Managing Hollywood

The Bachelorette, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and The Jersey Shore are names that have made it into our households throughout the years. I find it interesting that our (millennial) generation is fascinated with reality television. Do we enjoy people making fools out of themselves? Do we really believe that these are people that have it all and we should be idolizing them?

Recently I was watching a program and someone commented that being a celebrity today comes with a different status than it did ten years ago. Now we compare The Situation to Clint Eastwood, and looking at the amount of money that they are ranking in compared to one another. Every thirteen-eighteen year old girl that I have met has viciously defended The Kardashians. “They are smart businesswomen, they know how to make America happy,” one said to me. Do we need to start looking at Management differently? Our world is changing by the day, but does that mean that our management needs/focuses change as well? We see the glamorous lifestyle behind a celebrity, but is their any management skills that are needed? I’m asking this question to the class because I feel there are many opinions here. Kris Jenner has been praised by some with her superb management skills, ultimately bringing in over fifty million dollars for the Kardashian Empire in 2011. This is something that I can’t help but be jealous of? You sit around with your family, eating, drinking, and vacationing, and you become a millionaire. I was recently out to dinner with my parents and the Kardashians came up in conversation, my mother barely pronounced the name correctly. I look at my generation compared to theirs. Then again our lifestyles are different; they are focused on running and growing their businesses in the corporate field, while I am in school, learning how I will do that some day.

Managing a Celebrity could relate to managing a business. The Celebrity is the product, and you need to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everyone knows who that product is. Then the Celebrity could have endorsement deals, with fragrances. You would need to know the demand that would be needed so that the product is still being made. You need to control costs, travel, and expenses. If they are on a movie set then planning becomes a big part of the entertainment industry. It takes a specific amount of time to shoot each scene. Then you need to look at how many scenes are in the movie and accurately break up the amount of scenes with the amount of time that you have budgeted for each actor.

I’ve started to realize that celebrities are not just famous people who don’t work. Although I still think some of them are famous for no reason, they are a product from a business standpoint. Managing a product human or non, is difficult.

Am I correct on this, is it work to manage a celebrity, or is it an easy job?

7 thoughts on “Managing Hollywood

  1. Working to manage a celebrity goes beyond just one individual. During my experience at Universal we had ten individuals just working for a weekly promotion website. Again, that fails to take into account the production costs, concerts, and other logistical aspects necessary. Kris Jenner is not necessarily the manager, but I believe he is the marketing mind behind the “Kardashian enterprise.” Celebrities do enormous work and devote enormous time to making the millions — as an example, during Kim Kardashian’s bachelorette party in Las Vegas they went to three clubs, all that endorsed her in addition to her ex-husband. The amount of money they made on that single night is unbelievable. As an individual who saw her at Tao I can attest that not only were beverages increased in price, but a cover was provided of $30.

  2. Managing a celebrity sounds about right. Many actors and actresses have agents who manage them. It’s a full time job. In addition, many of these famous people do not have the skill or the education to manage themselves. This also can be related to people who win the lottery. Becoming famous in a short amount of time is almost like winning a jackpot, however, most of the people who win the lottery become bankrupt. There is a lot of money involved and a lot of people when it comes to a TV show or a movie. If that famous person does not know how to manage time, money, budget, and planning, well they will not be successful for long.

  3. Managing a celebrity must be a tough job. If we look at a celebrity as a product for consumers, we can how it can be more problematic than a real product. Celebrities’ attitude and work ethic can be seen as common variation that can has large deviation. Also, the product cycle life can be fairly short and unpredictable. Characteristics such as these can be a huge headache for managers.

  4. I feel as though in today’s society, media plays a strong role in our everyday life. With media, come the many urges to want to know what every celebrity is doing and their many trends. Keeping up with the Kardashians is a great example of how to expose a great successful career through the media but without the help of her business savvy mother Kris Jenner, the Kardashians would not be what they are today. A good manager knows what to do in every situation from a great business standpoint. Kris’s management skills have brought them to their highest level of achievement, yet.

    Having great management skills can play a tremendous role in having a successful life, not only for celebrities but I do believe it is difficult to manage a celebrity with their numerous high demands and lavished lifestyle. Life may seem easy for the reality stars on TV (which I feel they want us to think), but I think it involves a lot of time and dedication out of their lives. So, I don’t think the job is very easy being that they have so much pressure to be this phenomenon that many look up too, while trying to maintain their successful businesses through the media.

  5. Managing Hollywood is definitely a challenging task to do. Hollywood is a big business with big money. Therefore, choosing the right strategy can lead to success or to failure. I don’t believe that a very talented person can become a celebrity without a good manager. As well as people who absolutely don’t have any talent can become famous because of good management.

  6. Most celebrities need managers. Realty star celebrities need definitely need managers. Realty stars are a product and a service. They provide their goods through themselves and they serve the less informed. I remember taking another management class last quarter and my teacher was amazed at the managing ability of Justin Bieber’s manager. She said his style of managing was perfect for a 14 year old kid. The way he needed to be managed because celebrity is always seen as a blessing and a curse. I have no problem with people making money from having no talent and providing me with no motivation for my life. I just don’t bother to watch the Karadashians show because I have nothing in common with it. These people do need managers like any business would.

  7. When Vince couldn’t handle the stress that comes with being a movie star Eric was always the one who kept a level head. Sometimes he had to tell some hard truths but thats what a good manager has to be able to do. When someone is a celebrity they need someone they can trust to keep them in check because everything they do is documented. Thats why celebrities should be catious when they are selecting people to be in their entourage.

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