Paying For Autographs

This is something I still can’t quite get my head around.
If you’re an actor, sportsperson, artist or musician, you’re probably regularly asked for an autograph. It’s something personal, and I understand why people like that personal touch. When I’m buying a book, if there are copies that are signed, then I’m likelier to pick up one of those. This isn’t because I’ve got pound signs flashing in my eyes and I’m about to get on Ebay; it’s because I quite like the idea of having something the author has written in themselves. Similarly, I’ve been known to collect sportspersons’ autographs in the past.
So I’ve no issue with the idea of collecting signatures, although I wouldn’t collect them for their own sake.
I also understand that if I’m an actor in a successful TV series or series of films, I’m likely to be asked repeatedly for autographs wherever I go. I guess that depending on circumstances, I’d be happy to either sign or not sign accordingly. But I’d also understand that my success comes in large part from lots of people enjoying my work.
There’s the possibly apocryphal story of a film star who used to write cheques instead of paying with cash wherever he went. He knew that most people wouldn’t cash the cheques, preferring to keep his autograph.
But what I find truly incredible are fan conventions – particuarly in the SF world – which largely involve people showing up to queue and pay for a signed 10′ x 8′ photo. I’ve only ever seen it at first hand many years ago when I saw Dave “Darth Vader” Prowse offering his signature for something like £10 a go on a black and white photo of Darth Vader. Not having ever seen such a situation before, I found it very strange. I understand that colour (or even black and white) photos cost money, so there’s something fair about charging for them. But it was clearly the signature that people were paying for. Actually, not that many people were paying for the signature, which made the whole enterprise even sadder.
And it didn’t escape me that next to him was a box of cash. This wasn’t a cheque or credit card operation. Even in my naivety, I understood the “tax-free” possibilities of such schemes.
But now you have operations like Collectormania which holds large scale events in places like Milton Keynes and Glasgow where dozens actors from “genre” series and films (sometimes with very small parts), gather together to sign autographs over a weekend.
The FAQ notes: “There will be a charge for each actor’s autograph. This will generally be between £10 – £25 per signature depending on which guest.”
So there’s a market there, like everything else, and I guess that your worth as an actor is determined by how much you can get away with charging.
It’s a nice little earner for the actors, many of whom will be flying into the UK specifically for this event. When you’ve factored in the cost of a decent hotel room, first-class flights, and the fact that many events don’t charge an entry fee, you can see that there’s obviously money to be made. Additional cash can be generated by buying your way into parties, receptions and dinners.
I can’t quite put my finger on why I find the whole enterprise quite so squalid, but I do. Maybe if you had a small part in Dr No and the parts subsequently dried up, charging a few Bond fans might help your pension go further. But if you’re currently starring in your US network’s only breakout hit of the last season, and are on between five and six figures an episode, then do you also need to charge for autographs? Yes, meeting the fans can be fun, and better that than being aloof and dismissive of them. But the whole thing just can’t shake that taint of seediness. Showbiz isn’t the glitz and glamour that we sometimes think it is, but this industry is just low-rent.