Glossary

"Everyone says 'hi'."

- David Bowie

It's not what you know, it's who you know - or, perhaps more accurately, it's who knows you. Even if you are the most talented guitarist to ever strum a chord, it won't help your career much if nobody knows you exist.

"If I can make it there I'll make it anywhere"

- Frank Sinatra

"Breaking in" to the entertainment industry is even harder than you think - and even fewer people than you realize have begun a career by "breaking in". Hollywood is perceived by outsiders as a closed system, but really it's not much of a system at all. It's so hard to break in because there's nothing to break into.

"Nobody knows anything"

- William Goldman

I had the pleasure of attending a Q&A with William Goldman and John Cleese last week, an entertaining couple of hours all around. The audience was full of working and aspiring screenwriters, and the common theme throughout most of the questions being asked was, "What should I be doing to best advance my career?"

Unfortunately, the common theme through most of the answers to these questions was, "I don't know."

"A movie star is mythic, a movie star is like no one you've ever seen walking around in daily life... You don't see these people walking to the drug store, and the ones that you do aren't stars, they're actors."

- John Waters

Hollywood has gone through many changes in its just-over century long history. The introduction of sync-sound, color, television and home video, each changed the basic business model of feature films, but throughout the history of film the star has been a bankable commodity. Recent years, however, have shown a decrease in the reliability of a star's box-office draw.

"We are all made of stars"

- Moby

A little while back I floated the idea that stars are beginning to lose their power to pull in a guaranteed audience. Apparently, I'm not the only person questioning the foundational principles of Hollywood business models. The concept of "content is king" is penetrating every aspect of the entertainment industry.

"...stars are essentially worthless - and absolutely essential."

- William Goldman

In the past, and on more than one occasion, I've discussed the changing nature of the entertainment business, and the potential collapse of the star system, or at least the complete upheaval of stars as we see them today. The end of stars as an idea is not terribly new, but the changing nature of film as a medium, society as a whole and our relationship with media in general give greater credence to (and new angles on) old arguments. Now that we're fully committed to a lack-luster summer at the B.O. the Hollywood PTB (Powers-That-Be) are genuinely open to exploring new business-models and market trends.