To say what is the hottest red carpet session of 2023? It is undoubtedly a hot spot for Internet celebrities.
With the explosive growth of the short video platform TikTok in recent years, online content creators have become the main force at Hollywood film and television premieres and award ceremonies. Internet celebrities are active at the events of mainstream film and streaming companies, as well as at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe Awards for Film and Television, the Grammy Awards and the Oscars. Many of the red carpet sessions of the premieres have evolved into more than two hours of events, the first hour of which is a special showcase for influencers. During this period, influencers can take selfies, initiate live webcasts, or shoot dance videos and other curated short video content in a specially set up photo area. The second hour is the time when the actors and creators walk the red carpet and give interviews to the media.
A complex business
Some influencers have millions of followers, and some influencers, although they don't have as many fans, have exactly the audience that studios or event organizers are looking for. It is the existence of these factors that makes inviting influencers to publicity events such as premieres gradually become a complex and competitive business.
Chris Olsen started using TikTok in 2020, mainly sharing Hollywood celebrities and his daily life. Today, he has nearly 10 million followers on TikTok and nearly 1 million on Instagram, a photo social networking site, and he has become one of the most frequently featured partners in Hollywood campaigns. Last year, Warner Bros. invited him to the Cannes Film Festival in France to participate in the premiere of the film "Elvis", and he traveled thousands of miles from Los Angeles to the French coastal town to star Austin Butler to deliver coffee, which reached 12 million views and became the inspiration for Olsen's own coffee brand. Since then, he has participated in the premiere of Amazon's "My Policeman" in Toronto, Canada, the premiere of the superhero film "Black Adam" in New York, attended the Grammy Awards, and collaborated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences several times, including the release of short videos and image content related to the 2023 Oscar nominations.
There are usually two ways for influencers to be invited to a promotional event: one is to attend the ceremony but do not need to post relevant content (this is usually free); The other is to work with the official, and the invitee needs to post sponsorship content related to the event. Chris Olsen has received both invitations, and he revealed that if it is a paid cooperation, it is usually discussed with the film company first about the form and content, explaining the goals to be achieved by both parties, and discussing how to achieve the best of both worlds. Olson declined to disclose the remuneration for the cooperation, but said that the way studios pay their collaborators is similar to the way brands pay collaborators, and the specific fees vary depending on the creator.
Web creation changes lives
Amanda Castrillo is also a short video blogger who creates film-related content and has more than 300,000 followers on TikTok. She has previously been invited to premieres held by Netflix, Disney, HBO, Amazon, NBCUniversal and Sony, and according to her, she gets paid anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 for each partnership with studios. Castellio, who previously worked in retail and lost his job during the coronavirus pandemic, started posting on TikTok and soon had 100,000 followers. She currently works as a social media producer at Paramount and continues her career as an influencer, and Castellio admits that now her job "goes from a part-time job that earns $15 an hour to being able to pay daily bills and rent, and web creation can really change lives."
Some influential influencers are usually invited directly by film companies or their PR agencies, while Castello uses the platform to promote itself directly to media companies. She now attends red carpet ceremonies two or three times a month. For paid cooperation, Castellio revealed that partners usually require 30 seconds to 1 minute in length and corresponding labels, and sometimes she prepares multiple video content for partners to choose. After the event, the partner also often requests a data analysis report to track and analyze the communication effect.
Castello added that exclusivity is universal, "For example, if I attended the HBO Max campaign today, I won't be able to advertise its competitors for two weeks, and of course, those losses will be included in the compensation." If I have to turn down other opportunities to make money because I accepted an offer, then I will definitely have to bargain with my partner about these losses. ”
Detailed considerations for film companies
Khleo Thomas, a child star who starred in the 2003 film Holes, is now a video content creator and gamer with 1.3 million followers on TikTok. He has been invited to several red carpet ceremonies over the past few years, with recent paid collaborations including premieres on the HBO hit series "The Last of Us" and Disney's animated film Lightyear. Thomas mentioned that in the past, film companies simply invited the hottest Internet celebrities to participate in events, but he recently observed that for the invitees, the film company has "become more and more refined", "For who should be invited to certain events, who can perfectly capture the event experience and present it to the audience, in these aspects, the film company's considerations have become more and more detailed and deeper." ”
That said, studios are now more likely to consider whether the creator's content audience or fan age structure is the audience the company wants to reach when inviting online content creators to events. Caprice Cole, who has 33,000 Instagram followers and creates content related to African-American people and tech professionals, has been invited to events on Netflix's series Wednesday and Disney's episode Meet, both of which also fit her content. "This shows that there are still people who are interested and willing to invite creators in niche fields," Cole said. ”
Cole concluded, "If the studio finds the right creator, it will attract the right audience to the film, and the sales of derivative goods will increase accordingly." At the end of the day, it's a business, and the most important thing about marketing campaigns is the fan base owned by invited creators. ”
Disney "leads the demonstration"
Disney has set a benchmark in cultivating diverse content. In 2021, the media giant launched the Disney Creator Lab, a program dedicated to discovering, developing and empowering 20 niche content creators from different platforms, inviting executives and managers from content departments such as Disney and Marvel to conduct workshops for participants.
Michael Ramirez, head of communications for Disney's Theme Parks, Experiences and Products, who oversees the project, further explains, "We give influencers the opportunity to learn, grow, and be inspired, and we hope this program will have a meaningful impact on emerging creators. From a company perspective, this project gives us the opportunity to build relationships with incubating creators. Essentially, we're nurturing the next generation of creators and helping them grow. ”
Each batch of 20 project participants, hand-selected by Disney, aims to find potential creators within Disney's established fan circle, covering fashion, food, art, travel and pop culture. These creators are not paid and have no mandate to publish content, but Disney hosts creator celebrations that are also an opportunity to test their learning.
Ramirez revealed that "once they enter this 'ecosystem', participants have the opportunity to participate in different company events. I saw that among the content creators who came out of the first lab, there were already people who started attending studio events, which was great! ”
Sabe Faheem Minhaz is currently in training (editor's note: she was previously an assistant to actress Simu Liu), and as a Muslim woman, the willingness of a big company like Disney to invite her to participate in events promoting theme parks, merchandise and other projects is undoubtedly a huge opportunity for her.
The future of influencers
There is no doubt that TikTok's business began to take off during the epidemic, and in the post-epidemic era, the frequency of cooperation between short video influencers and film companies has increased significantly. At present, many industry views have predicted that this is the general direction of marketing strategy development in the foreseeable future. Chris Olsen agrees, "Generation Z [editor's note: referring to the generation born between 1995 and 2009] watches Internet TV differently than we already do, and I feel that there is huge profit room here. ”
According to recent data from Comscore, TikTok now has 1 billion monthly active users, 62% of whom in the U.S. are under the age of 30, an age group that media companies are eager to reach. Olson believes that "when influencers on short video platforms appear on the red carpet, there is always a lot of human interest, and there will be a lot of comments asking, 'How did they participate in this event?'" Or, 'Why are they showing up at this event?' I think the answer to these questions is clear – studios do see the publicity value of influencers. ”