Pursuing your dreams has always been a journey that challenges every fibre of your being. It is all-consuming and, at times, frustrating but in the end. Everyone wants to keep going, no matter what. Whether it is trying to finish first at a Spartan race or closing a multi-million dollar deal, the truth is we all want to turn our dreams into reality.
As for Madison Brodsky, being one of the top-ranking Hollywood news reporters has always been a journey that she always wanted to be on. As a child, she always dreamt of interviewing the likes of Oscar winners, starlets, and magnetic personalities up close.
And at the tender age of 25 years old, she is already climbing the ranks due to her growing experience in the field. Starting off with a slew of internships throughout her university years. Madison landed roles in two of America’s largest celebrity news outlets, TMZ and Entertainment Tonight.
With her efforts paying off, Madison Brodsky became an accomplished entertainment news journalist with over 20,000 devoted followers across her social media platforms. She became an inspiration to those around her who saw the mettle she had developed as a force both on-camera and off. While she started off her career without a single “in” into the industry, Madison’s love affair with Hollywood kept pushing her to achieve that one-in-a-million dream.
We had a chance to speak to the aspiring news personality and chat with her about her beginnings, experience, and latest projects.
- Madison, it’s so lovely to speak with you! You have done a lot of exciting things with TMZ and ET. Could you tell us more about you?
My name is Madison Brodsky and I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. Known as a “go-getter,” I graduated from my university in three years, moved out to Los Angeles completely by myself and made my lifelong dream of becoming an on-air entertainment news host come true.
- Were you always interested in entertainment news – reporting? what piqued your interest?
Ever since I was a little girl, I always loved entertainment news. Award shows quickly became my Super Bowl, and I looked forward to getting cozy in my pajamas to watch each and every red carpet with my favorite pair of dazzling toddler heels. I used to pretend I was interviewing celebrities on a make-believe stage, where a TV was conveniently placed. It may sound naive, but at that point in time, I didn’t realize I could actually make television for a living. The job description just seemed too good to be true; so whenever an adult asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always replied, “Anything that would give me the time to volunteer on red carpets.” Once I realized I could get paid for such a career choice, I went to the University of Arizona and double majored in journalism and film and TV. In an effort to be as well-rounded as possible, I completed 12 internships throughout my three years at my University. I now have interviewed the stars at mega-events on behalf of outlets like TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, ET Canada and LA Magazine.
- Do you remember what your first news assignment was like?
I do! I was an intern at one of the Arizona news channels and I was assigned to shadow a reporter at a murder scene, where a young teenage boy was pronounced dead. I remember the sickening feeling as we approached his grieving parents at their doorstep. That feeling stuck with me every night as I went to bed for months. I remember thinking I was never made for hard-hitting news, and entertainment news was more up my speed. Though I never considered entertainment news to be a career of glamour, it definitely has its moments. It also has its moments where I’m required to use the skills I learned during my internship days to investigate hard-hitting stories AKA the Me Too movement.
- Every journalist has a ‘switch’ when they are about to get on camera or dive deep into research. What is yours?
I feel beyond lucky that I turned my life passion into a paying career so whenever the cameras start rolling, I can’t help but put my all into each and every story, whether that’s a teleprompter read, a sit down interview, or a quick bite on a red carpet. My career is thrilling and it’s so exciting to learn a little bit about everything, each and every day.
- What made you want to work with TMZ? and what are your thoughts on the current media landscape?
There’s not many people who can say they received a masterclass in entertainment journalism during the first few days in their very first job. Thankfully, that was my experience working under Harvey Levin days after I graduated from college. The job kept me on my toes, and with little room for error in such a high-paced environment, I learned how to build a Rolodex of connections and sources, sniff out a scoop, trust my instincts and present the information to a large audience with no room for error. After two and a half years of learning how to become a trustworthy and sought after reporter, I decided to leave the gossip behind and solely focus on interview-based reporting, rather than source reporting.
- During your interviews, how do you engage the person in the other chair while also keeping them comfortable?
I try to break the ice quickly by finding an interesting commonality before the interview, or offering a genuine compliment that goes beneath the surface to make the person I’m interviewing feel comfortable to share whatever is on their mind. I also actively listen to their responses and turn the Q&A into a heartfelt conversation. These interviews usually lead to an unexpected, but beautiful story.
- What was the most interesting interview you ever worked on and who was it with?
I really loved interviewing Megan Fox on behalf of ET Live a few years ago for the anniversary of her film, “Jennifer’s Body.” The interview was her first in 15 years and it took an unexpected turn when she began opening up about the emotional abuse she experienced within the film industry after being labeled a sex icon. It meant a lot to me that Megan felt comfortable enough to open up about the dark side of this industry, and I now love watching her life and career flourish as her smile and sparkle tells us everything we need to know — she’s genuinely, finally happy.
I also really loved working on franchises during my time at ET Live. One of the franchises I’m most proud of was called Artist X Artist. The series essentially called for two artists, who usually never met one another, to sit down in our studio to have a vulnerable conversation with one another about their experiences in the industry that eventually led to their rise to fame. Artists such as Ciara, Blanco Brown, Master P and Romeo Miller loved these conversations because it gave them, as the talent, the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own way to another artist who understands the struggle they likely experienced.
- Lastly, do you have anything down the pipeline that you want people to know about?
I may or may not have a big show coming up 😉
Credits: Styled by Derek Warburton | Photographer: Rowan Daly | MUA: Joel Sebastian | Article: Cyan Leigh Dacasin
