After working with their publicity team on various editorial shoots, Santa Monica-based celebrity photographer Robert Gallagher found himself getting a call directly from Paramount Pictures. They were looking for something a little more editorial and liked that Robert could work quickly with multiple setups. Another thing they appreciated was the ease with which he directed talent, which is very necessary when working within the hectic schedules of celebrities, especially one as A-list as the Oscar-winning actress, Charlize Theron. So, they asked Robert if he would fly out to New York to photograph her for a publicity shoot. Naturally, he said yes.
Robert Learned that Paramount was gearing up to promote their film “Young Adult” which stars Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt. Robert would be shooting portraits of her for publicity use, so he quickly hopped on a plane from Los Angeles to New York City and came to us for a little assistance:
I turned immediately to Wonderful Machine as my local help to source and coordinate crew and equipment…all of which ended up being supplied directly from you guys. Wonderful Machine made my life a lot easier on this shoot. You don’t want to be running around on the day of the shoot looking for gear—you need to be focused on the pictures only.
Equipped with everything needed for the shoot, Robert and his crew set out to the Ritz Carlton where Charlize would be participating in a “Young Adult” press day. At the Ritz, they began setting up quickly, knowing they would have little time with Charlize to get the shots they needed. However, they came across a few difficulties before she even arrived:
Setting up a complete studio from scratch in a hotel is always a logistical challenge, not least because the room in question is often not available until the day of the shoot. So we had a few frantic hours that morning. It would have made for a nice little time lapse video! Also, it’s amazing to know what you can squeeze through a hotel kitchen when you need to…
But once everything was set up and Charlize had arrived, things went quite smoothly. Patton even showed up for a picture as well. Robert enjoyed photographing the two, saying,
They were both great to work with, and the two of them together was a real laugh. You can see they had fun shooting this movie. Charlize certainly has a cheeky sense of humor, and is pretty much a straight shooter too.
Paramount was extremely pleased with the results and soon had selects out and available to the media.
See more of Robert’s work on his website.
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