What do Mouni Roy, Rashami Desai & Arjun Bijlani have in common?
Yes the most popular television actors like Hina Khan, Karan Taker, Ankita Lokhande, Krystle D’souza, Sriti Jha, Karanvir Bohra, Surbhi Jyoti, Lavina Tandon, Sonarika Bhadoria, Shiny Doshi, Pooja Bose, Sreejita De, Shayantani Ghosh and many more have Pinnacle Celebrity Management agency managing their careers. Started by a CA from Aligarh Santosh Gupta in 2006, the company has now become a premium agency which most television artists look up to. Santosh has an impressive lineup of more than seventy-five artists whom his company manages.
For every two minutes of glamour, there are eight hours of hard work.
– Jessica Savitch, American journalist
This line describes perfectly today’s cut-throat entertainment industry. While the artist has most certainly put in a lot of work to have arrived, it’s the job of a manager to help them reap the benefits and live the life. And that is a lot of work. The celebrity manager has to get the right brand tie-ups and the best price. “Not only do we provide grooming but also manage the artist’s time schedule, public relation services, marketing and advertising campaigns, negotiating endorsements, promotional launches, parties, and personal appearances,” says Santosh.
Santosh Gupta has been in this field for 12 years now, having done his graduation from Aligarh Muslim University and completing Chartered Accountancy studies there. Having the entrepreneurship spirit right from his school days, he used to rent out story books and video games locally as a kid. “Through our experience we have developed some foresight to pick a rising star in the television field. I had a passion for television and was seeing the growth story right from the time Mr. Bachchan started hosting KBC on Star Plus. I always thought of linking the aura of television personalities to brands and events,thus mutually benefitting both the stakeholders” said Mr. Gupta.
“Artist Representation is no longer a want, but a need. There are a lot of strategies that go into marketing an artist and to create a brand. The transformation is gradually happening and agencies like ours are at
the forefront of it. Every decision has a direct impact on the artist’s career, hence we have to have a lot of information at our backend to make quick decisions and grab every opportunity” said Santosh
explaining about the business of talent management.
On being asked what youngsters who want to make artist management do, Santosh said “I believe if youngsters could have the right temperament and patience, they can be good celebrity managers. One
should be able to connect with people of different backgrounds and come up with quick solutions creatively. We usually prefer mass media and management graduates to be a part of the team as they have a comprehensive understanding of the business. One needs to be available 24X7 and be curious to start with.”
Starting 2018 Santosh has ventured into television production by producing a TV show for MTV titled ‘A Date to Remember’. Also, he is a co-owner of the Balaji Box Cricket League Team ‘Mumbai Tigers’. “It was a natural progression for us to venture into production and move up the value chain. We are also in the process of forming a music band and once done, will market it through all our channels and to our existing set of clients. I am sure that this forward integration will help us grow the horizon” said Santosh Gupta as he signed off.