Celebrities Acting Like the Rest of Us

Aug. 28, 2006 — -- Almost everyone has a favorite celebrity story.

My father loves to tell anyone who will listen about a chance encounter he had with guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana, and how the two swapped Woodstock stories -- obviously from very different perspectives -- while my dad struggled to hold an office door open for the legendary musician, trying not to sweat.

While bumping into a celebrity is not as unusual today as it might have been before the birth of the Internet -- or Paris Hilton -- many consider the Holy Grail of celeb encounters to be the photograph.

Imagine: A celebrity takes the time at an airport just before settling into his or her first-class seat, or puts down a glass of $600-a-bottle wine, just to take a picture with you, a fan.

Now Web site CelebSafari.com is tapping into that sense of validation, allowing Web surfers the world over to show off their celebrity photos and the stories behind them.

"The appeal [of the site] is that it's an unpolished, simple, community-driven site," said Jason Kilar, the site's co-founder.

"It's a fun, candid photo library of famous people hanging out with the rest of us."

With thousands of hits -- some days they exceed 100,000 -- almost 500 photos, and about a dozen new ones coming in every day, the founders realize they're onto something.

Celebrities Acting Like the Rest of Us

Standing in line at the supermarket, Kilar watched as people thumbed through copies of tabloid magazines, gawking at the candid photos of celebs on vacation, at a store, or in some other perhaps not-so-flattering pose.

It got him thinking about our relationship with celebrities and how people like to see musicians, movie stars and models not just in glamorous gowns and well-tailored suits, but acting like regular people.

"It struck me that so many people flip through the likes of People magazine and US magazine, often just to look at the photos of celebrities pumping their gas at Exxon," he said. "I thought it may be more interesting to enlist the community to post their candid shots of famous people posing happily alongside all of us ordinary Joes."

Putting their money where their mouth is, Jason and brother Ken created CelebSafari.com and posted the first picture to grace the site.

"My brother and I posted the first photo to CelebSafari, which featured the two of us with a man who needs no introduction: David Hasselhoff," Kilar said.

Just like the site's other members, the Kilars also posted a story to go along with their photo:

"The Staples Center had a great celeb turnout to see the West beat the East [in the NBA All-Star Game] this past February. We saw David munchin' on some snacks in the VIP area with his daughter(s). Very un-LA, we asked David if we could take a quick snapshot with him? Without giving it much thought, he through [sic] his arms over our shoulders and said "gladly guys!" David was not only a very nice guy, but also much taller than we thought. David has to be about 6'5". In sharp contrast, years earlier at a Playboy "Wet 'n Wild" party in Las Vegas, Gena Lee [Nolin] snubbed me and denied being her. It was so embarrassing (for both of us)."

As of the writing of this piece, there are no pics of Nolin on the site.

Anyone Can Do It

The idea is simple.

Wannabe paparazzi who have had their picture taken with a celebrity -- no rules on how big a celebrity has to be -- can upload photos to the site along with information on when they were taken, where, who it is -- they're not all Angelina Jolies and Hasselhoffs -- and the tale behind the image.

It's free to participate.

The images include everything from former U.S. presidents and world leaders, to the hottest Hollywood couples.

Users are asked to read the terms of use and register with the site before submitting, but after that there are only a few rules -- to keep things civil and to keep the site smut free.

According to the Web site:

Be original and authentic. Only original pics are accepted. No photos of photos. No Photoshop fakes.

Remember this is a celebrity site. If you'd like to submit a photo, it has to have a celebrity in it.

Be a good citizen. No adult content. Violators will be banned and blocked from the CelebSafari.com site.

Don't upload any photos that have a web address or other distracting text on it. Seriously!

Be respectful. If a celebrity does not want to have their photo taken, then please don't take it. We do not want any photos of that sort at CelebSafari.

Don't Quit Your Day Job

While the site has generated a lot of interest and has been featured in print, online and on TV, at this point it's still just fun for Jason and Ken Kilar.

"I'm trying to start a business right now," Jason said. "CelebSafari has been a side project for my brother and I, with no grand ambitions to use it to pay the bills."

Jason left a job in e-commerce he'd been at for more than eight years before starting the site.

With a little more press and few more advertisers, he's hoping he won't have to return.