Similarity,familiarity and access to elite work in Hollywood: Employer and employee characteristics in breakthrough employment

This study develops and tests hypotheses concerning factors that influence employers' decisions to create breakthrough opportunities for workers on elite Hollywood projects. A breakthrough is defined as employment in a new career area in which the employee has no experience. Similarity and familiarity are proposed as constructs that describe relationships between employees and employers. Similarity and familiarity play a major role in breakthroughs because, by definition, the employee's experience is insufficient to gauge his or her ability for the new area. The hypotheses are tested using archival data on employment in Hollywood motion picture production, with the breakthrough to directing an elite motion picture as the focal opportunity. The results show that while similarity and familiarity make breakthroughs more likely, the prospect's experience matters little. Breakthrough opportunities are created by employers with less experience in elite work and lower status.