Dear Hazza,
There are several proven ways to meet celebrities. Although this is
anecdotal, I even used some of them myself. However, we must remember
several things:
- Celebrities are people just like us. They don't like to be harassed
more than you or me. Especially when they are eating, going to the
restroom, or spending time with their children;
- They are also not people like us: more people would like to meet
them, so they have body guards and lawyers to prevent it.
- These two facts bring us to a third fact: never violate the law, and
it is better to listen to what this gorilla (or lawyer) says to you.
Going to Their Place of Business
================================
This is a simple advice, yet it works. Get backstage passes to see
your favourite theatre or music celeb from a close distance; go to
shooting sites to see TV and movie celebs; and in the case of
political celebrities ? going to lectures, political rallies and the
like.
Recording (TV) studios
----------------------
NBC
3000 West Alameda Avenue,
Burbank, CA. / (818) 840-3537 or (818) 840-4444
Tickets available through:
NBC Tickets
3000 W. Alameda Ave.,
Burbank, CA 91523
CBS
4024 Radford Avenue,
Studio City, CA. / (818) 655-5000
KCBS
6121 Sunset Boulevard (at El Centro Avenue),
Hollywood, CA. / (323) 460 3000
ABC
4151 Prospect Avenue,
Hollywood, CA / (310) 557-7777
Studio Audiences - A guide for getting TV Tickets
<http://www.studioaudiences.com/>
Rememebr that you don?t (only) have to get tickets to this star?s show
(or pop up at the shooting location): they appear in talk-shows and
late-nights like Jay Leno?s, and getting tickets to these shows would
be also potentially helpful.
This person promises to teach you how to get backstage tickets to any
music event. Although I doubt it, I add it in case it might be of
interest:
Backstage Passes.
<http://www.backstage-passes.com/>
Similarly, TixSecrets sells such tickets
< http://www.tixsecrets.com/>
A similar site is Band Passes
< http://www.bandpasses.com/index.html> - also promising some
unconventional methods (never tried by yours truly, and they seem to
me to be a bit shady, but that could be me).
Some more sound and realistic advices on backstage tickets:
How do you get backstage passes to concerts?
< http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/5351> - regarding the winning
advice, see the section where I wrote about different contests.
However, for many Broadway shows, it is enough to wait in the exit.
Here are some crazy fan stories about meeting Broadway celebrities
(which reminds me to say again ? don?t harass the stars!):
Meeting Broadway Stars
< http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=822707>
Some further location information (besides the celebrity?s own
website, or the production?s), could be found here:
Hollywood on Location
< http://www.hollywoodonlocation.com/hollywoodonlocation.html>
Hanging Out with the Celebs
===========================
There are some opportunities for people to get tickets and meet
celebrities at their own parties and ceremonies. Most of these
opportunities could be labelled under what my fellow Researcher
Pafalafa-ga defined as opportunities for 40-year-olds, rather than for
teenagers. The surest way to meet them is through benefit galas. Many
celebrities go to galas, where the expensive cost of the ticket is in
fact a donation to one charity or another; others appear in those
galas, but with much better chances of meeting them for those who have
bought gala tickets ? that?s part of the deal.
Award ceremonies are also places where you can meet celebrities. This,
not only through the famous gathering on the red carpet, but also,
simply, by buying a ticket:
Tony Awards
<http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/about/faq/#3>
Award Shows tickets from Ticko
<http://www.tickco.com/award_show_tickets.htm> - including MTV awards,
teen choice, Emmys, and much more.
Unfortunately, Oscar tickets are not sold to the public.
To know more about planned charity events, you can look up here:
Charity Benefit
http://www.charitybenefits.com/
Specific examples (there are of course many more) include:
Hilton Head Celebrity Golf Tournament ?
<http://www.hhcelebritygolf.com >
Dale Hansen Celebrity Golf Tournament ?
<http://www.dallasweb.com/golf >
Wes Chandler Celebrity Golf Classic ?
http://www.weschandlergolf.com/
Organised Meetings
==================
This is the most common (and surest) - yet the most uninteresting -
way to meet celebrities. There are three main ways here: to do it
through their fan club; to do it by learning about the celebrity?s
movement from their own website; and to learn about celebrities
visiting your hometown from the press.
If you join the official fan club of the celebrity (and better off ?
if you?re one of the central figures in it), you have a good chance of
meeting them in a meeting. These meetings are usually organised by the
agent of the artist (or secretary in cases of a politician; sometimes
a club manager in case of an athlete). You can find some fan clubs
here:
Music Fan Clubs
<http://www.musicfanclubs.org/>
International Fan Club Organisation
<http://www.ifco.org/index.php> - mostly, not only, Country.
CyberFiber ? Fan Clubs
<http://www.cyberfiber.com/fanceleb.htm>
IMDB Pro
<https://secure.imdb.com/signup/v4/?d=IMDbTab> - not a fan club
listing, but a listing (for a fee) of agents and representatives on
earth of your favorite movie and TV stars.
Another place where one could find organized meetings is openings of
malls, restaurants or book signing events. For that, one has to follow
the local press where they live or plan to travel. You an also learn
about organized meetings, tour details and charity events in some
celebrities? homepages.
Having the Right Profession
===========================
I was a youth journalist in my notorious youth. I got to meet
celebrities (OK, the type of celebrities available where I grew up,
not Madonna?), in order to write an article about them. Of course,
becoming a journalist was the goal, not meeting celebrities, but
having some professions could get you closer to celebrities:
1. Entertainment journalist ? even if you write for an e-zine or a
fanzine; also when you are a photographer.
2. Make up or costume artists
3. Fan website designer. The site provided by Pinkfreud, my fellow
Researcher, mentions that ?rap fan 'Stinke' created a fan site for his
favorite group Souls of Mischief back in 1996. Apparently the band was
so impressed, they made the site Stinke created their official web
site and even gave him a credit in their album credits.? (SOURCE: Pier
55, ?How to Meet a Celebrity?,
http://www.pier55.com/Bizzare-Unusual/Meet-a-Celebrity.shtml).
4. Celebrity street team. This advice, too, is quoted from Pier 55:
?This is great way to meet a celebrity ( Britney Spears ?)! Street
Teams are groups of people or an individual whose purpose is to
promote an artist, or an event. The members of the group endeavor to
request songs on radio stations or hang up posters marketing the
artist and the event. They also bombard Internet message boards and do
just about anything legal to promote an artist and his or her latest
event.
If you want to join a Street Team, try visiting your celebrity's
official web site for more information. Mariah Carey has a street team
and they qualify for tons of free stuff and exclusive news. You may
just get lucky and meet a celebrity just by doing a bit of promotion
work!? (SOURCE: ibid).
5. Various service personnel like flight attendants, waitresses etc, -
get to sometimes meet celebrities. However, I wouldn?t get into this
profession ? even in the most fashionable night club ? for that reason
only.
"Stumbling" Upon Them
=====================
This advice should be taken with a pinch of salt: remember what I said
about privacy laws. A celebrity, especially in their free time, when
they are with their children, might not want to meet or talk with you.
However, here are some places where these people are likely to be
found:
1. Trendy New York or LA restaurants ? the trendier, the better.
2. Same goes with clubs: the most expensive, trendiest and fashionable
clubs. For the first two, one should just follow the society pages and
know where ?his? celebrity has been last seen.
3. Meeting them when they do they shopping, in LA, in New York (SoHo
and Nolita, so my sources tell me) or in London:
Where the royals shop
http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/
Where the Stars Shop
<http://www.seeing-stars.com/Shop/index.shtml>
One recommended place found in many sites, in the LA ?Grove? shopping centre.
4. Waiting outside their hotel when they come to visit your hometown
5. There are several sites selling information regarding celebrities
addresses, contact details or hangouts. See for example:
Celebrity Mail
www.celebrityemail.com
Contact Any Celebrity
http://contactanycelebrity.com/
Celebrity & Movie Stars Addresses in Hollywood and Los Angeles.
< http://www.hollywoodusa.co.uk/celebrity-homes.htm>
Booking the Celebrity
=====================
Again, this could depend on your wealth and plans what to do with the
celebrity, but it is not impossible. In addition to the agent list
provided by IMDB, there are companies specialising in hooking you up
with the celebrity of your choice, that would appear in your event:
Allen Agency
< http://www.speakerbooking.com/index.html>
International Speakers Bureau
< http://www.internationalspeakers.com/>
Eagle Talent
< http://www.eaglestalent.com/home.asp>
Vegas Celebrity Booking Service
<http://www.celebs.com/ >
Being Lucky
==========
Sweepstakes for fans give you a slim chance. Follow news in local
newspapers and radio stations, in the fan club, etc.:
Win a lunch with ? (complete name of celebrity)
<://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=%22win+a+lunch+with%22&btnG=Search>
Win a date with ? (complete name of celebrity. In my example, I wrote
??Tad Hamilton? to exclude sites about the film with this title):
<://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=%22win+a+date+with%22+-%22tad+hamilton%22&btnG=Search>
Win backstage
< ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22win+a+backstage%22&btnG=Google+Search>
and < ://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=%22win+backstage%22&btnG=Search>
Further Reading
============
Seeing Stars
<http://www.seeing-stars.com/>
Owen Cheng : Scott Connelly's Rules for Meeting Celebrities
< http://mosquito.homeip.net/drupal/node/view/98>
The Official Guide to Meeting and Hanging Out With Celebrities
by Bret Saxon, Steve Stein (book)
The Celebrity Black Book: Over 40,000 Celebrity Addresses
by Jordan McAuley
The Official Handbook to Rubbing Elbows With Your Favorite Celebrity
by Jerry Ehrlich
The Fan Survival Guide : 50 Ways to Meet Your Favorite Celebrity
by Dani Sweet
The Address Directory of Celebrities in Entertainment, Sports, Business & Politics
by David R. Moore
Addresses of the Rich and Famous: How to Reach the World's Movers and Shakers
by Cynthia Mattison
Contact Any Celebrity
by Jordan McAuley
I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
further clarification on this answer before you rate it. I applied a
mixed search strategy. One was to search for terms like "meeting a
celebrity", the second was to search for more information on the
methods themselves - for example, how to get tickets to studios. |
Clarification of Answer by
politicalguru-ga
on
06 Mar 2005 01:23 PST
Dear Hazza,
All of the methods I offered are more or less "conventional", but I
agree that if you're writing a fiction about this subject, some other
methods could be used.
Let's start with impersonating. I don't mean - of course -
impersonating that would be totally illegal (pretending to have a
profession that requires licensure). However, let's look at the
following scenario:
- You made your research, you know that the star is going to be at
hotel "x" in your town on a certain day. You get yourself couple of
uniforms (hotel, curier, etc. - it would be the best of course to
collaborate with the currier company if it is a small town) and you're
on yoru way: now all you have to do is find a good excuse - or the
special pass if there's any - to the celebrity's room. Same goes for
example for film or rock festivals: having the right uniform and the
right attitude (and being the right age) would be very helpful.
I don't know if you saw this movie about impersonating - it is pretty
sad (it is about a con man claiming to be the son of Sidney Poitier,
meeting people through it). If not, this could give you some idea on
how to impersonate to be someone whom you're not :
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108149/>
Not really impersonation - but surely a way to meet celebrities is to
become an extra at a movie. Other opportunity could be to become a
production assistant. Yes, it is the bottom of the pond, next to the
plankton, but who cares? Both ways are of couse far from being totally
unconventional - they are just not what everybody does. If we're
talking about a sports star or a politician, there are other
planktonian type of jobs that bring you close to them: that kid that
brings back the tennis balls; a cleaner, a trainee assistant to the
sub assitant, etc.
But, back to the unusual ways, you could try to approach people
through good connections with their loved-ones (yes, actually by
reading it, it makes me a little sick, not to be really friends with
someone, but to use them in order to get to someone else). After a
research, one could learn if the personal assitant/secretary, the
spouse, the sibling, could be befriended with. I am not even referring
to the possibility of training/teaching another family memeber.
Another chutzpah - not illegal, but tasteless - scenario is one where
you abuse an imaginary health problem or catastrophe in order to meet
the star. For example "I'm (or my son/sister/mother) dying of cancer
and my last wish is to see X".
The reason I referred less to sports or political celebrities (not to
mention business celebrities) is twofold:
- It is much easier to access some of the business or political
celebrities, as they are bound to be at conferences or rallies where
people meet them. It is clearly no issue in that case to try to push
yoruself forward, to pretend to be more important than you are (depend
on your age - good suit and secure behavior would work with 30 year
old, but not with a 13 year old).
- It is also much easier, because you can always find an excuse - or a
ceremony - where you could be invited. Politicians have to meet their
constituency. Sportsmen are out there - pretty visible. In the case of
politicians, then, just writing a letter saying that you'd like to
meet them, would do the trick. In the case fo sportsmen - well,
waiting outside the dressing room is a classic (though you're almost
surely bound to get pushed or hit by some gorilla our there, don't say
I didn't warn). You can also try the politician approach with the
sportsman: saying that you (a group of children, for example) would
like to meet him because he sets an example (say that to Dennis
Rodman), or something like that.
Speaking of letters and sending stuff. I read now ("Anyone have a
story about meeting a celebrity?",
<http://discussions.bluerodeo.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/7256025682/m/5211049131/r/5371030231>)
about a woman who sent (threw?) a belt to (on?) Alice Cooper, leaving
her message on the back of the belt, and got invited to his hotel room
(no, not what people might think - they watched telly). So, sending an
unusual, well and self-designed gift, can work.
I'll let you know if I have any other ideas.
|
Clarification of Answer by
politicalguru-ga
on
06 Mar 2005 04:30 PST
Dear Hazza,
Here are some more ideas I gathered. By the way, I told my husband
about your project, and he told me this story (which goes to show how
you could talk and maybe even meet celebrities): a radio host called a
football player, Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes, impersonating
Real Madrid vice president Emilio Butragueno. He managed to talk him
into telling him all kind of stories about what's going on in Arsenal
FC. (BBC "Reyes tricked into Real admission"
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4250173.stm>).
Not that I'm suggesting anything as ugly as that or something illegal,
but saying that you have ties - or work for - VIPs, could get you
meeting them.
Of course, instead of pertending to be a PA of a VIP, you can be one.
New York Celebrity Assistants, OUR SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO BECOME A
CELEBRITY PERSONAL ASSISTANT,
<http://www.nycelebrityassistants.org/joinnyca.htm#howtobecome>
However, a next idea is even more bold: how about becoming a celebrity
yourself? Two options: the first is to bluff your way, a-la Ali G,
into stardom. Say that you're someone and make them believe you. The
second, is of course, to build yourself as one: have many Internet
sites praising your name, making a buzz around yourself. Make *them*
want to meet you. If you get your 15 minutes, use them to contact
celebrities.
This might be a joke, but it gives you the idea: a person could create
their stardom:
Guess Who's Famous
<http://guesswhosfamous.com/>
Another way, closely linked to the first, is to do something
extra-ordinary, that would attract the attention either of the press
or of that person directly. For example: parachuting naked, swimming
in ice, all with a sign saying "I love you, X".
Of course, there are more conventional methods to attract attention:
human rights and other social activists occasionally meet the stars.
If you're an activist in the "Free Tibet" movement, your chances of
meeting Richard Gere would rise.
Which brings me into another idea: if they are religious, why not go
to their church (or another religious temple)? If you go praying with
Gere in his Buddhist temple, you could even meet him in very special
circumstances.
You can of course, through your research, find out if this person has
a specific goal they're into. Donating a large sum/time to this cause
could bring you closer with that celebrity.
On the other hand, if we're talking about a star in problems, you
might try to offer your help. One can never know, you might help them
overcome their problems: even writing about how you overcame the same
(or similar) problem could help them.
You can also go to auditions. At least, you'll meet the director and
other auditors. At the best case, you'll also meet other people who
are on the audition: stars.
More ideas:
Hollywood Reporter Message Board, "How does one become a celebrity agent ???"
<http://bbs.hollywoodreporter.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB7&Number=11102&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1>
Louise Scodie, "How to Date a Celebrity", Totally Jewish,
<http://www.totallyjewish.com/dating/howto/?disp_feature=uFayxW>
|
