|
|
|
March 2007
|
ALUMNI PROFILE |
|||||
From Skeptic to Stage Manager: Celebrity Escort Gives Scoop on Handling Hollywood Talent Sometimes talking to strangers isn't a mistake. It paid off for Chris Gaida, SPA/BA ’97, anyhow. Following graduation from AU, the former Justice, Law, and Society major was working at MTV in New York City when one day, out of the blue, someone stopped him in the hallway to tell him he had a “good look” and invited him to be an escort for a television show. “I was a bit skeptical,” he says. Despite his uncertainty, Gaida left work early that day, showed up where he was instructed to go, and found himself assigned to help three women performing on Saturday Night Live. “And it was totally legit,” he notes. Fortunately, the man who approached Gaida liked the way the AU alum “handled talent,” so well that Gaida was asked to help with more shows. Slowly but surely, he worked his way up to coordinating higher profile celebrities. Basically, Gaida is among a group of specialized go-to guys (and gals) hired by show producers to make sure “the talent are happy.” From making sure the production team has everything they need, to walking celebrities down the red carpet at whatever event they’re attending, Gaida acts the stage manager for specific talent on a specific show. Among the stars he’s guided, Gaida names Reece Witherspoon, Cyndi Lauper, Christina Aguilera, and Susan Sarandon. Some of his favorites include Queen Latifah, whom he says is friendly and down to earth; Pamela Anderson, whom he describes as surprisingly shy; and Alyssa Milano, whom he calls “very genuine, and a really sweet person.”
“I’m assigned to them the entire day of the show, and the day before for rehearsals. The minute they arrive I get them from their car to their dressing room, make sure hair and make-up [staff] are there for them, I make sure their scripts are up to date, and I get any questions to the producers. I’m the main communications for the talent for that show…. If they’re in the bathroom, I stand and wait outside the door.” A quick Internet search reveals Gaida – who uses the stage name Chris Laslo when he’s in front of the camera – has worked all the big shows and then some. His 2006 “talent escort” credits include the Academy Awards, the Daytime Emmy’s, the NAACP Image Awards, and the Scream Awards. Before that, he worked the Grammy’s, the Tony’s, the VH1 Awards, MTV Awards, the TV Land Awards, and many more. Sometimes, it’s simple. But as the Hollywood press often reports – and Gaida confirms – other times there are stars who don’t quite align, and he has to make sure they’re placed in dressing rooms apart from each other. Maybe they had dated and are no longer an item, or they simply have personalities that don’t mesh. Regardless, Gaida’s job is to keep them happy. In his experience, most conflicts seem to arise over who gets to go on stage first. “Everyone wants the best thing for their client,” he says. “Part of the job is to make sure you don’t have two people waiting to get on stage at the same time... making sure things are well oiled so one person isn’t favored over another.” “Some people believe they deserve more respect than others,” he says. Of course, there are some celebs who get bad raps for being difficult when it’s actually their manager who’s difficult, Gaida notes. But that’s another story. It’s been eight years since Gaida did his first gig as a celebrity escort in New York. Now living in North Hollywood, he’s involved in multiple projects including writing a sit-com, pitching a reality show he recently finished writing, and selling real estate for a hip new firm in Beverly Hills called Keller Williams. He’s also working on a book about his work as a celebrity escort. “It’s the niche everyone’s looking at. People love to hear about celebrities.” There’s no such thing as an average day or week, says Gaida, who describes his work managing celebrities behind the scenes as “an adrenalin rush” despite his success in the business for being calm, cool, and collected. “I could get a call at any minute saying ‘would you like to go with Paris Hilton to this awards dinner tonight’?” Gaida considers himself incredibly lucky to have the chance to meet all the entertainers he’s ever wanted to meet, who touched him when he was growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. “If you liked Whitney Houston, you’d pay $200 to go see her in concert. I get to see her, hear her at rehearsal, and spend the entire day with her.” Had you asked him when he graduated whether his path to Hollywood would have been literally down the red carpet, he never would have imagined it. Even though the path – more like springboard – was unexpected, Gaida is just glad to be on his way toward the career in producing he envisioned back when he was a student at AU. “Pursue your dreams. Keep an open mind,” he advises, “and it’ll lead to other things.” -Melissa Reichley |
|||||
