The Speaker Experts regularly point out the symbiotic relationship between Hollywood and the professional speaker circuit. Legendary speakers with the highest demand on corporate and association stages are often first “discovered” on the big screen. This phenomenon is most prevalent in military genre films. Look no further than Lone Survivor (Marcus Luttrell, Navy SEAL who journeyed into the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan during Operation Red Wings), Black Hawk Down (Sgt. Matt Eversmann, Army Ranger whose team was deployed to Somalia and trapped in a hostile district of Mogadishu.), Zero Dark Thirty (Robert O’Neill,Navy Seal operator and part of team that raided Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad Compound), Apollo 13 (Captain James Lovell, NASA commander who guided the Apollo 13 mission) 13 Hours (Kris “Tanto” Paronto, US Army Ranger responded to attack of CIA Annex in Benghazi). These military heroes are among the most popular and most requested motivational speakers on the American Speaking circuit. Their stories of courage and patriotism are timeless, and the lessons and message are needed today, more than ever before.
In early 2018, we see a perfect storm of heroism, story, movie casts, and directors that have great potential to spawn the next big blockbuster speaker:
- “12 Strong” releases in theaters this Friday on January 19th. This film is directed by Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Chris Hemsworth as “Captain Mitch Nelson” (Nelson is a synonym for the real thing – Captain Mark Nutsch). The film is set in the harrowing days following 9/11 and tells the story of an elite group of 12 Green Berets who were the first US Soldiers sent into Afghanistan to battle the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. They fought in combat on horseback in remote areas of northern Afghanistan while vastly outnumbered and against overwhelming odds.
- “The 15:17 to Paris” releases in theaters on Friday, February 9th, 2018. This film is directed by Clint Eastwood and tells the story of American Soldiers who discover a terrorist plot on a Paris bound train. Eastwood casts the heroic trio in the film as themselves Anthony Sadler, National Guardsman, Alek Skarlatos and US Airforce First Class, Spencer Stone
We believe that the protagonists of these films could be blockbuster speakers in 2018 and beyond. Meeting professionals who schedule these speakers will initially “buy low” as the speaker fee’s have the potential to exponentially increase after the films hit the big screen. With that said, these are not proven professional speakers with a long history of standing ovations following their remarks. Evaluate the “risk” vs.“reward” when considering these speakers for your next event.
– Gary McManis & Jay Conklin
The Speaker Experts 