Born and raised just outside of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Dan Harary is a man of many talents. While best known for his 40-plus years of work in Hollywood as an Entertainment Industry Publicist and owner of the boutique Asbury PR Agency in Beverly Hills (www.asburypr.com), Dan is also the author of five books: FLIRTING WITH FAME, AFTER THEY CAME, CARROTS, MY PARANORMAL LIFE, and FIVE. In addition, he is a three-time UFO Experiencer & longtime UFO Researcher; was a professional drummer as a youngster; and performed stand-up comedy at LA’s top comedy houses during the late ‘90s/early 2000’s. Dan is also the Creator and Chairman of the Hollywood Disclosure Alliance, and is the Host of the weekly podcast LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD...IT'S PARANORMAL TONIGHT!
Between 1972-74, Dan, ages 15/16/17 at that time, was the Stage Manager and the Lighting Director for the Sunshine Inn rock concert venue in Asbury Park – Bruce Springsteen often played there early in his career. Dan went on to attend Boston University’s School of Public Communications (concurrent with Howard Stern’s attendance.) After working briefly in Manhattan during 1980 at Columbia Pictures, Dan relocated to Los Angeles in the fall of that year, struggling for several months before securing a foothold within the entertainment industry.
Dan’s earliest jobs in Southern California included stints as: the Director of Campus Information for the American Film Institute; the very first in-house Publicist for The Playboy Channel; Senior Publicist for Columbia Pictures Television; and Senior Publicist and Vice President for two of Hollywood’s most powerful entertainment PR firms: Solters/Roskin/Friedman and the TLG Agency.
Branching out on his own just after his 40th birthday, Dan launched the highly regarded, boutique Asbury PR Agency on October 1, 1996. His agency specializes in the representation of clients and individuals working across all areas of the entertainment and leisure industries.
Among the highlights of the Asbury Agency’s work during the past 25 years: Handling the press coverage for the 100th Anniversary of the iconic Hollywood restaurant Musso & Frank Grill; handling Public Relations for SIGGRAPH, the world’s largest international Computer Graphics Conference; handling the public relations and promotion for the grand opening of the $3.2 billion Studio City Hotel & Resort in Macau, China (U.S. press); launching the Hollywood Film Festival; handling the debut performance of Japan’s #1 Singing Group in the U.S.; producing a Special Press Event honoring the rock band KISS; announcing a proposed sequel to the film classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”- briefly making the project the # 1 entertainment story in the world; representing two Academy Award-winning clients: Makeup Artists Robert Short (“Beetlejuice,”) and Barney Burman (“Star Trek,”) along with three time Emmy Award winning Special Makeup FX legend Todd Masters; and representing the 24th Annual Animé Expo, which drew 100,000 attendees to the LA Convention Center.
From 1989 to 1996, Dan was a Senior VP/Senior Publicist with the TLG PR Agency, where he represented dozens of entertainment companies, including MCA/Universal Television Studio, MTM Television Studio, KCAL TV News, Grundy TV Worldwide; individual TV series from MCA and Disney TV, including “Harry and the Hendersons,” “The New Lassie,” and “Empty Nest;” special projects such as the Environmental Media Association, the “EMA Awards” (which he conceived,) and the Goldman Environmental Prize; and numerous other new media, home entertainment, and special FX clients.
Between 1987 to 1989, Dan was a Senior Publicist at Solters/Roskin/Friedman Public Relations, where he worked alongside the late, legendary publicist Lee Solters. Dan served as the West Coast publicist for Jay Leno, who had just been named as Johnny Carson’s permanent “Tonight Show” guest host. He also represented comedy icon Sid Caesar, Matty Simmons & National Lampoon Magazine, Landmark Entertainment Group, and many indie films, TV shows, themed-entertainment attractions, musical productions, home video releases, and new entertainment technologies.
Dan handled PR duties for the Syndicated TV division of Columbia Pictures Television from 1985 to 1987. There, he also was in charge of PR for the syndicated TV series “The New Gidget,” “What’s Happening Now!” and “The Real Ghostbusters” animated program.
Dan was the first in-house Publicist for The Playboy Channel (1983-85) where he handled all PR and Program Information for the TV programs, movies and specials which aired on that newly launched pay cable TV channel during this time. Dan also handled promotion for numerous Home Video releases and was involved in PR activities for Channel events which were held at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion West.
Dan worked as Campus Information Director with The American Film Institute (1981-83) and handled all internal and external communications regarding news on the AFI college campus, including fundraising campaigns, student film projects, and guest speakers. While working in New York City during summer 1980, Dan, as a Junior Publicist, helped to promote numerous Columbia feature films, including the popular Brooke Shields film “The Blue Lagoon,” “The Hollywood Knights,” “Close Encounters: The Special Edition,” “The Competition,” “Used Cars,” “Wholly Moses,” and others.
Dan’s first job out of college was serving as an Art Director for The New Jersey Boater, a unique, monthly print magazine which covered news from the boating industry throughout the entire Eastern U.S. Seaboard.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications, 1978, having graduated Cum Laude from Boston University. At BU, he studied TV production, advertising, marketing and journalism – and, ironically, every type of communications EXCEPT public relations!
Dan has been a Guest Speaker and Panelist across LA on the topic of entertainment public relations, appearing at events presented by UCLA, the Publicist’s Guild, Loyola Marymount University, Promax/BDA, and the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society. Articles about his work in entertainment public relations have appeared in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TV Week, the LA Times, the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Asbury Park Press, SHOOT Magazine and the Beverly Hills Courier. He has also appeared on “Entertainment Tonight,” CNN, KABC-TV News, KNBC-TV News, KCBS-TV News, and others.
In his role as an Author, Dan has been featured in a wide array of print, TV, and digital media outlets promoting his various books. These stories have included coverage in Newsweek, KFI Radio, KTLA TV News, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, NY Daily News, LA Daily News, Orange County Register, Bostonia Magazine, Toronto Sun, Men's Health, Patch, Sci-Fi Talk, MSN.com, and Medium.com. He has also been interviewed by dozens of other radio shows and podcasters located across the U.S., the UK, and Australia.
The father of two adult children, Dan lives in Beverly Hills, CA.
