Fast Company published a profile today on 23 year-old Eric Kuhn, United Talent Agency’s (UTA) “Social Media Agent,” whose job, according to the piece, involves “consulting clients on digital strategy and to partner them with yet undiscovered influential platforms.” The position is apparently a first of its kind in the talent management business, which I suppose is not surprising considering that UTA has been one of the more forward-thinking big agencies in Hollywood over the past few years. And while the whole piece was a bit of an interesting read, a section of it near the end was especially eye-opening: Hollywood is apparently beginning to factor social media influence into its casting decisions.
“If you have have more Twitter followers, it helps in the casting process,” Kuhn says, “A Facebook account has the ability to move product, whether it’s ticket sales [or] whether it’s downloads.” No longer is raw acting ability always sufficient to snag a leading role–a star’s social media power may become a determining factor, especially for TV or independent films.
Movies can blanket the country with billboards, whackey late-night interviews, and advertisements, but regular TV shows need to continually remind the audience to tune in; social media prowess is an attractive asset for programs worried about ratings.
Studios are just beginning to realize the power of social media, after the rabid following of Lady Gaga’s record-breaking 10 million Twitter followers choked Amazon’s servers for selling her new release for just 99 cents.
So, in the near future, directors might wipe away the tears from a heart-wrenching casting audition just so they can see if the actor’s Twitter account is strong enough to warrant the role.
There was already some recent speculation about this when Ashton Kutcher was chosen to replace Charlie Sheen on “Two and a Half Men” — some believed that his massive Twitter following played a huge role in him being chosen. I suppose that having great skills, like the ability to act one’s way out of a wet paper bag, doesn’t carry the same weight that it used to.
This also may partially explain why Sad Keanu is so sad: He doesn’t even have a Twitter account.
(Pic via Sad Keanu)