Young Stars Becoming Movie Dealmakers

In Hollywood, it used to be you had to produce before you produced. But it’s not the case anymore with a crop of teenage and young adult stars who are moving onto the backlots of Tinseltown with production companies. Selena Gomez, 19, who is starring in “Monte Carlo,” has a development deal.

Gomez is just one of several young actors – including 23-year-old Zac Efron and 19-year-old Taylor Lautner – producing their own movies. These actors have their own production companies, but they’re not necessarily calling the shots in Hollywood – yet.

According to one veteran producer, for many young actors, production deals provide a way to pay a manager or family member who’s been an informal adviser without having to take money out of the actor’s salary. And producing is a way for the actors to select some of the movies they make.

“This provides an element of control, and in this business, every inch of that is pretty powerful,” Efron said in an interview last year.

Studios often cut production deals with actors as a way to sustain a relationship with someone they want to star in their movies. But these young actors may not even be doing the actual producing. Taylor Lautner’s dad, Dan, with whom Taylor partnered with to open his production company, is listed as the producer of their company’s first movie, this fall’s “Abduction.” And Gomez’s mom reportedly runs her production company.

“There are tons of production companies headed up by talent. The studios will give them a deal, overhead and office space, but most of the pictures never get made,” says one entertainment attorney.
Still, Universal reportedly just acquired a project for Gomez’s two-and-a-half-year-old production company earlier this year. And Efron has seven projects in development.

Ultimately it’s up to the actor to determine whether their production pact becomes a mere vanity deal or a significant business venture. Natalie Portman, who just turned 30, has begun to establish herself as a successful actor-producer, releasing three films that she starred in and produced, including “No Strings Attached,” a $25 million movie that made nearly $150 million at the global box office.

Quelle