Why Actors Need Social Media

Believe it or not, just 7 short years ago social media was just tiptoeing into the scene. Living happily in it’s own world were the traditional marketing teams of movies & television shows using a formula proven successful over many decades. For the traditional celebrities, the only candid depictions shown of them came through outlets such as late night talk show appearances and the occasional TMZ video clip. 

On whether it’s a good thing or not depends on who you ask, but to say social media has been the biggest catalyst of change for traditional marketing across the board would not be an understatement. I would argue that the entertainment industry has felt the effects of social media growth and popularity to some extent, the most. Some companies and individuals in the industry have seen this as the most liberating, creative & freeing thing to happen to entertainment in a very long time. Others feel threatened, passive and confused by the sudden uptick in social worth & popularity. Our job is to understand both of these perspectives and find a way for the latter to explore the possibility that maybe social does have an element of legitimacy, and the effort to collaborate within it can not only be meaningful but even more crucial than they realize.

What characteristics do you think of when you think of a professional actor?

I think — creative, brave, aware, passionate.

To have all these qualities and be able to share them with the world is inspiring & important. Annoyingly, actors often have to jump through many hoops to 1.) be able to call themselves a professional actor/writer/producer/director and 2.) wait on other people to tell them they are those things.

What social media has done for creators is give them a place to do just that… create. We have seen this done on an amateur level too much success, giving an unknown talent a voice and what many creatives seek… a label of worth. We've also seen it as a place for the professional actor to take their own career to the next level by establishing worth beyond just their IMDB credits. A great example of this is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson who just hit 100 million followers today on Instagram. It’s not a coincidence that Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is now Sony’s second highest grossing film of all-time.

It’s a very simple equation:

Influence = Leverage

The voices are getting quieter by the year but every once in awhile we still hear, “she doesn’t want to be on social media. She's a serious actor.” This statement is counterintuitive.

- Be serious about caring about your fanbase.

- Be serious about taking control of your social image and the content surrounding yourself.

- Be serious about taking every opportunity to create something beautiful or meaningful or special.

- Be serious about understanding the direction your industry is heading in and how to keep it alive. 

In saying all that, I do also respect and appreciate that it is easier said than done. The time commitment of creating content that puts something of worth out into the world is a lot for one person to take on, which is why we helped birth this industry.  A dedicated team that understands the humanities of social media, the voice of the actor and can navigate the ever changing platforms is rare to come by. More often than not, when we start working with a timid client they end up loving the whole experience more than they thought possible. For the professional actor, having a place to share even just a small bit of your actual self is worth it’s weight in box office gold. 

-Kelsey Farese Stephens