“Working with celebrities is both an art and science,” said Rita Tateel, president of The Celebrity Source, Hollywood, CA.  She should know, Tateel has been working with celebrities for more than 20 years and told a PR Newswire-sponsored PRSA-LA Independent Practitioners Group  media roundtable in downtown Los Angeles recently (5-10-05) there are some  basic rules to remember and to follow to be successful when working with  celebrities.

 

Need to define your audience

“Let me first define what a celebrity is,” she said. “A celebrity is anyone who is well-known, in the public eye, within their field of discipline. So a celebrity  is not just in entertainment or sports. A celebrity can be a famous author, a famous chef, a famous dancer, a famous scientist or astronaut. Keep in mind it is the audience that defines who the celebrity is. For example: If I had an event at a senior citizen home, and I brought Ashton Kutcher to that event, they may not know who he is.  But if we brought actress Bea Arthur of the Golden Girls it might different.” Tateel believes that it’s important to know the demographic of the audience that you want to appeal to, before identifying the right celebrity to match that demographic.   

 

Celebrity Psyche 101

According to Tateel, there are three basic rules to understand when it comes to working with celebrities -- whether you represent them or you are working with them on a casual or more formal basis.  Tateel calls it “Celebrity Psych 101.”

 

 

Celebrity Rule #1:
“Celebrities are among the most insecure people on the planet, which is opposite of the public’s perception,” said Tateel.   She explained that celebrities never know who to trust, who is sincerely being nice to them, or if there is a hidden agenda.   

 

“When celebrities are not trusting a situation, that makes them feel insecure.  When they feel insecure, they become demanding.  When they become demanding, they take control, because that makes them feel secure. When I hear that a celebrity is difficult to work with and demanding, that usually indicates that they are not feeling very secure or trusting of a situation.  Therefore, my role in part, is to help them feel secure, so they are much easier to work with.”

 

Tateel attributes much of her success as a celebrity recruiter and "matchmaker" to her training and years of experience in the helping profession. She has a bachelor's degree in child development and a master's degree in social work.

 

Celebrity Rule #2

“Family and children are their top priority,” Tateel recalled the scenario of when Will Smith was nominated for the Best Actor for “Ali.”  “During the Oscar ceremony he received a call from the nanny to say that his daughter had a 104 degree fever.  Rather than sending Jada home and staying at the Oscars, for potentially the most important night of his career, he left with Jada to tend to his daughter.”   Tateel’s advice is to always have a back up plan when working with celebrities because   “life happens and so there is a certain amount of risk when working with celebrities.”   Furthermore, Tateel advised that when appropriate, to integrate the children of celebrities into programs or events.   

 

Celebrity Rule #3

 “Time is their most valuable commodity,” explained Tateel. “There are so many people that want a piece of a celebrity’s time that they have very little of it to share.” She explained that a famous actor, for example, might have a commercial agent, talent agent, business manager, personal manager, personal publicist, film publicist, accountant, lawyer and a few personal assistants, not to mention family, friends and relatives.  “They all want a piece of a celebrity’s time, so the last thing you want to do is have them feel like you are wasting it.”  

 

Tateel suggested not having celebrities arrive much earlier than they were needed and rather than asking them to stay for an entire function, ask them to participate only for the time you really need them.  “If media coverage is your primary reason for having the celebrity attend in the first place, you’re more likely to get them to say yes to attend for an hour or two at the beginning while the media is there, than the entire five hours of the event.”

 

Tateel also noted that a celebrity is more likely to accept a request if limousine service is provided, because that too saves time for a celebrity.  “They don’t have to worry about traffic, directions or parking and they can use that time to make phone calls or grab a much needed cat nap.

 

Rita Tateel is Vice President of PRSA-LA and National Co-Chair of PRSA’s newly formed Entertainment & Sports Professional Interest Section. She has been working with celebrities for more than 20 years---first as director of a speaker's bureau for a national non-profit organization, then as president of a celebrity booking agency, and for the last 17 years as founder and president of The Celebrity Source, Inc.  Tateel has been interviewed and quoted as an expert on celebrities in numerous publications and media sources including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Playboy Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, N.Y. Times, PRWeek, USA Today, Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, E! Entertainment Television, EXTRA! and Entertainment Tonight among many others.

 

 

To reach Rita Tateel call Celebrity Source in Hollywood at: 323-651-3300 or email her at: rita@celebritysource.com. The website is www.celebritysource.com.