Scott Pinsker

Scott Pinsker is a filmmaker, talk-show host, author and celebrity publicist. He has written for FOXNews.com, The Washington Times, Breitbart, Jewish World Review, and Bulldog Reporter. He was the creator and executive producer of National Lampoon's Strip Poker in 2005, and also appeared in Academy Award-nominated director Brett Morgen's political film Ollie's Army and the Academy Award-nominated documentary A Perfect Candidate.

His novel, The Second Coming: A Love Story, was released in June 2014.

Early life and education

Pinsker was a College Republican leader at James Madison University in the 1990s. His exploits, which included a "hostile takeover" of the rival political organization Clean Up Congress, was memorably showcased in director Brett Morgen's film, Ollie's Army.[1][2][3][4]

Career

After graduating from George Mason University School of Law, Pinsker hosted The Stretch for WTMA radio in Charleston, South Carolina from 2000 to 2001. Among his radio highlights was Charleston City Councilman Kawadjo Campbell announcing that he was leaving the Democratic Party.[5] Councilman Campbell formally switched to the Republican Party shortly thereafter, becoming one of just a small number of African American elected officials in the GOP.[6]

Pinsker moved to Tampa Bay, Florida in 2003 and launched a career in public relations. He quickly began representing a number of professional poker players, just as the sport was experiencing a cultural revival. Included among the players he worked closely with was Phil Gordon, who was the host of NBC/Bravo Network's Celebrity Poker Showdown. At a celebrity poker tournaments in Houston, Texas, which took place in conjunction with Super Bowl XXXVIII and included such celebrity participants as pro players Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, as well as celebs Marcus Allen, Clyde Drexler, Yanni, Jerome Bettis, Eddie George, and Kato Kaelin, Pinsker decided to make a poker comedy, but to use "real" poker action instead of scripted reenactments. Kaelin was employed by National Lampoon at the time and introduced Pinsker to National Lampoon executives. Soon, a deal was struck.[7][8]

National Lampoon's Strip Poker was filmed at the Hedonism II nudist resort in Negril, Jamaica, and featured models, actresses and reality TV stars in a No Limit Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament. Pro Poker Hall of Famer Barbara Enright served as the poker coach. The film aired on DirecTV and InDemand Pay Per View in 2005, and is noted for featuring one of the first film appearances of Olivia Munn, who is credited as Lisa Munn.[9]

Pinsker took a hiatus from filmmaking and was the publicist for a number of athletes, celebrities and business leaders, including Michael Vick and HSN home shopping host and infomercial guru Bob Circosta.[10][11] He started writing for numerous business publications as a marketing expert[12] and commentating on TV and radio.[13] He also wrote for numerous business publications as a marketing expert.

Following the presidential election of 2012, Pinsker's marketing analysis of Mitt Romney's missteps was sent to a FOX News Channel producer. His analysis was broken into two parts and published on FOXNews.com.[14][15] His most controversial FOXNews.com column was a theoretical speech he ghostwrote for the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre. The column was discussed widely on talk radio and online message board, receiving over 4,000 "likes" on Facebook.[16]

Literary

On June 2014, Pinsker published his debut novel, The Second Coming: A Love Story. He explained in a June 16 interview with Rob McConnell of the 'X' Zone Radio Network that he'd been working on the story for 15 years. Described as a "theological thriller," Pinsker claims it's the first book ever written about the apocalyptic "End Days" battle between God and Satan, as foretold in Christian eschatology a la the Left Behind stories, but from a marketing perspective. His hypothesis is that a theologian can explain the beliefs of Jesus, but it takes a marketer to explain the actions of Satan.[17][18][19][20]

As he says on the book's official website:

"According to Christian theology, the Devil is thousands of years old and deviously brilliant. I remember wondering one night, if such a creature didn't want you to know who he was… how would you know? How could you out-think a creature that's not only smarter than you, but also thousands of years more experienced and capable of supernatural powers? We get fooled by ordinary people every day – and most of the time, they're not particularly clever! So what prayer would we realistically have to outwit the Prince of Darkness?

"Then I had a further thought: If the Devil really wanted to con mankind, he wouldn't appear with a pitchfork and horns. All those horror movies have it wrong; that's too obvious. Instead, his best option would be to appear as a holy man – and to attach himself to the faith of his target audience. Because if I were Satan's publicist, that's what I'd recommend."[21]

Social media

Pinsker has an active presence on Twitter, where he has over 30,000 followers. The New York Daily News has republished his tweets[22] and he has been ranked as one of the "Top 100 Branding Experts to follow on Twitter" by EC Marketing.[23]

Bibliography
  • The Second Coming: A Love Story (2014) ISBN 978-1500167219

References
  1. Ollie's Army Trailer Cast New York Times
  2. Cinema Texas Austin Chronicle September 27, 1996
  3. Ollie's Army Archived July 2, 2014, at Archive.today
  4. Political Hijinks on Film Daily News Record Online September 24, 1996
  5. Former Charleston Radio Personality Taking a Gamble on ‘Strip Poker’ Charleston Post and Courier June 23, 2005
  6. Black Charleston SC City Councilman to Join Republican Party Charleston Post and Courier December 20, 2002
  7. The Bar Essentials of Poker by Max Shapiro Card Player Magazine
  8. Kato Kaelin: Did Someone Say Strip Poker? Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Bluff Magazine August 2005]
  9. IMDB Strip Poker IMDb
  10. PRWeb Press Release The Inventor Mentor Helps Amateur Inventors Succeed on National TV PRWeb July 16, 2007
  11. Professional Club Marketing Association Annual Conference 2012 PCMA September 24, 2012
  12. 5 Ways to Get Good PR by Scott Pinsker F&I Showroom Magazine August 2010
  13. Scott Pinsker Talks about the 5 Minute NRA Speech that Would Forever Change the Gun Debate 970 WFLA March 19, 2013
  14. A Marketer’s Proposal: The Death of Conservatism as Our Default Position, Part I FOX News Channel, December 28, 2012
  15. A Marketer’s Proposal: The Death of Conservatism as Our Default Position, Part II FOX News Channel, December 29, 2012
  16. The Five Minute NRA Speech that Would IMChange the Gun Control Debate Forever FOX News Channel, March 14, 2013
  17. Scott Pinsker, Part 1 of 4 X Zone Radio Network, June 16, 2014
  18. Scott Pinsker, Part 2 of 4 X Zone Radio Network, June 16, 2014
  19. Scott Pinsker, Part 3 of 4 X Zone Radio Network, June 16, 2014
  20. Scott Pinsker, Part 4 of 4 X Zone Radio Network, June 16, 2014
  21. The Second Coming: A Love Story About the Author
  22. Former Buccaneers player says playing for Greg Schiano is ‘like being in Cuba’ New York Daily News, October 25, 2013
  23. Top 100 Branding Experts to Follow on Twitter
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