11 posts tagged “celebrity business”

LOS ANGELES —  Carmen Electra has perfected the art of the "Aerobic Striptease," but now, the former "Baywatch" babe is taking her passion for getting hot and heavy to a whole new marketing level.

Carmen-electra

Famous folk have used their names and notoriety to create thriving enterprises that rely on business savvy as much as Q scores

Selling celebrity has always been big business in America. But what happens when the stars start their own enterprises instead of just endorsing existing products?
Some of the ventures backed by famous people are obvious choices: Models like Kate Moss and Christy Turlington try their hands at designing clothes. They often partner with established retailers or apparel companies, so the models-turned-designers have existing manufacturing and distribution channels. The companies, in turn, get the cachet of a bold-face name associated with their brand

Paul Newman

Other celebrity startups are more surprising. Did anyone in the theater watching Cool Hand Luke back in 1967 expect the gruff face of Paul Newman's chain-gang misfit to one day adorn salad dressings and salsa? Maybe more to the point, did anyone expect Newman's Own condiments to be as big a hit as his films? Newman uses the profits—some $200 million since 1982, according to the company—to support charity, including a chain of camps Newman founded for sick children.
The "business for the greater good" model motivates a few other celebrity entrepreneurs. Magic Johnson's development group brings dining and entertainment chains like Starbucks (SBUX) and T.G.I. Friday's into economically depressed communities, creating jobs and renewing neighborhoods. Bono's Edun Clothing company focuses on lifting up developing countries through trade. Both enterprises are linked to nonprofits—the Magic Johnson Foundation and Bono's DATA: Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa—whose missions align with their businesses.

Some celebrities are as serious as any CEO when it comes to their enterprises. Bono also entered the private equity market in 2004, bringing star power to the firm Elevation Partners. Oprah Winfrey tightly controls her media empire, a brand that includes properties in film, television, and publishing. And Kathy Ireland built a $1 billion business selling a variety of retail products including apparel, flooring, and lighting. Fame may have helped launch these ventures, but their executives' business savvy made them successful.

Some stars' business ventures seem to value self-promotion as much as profit. And most also have ready-made markets: their fans. Fashion lines from J-Lo, Gwen Stefani, and Madonna appeal to customers in the same demographic that snatch up the singers' albums.

Boozy Spin-Off

Devito

One star is even using a business venture as a form of damage control. Danny DeVito was widely ridiculed after a drunken appearance on The View gained instant YouTube (GOOG) notoriety. The actor explained that he had been up all night drinking limoncellos with George Clooney. Harbrew Imports is now selling a line of Italian liqueur with DeVito's name one it—it hits the shelves in August 2006, but it's already behind the bar at the South Beach restaurant he just opened.
Stars, of course, have some clear advantages over less famous entrepreneurs. Most are loaded with capital to begin with (and can afford to prop up struggling ventures until they become profitable). Often they're already tapped into the highest levels of the entertainment world, and having a celebrity involved in a business creates instant buzz.

Queen Latifah

Broadcast Journalist
Before becoming an Oscar-nominated actress, Queen Latifah (a.k.a. Dana Owens) studied broadcast journalism at Borough of Manhattan Community College. She considered pursing a career as either a newscaster or a lawyer.

Parade, which most recently made headlines for lulling Halle Berry into a trusting place, then drawing her ire by printing her account of a suicide attempt that she had not intended to trot out again until at least something on the level of a Vanity Fair cover story came around, is once again snapping at the celebrity hands that feed its content. A press release in our inbox touts a preview of their annual "'What People Earn' salary report," which would more accurately be described as the, "'Take A Good Look At The Rat Droppings You Call A Wage Compared To Those Of Your Much More Famous Counterparts' report."

    Actor Kiefer Sutherland made $23 million for playing government agent Jack Bauer on his hit show 24, while police officer Kevin Weaver, 40, of Concord, N.C., earned $64,000 last year. Actress Ellen Pompeo, 37, who plays Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy, earned $5 million last year, while medical resident Jennifer Beller, 26, of Palmyra, Va., took in $45,000. Registered nurse, Toby Acosta, 28, from Birmingham, Ala., earned $76,000.

    Meryl Streep, who played a merciless magazine editrix in The Devil Wears Prada, brought home a tidy $8 million in 2006. Real life magazine editor Roberta Pacht, 32, of New York, N.Y., made $55,000. Actor Steve Carell, who plays insufferable office manger Michael Scott on The Office, earned $9 million, and real-life office manager Patricia Reichard, 55, from Naples, Fla., brought home a mere $29,000. Similarly, chef and TV host Rachael Ray made $6 million last year, while Tyler Mitchell, 55, a personal chef from Albuquerque, N.M., earned $67,000.

While the dismal salaries of America's working class are discouraging when juxtaposed against obscene celebrities earnings, we'd caution to wait just a few weeks for the release of Parade's annual playing-field-leveling "How People Feel" report, when you'll be comforted to learn that Kurt Sanderson, a professional birthday clown and balloon-animal craftsman from Galesburg, Il., registers overall satisfaction numbers in the high ten digits, compared to an anemic total of 27 in the same category for celebrity counterpart Jim Carrey.

http://defamer.com/

 UK Politician and writer Jeffrey Archer was once a deck chair attendant.

•  Singer Rod Stewart once worked as a grave digger.

•  Singer Ozzy Osbourne, in a job that would come back to haunt him in later life, was once a labourer in a slaughterhouse.

•   Sylvester Stalone, always the tough guy, was once employed as a lion cage cleaner while Cyndi Lauper used to clean out dog kennels.

•  Mick Jagger was once a porter in a mental hospital.

•  Elvis was sacked from his job at the Precision Tool Company in Memphis when his bosses discovered that he was actually fifteen years old and therefore too young to work there.

•  Pop star and DJ Boy George was sacked from his job with Tesco supermarkets for choosing to wear the store's carrier bags. Tesco said his appearance was 'disturbing'.

•  Hollywood tough guy Mickey Rouke was fired from his job as a cinema usher after getting into a brawl with one of his work mates.

http://www.comedy-zone.net

First jobs don’t often portend future careers. Donald Trump collected soda bottles for the deposit money. Michael Dell washed dishes at a Chinese restaurant. But it turns out playing swashbuckler Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean wasn’t the first time Johnny Depp donned makeup to earn a buck.

As a teenager, Depp fronted a Kiss tribute band, and, according to his biographer Nigel Goodall, even warmed up audiences for the B52s and Iggy Pop. On lean nights, Depp pulled in $25 a night. Only later, when he was 22, did Depp land his first acting role, in Nightmare on Elm Street. Last year, Forbes estimated the Hollywood A-lister had pocketed $29 million from his acting gigs.

Yes, even big shots pay their dues, washing dishes (Michael Caine), mopping floors (Jim Carrey) and bussing tables (Suze Orman) before emerging as superstars. Before she was penning fantastic tales of a boy wizard, Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling, worth $1 billion, was a research assistant for the London office of Amnesty International, investigating human rights abuses in Africa. Hard-core Potter fans cite Hermione Granger’s strident advocacy of enslaved elves as evidence of the group’s influence on Rowling.

For better or for worse, first jobs can prove seminal to a star’s career development. Rapper 50 Cent says his first job as a teenage drug dealer in Queens, N.Y., taught him how to manage his current music empire, from dealing with distributors to marketing new products to customers. While once he pushed crack, these days 50 Cent is peddling albums, ringtones, apparel and even bottled water. Last year 50 Cent made $41 million. “There are people who would actually like to be me,” the hip-hop all star confesses in his 2005 autobiography, From Pieces to Weight. “But if they had to go through the situations I was in before I became a rap star, I don’t think they’d still want to be me.” Those situations include three arrests and the shooting in 2000 that nearly killed him.

Quentin Tarantino says one of his first jobs--as an usher at a porno theater in Southern California--actually had very little to do with his later career as a filmmaker of especially graphic films like Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs. "To me the greatest job a person could ever have was being an usher at a movie theater, you know. You get to go to a movie theater all day long, and then you get to see all the movies for free," he explained to Charlie Rose in 1994. "Irony of ironies, I end up getting a job at a movie theater that I could care less about the movies and was totally bored by them." Soon after he landed a job as a video store clerk, a job that he credits with igniting his passion for film.

Today Jim Carrey commands as much as $20 million per film. But when he was a 15, his father lost his job. Carrey took after-school jobs as a security guard and janitor at a tire factory outside Toronto to help his family get by. Times got so tough that his family lived in a Volkswagon camper for almost a year. His relief? Visiting local comedy clubs. "My mother dressed me in a polyester suit and I got booed off the stage, and I didn't go back for two years. But then when I went back, I was gangbusters," he told Larry King in 2001.

Yet another face who didn’t always know he was destined for fame and fortune, Danny DeVito began his career as a hair dresser at his sister Angela’s salon. The five-foot-tall Devito quit after 18 months to enroll at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts--not to realize any dreams of acting, but rather to pursue a deep interest in makeup and cosmetology. During the course of his time there, he took a few acting classes and well, the rest is history.

Funnyman Chris Rock launched his career as a busboy at a Red Lobster franchise in Queens, N.Y. Of course, his experiences were woven into a bit he did on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2003. "The thing about Red Lobster is that if you work there, you can't afford to eat there. You're making minimum wage. A shrimp costs minimum wage," he said. Rock moved to bussing tables at The Comic Strip in Manhattan. In exchange for stacking chairs at the end of the night, he was allowed to try out his own jokes on stage. The rest, as they say, is history.
 

Hilary Duff

If you are familiar with the entertainment business, then you probably know that Hollywood has a reputation for being an ultra-competitive industry. There are countless stories of talented actors and singers struggling to get by working low-paying jobs while they wait to land their big break. Chances of making it in show business are so slim that most aspiring performers wind up shuffling back home with their hopes and dreams crushed like branches in a wood chipper. That's what makes Hilary Duff's meteoric career rise at such a young age all the more remarkable.

The Texas native has achieved more professional success by age 18 than most people accomplish in their entire careers. Since getting her start as a child actor in TV commercials, Duff has starred in her own series, recorded three hit albums, appeared in several films and started her own multi-million dollar line of young girl's clothing and home accessories. She's even expanded her Stuff by Hilary Duff brand to include beauty products and is preparing to launch a new line of fragrance products this fall.

YOUNG MONEY caught up with Duff in Canada during a stop on her "Most Wanted" concert tour. Her casual conversation style revealed someone who is used to being in the spotlight and to handling the media. In fact, the young celebrity said she feels much older than her actual age. She believes that her success is due to a combination of luck and hard work.

"There is no secret formula for [success,]"she said. "I know that I worked very hard. I feel lucky to have all the things that I do. I love my job so much."

But fame does have a price. Duff admitted that she's had to make many personal sacrifices on her road to the top, such as missing out on time with friends and dealing with a lack of privacy.

"We could probably dedicate this whole interview on the sacrifices I've had to make. Just as an example, when I was younger my friends would go out to places at night, but I couldn't go because I would have to be up early for work on set the next day."

Many of Duff's young fans grew up watching her play the role of Lizzie McGuire on the Disney Channel. Those days are over, but Duff claims she is not consciously seeking out different projects that would appeal to an older audience. She is currently focusing on promoting her album and developing a second clothing line aimed at young adult females.

Her name recognition and personal image have given Duff a much envied level of financial clout among her peers. The pop princess was voted as one of Teen People's most powerful young entertainers in 2005. Media reports have listed her earnings for last year at $15 million. However, Duff confessed that early on in her career she actually disliked the business aspect of performing. She didn't really know how much she earned or understand the true cost of producing a television show or a concert tour.

"I didn't care so much about the money," said Duff. "I just wanted to work hard and put on a good show. Then later I started to feel a sense of responsibility about how it all comes together."

Duff learned to keep an eye on her finances after watching other wealthy artists spend their money foolishly. She's aware of how some famous entertainers have earned millions only to wind up bankrupt. For example, recording artists may mistakenly think that their record label is funding their expenses when the money being spent is actually their own.

"What you've got to realize is that the touring side [of the music industry] is mostly recoupable," she said. "When you shoot a video then the record company is going to give you the money to pay for that. But then they're going to take those costs out of your record sales. You have some people who spend a lot of money to shoot a video or to decorate their dressing room. That's all recoupable [for the record company.]"

Duff recalled feeling flattered about being asked to create her own designer clothes label. She soon discovered that she enjoyed participating in the creative and marketing aspects of running a clothing company.

"When I created the first line of clothes I didn't really have as much of an understanding of the business," she said. "The first slew of clothes that hit the stores didn't look exactly like I would have wanted. I just started learning the business side of how to get things made for the public."

Along with Duff's entrepreneurial pursuits she has used her celebrity status to promote her favorite philanthropic endeavors. She remains an active contributor to Kids With a Cause, a charitable organization that helps needy children around the world. Last year she also donated $250,000 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

When asked about her future career plans, Duff said she wants to remain open to new opportunities. She already has several movie projects on tap and there are plans to expand the Stuff line to include bedroom furniture in 2007.

The teen star said she's grateful for her fans and for the support staff that helps run her business affairs. As do many other young professionals Duff realizes the importance of keeping a healthy balance between a busy career and her personal life.

"We're all kind of selfish in that we want to have a great personal life and a great work life," she said. "But this is America, and you can have both. I guess [the key is] feeling confident that anything is possible."

Deciding what you want to be when you grow up can be difficult. And even if you're set on being rich and famous, having something to fall back on can't hurt.

While it's hard to imagine pop culture without these icons, here's a look at some celebrities' career aspirations before they made it big:

# When comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Will Ferrell graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in sports information, he took a job as a sportscaster on a weekly cable show. But he found that his calling was in acting and stand-up comedy. He later played a newscaster on the big screen in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."

# Eva Longoria attended Texas A&M-Kingsville, graduating with a degree in Kinesiology. After graduating, she entered a talent contest, went to Los Angeles and was signed by an agent. After stints on soaps including "General Hospital," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "The Young and the Restless," Eva Longoria landed a role as Gabrielle Solis, on the popular television series, "Desperate Housewives."

Eva-longoria

# Instead of joining his father's oil business, Matthew McConaughey attended the University of Texas in Austin intending to become a lawyer. He reportedly changed his major to acting after discoving an Og Mandino book "The Greatest Salesman in the World" and girls all over the world have been swooning since.

# After being discovered by an agent in a pizza parlor when she was 11 years old, Natalie Portman began a career in modeling, which she later bypassed to concentrate on acting. Her role as Queen Amidala in "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" and Oscar-nominated role in "Closer" heightened her status as a Hollywood star. She took time off to study at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, majoring in psychology. Although she intends to continue acting, she also plans to practice psychology.

# Before becoming an Academy Award-nominated actress and successful hip hop artist, Queen Latifah (a.k.a. Dana Owens) studied broadcast journalism at Borough of Manhattan Community College. She considered pursuing a career either a newscaster or a lawyer.

# Denzel Washington attended Fordham University to pursue a career in journalism before getting involved in student drama productions and being drawn into acting. He finished his degree and moved to San Francisco attending the American Conservatory Theater for one year before pursuing acting work and later earning multiple awards

Denzel Washington

# "Charlie's Angels" star, Lucy Liu attended New York University before transferring to the University of Michigan where she graduated with a major in Asian Languages. During her last year of college, she landed the lead role for her school's production of "Alice in Wonderland" that launched her career in acting.

# Before Benicio del Toro was in "Traffic" and "Sin City," he studied business at the University of California at San Diego. Although his father wanted him to become a lawyer, del Toro secretly changed his major to acting and later dropped out to study the craft in New York City.

# Before playing a Harvard law student in "Legally Blonde," Reese Witherspoon attended Stanford University, majoring in English literature. The actress took a hiatus from her educational pursuits to take on roles for the movies "Freeway" and "Fear," and eventually earned an Oscar in 2006 for Best Actress in "Walk the Line."

# Years playing the piano in "Pretty Woman" and tap dancing in "Chicago,"Richard Gere attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship. He studied philosophy, but dropped out of school after two years to pursue acting with the Seattle Repertory Theatre and New York's Provincetown Playhouse.