We were lucky to catch up with Shawn Valentino recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shawn, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
My confidence comes from my mentality combined with my life experiences. My mentality comes from a set of principles I grew up with as an only child in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
1. Being alone does not mean being lonely. If you can be happy within yourself and create excitement on your own then you can be content in any situation. Most people rely too much on other people for approval and their company to feel fulfilled. That sense of fulfillment has to come from creating your own universe where you are essentially the star of your own movie that is your life. This mentality has allowed me to create strong relationships with friends and family all over the world that have been costars along this incredible journey
2. As an adult, my main purpose in life has been to minimize worries and maximize life experiences. This has fostered an phenomenal lifestyle is beyond my wildest dreams. Most people become prisoners of their own decisions, whether it be through being reliant on being in a relationship or a job they aren’t excited about. As my hero Hugh Hefner said, “Life is too short to be living someone else’s dream.” My lifestyle has always been about fun, freedom and fantasy.
3. People see my lifestyle and ask if love to live every moment like it’s my last. In actuality, I love to live every moment like it’s your first. When we are kids, everything is exciting and all things seem possible, but most people lose that vision as they grow up feeling they need to do certain things to live up to society’s expectations. I’ve stayed in touch with that only child that had impossible dreams, and with that outlook, it has made each experience feel new and exciting.
Of course you also have to do the work to create a foundation to build those experiences. Thankfully, education was extremely important to my parents so I graduated from one of the top schools in the world, The University of Michigan, with highest honors before going on to complete law school and pass multiple Bar Exams. Even more importantly, I learned the value of having a great circle of friends and family that care about me. If I could give people one piece of advice it would be to formulate their lifestyle to center around relationships and experiences instead of money and career.
These philosophies and foundation have created a mentality that has brought me unbelievable experiences. I’ve traveled to nearly 100 countries at a young age. The Playboy Mansion was like my second home before it got sold. I’ve dated gorgeous girls all over the world. I’ve been interviewed by many celebrities from Tyra Banks to Dr. Phil to Jerry Springer and George Lopez on national television. My proudest achievement career wise has been creating a franchise of films that are like a James Bond parody series. Each year, our incredible team of producers and talent creates a new movie centering around an “impossible mission.” Think The Bachelor meets James Bond meets The Naked Gun.
My high school principle Mr. Loch gave me some excellent advice when I was Class President. “Don’t do what you have to do. Do what you want to do.” I could be married with kids and working a stable job right now, but I would be miserable. Instead I’m living a new adventure each day and living a lifestyle of fantasy!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My “professional” career began very traditionally. Like I mentioned earlier, I was high school class president, then I went to a top university and graduated with honors before completing law school and passing the Bar Exam. I could have went on to a successful traditional career as an attorney. Fortunately, a traditional way of life never seemed appealing to me. I saw how my parents lived and the path most people take of having a regular job and being married with kids, which is completely fine, but none of it seemed exciting or appealing to me.
I wanted my life to be a thrilling adventure where each day is completely different from the last and all things are possible. When I moved to Los Angeles for law school, my main dreams were to be living the lifestyle of the heroes and movies I grew up watching. Two of my main passions as a child were classic movies and pro wrestling. What each of those has in common is a grand vision and larger than life characters. I looked up to legends like Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Shawn Michaels and The Rock. I incorporated little pieces of each of these icons and created my own flashy superhuman Showstopper persona.
This caught the attention of numerous celebrity talk shows including Dr. Phil, Joe Rogan, George Lopez and Jerry Springer. Even as a child that was a dreamer, I never imagined that I would be on television with these pop culture figures and they would be asking me how I live my lifestyle. The first bikini poster I had on my wall was Tyra Banks. Little did I know that she would also be my first television interview.
My idol Hugh Hefner was also inspired by the world of cinema. When I first moved to LA, I was told getting into the Playboy Mansion was impossible. Eventually, my lifestyle caught the attention of Playboy and with the help one of their models Terri Mitchell, I became connected with Joyce Nizzari, one of Hef’s ex-girlfriends, and I became a regular guest at all of the big Playboy parties including Midsummer Night’s Dream, Halloween and July 4th. My birthday is January 1st so my favorite party was the New Year’s Eve bash. Imagine spending your birthdays at the Playboy Mansion. Eventually, I was working with an upscale charity organization Go Charity with my friend Darran Brown and I was helping throw major auctions in the backyard. One of my most surreal memories was being the last person wandering the grounds of the Mansion the week it was sold.
All of these experiences led up to the creation of our movie franchise, which we call The Bachelor Movie Saga, a series of James Bond parody style adventures. Just imagine Hugh Hefner on a series of impossible missions but in the silly satiric tone of The Naked Gun series. People have been saying the parody genre is dead, but we are helping keep it alive with a new movie each year. This all started ironically when Vice did a documentary on me titled The Next Hugh Hefner. A young director named Tremain Hayhoe saw the film and contacted me about working on a Bachelor series together. He was working with Thunder Studios so we created the first internet Bachelor Series, The Showstopper: The Playboy Next Door, which was essentially a parody of The Bachelor. You can watch it on YouTube.
This led to our the creation of our movie series. Hayhoe, who normally directs horror cinema and successful films like Rideshare and Simp, also shares the same love of parody so he directed the first two films of our franchise, The Bachelor Party: The Playboy’s Impossible Mission and The Bachelor Party: It’s a Wonderful Lifestyle: The Rise of Showstopper. Both of these movies have been successful across numerous platforms, especially Tubi, which is now the best place to find hidden gems and cult classics.
Our other producing partner and leading man from our early films, Rich Twilling, directed our 3rd film, The Bachelor Murder Mystery, which is now one of the top mystery parodies on Tubi. Right now, we have three films already completed in the pipeline waiting to be released on Tubi in the upcoming months, The Bachelor to the Future, a parody of Back to the Future and Top Gun: Maverick, The Bachelor Party Massacre, a parody of Barbie and slasher films, and The Bachelor Christmas Mystery, a parody of Christmas movies. Right now we are completing production of our seventh film, The Bachelor’s Valentine’s Day Massacre. Each year, we have classic Hollywood style glamorous premieres across the country which attracts successful producers and politicians such as the Mayor of my city of Calabasas.
We’ve had an amazing team of talented musicians, models, actors and actresses that have brought our vision to the silver screen. The world’s greatest rapper C-Tru and British Bollywood legend Kamal Khan have contributed their music to our soundtrack. We recently added the amazing Chase Bell to our team. TikTok superstar Jeremy Olenski has designed our posters and costarred in our films. Talented comedian and actor William Pierce has also helped produced and costar. Debabrata Hazra has been the genius editor who puts it all together.
Of course, there can’t be a James Bond parody series without the beautiful ladies. Our movies have starred such showstopping actresses and models such as Miss USA Finalist Toneata Morgan, WWE Diva Shelly Martinez, influencer Lauren Francesca, Brooke Piedra and Playboy model Jacqueline Delgado,
Some of our leading ladies went on to become close personal friends including influencer Rachel Ashley Johnson, who is one of the leads in The Bachelor Christmas Mystery and also my red carpet partner in crime at the Hollywood parties. Joanna Lopez is one of the leads in our upcoming movie and my new travel partner on my international adventures. Coco Reese is one of the most talented teen actresses in Hollywood and will be in her first leading role. Breanna Rodriguez was a leading lady in two of our upcoming releases, and she has also changed my life in many ways. Making movies is not just about producing the film, but it is also about forming personal relationships while collaborating on a creative vision.
While our movies are independent films, we like to think of them as the opposite of the stuffy, artsy vibe of most indy movies. I look at our films as blockbusters on a budget as we have stunning locations across the world and some of the most beautiful women on the planet. Right now, we are likely the most prolific creators of parody movies in Hollywood, and it has been like a dream come true. We are always looking for new talent to hire in our films, whether musical artist or models or actresses. Contact me and be part of a creative vision that showcases a lifestyle of fantasy!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three qualities that were most impactful to me were to be confident in my vision. It is important to not worry about what other people think of you. For most people, the idea of making a movie seems like dream not worth pursuing. To be a producer, you need the superhuman confidence to formulate a creative vision and then to create a team that can execute on that concept.
That ties into my second skill and that is to build relationships with people that are positive and share the same drive but also bring something unique to the production. The entertainment business is all about connections. Making a movie means years of effort forming friendships with other creative people and understanding their strengths to make your vision a reality.
Third, some advice I would like to give anyone who wants to do produce a movie or do anything creative is to emphasize your strengths and don’t worry about your weaknesses. Not everyone is going to have the biggest budget or be the greatest actor or have the most sophisticated camera. These days you can shoot on a new iPhone and it can look as good as a cinematic camera. We don’t have huge budgets but we have enormous vision so we should in spectacular locations all over the world. We might not be able to hire Oscar winning actresses, but were Bond Girls ever known for their acting? We give opportunities to some of the most beautiful young talent and find roles that can suit their skills. Your only limits are your own imagination.
As a child with big dreams, I envisioned myself living an adventurous lifestyle similar to James Bond and Tom Cruise movies. Now we are making movies that are silly parodies of those movies. Dreams do come true.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
As I’ve said numerous times, producing movies is largely about forming relationships with creative people. We are always looking for talented artists and beautiful young models and actresses. We are also searching for anyone that wants to make independent movies that showcase a James Bond / Mission Impossible fantasy but in the tone of The Naked Gun, Scary Movie and other classic spoofs. Too many people take life too seriously and we want to create a cinematic universe of fantasy that audiences can have a few drinks and laugh. Movies are supposed to be about escapism so if you share in that vision, contact me and hopefully we can collaborate. Welcome to The Lifestyle.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showstoppermodeling/
- Twitter: https://x.com/shawnvalentino
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBachelorMovieSaga
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