PAs at the Oscars
Brian Daniel, Headhunter to the Stars, is a celebrity personal assistant recruiter and has worked for many high-profile A-list celebs, billionaires, and royalty. He was interviewed for an Oscars Special about what it is like for celebrity PAs behind the scenes at the Academy Awards.
This radio interview is about four minutes long and Brian Daniel was on right after actor Owen Wilson.
This radio interview is about four minutes long and Brian Daniel was on right after actor Owen Wilson.
|
|
Brian at the official Oscars party: CLICK to enlarge
|
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Have you ever had a secret that you couldn't tell anyone? As we continue to dive into the secret life of celebrities today, this man should be able to tell us a thing or two. The founder and director of The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network.
Mr. Brian Daniel. Good morning. Thanks for your time. Yes, hello.
Now, run us through what you actually do for a living. So what I do for a living, now, is I place personal assistants and estate managers with celebrities. For the past 20 years, I have been working with high-profile families and celebrities in Los Angeles and I've crossed over to the other side, and now I'm finding homes for celebrity assistants who are, you know, looking to get a high-profile employer.
Right, ok. When celebrities come to you, what do they want in a personal assistant? Well, first and foremost, the assistant has to have very thick skin because, frankly, you can teach people how to manage an estate or book a private jet. Yeah.
But the pressure is tremendous. Now, under normal circumstances, a celebrity assistant could be working 10, 12, 14 hours a day. Wow.
Now, when you go into award season, you could be doing 16 to 18-hour days, 7 days a week, for weeks at a time as you build up to the awards. The biggest challenge that an assistant can face is sometimes you're doing really remedial things. Like if the dog did some doo doo in the living room and the maid went home, you got to pick it up, and then an hour later,
you're sitting in a movie studio helping your boss, you know, close a 50-million-dollar movie.
So you have to be very diverse. Being a celebrity assistant is an A-to-Z position. I can imagine that privacy or trust would have to be a big factor for the celebrity, but they want someone that I know is it going to run off their mouth after a month of working for them? Do you have processes in place for that? Yeah, it's a big deal now. The confidentiality contracts are quite thick. When celebrities come to me, I have to agree, first and foremost, to sign an agreement that I'm not going to even discuss to my clients are.
That brings me to my next question. Who are some of your clients? Can I ask? Anyone who wants to crack into the industry, celebrity assistant... Is it good money? It's very good money. The pay varies wildly. The average pay for someone that works through me would be about a hundred thousand US dollars a year, but it is not uncommon at all to go all the way up to $250,000 a year.
Now, one of the things that, of course, that the celebrity assistants like the most are the perks. Now, you're going to get to travel on private jets. You're going to be in charge of exotic car fleets... The things you see in the movies, like The Devil Wears Prada, are absolutely fake... Right. Because there is so much training and cultivating an assistant that bosses do not want to be mean.
Giving a gifts and bonuses at the end of each year is customary because they want to keep the assistant happy. But, the flip of a coin, though... You're walking around palaces, you've got your private jets, you've got your fancy cars, you still picking up after the dog occasionally. That's true. That's true. Just quickly, Brian, I know you can't reveal any of the celebrity lists or anything, but just between you and I, who's the coolest celebrity you're in a photo with on your website?
I will say, the coolest celebrity that I ever met is Mariah Carey. When I was working at a famous Los Angeles area hotel,
I was kind of the go-to guy when the celebrities will come to the property, and she was just a dream. Alright. Well, there you go. Brian Daniel joining us live from the United States. Hey, thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you.
Have you ever had a secret that you couldn't tell anyone? As we continue to dive into the secret life of celebrities today, this man should be able to tell us a thing or two. The founder and director of The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network.
Mr. Brian Daniel. Good morning. Thanks for your time. Yes, hello.
Now, run us through what you actually do for a living. So what I do for a living, now, is I place personal assistants and estate managers with celebrities. For the past 20 years, I have been working with high-profile families and celebrities in Los Angeles and I've crossed over to the other side, and now I'm finding homes for celebrity assistants who are, you know, looking to get a high-profile employer.
Right, ok. When celebrities come to you, what do they want in a personal assistant? Well, first and foremost, the assistant has to have very thick skin because, frankly, you can teach people how to manage an estate or book a private jet. Yeah.
But the pressure is tremendous. Now, under normal circumstances, a celebrity assistant could be working 10, 12, 14 hours a day. Wow.
Now, when you go into award season, you could be doing 16 to 18-hour days, 7 days a week, for weeks at a time as you build up to the awards. The biggest challenge that an assistant can face is sometimes you're doing really remedial things. Like if the dog did some doo doo in the living room and the maid went home, you got to pick it up, and then an hour later,
you're sitting in a movie studio helping your boss, you know, close a 50-million-dollar movie.
So you have to be very diverse. Being a celebrity assistant is an A-to-Z position. I can imagine that privacy or trust would have to be a big factor for the celebrity, but they want someone that I know is it going to run off their mouth after a month of working for them? Do you have processes in place for that? Yeah, it's a big deal now. The confidentiality contracts are quite thick. When celebrities come to me, I have to agree, first and foremost, to sign an agreement that I'm not going to even discuss to my clients are.
That brings me to my next question. Who are some of your clients? Can I ask? Anyone who wants to crack into the industry, celebrity assistant... Is it good money? It's very good money. The pay varies wildly. The average pay for someone that works through me would be about a hundred thousand US dollars a year, but it is not uncommon at all to go all the way up to $250,000 a year.
Now, one of the things that, of course, that the celebrity assistants like the most are the perks. Now, you're going to get to travel on private jets. You're going to be in charge of exotic car fleets... The things you see in the movies, like The Devil Wears Prada, are absolutely fake... Right. Because there is so much training and cultivating an assistant that bosses do not want to be mean.
Giving a gifts and bonuses at the end of each year is customary because they want to keep the assistant happy. But, the flip of a coin, though... You're walking around palaces, you've got your private jets, you've got your fancy cars, you still picking up after the dog occasionally. That's true. That's true. Just quickly, Brian, I know you can't reveal any of the celebrity lists or anything, but just between you and I, who's the coolest celebrity you're in a photo with on your website?
I will say, the coolest celebrity that I ever met is Mariah Carey. When I was working at a famous Los Angeles area hotel,
I was kind of the go-to guy when the celebrities will come to the property, and she was just a dream. Alright. Well, there you go. Brian Daniel joining us live from the United States. Hey, thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you.
