Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Harary.
Hi Dan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Born and raised just outside of Asbury Park, New Jersey, I suppose I am a man of many talents. While best known for my 40-plus years of work in Hollywood as an Entertainment Industry Publicist and owner of the boutique Asbury PR Agency in Beverly Hills (www.asburypr.com), I am also the author of the book FLIRTING WITH FAME: A HOLLYWOOD PUBLICIST RECALLS 50 YEARS OF CELEBRITY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, which took Hollywood by storm during Summer 2022. In addition, I was a professional drummer as a youngster and performed stand-up comedy at LA’s top comedy houses during the late ‘90s/early 2000s.
Between 1972-74, when I was 15/16/17, I was the Stage Manager and the Lighting Director for the Sunshine Inn rock concert venue in Asbury Park – Bruce Springsteen often played there early in his career. I also worked with dozens of the biggest rock bands of the 1970s, including KISS, Fleetwood Mac, and Deep Purple.
I attended Boston University’s School of Public Communications (concurrent with Howard Stern’s attendance.) After my college graduation in 1978, I was the Art Director for the New Jersey Boater Magazine in Asbury Park (‘78-1980;) before a brief stint commuting to Manhattan during 1980 for a gig in the PR Department of Columbia Pictures (working closely with Brooke Shields.)
I relocated to Los Angeles in the Fall of 1980 when a friend of mine from the East Coast offered to let me sleep on her couch. Struggling for 15 months before securing a foothold within the entertainment industry, I became a Hollywood Publicist at the start of 1984, and have remained successful in that field ever since.
In addition to my role as a longtime Publicist, I also became a Published Author during Summer 2022, with the release of my first book: FLIRTING WITH FAME: A HOLLYWOOD PUBLICST RECALLS 50 YEARS OF CELEBRITY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS. The book took Hollywood by storm and generated publicity in NEWSWEEK, the LA Times, the Village Voice, the LA Daily News, the Hollywood Reporter, the New York Daily News, USA Today, and many other major media outlets.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I first arrived in Los Angeles in October 1980 at the tender age of 24, I had no car, no money, no job, no connections, and no girlfriends – only one dear friend from New York who allowed me to sleep on her couch in a tiny apartment on Venice Beach. I might mention that cockroaches were among my closest friends at that time. Shortly after my arrival in LA, I was down to $6 – literally, in life. While that was a bit scary, it was also an exciting time for me. It was the first time in my life I was free to do whatever I wanted every day – I used to write poetry on Venice Beach, smoke pot, and eat a pizza slice. I call that my “Jim Morrison Period.” After struggling with an assortment of temp jobs my first 15 months in LA – including selling women’s clothes on Venice Beach, serving as a gofer for a video production company, being a receptionist for a soft porn film company, and acting as a typist for a Korean law firm, I finally got hired by Jean Firstenberg, then, the head of The American Film Institute, at the top of 1982. Since she and I were both graduates of Boston University, she had pity on me and gave me my first full-time position in Hollywood. I will be forever grateful to her for saving me back then!
We’ve been impressed with The Asbury PR Agency, Inc., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Between early 1984 until Fall 1996, I served as an in-house Publicist with a series of entertainment industry companies, including The Playboy Channel; Columbia Pictures Television, and two very prominent PR agencies. On October 1, 1996, I launched my own company, The Asbury PR Agency, originally in Hollywood and today located in Beverly Hills. My company is still going strong 26-plus years later!
Since the opening of my agency, we have specialized in the representation of clients and individuals working across every conceivable area of the entertainment and leisure industries. I have worked with movie stars, TV stars, rock and pop stars, writers/producers/directors, politicians and live theatrical productions for decades.
Among the highlights of the Asbury Agency’s work during the past 26 years: Handling the press coverage for the 100th Anniversary of the iconic Hollywood restaurant Musso & Frank Grill; handling Public Relations for SIGGRAPH, the world’s largest international Computer Graphics Conference; handling the public relations and promotion for the grand opening of the $3.2 billion Studio City Hotel & Resort in Macau, China (U.S. press); launching the Hollywood Film Festival; handling the debut performance of Japan’s #1 Singing Group in the U.S.; producing a Special Press Event honoring the rock band KISS; announcing a proposed sequel to the film classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”- briefly making the project the # 1 entertainment story in the world; representing two Academy Award-winning clients: Makeup Artists Robert Short (“Beetlejuice,”) and Barney Burman (“Star Trek,”) along with three time Emmy Award winning Special Makeup FX legend Todd Masters (“Handmaid’s Tale,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Good Doctor”;) and representing the 24th Annual Animé Expo, which drew 100,000 attendees to the LA Convention Center.
I have been extremely fortunate – and blessed – to have been “my own boss” for so many years! You can see more about my business at: www.asburypr.com
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
Like I said, when I came out to LA in 1980, I had NOTHING! I survived by sheer force of will, endless determination, and a tenacity to somehow join the entertainment industry that drove me forward on a daily basis. To a young person who might want to become a Hollywood Publicist today – if that person is coming to LA from out of town or out of state – my first piece of advice would be SAVE UP AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN before you get here! I sold off all of my possessions in New Jersey to raise only $2K to get my ass here to Los Angeles – and that money went fast! Assuming you have the money to simply survive here, another good idea would be to TRY TO FIND A MENTOR before you get here! Again, a young person who might wish to pursue a career in Entertainment PR should do their homework, research as many LA-based PR agencies and publicists as they can possibly find out about, write to them ALL and try to secure at least a few “heroes” who might actually help you once you’ve arrived and are seeking your first job. Again, I was truly blessed when Jean Firstenberg “discovered me” at the American Film Institute in 1982. She saved me. Had that NOT happened, I honestly don’t know if I would have been able to survive financially, and to remain here in Hollywood. I might have had to tuck my tail between my legs and move back to New Jersey and onto my mother’s couch!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://asburypr.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danasburypr/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.harary.3
- Other: https://www.danhararyauthor.com/
Image Credits
FLIRTING WITH FAME
Dan
Alice Cooper
Tim Long
Dr. Ruth
Pierre Lehu
Hugh Hefner
The Hugh M. Hefner Foundation
Steven Spielberg
Lee Roth
Jerry Seinfeld
Gene Arias
Milton Berle
Glenn Schwartz
Bob “Gilligan” Denver
Tim Long
Mel Brooks
Joan Harary
Office of Mel Brooks
