We recently connected with Adam Rothenberg and have shared our conversation below.
Adam, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?
What was the longest amount of time you worked for free doing what you love? I spent seven years living out my childhood dream before I received my first paycheck.
Since 2008, I have been interviewing celebrities from the worlds of Film, Television, Theatre and Music. With over 1,500 interviews under my belt, I get my guests to pull back the curtain on their lives and careers.
My interviews have featured Olivia Newton-John (4-time Grammy Award winner, Grease), George Takei (Star Trek), Katey Sagal (Married with Children, Sons of Anarchy), Mel B (Spice Girls), Kathleen Turner (Oscar Nominee), Sutton Foster (TV Land’s Younger, Tony Award Winner), Marilu Henner (Taxi, Evening Shade, over 75 Hallmark Movies), Debbie Gibson (Pop Singer), Lisa Loeb (Grammy Nominee), Anna Chlumsky (My Girl, Veep, Inventing Anna), Annie Golden (Hair, Orange is the New Black), Cheyenne Jackson (Call Me Kat), and Rue McClanahan (The Golden Girls).
In 2015, I got my first paycheck. Having these luminaries on my roster certainly helped.
On May 7, the Associate Director of Marketing from Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ reached out to me to see if I would be interested in doing an interview with the cast or creative team behind the world-premiere of a new musical, Be More Chill (eventually arriving on Broadway in 2019).
The writers of the show were Joe Iconis (Tony Nominee) & Joe Tracz (Writer for Netflix’s Dash & Lily and A Series of Unfortunate Events). I had known about the two Joe’s for some time, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to interview them.
I presented the idea of doing either an e-mail or in-person video interview. The theater liked the idea of an in-person video interview. The only roadblock was where it would take place. I was trying to have it done in NYC (where I was living), but it was going to be very difficult to get us all together due to the show’s rehearsal schedule.
It was suggested that we do the interview in Red Bank, NJ, where the theater was located. I definitely liked this idea, but I needed to check with my cameraman to see what he would charge for an out-of-town engagement. The theater told me to let them know how much it was going to cost me as they might be able to cover my expenses.
I received the rate from my cameraman and relayed this information back to the theater. After a few more conversations, they told me they could cover 1/2 my fee.
I was ecstatic when I received this news. This covered the cost of me having to pay my cameraman.
This interview has remained top of mind for two reasons. One, it was the first time I got paid for doing what I love. Two, the theater loved my interview so much, they played it in their library throughout the entire run of the show.
When I went to see the show, I was thrilled to see it on display for everyone to watch!
Adam, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am the host of the entertainment website Call Me Adam and its podcast, Baring It All with Call Me Adam. For the past 14 years, I have been interviewing celebrities from the world of Film, Television, Theatre and Music. With over 1,500 interviews under my belt, I get my guests to pull back the curtain on their lives and careers.
I grew up fascinated by Hollywood and Pop Culture. Television, Music, and Movies were some of my best friends. I walked around my childhood home quoting lines from my favorite TV shows and Films. Sometimes, I stood at the top of the hallway stairs pretending to give a concert featuring the latest hit songs from my favorite singers.
As I became a fan of these artists, I wanted to find out more about them. I feel like from the time I could read (though I’m sure it was from a later age) whenever I saw an artist I admired on the cover of a magazine, I would beg my parents to buy a copy so I could read the interview being conducted. If one of my favorite actors was being featured on Entertainment Tonight or any daytime TV talk show, I watched their interview.
I was entranced with these behind-the-scenes stories. The interviews made me feel like I was getting the inside scoop on their lives. It’s like they were inviting me over to their house for coffee and conversation.
In 2007, I was working at a Broadway Ad Agency and found myself reading so many interviews with Broadway celebrities. As I read those interviews, I kept saying to myself, “I have questions I want to ask these stars.”
One day at lunch, I was talking with my co-worker about this, and she suggested I start a blog asking my own questions. My eyes lit up with excitement! I LOVED this idea!
The only problem was I didn’t know how to get in touch with any of the actors I wanted to interview. Another friend of mine suggested I write to these artists via Facebook. This was around 2008, when Facebook was becoming more mainstream and not just on college campuses (Yes, I am that old that Facebook did not exist when I went to college).
I sent messages to all the Broadway stars I knew and asked if they would be interested in doing an interview with me.
These performers started writing back to me saying, “YES,” they would be interested. So, I sent them my questions, and they replied with their answers.
After I had a few interviews conducted, I wanted to get some of the bigger Broadway celebrities to participate in my blog.
I figured out how to get in touch with the press representatives of the various Broadway shows and requested interviews with some of the bigger Broadway stars.
The press representatives started to write back to me saying, “YES,” I could interview the Broadway star I was requesting. This process snowballed into figuring out how to get in touch with some of the non-theatrical celebrities I admired growing up. I sent their press representatives a request to interview them and much to my delight, they granted me interviews with several of my childhood and teenage idols.
My interviewing journey has shown me that I AM living out my childhood dream of working in the entertainment industry. I have met so many performers and artists who have made an impact in my life. I have also discovered a wide range of actors, singers, and songwriters through my interviews.
About a year or so ago, a colleague suggested I write a book about all the interviews I have conducted. She suggested I write about the life lessons I learned from these conversations. This was truly the first moment I had ever considered writing a book about my interviews. I printed out that e-mail and pasted it on my vision board. I have looked at that e-mail every single day.
As I started to become part of a different online community, I met other people who also suggested I write a book, featuring some of my biggest-name celebrities. As I looked back through my roster of interviews, I saw all the lessons I learned, mistakes I made, and the stories behind the interviews.
My friends and colleagues saw something with my interviews that I hadn’t. Once they brought this to my attention, I fully embraced this opportunity to write my story. In this soon-to-be-published book, you will get a look at my interviews in a completely different way. I will finally pull back the curtain on MY life and career. So, stay tuned…
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being an artist or creative is that I am getting to live out my childhood dream of working in the entertainment industry. I get to meet a lot of the celebrities who have made a difference in my life and in return, through my interviews, I get to tell their story in a different way than they have already done.
I have also been introduced to a lot of talented artists that I’m not sure I would have discovered if it were not for my interviews.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Before I share an interview on social media, I first e-mail the artist/celebrity I spotlighted or their press rep with a link to the article and any artwork I created. I then tag them in my social media posts. Thankfully, many of them share these posts, which allow their fans to discover my interviews. In turn, many of their fans begin to follow me and like the other interviews I publish.
I have built my social media audience very naturally. I shared my interviews on each platform as they were created, starting with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As I moved into video interviews, I added YouTube into the mix. Now, I only post on Facebook, Instagram & YouTube. I have a TikTok account, but rarely post to it. Still trying to figure out the best way for me to use that platform.
Early on, I would boost select interviews, but quickly stopped that, because I didn’t see any real growth from that technique.
My best advice to those just starting out on social media, is to be yourself. Don’t try to be like everyone else. Your audience will find you because of the content YOU create. I try to do a mixture of static images, Reels & Lives. My followers like that I interact with them. I always try to write back to anyone who has commented on one of my posts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://callmeadam.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/callmeadamnyc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/callmeadamnyc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/callmeadamnyc