It's about to get much easier to figure out who's up, who's down and who's out in Hollywood.
Attendees at TheWrap's annual media conference, TheGrill, on Tuesday were given a preview of the PowerGrid, which will offer a daily-updated hierarchy of actors, directors, producers and writers based on their most recent and upcoming projects.
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An offshoot of TheWrap's sister site ItsontheGrid.com, the PowerGrid will be "a ranking of every person, project and company in Hollywood," said Jason Scoggins, chief product officer of The Wrap News Inc. and creator of ItsontheGrid.
(Photograph by Jonathan Alcorn)
Scoggins went on to detail the sophisticated equation that calculates the PowerGrid power scores, which take into account both commercial and artistic success, as measured by box office and critical reception. Also taken into account: factors such as earnings vs. cost, Oscar nominations and wins, among other elements.
The result is a "power score" that runs from 1 to 100. In addition, projects and people are given a "power rank," with individuals ranked based on the totality of their works. (Currently, Tom Cruise is the top-ranked actor.)
And yes, managers and agents will receive their own ranks as well.
By way of example, Scoggins pointed out that "The King's Speech" is currently the 10th highest-ranking movie, based on its relatively low cost, big box-office take, critical acclaim and Oscar wins. (The film has a near-perfect 97.24 power score.)
Individuals' most recent projects will factor most heavily into their scores and rankings, though Scoggins pointed out that projects in development will also be taken into consideration. Career longevity also figures into individual rankings.
Said TheWrap's editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman, "It's a live snapshot of who's working and who's working successfully."