Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Neff.
Hi Charlie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a true California girl – born in Pasadena, CA and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. I knew I wanted to be an entertainment reporter at a very young age. I would make “newspapers” in elementary school and hand them out to students. I loved storytelling as a child and somehow found a way to make it my profession.
I went to the University of La Verne in CA and got my bachelor’s degree in Broadcast & Journalism. I was the first person in my family to get a college education, and I was determined to show my family that paying for my education was worth it. However, after college, it took me 3 years to get a job in the entertainment industry. That time tested my passion and dedication. I went for job interviews at places like Access Hollywood and E! News, but ultimately couldn’t land a job. After feeling defeated, I decided to create my own entertainment website called POPinionz, which helped me get media credentials to the hottest red carpet events in LA. I interviewed everyone from Kris Jenner to Eva Longoria and even guest hosted on the Logo Network show ‘The Gossip Queens’. However, it was a fake-it-till-you-make-it moment, because the microphone I used on the red carpet didn’t even work. But I always made sure I looked the part!
One evening, I was covering an event for my blog at the Playboy Mansion. Hugh Hefner made a big entrance with a gaggle of girls and waved to the crowd. I took some photos of his entrance and noticed he was with his ex girlfriend, Crystal Harris (who he later married). I thought it was interesting they were back together, but didn’t think much else of it and went on with my night. The next morning, I woke up and wondered if any outlet had reported on them being back together. After a quick google search, I realized no one had done the story. I thought to myself, “Who do I sell these photos to?” And I called up TMZ on the tipline number listed on the website. TMZ purchased my photos and published the story about Hef being back with his ex. Shortly after, I decided to shoot my shot and asked the producer at TMZ if they had any openings on the news desk. I started as a Production Assistant on the news desk shortly after. I have been at TMZ ever since and have over 12 years reporting experience at the company. I also am one of the on-air personalities on both of the shows TMZ TV and TMZ Live. I have also been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for my work at TMZ. I’ve broken some significant stories, such as the tragic death of Matthew Perry, and I’m the reporter behind the explosive elevator fight surveillance footage between Jay-Z, Beyonce and Solange. It’s been a wild ride and I’m so grateful TMZ took a chance on me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
After college, I struggled for 3 years to land a job in the industry. During that time, I worked several odd jobs to make ends meet. I worked as a promo model, catalog model and even dabbled as a bottle service girl. It’s very common to not immediately getting a job after graduation, yet it’s rarely discussed. Hollywood tested my passion, patience and sanity. The moral of the story is so cliche but true – never give up.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At TMZ, all the reporters work on every kind of story. Some days, I’ll be working on a story about a double-homicide, the next day I’m conducting an interview with a woman who went viral for spraying her hair with Gorilla Glue. That’s what I love about the job, every day is a new day. When I first started at TMZ in 2013, I worked with a group of reporters who I really admired and hoped to one day be just like them. For many years, I was always the one making calls to contacts to get stories. But the day I broke Matthew Perry’s death, it was from someone that made the call to me. It was a tragic story to work on, but from a career standpoint, I realized I developed a reputation in the industry as a reporter who could handle sensitive stories in an accurate and timely manner. The person that called me could have called anyone in the world to deliver the news – but that person called me because of my hard work, dedication and fairness. It was a full circle moment.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I would tell people there is no clear-cut-path to get where you want to be. I believe in manifesting what you want and doing whatever it takes to get there. Success is when opportunity meets preparedness.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: charlieneff
- Twitter: charlieneff
- Youtube: charlieneff1
Image Credits
For the screengrabs from TMZ TV and TMZ Live, you can credit FOX.
All pink pics you can credit: Nicole Caldwell.
