Whether it’s Detergent or an Actor, it’s all in the Packaging
Posted by Jim on Friday, January 08, 2010 in Author • Neely Swanson - Former SVP of Development for David E. Kelley, current adjunct professor at USC • Media Research • (0) Comments • Permalink •
My brother-in-law sent us a lovely gift basket for Christmas, and not one to stand on formality or dates, my husband and I immediately tore into the basket – we were hungry then and didn’t want to wait until the Day (so sue me). Seeing a box of Godiva Biscotti, I immediately made us cappuccinos and opened the inviting burnt sienna box with the gold embossed Godiva logo describing the contents as milk chocolate macadamia nut “dipped in Godiva milk chocolate.” I cut open the perfect gold foil inner wrapping and found…ONE biscuit. Imagine our disappointment, not to mention the lack of truth in advertising as the contents was a biscotto, the singular of biscotti (do they even know?). This was underscored by a recent New Yorker article entitled “The Tastemakers” by Raffi Katchadourian about labs that artificially create the flavors of the food we eat. A flavor-company executive was quoted as saying “Most of the food-and-beverage companies have become marketing-and-distribution companies.” If they can market it (package it) well, they can sell anything. Not unlike the entertainment industry.
The marketing department weighs in on the possibility of selling a film project before a greenlight is given. Can’t package, won’t make. Paula Wagner was recently quoted as saying “Studios will make a movie out of Tide (laundry soap) if they think it’ll work.” Of course this has had a dreadful impact on Independent Films and/or the Art Film Market. It takes a giant leap of faith to distribute films like “Precious.” Can you imagine what the marketing meeting on that film would have been? Didn’t think so.
Packaging isn’t just restricted to product and film marketing, though. Packaging is what now keeps talent agencies in business. Not long ago, talent agencies represented and guided the “talent.” The last decade or so has seen enormous change, however, and now it seems to be the Managers who guide the talent and find the jobs for their clients, even though they are restricted by law from “soliciting” work. Agencies have merged and expanded their non-talent divisions, including corporate representation, literary management, market research and corporate consulting, allocating fewer resources to any but their premium clients. What they are most interested in is putting together a “package” of their clients. In television it has now become common for agencies to claim a package fee on shows where they represent the primary talent, forcing the studio to pay a portion of the license fee to the agency that has provided the creator or the star or the director showrunner or any combination thereof; in some cases a studio will have to pay more than one package fee, further reducing the license fee that pays for the production. Obviously this has a negative effect on the bottom line of the producing studio but a positive effect on anyone employed on the show represented by that agency because the agency commission is waived. Packaging also involves putting together all or a significant part of the talent involved in film. If a company wants Tom Cruise for a film, the agency will attempt, often successfully, to pressure the company into hiring other agency represented actors, producers and the director (most of the well-known major agencies have not, until recently, represented below-the-line talent). Agencies feel that their ability to offer such a package makes them appealing to first rank talent; this emphasis on packaging, however, has made the development of new talent secondary or non-existent to all else and many of the agencies no longer sign promising new talent. Diablo Cody, represented by Gersh, was under the radar for several major agencies until “Juno” arrived. Who knows how many other Diablo Codys are out there because they are not presently packagable?
Dress it up anyway you want, but a biscotto is not biscotti; “Precious” doesn’t have a marketable poster; and until “Juno,” Diablo Cody wasn’t part of anyone’s package. For the sake of the industry, or at least for the people who watch TV and still go to the movies, let’s hope that talent will still win out even if there’s no shiny package.
Neely Swanson Formerly Senior Vice President of Development for David E. Kelley Productions, Neely is presently an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the writing division teaching “The Entertainment Industry Seminar.” Neely also writes a blog about writers and wonderful scripts they’ve written that have never made it to the big or little screen. Check out her blog at www.nomeanerplace.com.
