1 post tagged “pap”

LOS ANGELES - Clint Brewer is striking a pose.The paparazzo has just parked a black BMW sedan in the middle of Otsego Street in North Hollywood. He hops out to get a quick photo when Britney Spears enters her favorite dance studio.Then two police cruisers pull up. As a stern-looking LAPD officer writes a $50 parking ticket, the blonde British photographer's colleagues and competitors are playfully snapping away. At him."Over the shoulder!" JFX Direct shooter Ulises Rios calls out. Brewer obliges with a red carpet-style turn. He smiles and pulls a hood up coyly to his face.The photographers that trail Spears day and night are no longer faceless pack animals; they share in a growing edge of her spotlight. Police and deputies are keeping an eye on them, making arrests in recent weeks when paparazzi block sidewalks or disrupt traffic. An LA city councilman is proposing a "personal safety zone" to keep them away from targets.Newcomer Hollywood.tv is making waves with a splashy Lamborghini-driving founder and brand-building business plan. One of the most well-known agencies, X17, faces questions about its aggressive tactics.Then there is the curious case of Adnan Ghalib, who works for Brewer's agency Finalpixx. After chasing Spears with the rest of the Brit Pack, he switched to the other side of the lens and dated her for months.(Their current relationship status is unclear. "Everyone thought at first that it was a setup, but he really cares about her," JFX co-founder Arnold Cousart said of Ghalib, a competitor and friend.)Plenty of people have been riding "the Britney wave," in the words of Hollywood.tv founder Sheeraz Hasan. ("It's been a big blessing," he said.) Despite her appearance on "How I Met Your Mother" and release of a new music video, her most-viewed online videos remain shaky street footage that often features as much of the swarming photographers as it does of Spears.___I'M A-CRAVE FOR YOUThere's still good money in it. One agency leader said two of his ...