• by Alison Hill , Columnist, July 18, 2013

The first time we met was at the 50^th Anniversary celebration of “Gone with the Wind” in Atlanta. I was in charge of the event in my role as VP for Turner Broadcasting. He was escorting not one but two of the stars of the film—Evelyn Keyes on one arm and Ann Rutherford on the other. That was 24 years ago, and to this day, he’s still the best in the business when it comes to connecting talent and celebrities with projects and events.

His name is Marvin Paige, and he’s a film and television casting director. His varied credits include “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Village of the Giants,” “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” “Take the Money and Run,” Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex But Were Afraid to Ask,” “Combat!,” the “Planet of the Apes” TV series, and “General Hospital,” among many others. He’s also known around town for his work on more than a dozen celebrity bio documentaries, including ones on Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Gene Tierney, Ava Gardner, Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda.  He’s currently busy casting several new movies.

To me, Marvin will always be known as the man who can work miracles. In addition to his casting work, Marvin is a talent-relations genius who has consistently delivered celebrities for a wide variety of campaigns and events I’ve worked on over the years. Talent relations is far from a science, and it takes a special kind of person to do what Marvin has done. 

While he was hesitant to give away all his trade secrets, I convinced him to give me a few tips on how to recruit celebrities for events.  

• Build relationships. We’ve heard it all before but it’s still true: Relationships count above anything else in Hollywood. Start cultivating them now, and with everyone you meet, including secretaries and assistants. Be sincere—and don’t burn any bridges. You never know when that secretary will turn out to hold the power in his or her own hands (or will become the very star you’re trying to recruit!). 

• Be practical. A film star on location or a lead actor in production on a TV series is not likely to be available to attend an event for the simple reason that it’s logistically impossible. Why even bother wasting time by contacting their manager or publicist with a request? Do your research first to ensure that your list is feasible.

• Go organic. Pick celebrities who are natural fits for your event or campaign. When Marvin needed stars to attend the gala of a foster care and adoption charity, he looked for TV shows that advocated those important family services in their shows. At the time, “7^th Heaven” was a top-rated show and the only one to focus on foster care and adoption. He was able to convince the production company, Aaron Spelling Productions, to send several of its key cast members to lend their support to the cause.

• Make it worthwhile. The event needs to be as appealing as possible to the celebrity. Will there be press? Does the celebrity have something, like a new book, that he or she would like to promote? Make sure to offer an opportunity to sign books, for example, so that the celebrity gets something in return for taking the time to come to your event. Or perhaps the star deserves to be honored for his or her work in the area pertaining to your event, and you can create an award presentation. On Sept. 1, Marvin will have accomplished both a book signing and an award presentation with Shirley Jones when the Academy Award winner signs copies of her new autobiography, Shirley Jones: A Memoir, and receives the Cinecon 49 Career Achievement Award at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival. 

• Make it easy. You want the appearance to be as convenient as possible for the celebrity. To begin with, this means offering transportation—which Marvin taught me does not always mean limousines! Years ago, we worked on an event called “It’s a Yabba Dabba Doo Day in San Bernardino!” Marvin outdid himself for this event by securing the guest appearances of more than two dozen well-known Hanna-Barbera voice actors, including Casey Kasem (Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo”), Penny Singleton (Jane Jetson from “The Jetsons”), and Jean Vanderpyl (Wilma Flintstone from “The Flintstones”). It was a charity function, and we could not afford to send limos for every single person. Marvin suggested we send a bus—he insisted that they would all enjoy riding out together. And he was right. They all arrived smiling and laughing after an hour and a half of sharing stories about the good ol’ days.

• Do it for charity. Everyone feels better about giving their time to an appearance if it’s for a worthy cause. But once again, it has to be the right charity and it has to appeal to the celebrity for the right reasons. Recently, Marvin was tasked with a real challenge: finding celebrities who are in recovery to make special guest appearances at a screening of “Bill W.,” a documentary about the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. While there’s an obvious connection between people in recovery and their interest in Bill W., not a lot of celebrities want to talk publicly about their A.A. programs. This is where relationships come into play. Marvin was able to call upon Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr. to attend the event, a benefit for several different prominent recovery-based charities.

The bottom line, as Marvin knows better than anyone, is that bringing in a star should make your event or campaign shine. So you want the right star, a happy star, a comfortable star—one who's going to lend you the full strength of their wattage because they're actually glad to be there.