He’s a real family man
Piece-by-piece, the Maloof family has built one of the more diverse -- and best marketed -- dynasties in entertainment, extending from a sports franchise (the NBA’s Sacramento Kings) to a Vegas casino (the Palms) to the world’s richest skateboarding competition.
And now the family has been inching into show business proper, having just completed one vertically integrated show (“Living Lohan,” largely shot at the Palms, built around Maloof Music star Ali Lohan). They have also announced a new partnership with reality maven Mark Burnett.
We spoke with the youngest brother, Maloof Productions Chief Executive Phil Maloof, at his Beverly Hills offices.
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So tell us about the new reality series.
It’s a behind-the-scenes show about the Sacramento Kings and the things people don’t generally get to see -- the trainers, the cheerleaders, the workouts, the team from top to bottom.
What made you think this would make for great TV?
It’s just intriguing -- how we have to put together 41 halftime shows. All these guys are super-athletes, superhumans, and the cheerleaders are beautiful. And the coach is intense, the general manager is always nervous. Everyone wants to win and go to the playoffs. The rabid fans of Sacramento are terrific. It makes for a great show.
What’s been the Maloof touch that we’ll get to see?
It’s just fun putting the pieces of the puzzle together to try to make a winning team and a really good show for the fans. Before we took over, maybe the candy wasn’t fresh, the hot dogs weren’t up to Maloof standards. So we got a new chef in there. Now the restaurants are spotless. The candy’s fresh. We want the whole fan experience to be terrific. Even our security guys, they’re not called security, they’re called guest services.
A lot of times the big security guys won’t even smile. Our guys will smile and they’ll take you to your seats. My brother Gavin noticed the toilet paper was that single-sheet toilet paper. He put that double-ply in. The Maloofs will think of everything to make the fan experience more comfortable.
The branding of the Palms as young Hollywood’s Vegas spot was a brilliant campaign. What are the lessons of that?
My brother George is brilliant. He had it in his blood that he wanted to get into the casino business. He would walk the Strip every Sunday and get all the promotions of what casinos did what. . . . So, he did his homework. We started with a small casino aimed more toward older slot players. But he saw a niche for a young, hip crowd.
How about a show on the family?
I don’t think we want to do that. It would be too personal.
A lot of zillionaires try to get into show biz and get taken for a ride. What were you careful not to do?
Maloofs are good leaders, but we’re even better followers. And if we have somebody like a Mark Burnett or a George Clooney (with whom they produced a pilot on HBO), then we’re good team members.
So when you got involved, did you feel this pull to just go finance some huge movie?
Yeah, you do, you want to do that. But you’ve gotta be smart about it, do good projects. The right people and the right partners.
What’s your favorite part of working in the entertainment business?
It’s just a lot of fun. You never thought you’d be saying, “This monster should have longer claws,” and then you’re a kid again. Entertainment is made up of a bunch of big kids.
What ties all your businesses together?
We’re a very conservative family, no matter what people think. We want the lifestyle to be fun when people go to the Palms or the Kings games. We’re always looking to make people’s lives better through entertainment.
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