This article attempts to contribute to the investigation on field dynamics by offering a social network approach. For this purpose the Brazilian movie industry network was recovered from 1994 through 2002. Individual performances were analyzed by exploring their relations with relevant characteristics. Categorical role (actor, director, producer, among others) is the most powerful predictor of individual performance from 1994 through 1996. However, in the following periods, other strategic variables gain in importance, as individual recognition, centrality and structural equivalence. These findings suggest that in a developing networked industry, collective success is more important than individual success.
Organizational field; social network analysis; social networks; neo-institutionalism; creative industries