Three best friends turn Hollywood buzz into dreams come true
* * Online entertainment magazine logs 4 million hits a month * *
By Paul Chaderjian
April 7, 2007
Hollyscoop.com is one of the hottest entertainment news sites in the
world. With more than 4 million hits a month, Diana Magpapian, Nora
Gasparian, and Ani Esmailian bring readers up-to-the-minute
entertainment news, inside scoops, video reports, and exclusive photos
from the hottest spots in the world of entertainment. The Armenian
Reporter's Paul Chaderjian asked the hottest entertainment reporters
in Hollywood about their work, their lives, and their dreams.
PC: How did you start your site?
DM: The site literally started as a joke. Ani Esmailian was in her
senior year at Cal State Los Angeles trying to get a job at US Weekly,
while Nora Gasparian got a monotonous job straight out of college
working for GE, and I was working at Paramount Studios for
Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. I would always invite Nora and
Ani to Hollywood parties, where we would mingle with Hollywood's
elite. Ani would write stories to other bloggers and it would end up
in national publications. At one point she realized that she wants to
get credit for her stories and there came the idea - joke - of
creating our own blog. Nora jumped in on the idea while I was still
juggling my career at ET and trying to get a job outside of Paramount
as a reporter. The idea of Hollyscoop came about in January of 2006
but didn't really go live until April of 2006. Hollyscoop has come a
very long way considering the short amount of time it has actually
been around. It has definitely not been easy considering the fact that
we all had full time jobs, and tried to juggle a million things at
once.
PC: How often do you update the stories?
DM: The stories on our website are updated 24 hours a day. Our day
consists of waking up at 5 A.M. and working on the morning stories. We
are competing with New York and London news sources, and in our
business news gets old quickly. So, we must always be on top of it.
Our day is pretty intense whether it is Hollyscoop breaking the news
or reporting breaking news. We are usually called on radio shows from
London to Chicago to discuss hot topics of the day. We were recently
given our own weekly radio show which is broadcasted live on
nowlive.com, where our listeners can chat with us while we report the
weekly newscasts. At the same time we do commentary work for our local
news stations for any breaking news stories. We must always stay on
top of things or else we lose credibility with our readers. There are
times when we are covering an event in the evening and need to rush
home to update the pictures and write the story before anyone else has
it. Most of the time, we are on three to five hours of sleep with our
hectic schedules.
PC: How do you decide whether something is worthy of coverage?
DM: We like to write about stories that we think are interesting and
are hot topics. Also through experience we have learned what stories
work with our demographics and what stories don't.
PC: How often do you shoot videos for the site?
DM: At this point the video segments depend on what's going on in
Hollywood. During award-show season, we have more video content.
However, that is something that we are working on. In the next couple
of months, there will be more videos. Stay tuned.
PC: What kind of popularity is the site enjoying? How many hits to
you get on an average day?
DM: The popularity our website has been enjoying has been
overwhelming. We get over 4 million hits a month. When we are out in
Los Angeles or New York and get recognized by our readers, that for us
is a huge success. We can't stress how exciting it is for us to meet
our readers. After all, without them we wouldn't exist. It's
interesting when we are at events and some of our favorite celebrities
recognize us and know who we are. We are still trying absorb all of
that. Also, it's very flattering when networks contact us and want to
work with us or use our material for their shows. We are getting our
stories linked from US Weekly, the New York Daily News, the Drudge
Report, the Washington Post, Fox News, and newspapers from Australia
to Canada. Our video content has been seen on shows for VH1.
PC: Where do you want to be in ten years?
AE: I see myself having my own shoe line, perfume, and magazine.
NG: To have franchises all over the world and have commercial and
residential investment properties.
DM: I see myself having my own TV talk show and following in the
footsteps of my idols Oprah and Anderson Cooper. We want Hollyscoop to
change the way people get their information. We want it to be a place
where our generation's pop culture can be heavily influenced. We want
to see a Hollyscoop TV show, fashion line, and magazine and to be one
of the largest Internet sources for news.
PC: If you compared yourself to TMZ or Perez Hilton, what would you
say you do better than those sites?
DM: We are big fans of those sites and in some ways they influenced
us to create our own website. However, our website differs in many
ways - from our story content to our videos. Our videos are segments
and we try to make people feel like they are watching a segment from
an actual TV show. You will never see us stalk celebrities on the
street with our cameras or write derogatory comments about people. At
Hollyscoop, we like to bring out the positives and add a little humor
as well. We always get e-mails from our readers telling us that they
are living vicariously through us with our video content and our
blogs. That's what we want to do. We want to make our readers see what
goes on behind the scenes at most of the events we attend and make
them feel like they are actually there.
PC: Do you get a lot of Armenian stories in your site?
DM: Our site is strictly about entertainment, music, and fashion. If
there is an Armenian celebrity, artist, or designer that is making
news, we will be covering it. We have written about Kim Kardashian,
Sylvester Stallone wanting to make a movie about the Armenian
Genocide, and Screamers with System Of A Down. We do a weekly write-up
called "Artist of the Week," where we cover up-and-coming artists. We
have written about a lovely Armenian singer named Mariette Soudjian,
who singes R&B, and Maria, who is a young aspiring singer. We also
wrote a story about the Armenian rapper Capitol Z and will be writing
a story about C Rouge, who is a DJ and mixed Armenian trance songs. We
have actually used his music in some of our video segments.
PC: Tell us about your Christmas Special for Horizon Armenian TV.
DM: I do freelance for Horizon TV, and the Christmas Special was
something that I was asked to be a part of. It was a fun and lively
segment, and I thought it would be great to be a part of it. Horizon
has now launched a new show called "Hye on L.A.," which is a type of
travel show, and you will be seeing more of me as the host of the show
in the coming months.
PC: Will we see more of you on television?
DM: You will definitely be seeing more of Hollyscoop on television.
I can't reveal much on this because everything is in the works, but we
aren't going anywhere and this is just the beginning.
* * *
Who's who?
* Ani Esmailian
Ani was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1982. Her family moved to Germany
when Ani was three and made the big move to California a year later.
Although she attended American public schools, her parents made sure
she was involved in the Armenian community. Ani participated in team
sports through Homenetmen and took private Armenian classes. Although
she moved to the U.S. over 20 years ago, Ani's parents still insist
that Armenian be their primary language at home to ensure that she
never loses touch with her heritage and culture.
* Nora Gasparian
My mother and father moved from Armenia in the 1970s. They met in 1977
and got married one year later. My brother and I both attended an
Armenian private school from age three. Under no circumstances would
my parents agree to let us go to a public school because they felt
like we would lose our identity as Armenians. In school, we
continuously volunteered for telethons, fund-raisers, and it didn't
stop there. After graduation, my two best friends from Alex Pilibos
school and I moved to UCSB, where we continued to be active in the
Armenian Students' Association. We also organized events to raise
awareness about the Genocide.
One thing I am aware of is the fact that I am very proud the be
Armenian. Every time the girls and I go out or travel, the one line
that never goes unsaid is, "Thank God we are Armenian." It gives us so
much pleasure to speak about our background to people that are not
familiar with our ethnicity.
* Diana Magpapian
My father moved to the U.S. from Armenia in 1976, and my mother
followed in 1980. The two met in 1981, and they married shortly after
that. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended Rose and Alex
Pilibos from the tender age of 3. My little brother Manuel was also
enrolled in Pilibos from the same age. We were always instilled with
Armenian values and were always reminded to never forget our heritage.
During my high school years, I was very active, sang in the school
choir, did volunteer work for Armenian organizations, telethons, and
politicians. I also danced for Hamazkayin's Ani dance group and was
involved with Homenetmen TV, where I did hosting and producing.
I attended the University of of California Santa Barbara with my two
best friends. We were very active in the Armenian Students'
Association, where we organized events for the Armenian Genocide and
made documentaries, which were featured all over the campus.
I am extremely proud to be an Armenian! I think this feeling truly
developed when I was in Armenia on my senior class trip and just being
on the Armenian soil was surreal. I don't think I can ever deny that I
am Armenian or forget my heritage and hopefully I will be able to
really give back to the Armenian community and my country.
By Paul Chaderjian
April 7, 2007
Hollyscoop.com is one of the hottest entertainment news sites in the
world. With more than 4 million hits a month, Diana Magpapian, Nora
Gasparian, and Ani Esmailian bring readers up-to-the-minute
entertainment news, inside scoops, video reports, and exclusive photos
from the hottest spots in the world of entertainment. The Armenian
Reporter's Paul Chaderjian asked the hottest entertainment reporters
in Hollywood about their work, their lives, and their dreams.
PC: How did you start your site?
DM: The site literally started as a joke. Ani Esmailian was in her
senior year at Cal State Los Angeles trying to get a job at US Weekly,
while Nora Gasparian got a monotonous job straight out of college
working for GE, and I was working at Paramount Studios for
Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. I would always invite Nora and
Ani to Hollywood parties, where we would mingle with Hollywood's
elite. Ani would write stories to other bloggers and it would end up
in national publications. At one point she realized that she wants to
get credit for her stories and there came the idea - joke - of
creating our own blog. Nora jumped in on the idea while I was still
juggling my career at ET and trying to get a job outside of Paramount
as a reporter. The idea of Hollyscoop came about in January of 2006
but didn't really go live until April of 2006. Hollyscoop has come a
very long way considering the short amount of time it has actually
been around. It has definitely not been easy considering the fact that
we all had full time jobs, and tried to juggle a million things at
once.
PC: How often do you update the stories?
DM: The stories on our website are updated 24 hours a day. Our day
consists of waking up at 5 A.M. and working on the morning stories. We
are competing with New York and London news sources, and in our
business news gets old quickly. So, we must always be on top of it.
Our day is pretty intense whether it is Hollyscoop breaking the news
or reporting breaking news. We are usually called on radio shows from
London to Chicago to discuss hot topics of the day. We were recently
given our own weekly radio show which is broadcasted live on
nowlive.com, where our listeners can chat with us while we report the
weekly newscasts. At the same time we do commentary work for our local
news stations for any breaking news stories. We must always stay on
top of things or else we lose credibility with our readers. There are
times when we are covering an event in the evening and need to rush
home to update the pictures and write the story before anyone else has
it. Most of the time, we are on three to five hours of sleep with our
hectic schedules.
PC: How do you decide whether something is worthy of coverage?
DM: We like to write about stories that we think are interesting and
are hot topics. Also through experience we have learned what stories
work with our demographics and what stories don't.
PC: How often do you shoot videos for the site?
DM: At this point the video segments depend on what's going on in
Hollywood. During award-show season, we have more video content.
However, that is something that we are working on. In the next couple
of months, there will be more videos. Stay tuned.
PC: What kind of popularity is the site enjoying? How many hits to
you get on an average day?
DM: The popularity our website has been enjoying has been
overwhelming. We get over 4 million hits a month. When we are out in
Los Angeles or New York and get recognized by our readers, that for us
is a huge success. We can't stress how exciting it is for us to meet
our readers. After all, without them we wouldn't exist. It's
interesting when we are at events and some of our favorite celebrities
recognize us and know who we are. We are still trying absorb all of
that. Also, it's very flattering when networks contact us and want to
work with us or use our material for their shows. We are getting our
stories linked from US Weekly, the New York Daily News, the Drudge
Report, the Washington Post, Fox News, and newspapers from Australia
to Canada. Our video content has been seen on shows for VH1.
PC: Where do you want to be in ten years?
AE: I see myself having my own shoe line, perfume, and magazine.
NG: To have franchises all over the world and have commercial and
residential investment properties.
DM: I see myself having my own TV talk show and following in the
footsteps of my idols Oprah and Anderson Cooper. We want Hollyscoop to
change the way people get their information. We want it to be a place
where our generation's pop culture can be heavily influenced. We want
to see a Hollyscoop TV show, fashion line, and magazine and to be one
of the largest Internet sources for news.
PC: If you compared yourself to TMZ or Perez Hilton, what would you
say you do better than those sites?
DM: We are big fans of those sites and in some ways they influenced
us to create our own website. However, our website differs in many
ways - from our story content to our videos. Our videos are segments
and we try to make people feel like they are watching a segment from
an actual TV show. You will never see us stalk celebrities on the
street with our cameras or write derogatory comments about people. At
Hollyscoop, we like to bring out the positives and add a little humor
as well. We always get e-mails from our readers telling us that they
are living vicariously through us with our video content and our
blogs. That's what we want to do. We want to make our readers see what
goes on behind the scenes at most of the events we attend and make
them feel like they are actually there.
PC: Do you get a lot of Armenian stories in your site?
DM: Our site is strictly about entertainment, music, and fashion. If
there is an Armenian celebrity, artist, or designer that is making
news, we will be covering it. We have written about Kim Kardashian,
Sylvester Stallone wanting to make a movie about the Armenian
Genocide, and Screamers with System Of A Down. We do a weekly write-up
called "Artist of the Week," where we cover up-and-coming artists. We
have written about a lovely Armenian singer named Mariette Soudjian,
who singes R&B, and Maria, who is a young aspiring singer. We also
wrote a story about the Armenian rapper Capitol Z and will be writing
a story about C Rouge, who is a DJ and mixed Armenian trance songs. We
have actually used his music in some of our video segments.
PC: Tell us about your Christmas Special for Horizon Armenian TV.
DM: I do freelance for Horizon TV, and the Christmas Special was
something that I was asked to be a part of. It was a fun and lively
segment, and I thought it would be great to be a part of it. Horizon
has now launched a new show called "Hye on L.A.," which is a type of
travel show, and you will be seeing more of me as the host of the show
in the coming months.
PC: Will we see more of you on television?
DM: You will definitely be seeing more of Hollyscoop on television.
I can't reveal much on this because everything is in the works, but we
aren't going anywhere and this is just the beginning.
* * *
Who's who?
* Ani Esmailian
Ani was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1982. Her family moved to Germany
when Ani was three and made the big move to California a year later.
Although she attended American public schools, her parents made sure
she was involved in the Armenian community. Ani participated in team
sports through Homenetmen and took private Armenian classes. Although
she moved to the U.S. over 20 years ago, Ani's parents still insist
that Armenian be their primary language at home to ensure that she
never loses touch with her heritage and culture.
* Nora Gasparian
My mother and father moved from Armenia in the 1970s. They met in 1977
and got married one year later. My brother and I both attended an
Armenian private school from age three. Under no circumstances would
my parents agree to let us go to a public school because they felt
like we would lose our identity as Armenians. In school, we
continuously volunteered for telethons, fund-raisers, and it didn't
stop there. After graduation, my two best friends from Alex Pilibos
school and I moved to UCSB, where we continued to be active in the
Armenian Students' Association. We also organized events to raise
awareness about the Genocide.
One thing I am aware of is the fact that I am very proud the be
Armenian. Every time the girls and I go out or travel, the one line
that never goes unsaid is, "Thank God we are Armenian." It gives us so
much pleasure to speak about our background to people that are not
familiar with our ethnicity.
* Diana Magpapian
My father moved to the U.S. from Armenia in 1976, and my mother
followed in 1980. The two met in 1981, and they married shortly after
that. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended Rose and Alex
Pilibos from the tender age of 3. My little brother Manuel was also
enrolled in Pilibos from the same age. We were always instilled with
Armenian values and were always reminded to never forget our heritage.
During my high school years, I was very active, sang in the school
choir, did volunteer work for Armenian organizations, telethons, and
politicians. I also danced for Hamazkayin's Ani dance group and was
involved with Homenetmen TV, where I did hosting and producing.
I attended the University of of California Santa Barbara with my two
best friends. We were very active in the Armenian Students'
Association, where we organized events for the Armenian Genocide and
made documentaries, which were featured all over the campus.
I am extremely proud to be an Armenian! I think this feeling truly
developed when I was in Armenia on my senior class trip and just being
on the Armenian soil was surreal. I don't think I can ever deny that I
am Armenian or forget my heritage and hopefully I will be able to
really give back to the Armenian community and my country.
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