Mark Boardman - The celebrity interviewer
Mark Boardman is the founder of Entertainment website Markmeets.com. He lives in London and works as a freelance journalist running several media companies including Markmeets, CelebEvents and ShowbizGossip. Mark is very influential in the entertainment industry, as a seasoned celebrity inteviewer having chatted with Cameron Diaz, One Direction, Tom Cruise, JLS, Kylie Minogue etc. We have conducted a short interview with him:
Who are the people/celebrities whom you have interviewed?
Over the years I have interviewed in the region of a thousand celebrities from the world of TV, Music and Film from Angelina Jolie (before she was really famous) to Boy George, Westlife, Cheryl Cole, One Direction, Perez Hilton, JLS, Kirsten Dunst, Jude Law, Jennifer Aniston, Simon Cowell and many more! Infact I decided to start a list to document them all!! I've met and spoke to many amazing people, many of whom are nothing like you imagined them to be.
Where can we find your work, the interviews which you have conducted?
The latest interviews are all now on http://www.markmeets.com though many of them are online in places like soundcloud, youtube etc as they were radio and TV interviews. Before MarkMeets launched in 2004 I never really documented them properly as time wise it takes ages to do each one, that's the only bit I don't look forward too.
As a freelance journalist, why did you choose the showbiz and entertainment industry?
Having been interested in the world of entertainment from a very young age, I knew that was the area I would always end up working in. For a few years in my teens it was a case of experiencing different roles from a fashion photographer, Writer, to TV presenter; to see what I enjoyed the most. Competition is fierce and the hours are long but I would never change it for the world.
How did you garner the necessary influence in this field to make yourself so outstanding?
I've always given every task, job or opportunity everything I can. Being a people person as well as a self starter-I have always been highly motivated and won't stop til I have achieved what is infront of me. Over the past few years the hard work has paid off, my peers recognise my contribution in the industry and I am often called upon when someone needs an advocate on a particular subject. Earning respect doesn't happen overnight and you just have to keep pushing hard to stay ahead of the game.
Other than crafting relevant questions for the film premieres interviews, what do you think is the most challenging as part of your work?
The most challenging part of the role is trying to juggle the work load. Some days you can get requests to be here, there and everywhere. This is why I now have a small team to help me complete the tasks to a high standard, my PR business have really taken off and I haven't had a chance to reflect on where I am for 3 years. Now my focus is to train my team of writers, editors, photographers and site contributors to have the winning spirit 100% of the time.
