/
 │   ├── app/
 │   ├── components/
 │   ├── features/
 │   └── pages/

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🛠 Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Run development server
npm run build	Build frontend
npm start	Start backend

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🤝 Contribution Guide

We welcome contributors from both open-source programs.

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before contributing.

🌟 ECSOC 2026

• Request issue assignment before starting work.
• If you create an issue, add the ECSOC2026 label.
• If you create a PR, mention it is for ECSOC 2026 and request the appropriate labels.
• During review, project admins will apply the ECSoC26 label before merging so ECSOC Sentinel can automatically process your contribution.

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🌿 Branch Rules

Branch	Purpose
main	Stable production branch

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🏷 Labels

General

• bug
• enhancement
• documentation
• frontend
• backend
• performance
• security
• testing
• refactor
• good first issue
• help wanted

ECSOC

• ECSOC2026
• ECSoC26
• good-issue
• good-pr
• good-ui
• good-backend

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🛣 Roadmap

• AI Studios
• Awards System
• Franchise & Sequels
• Seasonal Events
• Dynamic Industry Trends
• Multiplayer Mode

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❤️ Open Source

Box Office Inc - Movie Studio Simulator is licensed under the MIT License.

We welcome contributions from developers worldwide through ECSOC 2026, ELUSOC 2026, and the open-source community.

If you're interested in contributing, please read CONTRIBUTING.md before getting started.

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⭐ Support

If you find this project useful:

• ⭐ Star the repository
• 🍴 Fork the project
• 🐛 Report bugs
• 💡 Suggest new features
• 🚀 Contribute through ECSOC 2026 or ELUSOC 2026

Happy Coding! 🎬