Hollywood is learning to embrace a newer generation of stars who have a direct connection to millions of fans.
Faced with an aging audience and a younger generation more interested in social media than the silver screen and television, studio executives are increasingly hiring talent made famous on digital platforms, such as Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae Easterling, known as Addison Rae, two of the most-followed creators on TikTok, for high-profile film and TV projects.
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Hollywood is learning to embrace a newer generation of stars who have a direct connection to millions of fans.
Faced with an aging audience and a younger generation more interested in social media than the silver screen and television, studio executives are increasingly hiring talent made famous on digital platforms, such as Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae Easterling, known as Addison Rae, two of the most-followed creators on TikTok, for high-profile film and TV projects.
Netflix Inc. paid more than $20 million for the rights to “He’s All That,” a romantic comedy starring the 20-year-old Ms. Rae, according to people familiar with the deal. Ms. Rae has more than 84 million followers on the video-sharing platform, the third-highest among all users. After premiering on Aug. 27, the movie became the top U.S. title on the streaming service and remained near the pole position a week later.
Last week, Netflix signed a deal with Ms. Rae to make additional films.
Ms. Rae started out in 2019 dancing and lip-syncing songs with her friends on TikTok, while Ms. D’Amelio gained followers for her dancing videos, which she also began posting in 2019. Millions of other users have copied their dance moves and styles on the platform. Ms. D’Amelio has about 124.5 million followers on TikTok.
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“The studios and streamers understand the power of social media,” says David Freeman, co-head of digital media at Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood’s most powerful talent agencies that represents many stars that gained notoriety on digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
An eight-episode documentary series featuring Ms. D’Amelio and her family launched on Walt Disney Co. ’s Hulu streaming service this month. Last year, Disney secured a deal with entrepreneur and social-media mogul Kim Kardashian and members of her family to create content for Hulu.
Ms. Kardashian, considered one of the most influential reality-television stars and a social-media-influencer pioneer with her 254 million followers on Instagram, was also the voice for a character in Paramount Pictures’ animated “Paw Patrol” film, released earlier this year.
Brent Montgomery, chief executive of content-production studio Wheelhouse Entertainment, says not only are young stars circumventing the traditional system of gatekeepers ruled by television and movie executives, but the pace at which they build outsize followings is accelerating.
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“Kim Kardashian took off faster than a regular person is used to seeing but then her sister Kendall Jenner took off even faster. Fast forward to now, and Charli D’Amelio has taken off even faster,” he said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Montgomery sold a reality show, called “The Hype House,” to Netflix about a group of influencers living under the same roof. The reality series, set to debut later this year, features digital influencers who, collectively, have nearly 200 million social-media followers.
Hollywood has taken notice that younger generations are spending less time consuming movies and television. A recent study by Deloitte said that Gen Zers—defined as ages 14 to 24—prefer playing videogames, listening to music, browsing the internet and scrolling through social media in their leisure time over watching movies and TV at home. Every older generation ranked movies and TV as their top entertainment option.
“Traditional Hollywood is really in a weird spot right now because they’re seeing TikTokers and YouTubers becoming more popular than traditional actors and actresses,” says Reed Duchscher, an agent who represents influencers like Jimmy Donaldson, a 23-year-old YouTube creator known as MrBeast with more than 69 million subscribers. He became famous for stunts, tricks and giving money away.
Discovering potential stars on the internet isn’t a new phenomenon. Comedian, actress and rapper Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, and singer Justin Bieber first attracted attention on YouTube years ago. As the number of people creating content on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok has surged, there are more opportunities for digital stars to make money online and parlay that success offline, agents and executives say. The online platforms have also evolved their algorithms to more effectively direct viewers toward popular content.
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Top influencers can make tens of millions of dollars a year raking in cash through sponsored content, ad-revenue sharing and subscriptions to exclusive content. In the U.S., the number of YouTube channels making at least $100,000 in revenue grew by more than 35% in 2020, YouTube said.
“You used to need the studios to be famous,” says Dan Weinstein, a former United Talent Agency trainee who co-founded Underscore Talent. The company represents independent creators like Dubai-based YouTubers Vlad and Niki, school-age brothers that have nearly 72 million subscribers on the platform. Backed by elaborate sound effects, the brothers sometimes interact with their family, play, do crafts or have celebrations.
Initially studios proceeded cautiously, choosing to work with influencers on a limited basis, according to talent agents. Executives either contracted influencers to market films and TV series to their followers or cast them to play minor roles in movies and television.
Captivating audiences in the real world hasn’t been easy for some online talents. After two seasons, NBC this year canceled Canadian comedian and YouTuber Lilly Singh’s late-night talk show, “A Little Late with Lilly Singh.” After the announcement, Ms. Singh said that she signed a deal to produce television for an arm of NBCUniversal and was developing a comedy project with Netflix.
Meanwhile, veteran celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Reynolds and Will Smith are increasingly following the playbook created by online talents to foster relationships with fans and create more value for themselves or companies they invest in.
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“Digital creators have really sketched the map for what it means to be able to go directly to consumers, directly to your audience,” says Ali Berman, who as head of UTA’s digital talent division represents Ms. D’Amelio.
Dwayne Johnson —also known as The Rock—has spent more than 20 years in wrestling, television and film, but he initially struggled to attract viewers on YouTube. Mr. Johnson hired a team of digital-content producers who suggested making a video with top YouTubers, which helped the actor’s channel take off.
Now, Mr. Johnson promotes his movies and endeavors, like his tequila brand, via both his YouTube channel and Instagram account, which have 5.7 million and 269 million followers, respectively.
“Even if he has a bad movie, it doesn’t matter because of the relationship he has with his fans,” said Mo Darwiche, one of the producers who worked on promoting Mr. Johnson’s YouTube channel.