Artist Anne Fewell sat down to ask producer, talent manager and writer Bruce Edwin some questions concerning his work in Hollywood. The following is the exclusive interview.
Anne Fewell: I have heard you say that you are very interested in the fine arts and like to help artists to promote their work. Can you elaborate on that, in example; the extent of your fascination with art, its importance to the culture, and how you help visual artists to get their work known?
Bruce Edwin: I have loved to create art since I was a young child, from drawing, sketching, painting, making mazes, making haunted houses, writing short stories, writing poetry, and later, creating film and photography among more. Writing literally saved me, by it being an emotional outlet for me as a teenager. I always need to be creating in some way- usually writing, in order to be happy. It is as essential for me to create art as it is for others to breathe. It is not really a choice, it is a necessity. The arts to me are the most important thing in life, as well as nature, taking care of physical needs, loved ones, and the body, mind, and spirit. And to me, art is a part of taking care of the mind and spirit.
I love to work with artists because I am a fan of artists and a fan of great, creative talent, so it gives me great pleasure to work with creative artists, be near their creative vitality and wavelength, and help them expand. The way I help artists get their work known is through helping them to refine and define who they are and what they intend to do and are doing in the press and media, and to get those messages out in the widest and most effective way possible through my lines of communication as a producer, manager, and public relations manager.
Anne Fewell: What is your main purpose of getting visual artists work promoted into the culture?
Bruce Edwin: To expand life. When I discover a great new artist, whether it be a painter, singer, actor, or whatever form of art they create, I get so excited about it and I have always wanted to share the talents of these people I have met and seen with the world. That is why I started my rock magazine back in the 90’s, and that is why I was drawn to becoming a model and talent scout and later talent manager over a decade ago. I love to promote artists and help artists, because I love the arts, and I am a huge fan of the creative arts- in all areas. And I love to see artists create. Art to me is life, because great art can lift someone out of feeling misery, to make them feel like they want to conquer the world. I know this for a fact to be true, because music did this for me myself. The arts, creating, and observing and appreciating the arts can be the best therapy that money can buy.
Anne Fewell: What methods do you use to promote visual artists?
The internet; promoting them far and wide on certain websites, and the phone; introducing them to television and film producers, directors, and casting directors, among more.
Anne Fewell: Do you have a record of successes from artists of how effective the promotion was that they are making sales?
Bruce Edwin: Well, I hope I do! If I didn’t, I don’t think I would have been successfully self employed in the entertainment business as I have been for the past decade as a talent manager, and now as a public relations manager and producer, and before that, for nearly ten years as an entertainment magazine publisher and writer. I work for myself, and I work for my clients.
If you read my last interview, I discussed the difference between sales, publicity, and marketing. When I do the job of public relations for a client, a press agent does not really measure sales, we measure impressions and views.
When a talent manager or agent promotes an artist, the promotion is limited to one specific target of a job which is either- job or no job. The record of success of an agent or manager is; did they bring the artist valuable offers of work or press or other attention that they did not have before them, and that the artist may have not gotten on their own? An agent or manager sells the artist to the extent of introducing the artist to a paying client or to the public. The agent or manager can close the sale, but the sale is also largely determined by the artists ability to close a sale in an audition, and by the perceived value of the artists’ talent, look, marketability, and value to the market place of the entertainment industry which is determined by a whole big number of things which I will not digress on here now.
A producer does not focus on one individual’s sales when they promote a project; they are concerned with the sales of the project, not each player who is their own separate entity. For example, if Clint Eastwood is making a film with Natalie Portman, Clint’s team is going to be concerned with how many sales the film makes; domestic, overseas, DVD, video on demand, and any of its related products such as a comic book, t-shirt, or similar. They are not necessarily going to be measuring how many bottles of perfume is being sold by Natalie’s own new line of fragrance, because that effects her economy, not theirs. A producer may only measure stars individual performance to the degree that they need to know how strong their market is and how those sales may trickle over to their product- which is the film property and its ancillaries.
The record of success of public relations is determined by the artist as to whether they have more attention, and, or more valuable attention after the work of the publicist than before. Or in some cases of damage control, the measure of success of a publicist may be if they helped repair the reputation of an artist.
The ultimate measure of sales of an artist is determined by the artists own sales department, which should be established by the artist, before the artist is successful enough to make sales of their own unique valuable product, and maintained throughout their career.
When an artist is making regular income, then the artists’ agent or manager certainly will have an accounting department that monitors and evaluates the sales revenue of the artist, and help handle that. An artist should also at some point, eventually have their own finance department, which is headed by a president of finance, and a money manager.
Bruce Edwin: If one is well known already- a celebrity, they merely have to have their agent, manager, or publicist contact us for this consideration. We promote select unknown artists on the site if they are interested in a public relations campaign that we help create for them for a fee. If they claim they are broke, I will give free advice to select artists concerning how they can start making money on their creative work now, and I am also willing to help cover, defer, or reduce costs to help certain artists that I strongly believe in.
For more information on Bruce Edwin, visit the official website at www.BruceEdwin.com
To read more about artist Anne Fewell and see her work, visit her site at: http://www.artbyannefewell.blogspot.com/
