They must be doing something right

SWIFT. Leaps to the top of the heap. AFP

Producers and financiers of entertainment products worldwide keep tabs on the most popular box office draws on an annual basis.

Since popularity translates into profitability, they are aided in their “research” by lists of the top-earning stars of the year, like the one just released for 2015 by Forbes magazine.

The “breaking news” revelation in Forbes’ comparative computation of celebrities’ gross income last year is that the top earner isn’t a veteran star, but relative newbie Taylor Swift, who’s only 26 years young.

In 2014, the recording star and live concert tour draw earned an already impressive $80 million, but her almost 100-percent leap to the top of the heap is well nigh unheard of.

In 2014, the box office champ was another young singer, Katy Perry, who racked up a similarly amazing $135 million. For 2015, however, Perry dropped to No. 63, grossing “only” $41 million. —Easy come, easy go?

Other top celebrity earners for 2015 include the One Direction boy band ($110 million) at No.2, and Adele also did well at $80 million, while Rihanna pulled in $75 million.

These names and grosses point us to the truly “breaking news” revelation of Forbes’ list: Swift, One Direction, Adele and Rihanna’s shared dominance of the charts and the box office proves that, in show biz, youth is definitely not wasted on the young, and that the new generation of stars has come into its own as industry pacesetters.

On the TV-film scene, young stars are also showing the way, with Jennifer Lawrence “ruling” the roost two years in a row, grossing $46 million last year. Her male counterpart, Dwayne Johnson, earned $64 million. He may not be a spring chicken or cockerel, but as a movie draw, his stellar ascendancy has been relatively recent.

Change is coming

Change is coming not just in government, but also in the entertainment industry, paced by a number of avowed and actual improvements (knock on wood) in the way things are run, and in individual stars’ career arcs.

On the “institutional” side, reforms in the Metro Manila Film Festival are hopefully forthcoming starting with this year’s fest.

We hope that they will be successful and effective, and thus motivate other biz-related organization to clean up and improve their own problematic acts.

For instance, there’s a lot that our TV channels and the relevant government regulatory bodies can do to make TV people do much better, professional and responsible work.

Many TV-film “awards” have also not set reliable standards and touchstones for genuine excellence, so a number of them should be thoroughly revised, reconsidered and perhaps even scrapped—so they can no longer muddle up the already fuzzy picture related to quality, artistry and service to the viewing public.

The welfare of people working in entertainment also needs to be addressed—a huge and largely neglected problem. Given the industry’s lack of job security, quite a number of performers and other talents fall into very bad financial times, get sick, rack up huge debts—with precious little help and hope of surcease from anybody.

Concerned industry leaders should finally act to solve this festering and generally unaddressed problem—the ugly side of the ostensibly glamorous entertainment trade.

More playdates

In addition, the indie film movement has a problem getting enough playdates in the mainstream theater circuit, so all parties involved should join forces to solve this stultifying lack of welcoming venues. If not, more directors and producers could lose their shirts—and the key movement and heartening trend would be nipped in the bud.

Surveying prospects of change on a more individual basis, we see more starlets and stars not just playing the same roles over and over again, but opting to challenge themselves with career-energizing roles.

This month, they’re paced by Enrique Gil, whose facile and superficial rom-com romps have made him a generally predictable performer.

Finally realizing that he’s grinningly acted himself into an unfunny rut, Gil is playing a radically rigorous role in his latest film starrer, “Dukot.”

We hope that the big shift will turn out well for him, so other young actors will see that this is the way to go for them, as well—and local screen portrayals will be all the richer and more textured for it!