With TikTok naming Dakota Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Zoë Kravitz ‘Nepo-babies’, this phenomenon has taken the pop-culture world by storm.
Often hyper-focused on within popular culture and public media, nepo-babies are of all ages. Their success is seen to come from ‘nepotism’ with them being the children of already well-known names in the creative industries.
Thus, ‘non-nepo-babies’ is the term coined by those who face difficulties in the creative industry – the industry where connections can outweigh talent and it is who you know, not what you know.
Following his recent soar to fame, Saltburn star Barry Keoghan is what young people need to show them that success in creative industries is possible. Having lived in 13 different foster homes following a childhood exposed to drug addiction, hard work, dedication and talent have combined to make Keoghan one of the most successful debut creatives today. Similarly, honoured with BAFTA’s Fellowship Award, Samantha Morton dedicated her win to all children in care – having suffered within the system and experiencing homelessness throughout her life. Morton affirmed the idea that seeing people like her and her family on the screen, allows some young people to see themselves. Morton and Keoghan embody the consensus that to inspire young creatives, young people need to see content that represents them, whilst knowing that it was made by people who are like them.
Despite the success of these role models, nepotism is inherently ingrained within creative opportunities. Winning an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2023, at the SAG Awards (2023) where she accepted the same honour, Jamie Lee Curtis leaned into this phenomenon addressing the nepotism rumors as the daughter of old Hollywood stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis.
Although actors like Curtis often receive the brunt of criticism, it can sometimes feel unfair for those who have benefitted from nepotism not to address it. Whilst Dakota Johnson brushed off accusations of ‘nepotism’ as ‘annoying’ – saying her Dad cut her off when she wanted to be an actor – it appears as if nepo-babies are out of touch and unaware of their privilege. Despite Johnson’s obvious talent, it is important young creatives see honesty in their role models. Grace Beverley, creative influencer, and owner of businesses TALA and Shreddy, regularly champions the concept of honouring where you came from and opportunities certain types of privilege get you.
“there is a creative, cultural crisis”
So, what are the challenges for non-nepo babies and how does socio-economic background have an influence on whether you make it?
Networks, education, and creative inclination are three heavily influential factors affected by one’s socio-economic background.
In an industry where ‘who you know’ matters, having no connections when starting out can be extremely difficult. Influential mentorship, advice, opportunities, or a lack thereof, can determine if you can break out into success. Additionally, government cuts to arts education funding within the UK is having an impact on creative activities such as student film, perpetuating nepotistic cycles of privilege, as those with access to expensive extra-curricular activities can afford to train themselves.
Thus, education is a real barrier to breaking through nepotism as it should provide resources, networking opportunities, access to funding, arts groups, creative environments, and storytelling opportunities. It can impact funding deals and future connections, as well as collaborations and the portfolio an artist creates. As socio-economic factors often determine levels of arts education in Britain, a young artist’s background is unfortunately influential in determining their future.
Within England, the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee published an inquiry into challenges affecting creative industries. The report highlighted five priorities, one of which was blind spots in education, where it placed emphasis on ‘changing the lazy rhetoric’ about arts courses and displayed the barriers which exist in getting jobs in the industry.
Compounding these issues of injustice and inequality there is a creative, cultural crisis at stake with high rates of nepotism. Media is being created about ‘ordinary’ people by people who do not understand the issues being represented. There is a risk of directors, producers, actors and playwrights being out of touch – as voices are excluded from the creative processes and echo chambers are created.
This raises an issue for society, as it affects artistic output. More voices need to be heard, so that more people can relate to the art being created. Therefore, governments, arts institutions and community groups should increase funding to support artists from all backgrounds to gain the skills to get into top institutions. This is a challenging task, but shouldn’t detract from the action which needs to happen.
“More voices need to be heard, so that more people can relate to the art being created”
Similarly, it is plausible that those raised with museum, art gallery and cinema visits or artistic parents will be more likely to seek artistic outlets in their lives. Therefore, people raised around art and creativity will probably already know some basic terminologies, locations, events, and industry jargon. These people are pre-disposed to engage in creative degrees, projects and events. This gives them an advantage over those who discover their creative slant after leaving home. To these individuals, following a career in the arts can be daunting with overwhelming feelings of imposter syndrome.
This whistle stop tour of the term ‘nepo-babies’ has shown that YES – the creative world is that difficult to get in to, as it is often a game of connections and getting the right advice from the ‘right people’. Some may be confused by how and when to enter the creative world, who they need to talk to, impress, audition for and network with. New training, and insights into career pathways need to be advertised, and young creative interests need to be nurtured. More workshops on proactively developing skills, leveraging online platforms and industry literacy need to be on offer and those who hold the power, such as casting directors and hiring teams, must seek new non-nepo talent within their industries. This is a societal responsibility to ensure the flourishing future of the creative industries.