Derrial Christon is an entertainment journalist, television producer, and celebrity wealth expert.
He is the host and producer of the Los Angeles business guide TV series “Destination LA,” a co-host of the Canadian entertainment news show “Entertainment Tonight Canada,” and the executive producer of the first African American online broadcast entertainment news network “Black Hollywood Live.”
Christon was one of the journalists who evaluated the 2023 Emmy-Award nominations for CBS News, and he was also a special contributor on the “Sherri Show” with its host Sherri Shepherd to discuss the 2024 Oscar Nominations.
Christon said he has an upcoming project with ABC that he cannot discuss yet. But he did hint that it is a long-running and popular show for the network.
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The proud Ohio native said his midwestern upbringing with a strong family, especially the women, taught him the fundamentals of following his goals and dreams.
“Ohio gave me a sense of family values and humbleness and being able to conquer anything that the world brings to you,” said Christon.
He believes those values are partly responsible for his later successes in larger cities like New York and Los Angeles.
One of the other factors Christon attributed to his would-be future accomplishments was knowing he could use his accounting and marketing degree from the Ohio State University towards his career in entertainment.
Christon said most journalists have an educational background in journalism or communications, but he decided not to go this traditional route.
“The funny thing is the marketing felt like it gave me a sense of the creative, because in marketing you have to be very, very, very creative,” said Christon. “And accounting – at the end of the day — I can still do a [film or television] budget, and you need to know how to do a budget working in entertainment.”
“So, I feel in all reality,” he continued. “Those two degrees – marketing and accounting – merged me into the man I am today… and [gave me] a variety of ways to expand my career.”
Christon’s professional career began as a college intern with Vibe Magazine. He said the opportunity surrounded him with multimedia icons like Vibe editor Danyel Smith, music impresario and Vibe founder Quincy Jones, and television personality Bevy Smith.
Christon described his experience at Vibe as almost unimaginable.
On an early Vibe Awards red carpet, he remembered Mariah Carey kindly encouraging him to fully invest in an entertainment journalism career.
“She was like, ‘Baby, you’ve got what it takes — follow your dreams,’” said Christon. “That stuck with me, and from that moment on I started to do things that really changed the direction of what my career was, and shorty after that I moved to L.A. to pursue my dreams.”
Eventually, Christon would masterfully coin himself a “celebrity wealth expert,” which would merge his educational background with his show business pursuits.
He described the title as a financial expert who examines how a celebrity diversifies their wealth into varying streams of income.
He cited singer, businesswoman and actress Rihanna; media personality, former NFL player and television host Michael Strahan; and socialite, actress, and businesswoman Kim Kardashian as persons whose could be explored.
One of the most challenging things about Christon’s transition from financial specialist to entertainment news authority was being pigeonholed into one space.
“When I first started telling people, ‘Hey, I’m going to move to L.A., and I’m really going to pursue getting in front of the camera,’ they were like. ‘How are you going to do that — even some of my family,” said Christon. “You’re great and all but you have this business degree. Why are you switching?’”
“I’m going to do it, trust me. I’m going to figure it out,” he replied. Christon said sometimes it’s hard for people to see others outside of their conventional roles.
Nowadays, Christon said it is fulfilling for him to help others achieve their goals in entertainment reporting through media outlets like “Black Hollywood Live (BHL),” which he created.
BHL features inside entertainment news, reviews, and conversations with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and influencers. Christon labeled it as a school with many graduates who have gone on to have their own successful show business careers.
“I look at some of those students – and I’m going to call them students even though we were all in it together – those students have gone on to do amazing things, and that actually makes me really proud,” said Christon.
