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Los Angeles -- Cher offers to sell you cappuccino mugs and sweat pants.
Will Smith gives you a chance to win his upcoming video compilation. Michael
Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones announce their engagement. Cybill Shepherd
greets you with balloons and cake, wearing a party hat to celebrate her 50th
birthday. Leonard DiCaprio offers a ticket to his own party - the premiere for
his movie "The Beach". It's all happening on the Internet at
"official" celebrity websites.
As distinguished from "fan sites", official websites are
created in collaboration with the celebrities themselves, or at least with
their cooperation and approval. Like fan sites, they feature photos, news
articles, biographies, filmographies, and merchandise for sale. Though
they vary in quality from amateurish to state of the art, official sites
on the whole are more professionally designed and feature better content
than fan sites.
They can be educational. Jerry Lewis provides an audio lesson on proper
use of your mouse. Lily Tomlin conducts a private tour of her personal
cheese museum. Fernanda Montenegro presents a video "Message for
Netheadz" (in Portugese).
Warhol's 15 minutes of fame are not enough when you can achieve
immortality on the Internet. The time will come when almost every working
actor will feel the need to have an "official" website, but
we're not nearly there yet. In fact, most actors today fall into five
categories:
1. "I'm already making $20 Million a picture, why do I need a
website?"
2. "My fans think I'm so gorgeous, 32 of them have
already done websites for me -- for free!"
3. "What can a
website do for me that my agent can't do?"
4. "This whole
Internet thing is just silly and below my dignity -- I haven't figured out
how to get online myself."
5. "I can't afford to have my own
official website."
Some actors fall into more than one category -- some are in all five!
As a group, though, they are beginning to catch on to the fact that
they really ought to do something about having their own official home
page. For the most successful actors, such as Ian McKellen, it can be an
extension of their career into a new medium -- a way of giving back
something of value directly to the public. McKellen.com
started in Sir
Ian's mind as a substitute for an autobiographical book, but it has become
something more like a library or an encyclopedia. He probably has more
information about British Theatre in the '60s - '80s than any other site
on the Net, including posters, cast lists, photos, and anecdotes about
over 150 productions. Actors looking for insight into other actors'
methods can find documents like Lynn Redgrave's "Hanna
Notebooks" at redgrave.com. Directors about to stage a new production
will want to use the Internet to research prior production history, photos
of sets, and reviews (though they'll find mostly the good reviews at
official sites - who can blame them for putting the best spin on things?)
An official home page for an actor will at least reduce the number of
dreadful fan sites. Now most of the fan sites are wonderful, and they
certainly are flattering, but they often tell you more about the fan than
they do about the actor. Sometimes what they have to say about the actor
is incorrect, out of date, or irrelevant. The quality of the photographs
and other design elements are often not the best - after all they're not
getting paid. For the moment, though, the fan sites provide the bulk of
factual information about actors, and they have been a tremendous service.
Still, eventually most actors will realize they need to control the
content of an official page if they want to have accurate, high quality
information about them on the Internet.
An official website can increase the visibility of an actor in the
public's eye, in the press, and within the professional community. A few
minutes spent at an official home page can instantly familiarize people
with who you are, what you've done, what you're doing, and what you want
to do. Unlike other media, the information is available "on
demand" to people who are thinking about attending a movie or play,
to writers about to do a story, to casting directors about to take a
meeting.
Hollywood is famously a place where everyone works a "day
job" while they pursue their true ambitions. Waiters want to be
actors, actors want to be directors, directors want to become producers,
producers want to run studios, and studio chiefs want to own casinos. A
website can emphasize different aspects of talent to help with such career
moves.
The new generation of actors are totally hip to the Internet. Their
home pages go online as soon as they have their first set of head shots
and a resume - sometimes before their first paying job. When success
comes, they'll bring their websites along and continue to develop them.
The Internet is changing the rules of the old game of public relations.
As soon as a film starts production, information becomes available
instantly to everyone on the Internet. Dozens of sites, such as Harry
Knowles' "Aint-It-Cool-News", monitor the finest details of
script, cast, crew, budget, costumes, locations, and production. Actors'
websites can be viewed as a hinderance by the studios, who want to run the
whole show. Pressure is building on the studios to loosen their grip on
publicity materials for use at their stars' official websites. I was
recently in the offices of Fox, pleading to run photos from the set of the
upcoming Bryan Singer film "X-Men". I was politely refused, and
told I shouldn't feel bad: Leonardo DiCaprio had been in earlier that day
trying to pry loose some stills from "The Beach" to run on his
own website. It's becoming less possible for the studios to control
release of information, to run a "closed set" and maintain the
elements of surprise to create excitement. The Internet creates excitement
in another, more direct way -- through interactive involvement of the
public in the inner workings of the production. By fostering that
relationship online, official websites can increase the interest of the
public in a project or a career -- and at the box office.
A website is only as good as its content. Luckily, many actors are
packrats. These people keep scrapbooks going back to early school
productions: programs, clippings, snapshots, telegrams, and props. In the
past, these wonders have rarely made it out of their attics or cellars.
The luckier collections wound up in cardboard boxes in the vaults of
University libraries in Indiana or Texas. A website makes it practical for
actors to present the treasures from their trunks to the public during
their lifetimes. Of course, every website needs a good webmaster and the
closer the collaboration between the "Samuel Johnson" and his or
her "Boswell", the better. They will spend a lot of time
together, so it helps if they are patient and understanding of each
other's needs. The webmaster must learn to project the actor's
personality, philosophy, and image. He or she must take their subjects'
ideas, and structure them in a way that works on the web. You can't just
dump boxes of material into a hopper that churns out web pages. They have
to be organized and presented in a way that makes it quick and easy for
people to find what they need, and to keep it all entertaining.
Email is the real wonder of the Internet, turning an actor's website
into a two-way communication. With the slightest encouragement, fans
eagerly send in their opinions, flattery, criticism, encouragement, and
questions - and actors eagerly read them. Aside from the occasional
maniac, fans don't really expect a reply, and are thrilled by the thought
that their idol might actually read their message. Actors tend to travel a
lot to work, and there's always some idle time between performances or
shots while on location. Email can reach them instantly wherever they may
be and they may even have time to answer a few of them. Again, the old
"star system" ideals of aloofness and mystery should give way
somewhat to the possibilities of more personal involvement in this
electronic universe. It should be part of the actor's job to keep in touch
with their fan base. Email and official websites make that easier.
Here's a selection of some of the best "official" celebrity
websites: Jeff Bridges (jeffbridges.com) - casual, handwritten graphic
elements fit his personality perfectly. Malcolm MacDowell (malcolm-mcdowell.com)
- cool, well-organized Italian design with great photos and just the right
amount of information. Lily Tomlin (lilytomlin.com) - a collaboration
between Lily and artist Allee Willis, this is a near-perfect exploitation
of the WWW for entertainment purposes. Sam Neill (metalab.unc.edu/samneill)--
His website is run from an American university computer, and appear to be
in the form of somebody's doctoral thesis. Lots of facts, clinically
organized -- at least they're intelligent and pertinent. Willie Nelson (willienelson.com)
- Designed by his daughter, this site really makes you feel like one of the family - and a fun family it is. Willie shows off his new
great-grandson. Kevin Spacey (spacey.com) - The FAQ page is appropriately,
mysteriously, completely blank. Rodney Dangerfield (rodney.com) threatens
to leave nasty messages on your voice mail. Rodney's is the only celebrity site with
its own online casino. Jet Li (jet-li.com) -- Totally zen
Also rans: Frankie Avalon (frankieavalon.com) offers his line of
tanning products. Tori Spelling (tori-spelling.com) shows off her poodle.
Camryn Mannheim (camryn.com) sends you to her brother's online law school.
Esther Williams (esther-williams.com) sponsors an essay contest.
Other websites mentioned: Cybill Shepherd (cybill.com) Fernanda
Montenegro (www.uol.com/fernandamontenegro) Leonardo DiCaprio
(lenoardodicaprio.com)
Jerry Lewis (jerrylewiscomedy.com) Cher
(cher.com) Michael Douglas
(michaeldouglas.com)
Catherine Zeta-Jones (greenroomonline.com/Stars/ZetaJones)
Keith Stern is a website designer based in Hollywood. He has
produced official websites for Ian McKellen, Lynn Redgrave, and Spinal
Tap.
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