Agent Jeff Lotman is not interested in mere peasantry, however. His focus is on departed Hollywood royalty.
As founder of Culver City, California,-based Global Icons, which licenses the images of deceased celebrities, Lotman works closely with the relatives of such well-known late legends as Sammy Davis Jr., George Burns and W.C. Fields to ensure that a successful career in showbiz need not be impeded by something so trifling as death.
Want to use one of the above-mentioned well-knowns to promote a product, or cast their Workstation-produced likeness in your film? You gotta talke to Lotman, whose other clients include James Cagney, Clark Gable, Vincent Price, Donna Reed and Natalie Wood.
"A lot of times, when we sought out the executor of the estate for approval to use the celebrity's image, they expressed how unhappy they were with their current representation, which tended to focus more on protection," Lotman said. "We'll offer to come in and represent them from more of a marketing and business standpoint, which has created great opportunities for everyone all around."
According to Lotman, Global Icons is currently working on a feature-film project starring Marlene Dietrich in all her digitized glory. The film is reported to be a prequel to Casablanca.
"There's already a treatment," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I also hope to get Humphrey Bogart, Ingmar Bergman [sic], Claude Raines and Peter Lorre for that project. But I don't represent them. Not yet."
Although he has a background in film and animation, Lotman said he was working at his family's food distribution business back east when he was "blown away" by the scene in Forrest Gump depicting the title character's encounter with JFK. This gave him the idea for both his licensing company, as well as a firm that specializes in digital animation, Virtual Celebrity Productions.
Lotman added that he's aware of the controversies--both legal and moral--that surround the issue of digitally reanimating dead celebrities in current film, television and advertising projects, but stressed that the key to avoiding many problems is getting to know precisely what the family members want.
"There have been abuses in the past, but that's not how we do business," Lotman explained. "We work with the family in developing brand focus: Will this hurt or help the brand? If it doesn't help, then we're not going to do it. We're very careful about our long-term goals."
And what are some of these goals? As new technologies continue to blur the line between "real" and computer-generated actors, Lotman would like the clients he represents to eventually blend seamlessly with their new-found roles.
"One day I hope to see Marlene Dietrich win her first Oscar," he said.