I hope everyone is well and gearing up for a massive Christmas time...a special hello to two of my friends, Blondie and Sleepinbeauty who are both looking great in their own very individual ways... to everyone else a hearty g'day...

A special thank you also to Jane Seymour for this new signing, which she of course donates to charity. Also a merci bocoup to the eternally sensual Stella Stevens for not only a signing, but a land record reply to my interview questions, which hopefully I will do justice to shortly...

I often wonder whether actors ever sit down and work out the importance of photos to their careers. I know many of the stars of the 40-50s certainly never did and often use photos with fear and trepidation due to possible copyright infringements. Some actors have agents who absolutely choke the life out of their images. They have total control over their images, but often to the detriment of their client's financial welfare. Of course, I am not referring to major stars where money is of little consequence and signings are often for charity or out of respect to their fans. However, some stars, like say Bettie Page, who has a wonderful website, which also flogs hundreds of items contaning her images, the ability to actually purchase authentic signed photos is barely possible due to the often outrageous demands and red tape of some of her "minders" Perhaps I may be judging this example badly, but from my past experience of trying to deal with them, that I often wondered whether they were thinking of Ms Page's best interested or not. Especially baring in mind some of the other signings she has done over the years and for much less money and on inferior stock...

As I begin dealing more with younger actors I always recommend to them to think of their photos as part of their superannuation fund. That they should try and receive all copyright or partial copyright control over all of their images so that they may one day have autograph signings as a fall back position if they should happen to move out of or be pushed out of acting for a myriad of reasons... When you consider that young beauty Elisha Dushka could make something like 20,000 pounds for a weekend's work in England or that Val Kilmer made over US$50,000 signing at a show in LA (and charging fans US$50 for a photo op) then you have to know that many lesser actors who have short but successful careers with one or two hit shows can do very well from this market. If we go to the middle of the road, try Bob Denver, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island, or Barbara Feldon and Don Adams from Get Smart have done (or did) very well from the autograph trade...proper marketing and accessiblity also reduces the amount of fakes and forgeries sold because fans will come to the actor and avoid the shysters on sites like eBay...(and help the good dealers trying to survive there) And there are ways to do this that requires the absolute minimum involvement and use of the actor's valuable time.

More and more actors are exploiting the web to their benefit but it certainly doesn't hurt them to plan ahead and understand the market better. To be truthful many of the adult entertainers on the web have exploited the potential earnings far more keenly than mainstream actors and celebrities...with far less actual long term potential. Personally I think many of the 30 something ladies in the adult/porn industry are a damned site smarter business people than many mainstream executives going around. I think over time sites like MySpace are becoming more of a meeting place for actors/singers/models and are also allowing fans and celebs to interact safely...this type of thing will also add something positive to the mix....

While autograph collecting is a business for many, it is also something to be cherished and enjoyed and to me it is important to encourage as many actors as possible to become involved in the business to bring better quality photos, interesting images and increasing the integrity of pieces by making it less wothwhile for the con artists... anything that draws people away from the fakers or stops sites like eBay from making millions of dollars on the back of fraudsters then the better for everyone. After all it seems pointless to me for so many talented actors to spend their careers building a name for themselves not to then be able to cash in on it somewhere along the line. And for some of the younger actors still finding their way it is an excellent way to bolster their income until the really big break comes along...

To everyone a grand Christmas and catch you all in 2006...

Here endeth blog #8

PS Drive safely...