La Lohan Launches Me at EW

My first few days at Entertainment Weekly—now more than a year in the rear-view—should have clued me in to the challenges and constant craziness that awaited me in my new position. But I was naive then and thought that my first assignment—stalking everyone on the set of Lindsay Lohan's latest train-wreck flick, Georgia Rule—was a rare occurrence. Ha! Boy, was I clueless.

If I'm remembering correctly, my third day at EW was a Monday. On the previous Friday, a letter from Georgia Rule's producer reprimanding La Lohan was leaked to TMZ.com (if you don't read this site, you should—it's a one-stop shop for all things celebrity!). The scathing missive, which was meant only for Lohan and her bevy of handlers, reprimanded her for partying, missing days of shooting, and generally causing distress to the entire production. When scandalous things like this happen, no one officially attached to the project—producers, actors, crew—are usually allowed to talk to the media. Obviously, the case here, too. So little old Tanner, who thought he knew how to report, was given a call sheet. (I'd never seen anything like this before—every cast and crew member from the flick and any numbers we could dig up for them.) My assignment? Call every single person on—from Lohan's publicist to the caterer. Oy.

I was intimidated. Were they really asking me to call every grip and lighting specialist working on the project to see if they'd dish on Lohan? Yes, exactly. They might as well have asked me to call Dick Cheney—I was frickin' scared.

So I put in the calls. No one was answering their landlines of course—most likely under the instruction of the publicist for the flick. (I've since learned all these little things.) But calling just once wasn't enough. Call back, the editors urged! Try again—it can't hurt! I mean, maybe that production assistant won't realize it's someone they don't know calling their personal cell phone! Oy, again.

But success was mine—eventually. A guy in lighting got back to me and spilled a few of the beans about Lindsay. Score!

Thinking about it now, the whole thing—and mostly, my squeamishness about it—seems trivial and silly. A typical day now consists of me putting in constant interview requests, covertly calling producers and talent to try to get a few quotes to make a story juicer, and urging the sources I do have to talk to me "off the record," "on background," or "not for attribution." (Terms that, honestly, I had never heard before I showed up at EW. Every journalist with a newsy bent needs to know about the difference—they can really help you!).

For instance, just this week, I was writing a quick story about the Creative Arts Emmy Awards (the more technical awards given out a week before the Primetime show). Anyway, managed to score a chat with Kathy Griffin (wait, is that really a score? ha!) about winning for Outstanding Reality Program for her hilarious show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. (Honestly, if you don't watch, you must. Now.). Anyway, this was Monday—the day after Britney's disastrous VMA performance. Kathy's bread and butter is trashing everyone else, so she was more than happy to go on a bender about Britney. Simply put: Score! The next day, the top editors decided to make the Britney story a cover story, and the writer used my reporting. Random questions about current events can always come in handy in a story.

Day three or day 414—this is my job. Luckily, I just know what the heck I'm doing now.