Golareh Safarian – The Professional:
Golareh Safarian was born in Tehran, Iran on March 26, 1974. She spent her elementary school years in Madrid, Spain and in1987 she moved with her family to Toronto, Canada, where she proceeded to obtain post-secondary degrees in Criminology and Political Science from the Universy of Toronto and a Journalism degree with a focus on Broadcasting from Ryerson Polytechnic University.
She started her professional career as a freelance reporter, working the crime and political beats at a number of Ontario newspapers including the North York Mirror and The Barrie Examiner. In 1997, Golareh joined the staff of CFMX Classical 96.3 FM, where she was introduced to the workings of a radio station as a tech-board operator. The following year, she interned at CBC Newsworld International as a chase producer. This internship was Golareh’s first professional introduction to the television landscape and her first exposure to budgeting, line producing, and content development.
Soon after graduating from Ryerson, Golareh joined the Colllingwood Station of Rogers Television. There, she produced more than 70 hours of programming ranging from sporting events, to one-hour documentary series, a half-hour daily news show, and a travelling cooking show, among others.
In 2000 she moved to California where she obtained her Masters in Mass Communications from San Jose State University. Her thesis, “How to Draft a Business Plan to Fund an Independent Film,” focused on bringing together the creative and financial producer. While in grad school, she also worked as a freelance storyteller for Iranian.com and was a contributor to San Jose State’s Access Magazine. Her article “Ancient Faith, Modern War,” earned her the Gold Circle Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2003. In the same year, she joined the team of Q Media Partners, a San Francisco-based development company with first-look deals to HBO and Touchstone Television. As their VP of Creative Development, Golareh worked with the local Bay Area creative community to build show concepts and treatments, and develop pitches that were presented to the LA studio and network executives.
In 2006, Golareh joined the Special Ops team of Fox Broadcasting as the Director of Content Production. In 2011, she became the Vice President of Production Special Operations. While at FOX, she’s produced a large volume of promo shoots and has helped launch the marketing campaigns for AMERICAN IDOL, FRINGE, NEW GIRL, 24, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, BONES, and THE X FACTOR. She’s also collaborated on the creative development of a number of projects including HEY GIRL, an Interactive Music Video featuring Zooey Deschanel and the cast of New Girl; WELCOME HOME, a documentary commemorating the 10th anniversary of American Idol, and numerous pieces of online content.
The Artist
Golareh Safarian – The Artist:
Although Golareh’s artistic abilities were evident in the early part of her life, she didn’t manifest them into a fine art discipline until 2003 when she started to explore with oils and acrylic on canvas. She began by studying the work of the masters, specifically Kandinsky and Picasso and attempting variations of their works through her own subjects. Soon she moved her exploration into pop culture and began to draw inspiration from magazine print ads that she re-interpreted into oil paintings.
Her first truly original piece of work was Lady is Blue. This painting marked the beginning of her series “The Player” which also include “Slumber” and “The Player.”
Her second series entitled “The Four Seasons” marks the evolution of a relationship: “Spring aka Birth,” “Summer aka Post-Partum,” “Fall aka Love,” and “Winter aka Hope.”
Having spent most of her adult years learning about communication through language, Golareh found a sense of freedom in the world-less power of images & colors. This became even more evident in her digital photography. Her photo story “See” which she created while on the road for American Idol’s 10th anniversary marketing campaign and The X Factor’s launch promo, is a psychological journey of the impacts of various life situations including adultery, love, homesickness, and nostalgia while encapsulating the overarching theme of magic and beauty.
On February 16, 2012, Golareh hosted her first solo exhibit which marked her first public exhibit of her painting series “The Player” “The Four Seasons” and 73 digital images.
Presently, she is working on her next painting series while writing her first novel.
Golareh lives in Pasadena, California.