Ever wondered who the members are in a celebrity team. In this article we provide you with the job description and salaries of celebrity agents, managers, publicists, assistants, and lawyer.
Behind each celebrity is a fully-staffed team. A star is one person and can’t possibly do everything it takes to propel their image into the cultural stratosphere. The celebrity maintains the status and fame, but the team surrounding them makes the decisions and actually gets things done. These are the people you need to reach out to when trying to work with celebrities. While one face smiles at cameras and appears on magazine covers, an invisible army stands behind them.
Here’s a breakdown of the important people you need to know to work with celebrities.
The Stylist
Salary
Stylists normally charge celebrities by the hour and earn between $40k – $150k annually.
Description
A celebrity stylist makes the decisions about clothing and accessories their client wears at public appearances. They’re the ones who decide if Justin Timberlake is wearing a leather jacket and looking tough or sticking with the more classy, “suit and tie” style.
While they might not be a salaried member of the team, their clients trust them and value their opinions. Basia Richard, stylist to Selena Gomez, says stars generally only work with people they already know. “Celebrities are very private people,” she remarks. “They like to have people around them who they’re comfortable with.” If you connect with a stylist, you have a connection to a decision maker in the star’s inner circle.
A real world example of this is UGG founder Brian Smith, who was struggling to gain traction for his sheepskin boots before he reached out to celebrity stylists. Smith started sending celebrity stylists free boots. UGGs soon started appearing on stars like Tom Cruise and Pamela Anderson, and the footwear quickly became popular in the U.S. and, eventually, the world.
Why You Should Contact Them
Reaching out to stylists is the best way to get clothing or accessories to celebrities, so this team member is a must-have connection for fashion companies. You can get the contacts for celebrity stylists by using Moda Database.
Agent
Salary
Agents earn their income from 10%-20% of the deals they get clients. Entry-level agents get roughly $40k annually, while uber-successful ones can generate $10 million in annual income.
Description
Agents are responsible for finding work for “the talent”. They represent their celebrity clients during the hiring process and in most cases are the go-to team member when you want to work with a celebrity. Celebrities often work with multiple agents for different fields areas of their careers. One star will have an agent for movies, an agent for music, an agent for endorsement, etc. It might take some research to find the right person to contact, but it’s worth it to talk the person who makes the calls.
Agents are essential to a star finding work, and since they make their money from percentages of deals they get for clients, agents also have a deeply vested interest in their client’s success. Having a good relationship and reputation with agents is a huge advantage to anyone looking to work with celebrities, as agents typically represent several talented clients – Jim Carrey, Will Smith, and Julia Roberts are all clients of one agency.
Why You Should Contact Them
If you’re wanting to book an artist for an event, an actor for a commercial, or want to hire a celebrity in any way whatsoever, this is usually the person to talk to.
Want to work with a celebrity but don’t know how to reach out to a booking agent? Check out this article: How to Email a Celebrity Booking Agent
Manager
Salary
Managers earn between $40k – $2 million and make their money by taking a 10% – 20% cut of their client’s total income
Description
A celebrity’s manager oversees a variety of aspects in their client’s professional life, and at any given moment might act as agent, publicist, or even attorney for a star. Managers take very active roles in marketing the celebrity, advising the celebrity on which gigs to take, and even counseling them on how to handle their earnings. Just as they do with agents, celebrities often have different managers for different aspects of their careers.
- Business managers handle the star’s financials, and they’re usually certified accountants.
- Tour managers deal with a celebrity’s itinerary and do the majority of the planning for a tour. Artists regularly hire freelance managers on a tour-by-tour basis.
- Personal managers act as a liaison between the talent and agents, publicists, business managers, and other people involved in the celebrity’s professional life. They’re essentially a “CEO” in the business that is the star’s career, helping to cast a vision and then see it through.
Managers do everything from outlining a 5-year plan to coordinating a daily schedule for clients.
Why You Should Contact Them
Many decisions, including endorsement deals, rest in a manager’s hands. These are people you should contact with anything business-related when working with celebrities.
Publicist
Salary
Publicists typically charge a flat monthly fee, and they make between $40k – $150k annually.
Description
Publicists handle all things media related for celebrity clients. These professionals are in charge of how the celebrity appears in the media, and they manage the relationship stars have with the media. Interviews, public appearances, press releases, and even social media fall under the watch of the publicist. Like most of the other members of a celebrity team, publicists usually have more than one big name client, and connecting with one publicist can give you access to a network of talent. Jill Fritzo, to name one such publicist, represents all three Kardashian sisters.
Why You Should Contact Them
If you’re reaching out to a celebrity for the purposes of interviewing them, requesting their appearance, or sending promotional products to them, their publicist is a great place to start.
Personal Assistant
Salary
A personal assistant’s salary ranges from $40k – $150k, and their compensation includes perks (like getting to go to exotic locations with the celebrity).
Description
A personal assistant is the person most responsible for making a celebrity’s daily life easier. From getting coffee to taking kids to school to breaking up with boyfriends in their place, PAs will do just about anything for the stars who hire them. These team members are vital parts of a star’s life, and they’re involved in most aspects of it. George Clooney’s PA has been working with him for 20 years, and she lives in a detached house on Clooney’s personal estate.
Why You Should Contact Them
If you can connect with a personal assistant, then you’ve just connected with the person on the team most closely connected to the celebrity. You most likely would only be contacting them in the case you are already speaking with the celebrity, and they are the liaison.
Attorney
Salary
Celebrity attorneys charge a flat fee plus a commission, and generally earn $100k – $2 million.
Description
A celebrity attorney provides legal assistance to celebrities for deals, lawsuits, and general legal counsel needs. They’re deeply entrenched members of the celebrity scene, and they are constantly making new connections and getting new clients. When you talk with an attorney to the stars, you’re talking with someone who mingles with big names every night, because that’s how they grow their business. As entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark remarks, “Many of the biggest deals in Hollywood are struck over a meal or cocktail.”
Why You Should Contact Them
Anything legal related between your company and the celebrity, this is the person to call.
If you’re trying to work with celebrities in any capacity, it’s important to know and understand the gatekeepers. If you want a star to wear your watch, understanding that the stylist is the decision maker on fashion will keep you from wasting your time trying to contact the star herself about accessories. More than that, though, understanding the publicist’s job or the manager’s job allows you to talk to each team member in a way that shows you comprehend and respect their position. The ability to connect with the team in that way gives you a much greater chance of getting your deal accepted.
Agent photo by flickr user theseic
Publicist photo by flickr user santea
Attorney photo by flickr user neccorp
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