I was joined today by Anne Fulenwider who has plenty to celebrate these days having  “come home” to Marie Claire in September. She was tapped for the top job after Joanna Coles departed for Cosmo when Kate White left to write her best sellers full-time. I know, you need a score card for all this, but do try to keep up. Anne’s extraordinary rise to the top of the masthead is a master class on how to succeed in publishing by being very smart, working hard and staying grounded amid all the glitz and glamour (yes, to civilians and the uninitiated this is a glamorous business). The Harvard graduate came to New York in the mid-nineties and landed her first job in magazines working for David Lauren at Swing. An internship at The Paris Review turned into a gig as research assistant to George Plimpton when he was working on his book on Truman Capote. Anne got quite an education diving into boxes of fascinating transcripts, fact checking scores of Plimpton’s interviews and, occasionally ”chopping carrots” at his home and pitching in whenever needed. All in a day’s work.

Diane Clehane and Anne Fulenwider

When the book was done, she went on to become senior editor, moved to Vanity Fair where she was editor of the magazine’s popular “Fanfare” section, and wound up editing the work of Leslie Bennetts, Buzz Bissinger and Dominick Dunne. Except for a brief sojourn to San Francisco, she spent a decade at the magazine where, she said, she “grew up” and was “inspired” by Vanity Fair’s great reporting and writing and learned that “maintaining quality” and upholding the highest journalistic standards (“There were armies of fact checkers and researchers!”) were critical to the vitality and relevance of a successful magazine.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Marie Claire

Gonzalez comes to Marie Claire from W, where he served as creative director since last year. Prior to that he was creative director for GQ. At Marie Claire, Gonzalez will be responsible for its overall look, and will add photographers and artists to its roster of contributors.

Garcia has been at Marie Claire since 2009. Prior to that she was fashion director for Elle for 13 years. In her new role, Garcia will seek to expand Marie Claire’s fashion coverage and grow its influence in the fashion world.

“Alex and Nina are both inspired visual storytellers, and I am excited about what they will each bring to this new phase in Marie Claire’s evolution,” said Anne Fulenwider, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, in a statement. “Alex’s impeccable taste and discerning eye will add a fresh point of view, and Nina truly embodies Marie Claire from a fashion and style perspective.”

Gonzalez will join the magazine on November 19.

For a more intimate look at Hearst — Marie’s Claire’s publisher — check out the below video featuring a tour of Hearst Tower, hosted by Zanna Roberts Rossi, the magazine’s senior fashion editor.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

— DIANE CLEHANE

The biblical rain didn’t keep the crowds away from Michael’s today. The media mavens were networking at warp speed (Bonnie Fuller, we mean you) while the social swans and style set enjoyed their usual air-kissed filled leisurely lunches.

Oh, to have a rich husband (or good divorce attorney) and deep-pocketed clients. We can dream, can’t we?

Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:

1. Fidelis Global’s Gerry Byrne and Hollywoodlife.com‘s Bonnie Fuller jointly hosting what Gerry tells me is the first of a series’ of  lunches with “influencers.” The tastemakers at the table today were HL’s CRO Alyson Racer, Showtime’s main man Matt Blank, Cosmopolitan’s Donna Lagani, Caroline Hirsch, MediaLink’s Wenda Millard and Marie Claire’s fashion director, Nina Garcia.

2. Alexis Carrington lives! Joan Collins, sporting an ensemble that would have passed muster at the royal wedding, with husband Percy Gibson, producer Terry Allen Kramer and Joyce Rubin.

3. ‘Mayor’ Joe Armstrong and Men’s Health head honcho David Zinczenko. This was Joe’s second lunch at Michael’s this week. On Monday, he came by with his sister Marilyn Spence and her husband Don who were  in visiting from Plano, Texas. The trio, I’m told, had a grand old time.

4.  Peter Brown and Liz Smith, looking none the worse for wear from a recent hip injury. The indomitable Liz, who got plenty of hugs from her pals in the dining room,  dished with fellow Texan Joe Armstrong until Peter arrived.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

— DIANE CLEHANE

It would have been hard to beat the head-spinning scene that I witnessed at Michael’s last Wednesday, but this week came close. A camera crew from WNBC-TV’s LX-TV was on hand filming a segment on celebrity lunch spots as the masters of the universe (Barry Diller) and socialites (Melania Trump, swathed in mink) strolled in and air-kissed their way to their tables. When Amy Rosenblum, the show’s producer, heard I was having lunch with comedy icon Sinbad and his family to talk about their new reality show for WE tv, her ears perked up. “Perfect!” she said. “We’ll come over and borrow him for our segment. ”

Having never met the comedian, I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that 10 minutes after the family arrived (right on time!) fresh off their morning at SiriusXM, it felt as if I’d known them all forever. They’re the anti-Osbournes! Named one of the Top 100 Stand-up Comedians of All Time by Comedy Central and a sitcom (A Different World, The Sinbad Show) vet, Sinbad told me the new show, Sinbad: It’s Just Family (premiering April 12 at 10 pm on WE tv) is a marked departure of the bumper crop of dysfunctional family fright fests that populate the reality TV landscape.

“These producers want meltdowns and dramas, but most of the dramas wouldn’t happen if people weren’t shooting their show. Most reality shows have an agenda and you have to understand that. I got about 80 percent of what I wanted. I was the voice of reason. We picked and chose what we wanted to shoot.” Any scenes in the master bedroom were off-limits, he said. “That’s just not respectful.” Instead, the show focuses on his version of family life — his re-marriage to his ex-wife Meredith Adkins and his relationship with his two “grids” (semi-grown kids) Paige and Royce. When he’s not on the road doing stand-up, he’s home keeping things together — his way. “The show is not about some comedian looking for a comeback because I never went away!” he quipped.

I had to ask him what he thought of this season’s Celebrity Apprentice since he appeared on season three of the show. “Donald Trump likes fights. He likes drama,” he told me. “That’s why Meat Loaf and Gary Busey are still around. That’s what people want to watch.” As for his take on his former cast mates: “Brett Michaels was a baby and Sharon Osbourne has the filthiest mouth of any woman I’ve ever met. She faked being sick just so she could miss being project manager for the first three weeks.” He also has choice words for Ozzy Osbourne. “That show they did made him look like a fool. Do you really want people to remember you like that? These people are stars and they don’t really think about how they want to be perceived.”

For their show, Sinbad and the family ”focused on the positive” and shot weeks of 12-14 hour days for six episodes, which was quite an adjustment. “It’s the most time we’ve spent together since the kids were babies,” says Meredith. “We were miked all the time and had to remind ourselves that they were recording everything.”

Royce is a college student studying audio sound engineering, and Paige is an R&B artist (Meredith is her manager) who co-wrote all the songs on her new album, Imperfect Me. Both had to be convinced to do the show at first, but wound up enjoying the experience. Proud Papa says of their TV debut: “He surprised me and she turned out to be quite the daredevil.”  In one episode, Paige convinced the family to try out a trapeze park, and the producers were only too happy to get it all for the show. “That’s what was so great about the show.  If we wanted to do something and the producers thought it was a great idea, they made it happen,” says Paige. “The flip side was we were having family barbecues, and there was someone standing on the driveway handing out releases for our friends to sign. That was a little strange but we got used to it.”

Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:

1. Sinbad, his wife Meredith Adkins, daughter Paige, son Royce and yours truly.

2. Project Playlist CEO John Sykes and Brian Bedol

3. Melania Trump and designer Rachel Roy. I was nearly blinded when I happened to look over at The Donald’s better half  and spotted the sparkler on her ring finger. And, yes, she is even more gorgeous in person.

4. Barry Diller

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Garcia talked to FishbowlNY contributor and Lunch columnist Diane Clehane about juggling Project Runway and her fashion director responsibilities, leaving Elle for Marie Claire back in 2008, and advice for aspiring magazine fashionistas.

Our favorite quotes, after the jump

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Socialite and busy magazine intern and contributor Amanda Hearst has been named associate market editor at Marie Claire, where she will report to “Project Runway” staple Nina Garcia, the magazine’s fashion director.

Also reporting to Garcia will be Taylor Tomasi, who has been named style and accessories director, Marie Claire‘s editor-in-chief Joanna Coles announced yesterday. The two will start in their newly created roles on Monday.

A Condé Nast vet, Tomasi was previously the accessories director at Teen Vogue and got her start at W. Fashionista has reported that Teen Vogue will not be replacing her.

And in addition to being an heir to the Hearst fortune, Amanda Hearst has been keeping busy and involved in publishing through internships, like her most recent at Cosmopolitan Spain, “where she helped research and contribute to articles exclusively in the Spanish language,” the company said. We have to admit, she sounds very multi-talented and qualified for the position. But we’re allowed to be jealous that she’s snagged a coveted spot at a family-owned magazine in the midst of the worst job market in recent history, right?

Full release after the jump

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WebNewser: Journalism Online, the start-up founded by Steven Brill, Gordon Crovitz and Leo Hindery Jr. aimed at helping media outlets monetize content on the Web, claims that it has made deals with 506 newspapers and magazines. Each publication will reveal its association with the company in separate announcements, the owners said.

minOnline: Some iPhone app ideas that magazines should totally steal.

Fashion Week Daily: Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia has a role in the new TV drama about models called “The Beautiful Life,” which also stars Mischa Barton and Elle Macpherson.

Folio: Uh oh. Sources tell Folio that Reader’s Digest might not be able to make an interest payment on its debt due next week.

True/Slant: This blog post by Marcelo Ballve claims there are too many media gossip Web sites. No comment.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The reality show is jumping from Bravo to Lifetime this season, and sources “close to the show” are saying the Marie Claire deal is done, however an official announcement has yet to be made. Of course there’s always the hope that Harvey will blog about it.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.