Celebrities are making big bucks on Cameo these days, and with over a million dollars in earnings for this year, nobody is doing better at it thanThe Officestar Brian Baumgartner. Established in 2016, Cameo is an internet service that allows celebrities to send personalized video messages to fans at a set price. Thousands of stars of varying levels of fame have offered videos on Cameo with some managing to earn six figures or more over the course of a year.
Speaking about the evolution of the company with the New York Times Sway podcast, Cameo co-founder Steven Galanis revealed thatBrian Baumgartnerwill earn the most revenue for the year 2020 with over $1 million in bookings.
“It’s his persona. He really takes a lot of pride in his craftsmanship of the videos,” Galanis explains. “I do think the quality of the cameo is something that is really important to people. And he just is somebody that really takes it seriously and does a great job. He’s reliable. He turns them around quickly. And the content isreally funny.”
Also in the interview, Galanis said that the celebrity that gets more fan requests to be added to the service than anyone else is popular vlogger and YouTube personality David Dobrik. According to Galanis, Dobrik gets more requests than names like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Beyonce, and Jennifer Lopez. As of now, however, Dobrik is making so much money with his current endeavors that he doesn’t seem to be interested in doing Cameo videos at this time.
“We’ve really found product market fit so far with people who are more famous than rich,” Galanis says.
The selection of available celebrities offering videos on Cameo is incredibly vast. Caitlyn Jenner is currently the celebrity who charges the highest amount for Cameo videos at $2,500 a piece, though she still fell short of earning as much as Baumgartner. Some more affordable celebrity options include Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens at $250, wrestling legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart at $150,Ghostbustersstar Ernie Hudson at $135, Larry Thomas aka the “Soup Nazi” fromSeinfeldat $80, andTo Catch a Predatorhost Chris Hansen at $50. Remember William Hung fromAmerican Idol? He’ll sing “She Bangs” to you personally for just $22.50.
A veteran actor and filmmaker, Baumgartner is undoubtedly best known for his role asKevin Maloneon all nine seasons of the American version ofThe Office. He has continued to act sporadically in the years since, including roles on the comedy seriesThe Goldbergsand the Netflix seriesDisjointed, but his income from Cameo currently appears to serve as the beloved performer’s primary revenue stream these days.
Baumgartner is currently selling personalized videos on Cameo for $195. That’s not exactly cheap, but those that have purchased videos from Baumgartner appear to be very satisfied. The actor has a perfect 5-star rating based on nearly 2000 reviews. With the service continuing to grow in popularity, there’s also no telling who will be joining Cameo next. you may check out the full interview with Galanis atThe New York Times.
