The making of a motion picture is a very expensive proposition in today's market, and the distribution and marketing of the film once it is made is an endeavor fraught with perils. Producers attempt to hedge their bets, as it were, by following certain ideas they have of what will sell, including which stars will bring people into the theater. When the film was being developed as an entertainment medium in the early 1900s, producers deliberately kept the names of the actors from the public based on the belief that if the actors grew too popular, they would want more money, which is precisely what happened. However, both sides benefited in that the producers discovered certain stars could attract a following and bring in an audience in film after film, thus serving as a sort of insurance for the costs of a film The star system was the result, and that system has changed in the favor of the actors as the studio system has disappeared. Today, stars that can attract an audience can also command huge salaries. Even producers of small films try to find way to hedge their bets and turn to personalities to bring in an audience. This is a method that sometimes works and sometimes does not, as can be seen from recent films such as The Pallbearer and The Truth about Cats and Dogs. Both films would be called small-budget films and yet still need whatever advantage they can gain in a competitive marketplace.
Neither of these two films features a major star, though both have stars with a growing following. The Pallbearer features a television star, David Schwimmer, who has become popular on the small screen as one of the stars of the NBC television show Friends. That is what is known as an ensemble show featuring a large number of performers rather than merely one. The popularity of this show has meant that each of the six or so stars of the show have been moving into feature films as leads, with the success of such a move yet to be ...