Toyetic

The potential of a movie or TV show to support spin-off toys and similar merchandising.

In The Wall Street Journal, Lauren A.E. Schuker noted a term that has infiltrated Hollywood’s vocabulary:

In production meetings, studio executives have begun asking if a particular project is “toyetic” – meaning whether its concept can lend itself to a toy, and whether the project will be able to sell tickets and merchandise.

The term “toyetic” is not new – it was reportedly coined by the toy developer Bernard Loomis† – but the word has become increasingly relevant in Hollywood as toys begin to rival flesh-and-blood actors. As Schuker reported:

Toys now are receiving the same A-list treatment that any bankable movie star here has come to expect. That includes top billing and contracts with special perks. They even have their own talent agents.

Creative Artists Agency recently signed up Mattel Inc.’s Barbie to star in a live-action feature film at General Electric Co.’s Universal Pictures. International Creative Management, another talent agency, sparked a four-studio bidding war for a movie starring Asteroids, a brand from its client, videogame publisher Atari SA.

John Fogelman represents the likes of Courteney Cox, Whoopi Goldberg and director J.J. Abrams for talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC. But lately, his hottest stars have been toys such as G.I. Joe and Candy Land from his client Hasbro Inc.

“We treated them like the most important movie star client on the roster,” says the 44-year-old Mr. Fogelman.

(† According to the San Diego Union Tribune, Loomis declined the opportunity to license Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” arguing that the movie was insufficiently “toyetic.”)