User:Tanya Du'Shay

BIOGRAPHY

TANYA DU’SHAY

A triple career woman whose accomplishments in the last decade have surpassed a lifetime of achievements for most people, Tanya Du’Shay’s career expands from fashion, glamour, publishing, producing concerts, working behind the scenes in film & television, to negotiating multi-million dollar publishing and recording contracts to the leadership and direction of one of the world’s top Urban Music Magazine and Websites – Rap Pages Magazine - a very successful brand that was established 19 years go by publication mogul, Mr. Larry Flynt.

After receiving her B.A. in Marketing from the University of San Diego, she moved to New York to pursue a successful career as a fashion, print and runway model, gracing the pages of several nationally distributed publications and working for such companies as Revlon, Clairol, Johnson Products, Essence Magazine, US Today, Jet and Ebony Magazine. Tanya Du’Shay was honored by being selected as an Ebony Fashion Fair Models, which took her to over 170 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean and performing for over 500,000 fans.

Without skipping a beat, Tanya quickly crossed over from fashion model to entrepreneur and opened her company, Creative Image, an imaging and production company. Her company, Creative Image, was hired to cast most of the number #1 Music Videos of the year for artists such as: Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Boys II Men, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Chaka Khan, TLC, Usher and R. Kelly just to name and the Oscar-nominated film ‘Boyz In The Hood’ starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Nia Long and Ice Cube directed by John Singleton.

With her experience in front of the camera and her educational prowess, she has been Co-Editor of two nationally distributed Hair Publications and she has been contracted as a consultant by several Fortune 500 companies such as: Walt Disney, Motown Records, A&M Records, Flynt Publications, Harris Publications, Columbia Pictures and BET. Tanya Du’Shay and her management team have also been instrumental in the negotiations of recording & publishing contracts of over $2 Million Dollars for artists and songwriters with labels and publishing companies such as: Motown, Island, BMG, Yab Yum, Sony and Universal Records.

Earning the admiration and respect of L.F.P., Tanya was offered the opportunity, when the magazine was terminating, to take up the reigns to continue the publication. With clients the world over, her wisdom and leadership will certainly excel A.I.M.G. Inc., to the next dimension of the Urban Empire.

Ms. Du’Shay dedicates her time to several charities; helping to raise millions of dollars annually for Sickle Cell Anemia, the N.I.C. Unit for the prestigious hospital, Cedar Sinai located in Beverly Hills, CA. and the 70 year old charitable organization, the March of Dimes, whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

As a forerunner in the Entertainment community, Tanya Du’Shay is a powerful role model and mentor to many, a smart and savvy entrepreneur with a great sense of humor, who is an outstanding citizen.

Tanya Du’Shay was born and raised on the south side of Chicago to a father who was a mechanical engineer and a young mother who was an aspiring designer. By the age of seven, Tanya and her younger sister started doing local church fashion shows for their mom around Chicago.

After graduating from school, Tanya moved to New York City to make a go for it as a fashion and runway model. All odds were against her, she did not know anyone, had very little money and no place to stay. It didn’t take her long before she started to work for major fashion designers. Tanya began to grace the pages of Essence Magazine, Harper’s, US Today, Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine and several other popular Hair publications. Tanya became an instant success in New York City after being there just a few months. She auditioned against 3000 models from all over the U.S. to become 1 of 7 selected Ebony Fashion Fair models. Fashion Fair took Tanya to over 170 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, performing for an audience of over ½ million.

Tanya traveled to Paris, London and Rome to continue pursuing her career as a fashion and print model, she started working for such companies as Revlon, Clairol, Palmer’s and Soft Sheen and winning 2 gold medals as an International Hair model for the United States Olympic Hair Team. Returning back home to New York City during the slow winter months, Tanya needed to stay afloat during those slow periods so she took small jobs as a make up artist working for Models, Modeling Agencies, Photographers and Ad Agencies. The word got around quickly and she was penned one of New York City’s top make up artist, she stayed booked working from sun up to sun down. “I guess God gave me the wonderful gift to be “Creative” on faces”, she says with a smile.

A year later, Tanya was appointed as Co-Editor of Blacktress Magazine and Black Hair Care Magazine. She was responsible for selecting celebrities for the covers, producing photo shoots, creating and writing how to’s & articles, interviewing celebrities, hiring talent, location scouting and being interviewed herself from time to time. Tanya Du’Shay had a desire to expand more into the film industry, so she took a job with Columbia Pictures-N.Y. in the publicity department, working on the top-selling films: She was also responsible for producing screenings for HBO and SHOWTIME. Tanya Du’Shay returned back to Los Angeles where she briefly worked for Motown Records and A&M Records, Tanya was offered the position of Assist. Dir. of Artist Development at A&M Records, however, her calling at that time was to start her own company and to develop images for recording artists in the music business.

By working and being involved with some of the most creative people from around the world it gave Tanya enough experience and know how to launch her very successful company, CREATIVE IMAGE. Tanya and her staff researched the market for an entire year before she opened her offices. CREATIVE IMAGE began it’s journey having bi-coastal offices in New York and in Los Angeles.

This ex-model turned her company into the authority on behind the scenes in the film, television and music industry. A warm, ambitious “people person” is how you would describe her, and with these attributes, it’s obvious why all the best in the industry call upon her advice and services. If you are a performer who knows what it means to look good be it for a public appearance, video shoot, album cover or stage show, you call on Tanya Du’Shay. Creative Image on the West Coast was influential in getting such household names such as Nia Long, Vivica Fox and choreographer/dancer Fatima Robinson in their very first music videos. Tanya has connected some of the best behind the scenes professionals with some of the entertainment industries top performers such as: Whitney Houston, Prince, LL Cool J, Garth Brooks, TLC, Keith Sweat, BBD, Ice Cube, R. Kelly, Public Enemy, Guy, TuPac, Coolio, Kirk Franklin, Chaka Khan and Boys II Men just to name a few. Creative Image was certainly before its time; the company was one of the first agencies to represent minority hip hop dancers, singers, actors and actresses.

BET called upon Tanya’s services to interview celebrities for “This Week In Black Entertainment” and “Video LP”. Along with running her bi-coastal company and working for BET, Tanya worked side by side with her Casting Director sister and did the extra casting for movies such as: Harlem Nights, Poetic Justice, House Party 1 & 2, 24- 7 Radio, N.Y. Undercover and the nominated film Boys in the Hood, directed by (then) newcomer John Singleton. Tanya Du’Shay’s most exciting work to date was being hired as the exclusive Casting Director for MTV’s #1 Best Music Video of the Year “WATERFALLS” performed by the famous trio TLC and directed by F. Gary Gray. She also stepped out on her own to direct and co-direct several music videos for new and upcoming acts.

Tanya has managed recording artists on such labels as Sony, Motown, Island, Ruffhouse and Yab Yum Records. Dealing directly and only with the heads of those labels. Tanya has negotiated in total over 1 million dollars in record deals, publishing deals, development and production deals with the various mentioned labels on behalf of the talent that she managed. In January of 1994, WALT DISNEY opened up a Minority Business Department and Tanya Du’Shay was hired as a Production Consultant. Tanya Du’Shay’s contract with Walt Disney was to comprise a book of established minorities production crew above and below the line in production that had an extensive amounts of production experience in the film and television industry.

Ms. Du’Shay decided to expand her horizons, in 1996, Tanya Du’Shay was appointed Vice-President/Head of the Entertainment Division of Rocket Enterprises. Rocket’s success in the luxury transportation business was founded on its services provided to Hollywood’s post-production community, including post-production houses, editing facilities, advertising agencies and many leading television commercial producers and film production companies.

In 1999, Flynt Publications contracted Tanya Du’Shay’s production company DL Productions to produce the 1st Annual 10-city Tour for RAP PAGES magazine entitled the “RPL Tour” – (Rap Pages Live Tour. The nationwide tour featured a cutting-edge of fashion and performances by “chart-topping” recording hip hop and rap acts. Tanya Du’Shay negotiated with major corporations for sponsorship dollars, handled all tour budget funds, manufactures, record labels, and independent label acts from around the country. In 2000 Larry Flynt Publications sold Tanya Du’Shay the Rap Pages Magazine title.

Tanya Du’Shay has certainly had a wealth of experience in this fast paced entertainment industry. She is always willing to pursue new dreams and ideas, and as the Hollywood Reporter quoted “Tanya Du’Shay- definitely one of Hollywood’s “People On The Move”.