”I’ll change manufacturers in a heartbeat. I went from PC to Mac once I was 60,“ says one writer-producer
Industry consultants say Hollywood nonetheless has a protracted option to go in breaking down age boundaries, each in employment and inventive content material. Writer-producer Catherine Clinch joked in a brand new WrapPRO roundtable that the “ageing viewers” is everyone, and all in that class needs to be grateful as a result of “the alternative kind of sucks.”
Still, regardless of having loads of horror tales to inform about age discrimination in Hollywood, a panel of trade gamers agreed that know-how and digital leisure are breaking down demographic boundaries as shoppers simply surf content material throughout a number of platforms. Tech additionally might play an vital function in education Hollywood to not dismiss the ability of the over-50 viewers.
On the panel, moderated by TheWrap’s Diane Haithman, Clinch mentioned older audiences have embraced the tech revolution and not match the advertisers’ credo that model loyalty retains the 50-plus viewers from being a primary demographic to attempt — learn: purchase — one thing new.
“They say that they have to skew younger because of brand changes, but I’ll change brands in a heartbeat,” mentioned Clinch, who serves as chair of the Writers Guild of America West’s Career Longevity Committee. “I went from PC to Mac when I was 60 … I think that the perception of the audience, and their rigidity as perceived, is skewing things in a tragic direction.”
Iris Grossman, a expertise supervisor at Echo Lake Entertainment who additionally serves as president of GreenLightWomen, an alliance of artistic and enterprise professionals over 40 — factors out that not solely are folks of their 40s, 50s, and 60-plus as tech-savvy as Gen Z, in addition they typically management the {dollars} advertisers search once they present glamorous younger folks dwelling the excessive life in advertisements.
“You show me a 20-year-old who’s buying a Mercedes — they’re not, unless Daddy and Mommy are buying it for them,” mentioned Grossman, who proudly mentioned she turns 67 subsequent month. “So that’s bull. And (we) talked about being savvy on streaming: Who do you think pays for my son’s Netflix?”
“Book Club” (Paramount)
WME agent CJ Fight, whose work focuses on characteristic movies, mentioned those self same older-audience {dollars} additionally feed theatrical field workplace, in addition to streaming subscriptions. “I think that we shouldn’t make the mistake that older people can’t be tech-savvy,” mentioned Fight, 33. “My mom’s in her late 60s and she’s got Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max. She has them all, right?”
Fight noticed that filmmakers on the competition circuit appear to gravitate towards fare they imagine will enchantment to folks of their 20s and 30s however added, “Some of our biggest successes as an agency have been films that are targeted towards an older demographic.” She cited Paramount’s 2018 Jane Fonda-Diane Keaton ensemble movie “Book Club,” which grossed $104.four million worldwide on a reported $10 million finances.
Entertainment lawyer Ghen Naraya Long, whose shoppers come from a hybrid world of “technotainment,” mentioned Netflix’s highly effective (and mysterious) advice algorithm, particularly when shared by a household, can lead a viewer to content material that’s far exterior what could be thought of applicable to their demographic.
“Having spoken to a lot of writers and represented a lot of writers, they’re always told to write what’s authentic to you. Write as if you were your audience, and I think we encourage that,” mentioned Long, who’s 48. “And after we get that audience, that Gen X audience (turning 50), that age demographic that is not represented, you will end up with that representation by championing that age demographic to tell their stories and distribute their stories.”
For extra of this dialog, click on on the video above.
