This is a good news bad news scenario, so we’ll start with the bad news. No, “power puss” is not some glib epithet created by a secretly misogynistic male entertainment reporter to describe female power players in Hollywood, so this post has no good news to report about the glaring disparity between male and female directors in the film industry. Sorry, folks. Okay, now the good news! “Power puss” is the epithet The Wrap devised for a very elite, very marketable group of internet cats that are signing on for relatively large “Hollywood” deals thanks to the tireless efforts of their managers/owners.
“Hollywood” gets quarantined in scare quotes here because, no matter how famous Lil BUB and Grumpy Cat get, they’re never getting that plum starring role in a Scorsese movie, and have very likely, now that they’re all mainstream, reached the apex of their fame. It’s all downhill from the point you, like Lil BUB just did, sign a contract to host a talk show that may include guests like Whoopi Goldberg, body-enhancing CGI effects, and the inner monologue stylings of comedian Tig Notaro. What else can BUB’s owner/manager Mike Bridavsky — who claims he waits for potential deals to come to him because apparently his cat is some sort of powerful electromagnet for fame and fortune — do now that he’s signed BUB up with Revision3, a YouTube network with ties to Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, as well as a willingness to cede almost total, despotic creative control to the BUB/Bridavsky entertainment juggernaut?
The same goes for Grumpy Cat, though manager Ben Lashes (along with owners Tabitha and Bryan Bundesen) have been more tight-lipped about Grumpy Cat’s deals. What we do know is that Grumpy Cat recently landed a film deal with Broken Road Productions, though Lashes (whose name seems kinda made up, just saying) won’t discuss all the juicy financial details because he’s a buzzkill. What is Grumpy Cat doing with all her thousands of dollars? Taking out a new mortgage on a Barbie Malibu Dream House? Building a table made of laptops on which she can sit and warm her undercarriage? The inquiring public has a right to know.
Rise of the Hollywood Cats [The Wrap]
Image via AP, Gene Pittman