Booking Celebrity Guests for Interviews

I

IslandFilmmaker

Member
Hey Forum,

I'm in the process of producing a talk show and I'm wondering if anyone had any information/resources in terms of booking a celebrity to appear on a talk show.

I.e - Is the show is responsible for their travels? Who exactly does one contact (I am guessing PR agents as oppose to booking agents) Essentially I'm looking for the details from picking up the phone to thanking the celebrity for being a guest and sending them off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
 
You're going to have to take care of all travel expenses and probably provide a per diem. I know if I'm on the crew of a show that shoots out of town I'm expect everything to be taken care of in terms of travel arrangements and living accommodations.
 
Depending on the type of "celebrity" you may also need to pay them at least union minimum scale for their appearance. Show business types will be members of AFTRA or SAG and may be prohibited from appearing for free. Guests on programs like "The Tonight Show" are typically paid for their appearances.
 
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Thanks for the responses! And what's the industry standard time from between contacting the publicist and the actual day of shooting the talk show?
 
This may be a bit 'English' centred, but here's a copy of the letter I got starting the ball rolling for one such occasion. For obvious reasons, I've removed the B road cast TV companies name and replaced all the real names with fake ones - however, the rest is as was.
Hi Paul,

I hope this finds you well. I look after the celebrity bookings for ABC’s programme name and wanted to get in touch as on Friday 14[SUP]th[/SUP] June the show will be coming live from Anytown shopping centre where two of our presenters, Jane Smith and Fred Jones will be talking to shoppers and encouraging viewers to vote for programme name for best daytime show at next year’s National Television Awards.

As part of the live OB we would love to get a familiar face down to the centre to take part in the fun and games so I wondered whether celebrity name might be available please? I’m sure there would be the opportunity for her to give your production and theatre a mention.

I’ll let you have more info as and when I get it from the team but in the mean time, please can I ask you to let me know whether you can see this working?

Thanks Paul – I look forward to hearing from you.

Tillie x
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I responded that I'd enquire, and approached the artiste to see if she wanted to do it - if she wasn't somebody I knew, then I'd have gone to her agent. Not a publicist or anyone else - their own agent, who's job it is to get them work and arrange the detail.

Part of this deal was transport - so they arranged the car to get her there, and take her back to her home at the end, they also provide food and drink - not specified in writing, but expected. They also have to provide privacy from the public if applicable.

Below is the release form I had to get the artiste to sign. Keep in mind the legal content is valid in the UK - but you can see the basics of what I get them to sign. The formting is a bit off - it didn't translate too well to this editor.
Paul






CONTRIBUTOR RELEASE FORM

​
NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR


     
(“you”, “your”)


ADDRESS OF CONTRIBUTOR




DATE(S) OF CONTRIBUTION

and such other date(s) as are mutually agreed (the “Filming Date(s)”)
FEE

£ per record ________________________________________________(the “Fee”)
PRODUCTION COMPANY XYZ STUDIOS LIMITED (“we”, “us”, “our”)
PROGRAMME NAME (provisional title)



___________________________________________________(the “Programme”)

Dear Sir/Madam,
We write to confirm our agreement with you whereby, in consideration of us paying to you the Fee (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged), you agree to the following:
You consent to the filming and recording of you on the Filming Date(s), during and in connection with your appearance (including any performance of any musical compositions) for the Programme (which we intend, but do not undertake to produce) (the “Contribution”) and the use of your Contribution in the Programme in whole or in part or not at all. You irrevocably grant and assign to us all copyright and other rights in your Contribution so as to permit the fullest use throughout the world of the Contribution or any part(s) thereof by all means and in all media whether now known or hereafter developed in perpetuity in connection with the Programme or otherwise. For purposes of clarity, you accept that we have the right to edit, copy or translate the Contribution as we see fit and you irrevocably waive the benefits of and agree not to assert any provision of law known as "moral rights" or any similar laws of any jurisdiction.
You warrant that:you are fully entitled to grant all rights and consents herein; you are aged at least 18 (eighteen) years old; you are aware of the nature, purpose and subject matter of the Programme which you acknowledge has been fully explained to you; the content of your Contribution shall be true in all respects to the best of your knowledge and belief;nothing in your Contribution will infringe the copyright or any other right of any third party or breach any contract or duty of confidence, constitute a contempt of court or expose us to any civil or criminal proceedings or be defamatory and/or otherwise bring us or any other party into disrepute; you shall not apply for any injunctive relief which could affect or restrain the exploitation of the Programme; andyou will advise us of any information which might compromise or call into question the integrity of the Programme (for example factual errors).
You hereby grant us the right to use your name, voice, likeness, photographs and any biographical material concerning you in connection with the promotion and exploitation of the Programme and/or ancillary products/services derived thereof and/or in connection with us and/or the broadcaster of the Programme throughout the world by all means and in all media whether now known or hereafter developed in perpetuity.
You shall keep confidential and shall not disclose to any third party any confidential information, photographs or other material relating to us or the Programme or anyone taking part in it which comes to your knowledge as result of your participation in the Programme.
You consent to the holding and processing of personal data for the purposes of our production and exploitation of the Programme.
You agree that we may freely assign or licence this agreement and this agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
VALUE ADDED TAX SELF BILLING AGREEMENT: If you are VAT registered, we will issue a tax invoice on your behalf. You undertake that you will: (i) not issue any tax invoice in connection with this agreement and (ii) immediately notify us of any change in your VAT status or VAT registered details. Your VAT Registration No is __________________________________________
Yours faithfully ……………………………………………………………………………..for and on behalf of XYZ STUDIOS LIMITED

DATE:…………………………………………………………………….
Agreed and accepted

SIGN: …………………………………………………………………………
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Wow, thanks so much for the reply. I noticed you mentioned a fee and had a fee listed in the contract - Do you have to pay the celebrity just to do an interview?


paulears said:
This may be a bit 'English' centred, but here's a copy of the letter I got starting the ball rolling for one such occasion. For obvious reasons, I've removed the B road cast TV companies name and replaced all the real names with fake ones - however, the rest is as was.

I responded that I'd enquire, and approached the artiste to see if she wanted to do it - if she wasn't somebody I knew, then I'd have gone to her agent. Not a publicist or anyone else - their own agent, who's job it is to get them work and arrange the detail.

Part of this deal was transport - so they arranged the car to get her there, and take her back to her home at the end, they also provide food and drink - not specified in writing, but expected. They also have to provide privacy from the public if applicable.

Below is the release form I had to get the artiste to sign. Keep in mind the legal content is valid in the UK - but you can see the basics of what I get them to sign. The formting is a bit off - it didn't translate too well to this editor.
Paul










​
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IslandFilmmaker said:
Wow, thanks so much for the reply. I noticed you mentioned a fee and had a fee listed in the contract - Do you have to pay the celebrity just to do an interview?
Click to expand...

It could vary depending on what KIND of celebrity but it's very common to have to do so. An actor who is a member of the union gets paid for every public appearance, even publicity gigs. A politician may request an honorarium. A writer flogging his own book, OTOH, may be happy just for the publicity. But in general nobody rides the train for free. Also you need a release to use the interview and a release is a contract. Contracts require an exchange of value - their permission to use their image has value and you have to give them some "valuable consideration" in exchange for it in order for the contract to be valid. That consideration might be as little as 1 dollar but it has to be something.
 
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