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It seems apt, as I write my first online column for The Stage, that I reveal a bit about how social media marketing has changed the face of what I do as an agent for actors & creatives, on a daily basis.
When I founded Cole Kitchenn Personal Management in 2005 – barely any London agent had a website other than us – but certainly none were on Twitter – it didn’t exist until 2006.
At first, I wasn’t sure if it was really worth it, with only a few hundred ‘likes’ or ‘followers’. But over the years, as our clients became higher profile and our own online audience increased to thousands, I started to think about the power of the two platforms to promote our clients. Last week, our Facebook page activity popped up on 340,350 news feeds. Some of them were industry professionals who often reference my recent tweets – so we’re reaching exactly the audience we want them to.
You only have to look at this year’s Guardian Media 100 to see that topping the list this year is Larry Page of Google, with Dick Costolo of Twitter close second, to understand the growing importance of new media, with the new BBC director general at number 4.
We represent some of the most followed artists on Twitter for their acting and I can tell you that their social media stats have a direct impact on their financial income from branding/endorsements.
But what does all this really mean for the client? Well routinely, when suggesting clients for projects, the subject of their ‘number of followers’ has started to come up in conversation. I know that a prominent theatre owner/producer uses the number of Google results to quickly measure someone’s real reach with the public when considering them for West End play castings, and at West End musical auditions casting directors will often inform the panel of Twitter stats of the auditionee about to enter.
Before her current exposure on Strictly Come Dancing, it was very hard sometimes to explain to adults over a certain age how massively famous Dani Harmer is to children and young adults that have grown up with Tracey Beaker and Dani’s House – that was until I pointed them towards her Twitter page displaying 48,000 followers.
We represent some of the most followed artists on Twitter for their acting (Tulisa has the most with 2.3 million followers) and I can tell you that their social media stats have a direct impact on their financial income from branding/endorsements. But as the number of followers becomes increasingly important, so the perils of social networking can become more serious.
Recently, our client Jennifer Ellison, who is currently touring in Legally Blonde, had her officially verified Twitter account (with 100,000 followers) hacked, and her password changed so she couldn’t access her own genuine account. We contacted Twitter, and at first they said they could not reset the password, as she couldn’t prove that the account had been compromised. Only through a personal contact in Twitter’s UK office did we manage to twist their arm, and luckily Jen retained her vast follower numbers.
My message really is, if you are an actor or creative in our industry – I recommend you should take these mediums seriously and start building your audience, with regular tweeting, commenting on trending topics, following similar people, and encouraging retweets! It’s a way to publicise, promote and find talent both on the client list or even for within our office: I found the latest member of our team, agent Alex Segal, through Twitter. I noticed how busy he was every night of the week at various events: opening nights, screenings, film festivals etc. His Twitter feed proved his considerable energy and commitment to agenting. I was so impressed I hired him! #Supertwitterfacebookyoutubexpialidocious
Jobs & Auditions
Comments 19 comments
“…and at West End musical auditions casting directors will often inform the panel of Twitter stats of the auditionee about to enter.”
What UTTER trite! This would only be of any relevance if it was a star like Stephen Fry and a producer was hoping to sell tickets. For the general run of the mill it would make NO different whatsoever. If someone has 46 followers but talented they aren’t going to be turned down for someone who has 546 and no talent at all.
And just because you’ve appeared in films- it doesn’t make you an actor. Tulisa is not an actor.Report comment
Twitter isn’t only of relevance to someone as famous as Stephen Fry – there are often people of note in musical theatre who’s Twitter follower numbers could be indication of their followings. I’m not suggesting the difference between 46 and 546 would necessarily have a bearing on their casting, but with someone who’s not as famous as Stephen Fry, but has starred in Les Mis, Phantom or Wicked, as as a result has over 10k Twitter followers, many producers may take that into account, and consider casting them over an actor without any fan base at all.
With regards to what makes an actor, actually I think if you have been paid to act as a character on film, it does make them an actor. When it comes to Tulisa, Simon may not like her seemingly, but she’s not only made two feature films last year, and she also previously gave an impressive screen debut on Channel 4′s online series Dubplate Drama, in which she proves herself an extraordinary actress. I predict she will play a major lead in a feature film with cinema distribution in the next 12 months (we already have several offers we are considering) and whether you like it or not, that all means she is a working actress as well as music artist.
Luckily both casting directors and audiences are more willing than Simon to consider artists crossing over from one genre to another – and thank goodness – otherwise we might have never seen Eminem in 8 Mile, Beyonce or Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls or John Bishop on The Accused.Report comment
Simon,
As a director with a number of big productions to my name, many that have had star names attached, I can say that there were with every producer I worked with discussions about the talent and the number of followers they had.
Often this has with the economy of having to sell tickets eclipsed those who have more visible talent…do not underestimate social media and the impact it has on the industry.
Stuart, great blog post, I look forward to reading more in the future.Report comment
“Often this has with the economy of having to sell tickets eclipsed those who have more visible talent..”
This is the saddest thing I have read…but makes me understand the decline of the West End. We’re swapping talent for ticket sales and filling great pieces with talent-free celebrities.
Poor Jennifer Ellison is terribly out of her depth in Legally Blonde tour. Couldn’t do the accent, or dance the choreography, or sing the big song…but hey, thank God she got her twitter account back!Report comment
“Someone who’s not as famous as Stephen Fry, but has starred in Les Mis, Phantom or Wicked, as as a result has over 10k Twitter followers, many producers may take that into account, and consider casting them over an actor without any fan base at all.”
I’ve got 12,032 twitter followers — can I get a part in a West End musical, please?Report comment
Sad, but true.
Twitter might be new but this way of casting by fame or popularity isn’t. Twitter is just a more accessable way of checking out someone’s popularity.
I know of a Casting Director who used to flick through Heat magazine when re-casting a well known West End show to see who was ‘hot or not’ regardless of talent or experience.
The lines of Celebrity and Actor are blur in a desperation to sell tickets.
Great first article, Stuart! Looking forward to the future ones.Report comment
OMG Mark (to use the kidz Twitspeak) you could SO be Thernardier!!!! I would PAY to see it.Report comment
Of course you would Stuart. I rest my case. See you on the West End stage soon Mark. Hope the critics aren’t too harsh!Report comment
“…actually I think if you have been paid to act as a character on film, it does make them an actor.” Oh please. There are countless number of people being paid to act who aren’t up to it- just tune in to any of the soaps for starters. I also don’t consider playing yourself as acting. Comparing Tulisa to the likes of Beyonce or Jennifer Hudson is frankly insulting to them.Report comment
What a pitiful state of affairs. Since when did a large twitter following translate to garaunteed box-office? I suspect this is another of those situations where a perception of questionable veracity, held by certain individuals has led to an industry-wide acceptance that visibility in social media equates to marquee value. The fact that Tulisa has a larger following than anyone actually working in the West End should tell you everything you need to know about such platforms, and the type of person who uses them (or takes them seriously).Report comment
What utter b****cks.
There are many a better way to judge a talent on
their worth for a production and anyway one slip
up and Twitter can ruin someone. You can have
all the followers in the world but with out common
sense or actual passion for the project it’s worthlessReport comment
And this has led to gaming the system. You can increase your twitter followers by paying somebody to do it for you. They have a database of bogus accounts for that very purpose, and do it regularly, probably because they can demonstrate, as this article does very clearly, that it works on agents & casting directors. But if those people really think an egg-faced follower is going to buy a ticket, think again!Report comment
Imho you should have insisted more on the engagement with the people than the number of followers. You can buy fake followers, and it’s going to damage you more than it does good to you. And people can follow you but skip what you post (I do that all the time with people tweeting their writing all the time, several times a day and such), so when the actor is hired by hopeful producers they are not going to drive sales of tickets more than someone with less followers who takes time to build the community around them. I prefer the 2nd C to audience like you said, because audience seems too one way. People like SM because of interaction.
Stephen Fry is amazing in that, he just loves Twitter like the guy next door (like me, Alex, probably you too) and treats it like that, then his RTs make website crash down for the traffic he drives.Report comment
The only word to describe this is shameful. It emphasises that old talent (if you can call it that for certain ‘celebrities’) is continuously going to be recycled. Auditions should be based on the talent of the person and suitability for the role. If bringing in talentless people with lots of twitter followers is what it takes to generate ticket sales, I think the west end may need to look more closely at how they market their shows. The west end is supposed to be breathtaking to watch a show in and by hiring people in regards to their number of twitter followers is appauling. Celebrities should be left for pantomimes, if we wanted to watch amateur dramatics we could do for 1/6th of the price, and that is what the west end is being reduced to. People pay for talent the same as the actors pay many thousands at times to be trained in that talent. To use people who have never considered theatre as a career choice a job just because they are more popular over someone who is passionate about working in the art is simply unfair.Report comment
Thanks for the tip Stuart! 250 followers is probably not enough yet. I’d better get networking!
@colin_zammitReport comment
I’ve got to say, I find this so depressing. I was an actor for many years, and as well as many short-term engagements/adverts etc, I also appeared in the West End production of WWRY for almost 3 years. One of my biggest gripes with the entire industry is that it has always been far more geared towards a popularity contest, rather than genuine assessment of talent, ability, and/or commitment. The social “stars”, the ones who everyone “likes” the most get the gigs time after time, even when in some cases they are quite mediocre. Either that, or the ones who make friends with the casting directors/agents etc, and go out drinking with them at all the late night West End hangouts. Bottom line is not everyone is suited (or has the desire) to be a social climber, or to view “schmoozing” as a necessary part of their vocation… I got into this business because of my passion for drama, music and literature, and because I know I’m good at what I do. The idea I should have to suck up to the right people, and groom social networking followers just to pursue my career, I find pretty disgusting; and in many ways it’s EVERYTHING that is wrong with the X-Factor/Reality TV generation of entertainment. Don’t get me wrong… I AM on Facebook and Twitter, but I’m far more concerned with doing my job and earning a living than hunting down supposed “fans”. The fact is, I am a lead singer with a globally successful band, and am currently touring the USA & Canada – which hopefully suggests I have some ability in my field. Does the fact I only have 300 Twitter followers mean I should lose out on a gig to someone who has 10000, just because they appeared on some reality TV show??? I don’t believe it does.Report comment
What a load of nonesense. I have been actively involved in casting process of many shows in recent years and I can promise you that this sort of thing has never come up once. Obviously when casting leading roles there is always a discussion relating to the potential stars ‘bankabilty’ but to suggest that actors need thousands of Twitter follwers to be considered a serious player is ridiculous and in my opinion is sending out completely the wrong message to performers about what is important when building a successful and satisfying career in the theatre. This sort of editorial is more suited to those chasing an XFactor style fifteen minutes of fame.I think the many scornful responses to this piece from numerous West End performers on Twitter show just how misguided and pompous these comments are.
In addition – I am also dissapointed that The Stage saw fit allow Mr Piper to use his article as a self congratulatory advert for his company.
Best,
Director BlokeReport comment
As Sondheim would say:
Where is style?
Where is skill?
Where is forethought?
Where’s discretion of the heart,
Where’s passion in the art,
Where’s craft?Report comment
People are aware that you can purchase Twitter followers, right? I don’t mean bots, I mean bona-fide followers. By the thousand if you want. I know actors that have done it. How would you know the difference?
This has always been the way. Bankability has just has a facelift.Report comment