Hye Profile: Three of a Kind-Front and Center with Hollyscoop

BY LARA GARIBIAN

It was a crisp November morning when I arrived at a Burbank, California, studio to visit the set of KTLA Channel 5’s new television show, Hollyscoop. The excitement at the pit of my stomach was a telling sign of how much fun I was going to have meeting with the three Armenian women who had worked their way into becoming media, celebrity, and fashion virtuosos.  

I walked into the cozy set to find Ani Esmailian getting her hair done and Nora Gasparian in wardrobe while some cast and crew members were standing around getting ready to shoot that week’s episode of Hollyscoop. Ani sweetly pointed me in the direction of the set and their very close knit group of editors and producers hospitably guided me in the right direction. The minute I entered the set, I was met with the warmest hug hello and a huge smile of a bright-eyed young woman who had enough energy to fill the entire sound stage. Diana

Magpapian-Madison had a presence about her that you could feel instantly when you entered a room and it immediately explained why she was in the entertainment industry.

She greeted me and quickly graced the stage to start taping. As Diana sparkled under the lights in her fashion savvy dress by Jimmy Choo for H&M and her sexy blue stilettos, she dove into a series of shoots that reflected the perfectionism of her delivery. Fortunately for me, the big topic of the day was the box-office hit of the Twilight saga, New Moon. After putting together the juicy ‘scoop’ for the week, she was followed by the rest of the hosts like Brain Corsetti, Mathew Hoffman, Nora Gasparian and Ani Esmailian. Their other hostess, Bridget Daily, was busy on set getting the “scoop” from Brooke Hogan.  

It was clear that the work they put into making this show such a success and a possibility was mainly attributed to their dedication, drive and impeccable attention to detail. The stylists, producers and cameramen, all are very carefully chosen to contribute to a project that is really near and dear to these three womens’ hearts.

Diana Magpapian-Madison was born for television hosting. From a very young age she knew her calling lied in getting in front of a camera, interviewing and hosting a show she could call her own. Her family knew it, especially since she was the girl at all the family occasions that would go around with a spoon microphone and interview all her relatives. However, there is more to Diana than meets the eye. Besides having a wonderful and energetic personality for her profession, she is also educated. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Santa Barbara in Political Science and was headed in the direction of law school, up until she saw an opportunity to follow an innate dream. Begrudgingly sitting in a nerve wrecking classroom ready to take the LSAT, she stared intently at her test and in the middle of it all came to the strong realization that she wasn’t following her dream. Even though she was going into a profession that would give her security and success, she realized it wasn’t her calling. She sat there trying to concentrate on the questions, but all she could think about was what she would be wearing when she attended the Golden Globes the next day! She dropped her #2 and walked out. It was then that she knew she had to do the thing she was most passionate about. Hard work was where it all really began. She interned at ET and E, she’s been taking 4 years of hosting classes, actively works with a dialog coach to improve and perfect her enunciation, and spends day after day networking with all the publicists and the elites of Hollywood. She was inspired to pursue something she loved and make it completely her own. The love of fashion, the juicy celebrity gossip and even the journalistic aspect all took over and drove her to try and put together something that would reach people everywhere.

Even her high school teachers knew it when she was attending Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Hollywood. Madison says, “It was actually interesting, because the other day I bumped into my old Armenian school teacher, Nazo Apanian, and he always makes fun of me. He says he can’t believe I actually did it. He reminds me of when I would talk incessantly about becoming a television hostess in high school and it amazes him how I stuck to my goals and did what I knew in my gut I was set out to do. It was interesting because it wasn’t really until that point where I realized I’d really accomplished something here.”

Madison and her dynamic duo spend so much time moving forward with their goals that they rarely get a chance to stop and see how far they have come from where they started. The most endearing part of that is how ambitious and humble they are all at the same time. Diana’s hard work was not done alone. Nora Gasparian and Ani Esmailian, her long time best friends, had a hand in creating the famous Hollyscoop.com, a website designed to encompass all of the current celebrity news, fashion and up to the minute insight on what’s hot and what’s not.

Nora Gasparian was born in Hollywood and grew up knowing that the entertainment industry lied in her destiny. While she received a bachelor’s degree in Global and International Studies, also from the University of Santa Barbara, she knew after a short time in the corporate world that her life’s dream lay in media and entertainment. She was working with the top executives of major corporations and would call Diana, literally every day, and talk about how unhappy she was and how she needed to be following her heart. Her need to be a well known journalist took over, and she jumped right onto the Hollyscoop bandwagon.

Ani Esmailian, on the other hand, received her Bachelor’s degree in English, knowing full well she intended to pursue journalism. When she graduated from California State University of Los Angeles, her intent was to get into writing.  And that’s exactly what happened. Diana, Nora, Ani and Raymond Attipa, who put together the television portion of Hollyscoop, first started the website three years ago. Now not only do they have a huge fan base for the show, they also have over 25 million readers a month for the website. Currently, Ani is in charge of all the editing and writing for the website and the dialogue for the show, while Nora is in charge of getting all the stories, photos and collaborating with all the writers who write for the Hollyscoop website. Since Diana has more of a media background her job is to get all the video footage for the website.
One thing that these girls love a lot is the fashion and glamour that goes into making their show which portrays how much they love the current trends. Their two incredible stylists are Kara Magee, who was a stylist for Extra, and Stephanie Mojonnet, who recently worked on Lady Gaga’s video Bad Romance. Their hair and makeup are done by talented people like Alen M., who works at Chris McMillan Salon in Beverly Hills and Linh Tran, who is a make-up artist at Fame’s Beauty in Glendale. The best part about their stylists is that they are all long time friends. The girls even make a point of supporting other Armenians in the community by incorporating things such as up and coming fashion designers such as “KarAniLa,” by none other than Ani Karapetian.

The most exciting part of their job is the great experiences they get to have with celebrities. For one thing, the topic of the day off set when I was there was how Antonio Sabato Jr. cooked the Hollyscoop girls a great dinner at his house. Besides going on about his great looks and charm, apparently the man is great in the kitchen. Diana took it upon herself to promise to find him a nice Armenian girl. And speaking of good looks, these girls get to intermingle with some of the sexiest men and women in Hollywood. Everyone from Angelina Jolie to Gerard Butler have crossed paths with the Hollyscoopers and unbeknownst to them, their favorite things about being in this industry were identical to one another! When asked, they all said they love the opportunity to get to see so many different things and experience so many different people. They get a clear behind the scenes look at what makes Hollywood so completely glamorous and it isn’t without lots of patients and constant hard work that their rewards of working on the red carpet or being made dinner by Antonio are met. The reality is though, they really make it happen. They go to every event possible, throw some of their own, and network themselves to the point where soon, theirs will be a household name.

Hollyscoop.com is a hit. Diana, Nora and Ani have worked di
ligently to put together a website that really embraces everything that’s out in the entertainment industry.  However, their efforts weren’t met without some difficulty. All three women sacrificed their own solid jobs and careers to work full time for something that could have been a hit or miss. Luckily, their long hours and unfaltering attitudes got them as far as getting a television show on the famous KTLA. It has been an absolute success that has been worked to perfection. The greatest part is that their show is now going nationwide syndicated, as well as international. Now, not just Hollywood will be graced with the girls and guys of Hollyscoop, the entire world will be exposed to three powerhouse women who will give them the “scoop” the way it should be.

“That’s the scoop from Hollyscoop,” so tune in to these girls every Sunday at midnight on KTLA Channel 5 and for more information about today’s fashion, celebrity news and what’s hot and what’s not, go to www.Hollyscoop.com.