Nepo Babies Are Taking Hollywood’s Last Entry-Level Jobs: The hiring machine rewards proximity over talent – and many worry that an industry filtering its next generation through family connections is engineering its own creative decline.
Like any industry, if you know people on the industry it will be significantly easier to get into the industry.
Evening-Golf-6375 on
This is really depressing.
TrueRedditMartyr on
Im sure there’s talented nepo actors, but I simply dont care when they only had these chances in the first place because their parents. And no, them saying theyre nepo babies doesn’t make it better. A billionaire saying he doesn’t deserve it doesn’t make me forgive them unless they do something. Promote smaller actors, take small roles with new directors, something. Idgaf you realize you just got lucky if you dont help anyone else who *didn’t* get lucky
Silver-Foot-259 on
Ooo Eve Hewson will be mad about this
BukiWeLoveYou on
This is true for all industries
[deleted] on
[deleted]
GrecoRomanGuy on
Cool, so more and more stories made will come across as elitist and out of touch, which will disengage audiences and further fuel the stereotype that Hollywood isn’t connected to the rest of us.
Bummer.
mixmasterADD on
Oh no nepo babies are going to write the 28th Spider-Man movie and it won’t be as original as the first 27
Safe-Reason1435 on
I find it hard to be as passionate about this topic as a lot of other people even though I feel like I *should* be more passionate about this particular topic. Familial connections help in every industry and no business at any scale is a true meritocracy. I also don’t understand what the practical “solution” is to this problem and you can only control what you can control.
I am fairly biased though as I am currently breaking into the filmmaking industry through competitions and networking, not pre-established connections, so maybe it’s easier for me to believe that the people who deserve it make it.
hydrangeasinbloom on
So basically when someone’s kid says “I want to start at the bottom, no special favors” it’s no better than if they just give them the C-Suite role.
username__0000 on
Every industry is like this.
It sucks being born in a family without connections.
At least in the small town I grew up in and moved back to, it’s like this for so many industries.
Which I think is accurate for bigger towns I lived in, we just didn’t know how everyone was related/connected in the bigger place.
In the smaller place everyone knows the family tree. Or where you went to school.
It’s been eye opening, and thinking back once I got to know people at work – There were a lot of connections, either family or alums of the same school.
frolicndetour on
Finally, we have a demonstrable reason to slag on nepo babies.
Old-Dinner-6108 on
It’s dehumanizing to be passed for employment opportunities because you don’t have any connections, are a minority or have no experience. It’s annoying to have been told your whole life to go to school, work hard and then you can get a job and make a respectable living. Everyone has been moved down a whole step on the ladder because of certain hiring practices and socio economical politics.
Entry level jobs are no longer truly entry level and that’s bleak.
Glock99bodies on
Nepotism is bad but I don’t think this is really a talent drain like people are suggesting. The best experience for a job is actually doing the job. The talent is being created by thoose working the job, so it’s not like talented people are not getting hired. It’s just the untalented nepos are getting hired over non nepo untalenteds and the nepos get the experience and become “talented”.
It’s the classic CEO son taking over a small construction company. Shadowing the CEO is better experience than putting up drywall so naturally the nepo can outperform long workers. Same thing in Hollywood ect.
icecreamsandwiches1 on
I mean that’s why there’s hardly any good movies or tv shows anymore compared to the 90s and 2000s.
Nepo baby writing and acting combined with seeing the same old faces.
I think that’s why Obsession and Backrooms is doing so well.
Savilavila on
Man I hate performative poverty. The nepo babies are starting from the bottom with the insufferable desire to be perceived as having “earned” their place. I remember a big wig championing the union because his kid was a PA and got yelled at…. And while I appreciated it my first thought was- “sir, your daughter does not need the PA job to pay the bills.”
I appreciate that this article exposes the greed of this type of performance. One thing is to get your kids to have a part-time job at an ice-cream shop to learn the value of a dollar. Another is to take away jobs from the bottom of the barrel of the jobs available in a vulnerable industry during a huge recession.
Nepo kids- you’re never going to win, because you already won. Just get the big job you’re unqualified for and prove you can put your expensive education to good use.
StyleAny6239 on
And it shows with the literal crap they keep stinking up the box office with. Movies today as a whole are hot wet garbage.
vandersnipe on
I will never understand why these unpaid internships can’t have more openings. I understand paid internships have to be more selective and have less openings, but unpaid internships are no different than volunteer work in my eyes. Can someone provide insight into this? Is it some psychological reason to make unpaid internships look more prestigious by limiting the openings?
therealdanhill on
I mean if I work hard at a job I would hope I would have enough sway to get my kid a job
ohyeesh on
They don’t care cuz when it comes down to fighting over resources, it’s wealth that ultimately prevails in their world, not creativity itself or the art.
BotchedDesign on
this felt obvious given the doodoo tv shows and movies being produced as of late
AdContent8726 on
This is the same everywhere. Any office I’ve been in or known have have every relative in the family tree rising faster then actually qualified people.
Got the Kings/queens again being the billionaires, but it all trickles down to minor lords through every industry
ax6klbjckhunter on
This is why I have so much distain for those “I had to work hard” “I had to prove myself too” nepo actors.
Yes, many of them are talented & will have had to work hard & play the game, but there’s thousands of hard working talents who play the game, but because they’re father isn’t an executive & their mother isn’t an actor, they never get their foot in the door.
One-Composer1577 on
While we’re on the topic of nepotism babies, I just want to highlight it’s simultaneously becoming even more difficult to get into acting from a working-class or poor background. And if by some miracle these people are able to pursue acting, it’s more difficult to keep themselves afloat as working actors.
PrudentBell5751 on
As an aspiring actor this is very concerning and disheartening 🥺
Equivalent_Ideal1636 on
And thats why everything sucks now
apcali209 on
I still think about the Ben Stiller twitter debate a few years ago about nepotism in Hollywood he seemed completely clueless almost like he pulled a Zoolander in real life.
Exotic-Home-8153 on
Or it’s just the same 5 actors in EVERY damn movie or TV show.
i_amtheice on
Nepo babies and lottery winners. That’s the entire economy right now and it’s why we’re all so pissed off. We’ve got to dislodge the hoarded fortunes of the thousand billionaires and loosen things up for everyone else.
fancybeadedplacemat on
When all of the movies are remakes, sequels, prequels, and ‘reimaginings,’ aren’t we already firmly in the creative decline?
MutedMusic_182 on
i’m just going to go live in a fucking cabin in the woods at this point
jkaladok on
There is literally nothing new about this. It’s been like this from the beginning.
heyybyyybyyyy on
So we have an extensive article about this, but no solutions from people knowing this problem exist from companies, so, hopefully, is not like this entirely? Got it.
peatoast on
That’s how it is in other industries, although you may not call in straight up nepotism. Your network is what can get you a great job nowadays.
34 Comments
Like any industry, if you know people on the industry it will be significantly easier to get into the industry.
This is really depressing.
Im sure there’s talented nepo actors, but I simply dont care when they only had these chances in the first place because their parents. And no, them saying theyre nepo babies doesn’t make it better. A billionaire saying he doesn’t deserve it doesn’t make me forgive them unless they do something. Promote smaller actors, take small roles with new directors, something. Idgaf you realize you just got lucky if you dont help anyone else who *didn’t* get lucky
Ooo Eve Hewson will be mad about this
This is true for all industries
[deleted]
Cool, so more and more stories made will come across as elitist and out of touch, which will disengage audiences and further fuel the stereotype that Hollywood isn’t connected to the rest of us.
Bummer.
Oh no nepo babies are going to write the 28th Spider-Man movie and it won’t be as original as the first 27
I find it hard to be as passionate about this topic as a lot of other people even though I feel like I *should* be more passionate about this particular topic. Familial connections help in every industry and no business at any scale is a true meritocracy. I also don’t understand what the practical “solution” is to this problem and you can only control what you can control.
I am fairly biased though as I am currently breaking into the filmmaking industry through competitions and networking, not pre-established connections, so maybe it’s easier for me to believe that the people who deserve it make it.
So basically when someone’s kid says “I want to start at the bottom, no special favors” it’s no better than if they just give them the C-Suite role.
Every industry is like this.
It sucks being born in a family without connections.
At least in the small town I grew up in and moved back to, it’s like this for so many industries.
Which I think is accurate for bigger towns I lived in, we just didn’t know how everyone was related/connected in the bigger place.
In the smaller place everyone knows the family tree. Or where you went to school.
It’s been eye opening, and thinking back once I got to know people at work – There were a lot of connections, either family or alums of the same school.
Finally, we have a demonstrable reason to slag on nepo babies.
It’s dehumanizing to be passed for employment opportunities because you don’t have any connections, are a minority or have no experience. It’s annoying to have been told your whole life to go to school, work hard and then you can get a job and make a respectable living. Everyone has been moved down a whole step on the ladder because of certain hiring practices and socio economical politics.
Entry level jobs are no longer truly entry level and that’s bleak.
Nepotism is bad but I don’t think this is really a talent drain like people are suggesting. The best experience for a job is actually doing the job. The talent is being created by thoose working the job, so it’s not like talented people are not getting hired. It’s just the untalented nepos are getting hired over non nepo untalenteds and the nepos get the experience and become “talented”.
It’s the classic CEO son taking over a small construction company. Shadowing the CEO is better experience than putting up drywall so naturally the nepo can outperform long workers. Same thing in Hollywood ect.
I mean that’s why there’s hardly any good movies or tv shows anymore compared to the 90s and 2000s.
Nepo baby writing and acting combined with seeing the same old faces.
I think that’s why Obsession and Backrooms is doing so well.
Man I hate performative poverty. The nepo babies are starting from the bottom with the insufferable desire to be perceived as having “earned” their place. I remember a big wig championing the union because his kid was a PA and got yelled at…. And while I appreciated it my first thought was- “sir, your daughter does not need the PA job to pay the bills.”
I appreciate that this article exposes the greed of this type of performance. One thing is to get your kids to have a part-time job at an ice-cream shop to learn the value of a dollar. Another is to take away jobs from the bottom of the barrel of the jobs available in a vulnerable industry during a huge recession.
Nepo kids- you’re never going to win, because you already won. Just get the big job you’re unqualified for and prove you can put your expensive education to good use.
And it shows with the literal crap they keep stinking up the box office with. Movies today as a whole are hot wet garbage.
I will never understand why these unpaid internships can’t have more openings. I understand paid internships have to be more selective and have less openings, but unpaid internships are no different than volunteer work in my eyes. Can someone provide insight into this? Is it some psychological reason to make unpaid internships look more prestigious by limiting the openings?
I mean if I work hard at a job I would hope I would have enough sway to get my kid a job
They don’t care cuz when it comes down to fighting over resources, it’s wealth that ultimately prevails in their world, not creativity itself or the art.
this felt obvious given the doodoo tv shows and movies being produced as of late
This is the same everywhere. Any office I’ve been in or known have have every relative in the family tree rising faster then actually qualified people.
Got the Kings/queens again being the billionaires, but it all trickles down to minor lords through every industry
This is why I have so much distain for those “I had to work hard” “I had to prove myself too” nepo actors.
Yes, many of them are talented & will have had to work hard & play the game, but there’s thousands of hard working talents who play the game, but because they’re father isn’t an executive & their mother isn’t an actor, they never get their foot in the door.
While we’re on the topic of nepotism babies, I just want to highlight it’s simultaneously becoming even more difficult to get into acting from a working-class or poor background. And if by some miracle these people are able to pursue acting, it’s more difficult to keep themselves afloat as working actors.
As an aspiring actor this is very concerning and disheartening 🥺
And thats why everything sucks now
I still think about the Ben Stiller twitter debate a few years ago about nepotism in Hollywood he seemed completely clueless almost like he pulled a Zoolander in real life.
Or it’s just the same 5 actors in EVERY damn movie or TV show.
Nepo babies and lottery winners. That’s the entire economy right now and it’s why we’re all so pissed off. We’ve got to dislodge the hoarded fortunes of the thousand billionaires and loosen things up for everyone else.
When all of the movies are remakes, sequels, prequels, and ‘reimaginings,’ aren’t we already firmly in the creative decline?
i’m just going to go live in a fucking cabin in the woods at this point
There is literally nothing new about this. It’s been like this from the beginning.
So we have an extensive article about this, but no solutions from people knowing this problem exist from companies, so, hopefully, is not like this entirely? Got it.
That’s how it is in other industries, although you may not call in straight up nepotism. Your network is what can get you a great job nowadays.