Some grocery checkout lines got an infusion of Hollywood glamour last week. Rosario Dawson and other celebrities joined local business leaders, including Earthwise Bag Co. Chief Executive Stan Joffe, to bag groceries at two L.A. supermarkets to promote statewide efforts to ban plastic bags.
The sight of Hollywood actresses and suit-wearing businessmen caused more than a few double takes.
“The customers were really excited,” said Joffe.
Most of the participants, though, expect to stick to their day jobs.
Raul Diaz, who represented the local gang intervention and business organization Homeboy Industries, said he has a new respect for baggers.
“I made a mistake putting a gallon of water with someone’s bread,” he said. “I said, ‘Whoops, I guess that’s going to get smashed.’ I think we need to go to training before we do this again.”
Paparazzi Power
Before he became the chief executive of two L.A. websites, Ryan Born could be found snapping photos of celebrities at red-carpet galas and star-studded events.
That’s because Born doubled as a photojournalist for photo database WireImage while he was the company’s accountant.
It all began in 2005 when Born asked his boss if he could take one of the company’s cameras to try photography. Born studied art history and studio art while an undergraduate at Atlanta’s Emory University, so he had a good sense of what made a compelling photograph.
Soon he was crunching numbers by day and snapping celebs at night. In his nearly four years with the company, owned by Getty Images, Born amassed 13,000 photos of stars, including Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lopez. Several of his pictures were featured in Rolling Stone and People magazine.
“To get into the art kept me really happy in my job,” he said.
Today, Born heads music licensing website AudioMicro and voicemail sharing website Audioo. He’s too busy to be a part-time photographer, but he still dabbles in it. And tries his hand at painting when he can.
One of the perks of having thousands of photos on Getty Images to his name?
“I still get royalty checks for my work,” he said.
Just the Ticket
These days, getting free tickets to big events can be a problem. Just ask Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who’s gotten in hot water for doing so.
But former Playa Vista executive, businessman and mayoral candidate Steve Soboroff has a suggestion: give the tickets to a charity that can send disadvantaged children to the event.
Speaking before 500 business leaders recently upon receiving an award at the annual Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission banquet, Soboroff told of his experience receiving free tickets for front-row seats to Lakers games at the Staples Center 10 years ago. At the time, Soboroff had wrapped up his service as a commissioner for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“I gave the tickets to my children, but under one condition: that they each take one kid from the Big Brother/Big Sister program to the game with them,” Soboroff told the audience. “I told them that using the tickets was a privilege that should be shared.”
Afterward, Soboroff said he really wasn’t trying to address Villaraigosa’s situation, though he did acknowledge that some executives have been reluctant to accept free tickets as a result of the mayoral scandal that’s become known as “Ticketgate.”
Rather, he said, giving unused tickets to charities is a way to fill unused seats.
“At Dodger Stadium, 20 percent of the tickets go unused,” he said. “When there are so many disadvantaged kids who lack wholesome things to do, that’s a shame.”
Staff reporters Richard Clough, Natalie Jarvey and Howard Fine contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
