Inside the Suite Life of ‘Young Hollywood’

RJ Williams is on a mission to conquer Hollywood, one fun celebrity interview at a time. From face time with some of the biggest names in Hollywood to championing up and coming talent that will be the next big thing, the Young Hollywood team works around the clock.

In order to create a celeb friendly environment—and actually get those celebs to show up—Young Hollywood has set up their studio in a suite at the Four Seasons Los Angeles in Beverly Hills. Williams is so dedicated to the success of Young Hollywood, he has moved into the hotel to keep his focus zeroed in on the day to day workload it takes to make the Young Hollywood world happen. He does takes a few breaks to head downstairs to modern Italian restaurant Culina. A man’s got to eat.

With more than 3 million unique visitors last month Young Hollywood is well on its way to establishing this mark on the entertainment landscape. Their co-branded programming with Yahoo, Hulu, TV Guide, MySpace and now even live streaming content on YouTube as part of the site’s live alpha product test this week. Their YouTube channel already boasts over 48 million views.

Yesterday Tubefilter visited the Young Hollywood set, to see this TV studio in a hotel suite for ourselves. We sat down with Williams just after he had interviewed the cast of The Jersey Shore a segment with Snookie, The Situation and the gang that was live streamed to YouTube. The cast then celebrated their good work by ordering chicken fingers and fries from room service.

We sat down on the white leather sofa

to learn more about the place where everyone from Lady Gaga to Justin Bieber have stopped by for a chat. We asked Williams if if all of the investment in Young Hollywood was to one day aiming to develop the format for network or cable TV. Williams is clear that the company will continue to focus their efforts on the digital world. Their recent live streams on YouTube included interviews with Tony Hawk, Dane Cook, Steve O (see above) and the orangest cast on TV those loveable GTL kids from The Jersey Shore.

Williams and his team are learning quickly that producing live streaming shows are challenging. On Monday Tony Hawk got caught in traffic and was surprised that when he knocked on the door of Young Hollywood’s hotel suite that were already live. Viewers got to see Williams tell Hawk they were live and prep his with his mic and mark all in plain view. With each live broadcast the team learns strategies for improving every aspect of working live.

So what constitutes young for Young Hollywood? Are 28 year olds over-the-hill? Williams says that it’s not about age it’s about attitude and that he would love to interview Betty White. And who is the next big thing? According to Williams, get ready for the all boy singing dancing phenoms, Mindless Behavior. Also on the horizon Young Hollywood will experience their first awards show season. With their set up at the Four Seasons they will be at the apex of all the action during the awards show hoopla. For RJ Williams that is just where he wants to be.

Some more snaps of their retrofitted Four Seasons suite:

(Photos by Julie Wolfson)