The Decline of of Name Talent Value

I was at a panel on film financing tonight and one very well established Distributor named Robby Little said something I found very interesting and underscored some of what I've been blogging about recently.

He coined it "The Susan Boyle Factor."

Basically - in one day Susan Boyle was world famous.  WORLD FAMOUS.   This is the first time in history that this phenomenon is possible.  In the past it took years of cultivating world fame - even if it was infamy more than fame.   But if Ms. Boyle can become famous in one day - what does that mean to the value of everyone who has been able to command super high fees on movie because of the decade the spent cultivating a celebrity name?

The fact that people can become famous overnight is going to level the playing field a bit.

Already Mr. Little commented that distributors and buyers are simply not that impressed with names.  However - somewhat contrasting this was his acknowledgment that "name value" still did exist - but mostly on the side of protecting your losses.   Basically - if you have a name and a solid genre and the film is medium, you might still make your money back.

His thought on the approach was to not chase after names.  Go for who you want, if they can't match your price, then find someone else.

Ten years ago this would have been unthinkable to hear.  Everything was "get a name, get a name, get a name."  

A couple other interesting points came up, but I will incorporate them into other blogs I'm sure.