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It’s been a while since I’ve seen Entourage star Adrian Grenier face to face, so when he sent me a text few weeks back asking if I was free on the September 21st to see a film, I thought (ahem)… my luck had changed.
Wrong!
I accepted the ‘date,’ but had no idea at that point I’d be sharing the movie theater with at least 200 or so of his other friends too. Nevertheless, I was flattered to be asked to the screening of HBO’s Teenage Paparazzo held at West Hollywood’s Pacific Design Center and I invited my dear friend, top fashion designer Julia Clancey to accompany me.
The documentary, directed by Grenier, profiles a 14 year-old boy – Austin Visschedyk – who lives in Hollywood with his mother, and is a unique example of our star-struck society. Visschedyk is a teenage Paparazzo!
Schooled at home by divorced parents who often give in to their young son’s obnoxious demands, Visschedyk prowls the streets of Hollywood at nights, making a living photographing A-list celebrities, selling the images for at least a $1000 a pop to the tabloid press.
In the special, which premieres on HBO on September 27th, Grenier interviews Visschedyk, joining him undercover for a night of stalking the famous as he learns more about the nature of the celebrity press. Though it appears by turning the spotlight on the ‘petulant-pap’, giving Austin such attention seems to be making his youthful ego even more problematic.
Athough a slightly one-sided view of the notorious paparazzi lifestyle, I liked the film. At times, Adrian really captures the excitement and color that world has to offer, and what most folk only wonder about. The movie clearly points out how obsessed the youth of today are with likes of Paris Hilton,Britney Spears and TMZ, which I found natually fascinating to watch…
Funnily enough however, the highlight of my evening was not the movie itself, but the after-party where guests where given a free Teenage Paparazzo ‘camera-styled’ chocolate bar (or so Julia Clancey and I thought), once Julia had taken a bite out of the novelty give-away, she quickly discoverd it was actually a bar of soap!
Finally, Miss Clancey washed her mouth out!
Don’t miss Teenage Paparazzo on HBO – September 27th… A must see!
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