Greg Centineo discusses business, inspiration, and his son Noah

Greg Centineo has been making strides in different aspects of business for years. His knowledge and experience have allowed his career to grow. He has also helped his son, Noah Centineo, expand his career as an actor. Noah Centineo is known for his roles as Jesus Adams Foster in The Fosters and Peter Kavinsky in the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, among other projects.

Greg Centineo, on the other hand, has remained behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. He was involved in raising money and being a producer for Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return. Greg Centineo is also a founder of Pulse Evolution Corporation. Pulse Evolution Corporation was responsible for the hologram of Michael Jackson’s performance at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.

Culturess: How did you use your background and professional ventures to take over the behind-the-scenes of Hollywood?

Greg Centineo: I just realized that everything I was doing before the experience of entertainment or Hollywood applied to any single industry in the world. It was kinda easy. I just did what I did then, here, and today, if that makes sense.

Culturess: How did your experience help shape your son Noah Centineo’s career and success?

Greg Centineo: For my kids, being brought up in that type of environment, which was a “you can do anything in this world” type of environment at an early age, helped them understand that whatever you want to do, you can do it. You just gotta work hard at it.

I think it was also my belief in giving every human being a position and a voice. We did that with our kids growing up at 3 years of age, 7 years of age, 10 years of age telling them they have a voice. I think it builds a real strong, independent human being that believes in themselves because they believed in themselves early in their lives.

If you combine those facets, then these kids, as they grow into adults, go out there, and they do it. They believe they can do it, are confident in themselves, and give it a shot. That’s all you can ask anybody to do. Give it a shot.

Culturess: What inspired your love or excitement of this industry? Did your love of it affect your son’s?

Greg Centineo: What drew me to the industry is that I believed I am an artist myself. I’m creative in so many ways. As a business person, as an entrepreneur. That’s an art. You need to be creative in living life. That goes for personal and business. I think for me, I was always drawn to creatives, and I felt like it was a lot of truth coming out of artists in the entertainment industry because they’re very connected to themselves. I enjoy working with those types of people. I feel like they have a lot of good insight into life in the world, both seen and unseen.

I do not believe that had any bearing on my kids because both Noah and Taylor are in the industry deeply. One is behind the scenes. One is on the scene in front of a camera. But I think they just happened to move into those directions all on their own.

Culturess: How do your actions set you apart from other managers?

Greg Centineo: Because I don’t manage per se. There is a void for a title for what I do. I did not graduate college and say “I want to be a manager”. I have a ton of experience in many different industries, and I’m bringing that to the table as I work with artists. It brings a strong 360-degree perspective to what we’re doing and how we’re gonna do it and why we’re gonna do that with the artist.

It brings a really strong multiple dynamics to what I do, which kinda separates me, and I am not trying to separate myself. It just makes me a little bit more distinctive, since I bring a ton of experience to the table in ways that I think maybe in most cases, people don’t have.

Culturess: What tips do you give to your clients to inspire them?

Greg Centineo: The biggest thing is pointing them back into themselves. The biggest tip you could give anybody, including my client, is to believe in themselves and like themselves, love themselves, and ultimately trust themselves. I think that’s the biggest takeaway for any human being is that they can believe in who they are. They can like who they are. They can trust their intuition. They’ll have a pretty good life.

Culturess: How do you balance your professional life with being a father?

Greg Centineo: Well, my kids are old. They’re 25 and 27 now. There is nothing to balance. The nice part is that we intersect in each other’s lives, which is nice both personally and professionally. That is cool. There’s no balance required. They’re doing their thing, and I’m doing my thing.

Culturess: How has being a father affected your actions as a manager and working with clients?

Greg Centineo: Everything is kinda transferable. I think I bring in a lot of the same principles that I had as a dad and that I applied as a father to my kids that I bring into everyday life, that I bring into the business. I think it’s vital. I think it’s helped my approach dramatically.

I am not a father figure to my clients in some ways. But it’s an inspiration to them, I think, by using some of the same principles I used to raise my kids. I learned. I’m a person trying to figure it out like everybody else.

Being a parent to newborns and following them through life to 18, 19, 20, there are a lot of mistakes you make, and there’s a lot of good you do. You learn from both, and you apply that to your relationships outside of the contexts of father and kids. I think it is benefitting everybody important.

Culturess: Where do you see your career heading in the future while elevating Hollywood’s top emerging artists?

Greg Centineo: I have not focused on that. I just focus on what I am doing and what’s just ahead of me and take me where it takes me. I have no preconceived notion of that or desires. I don’t have goals of where I want to end up. I want to be successful at what I’m doing right now, and that will lead to something else.

Culturess: What advice would you give to people hoping to break into an industry?

Greg Centineo:  I talked to somebody today who wants to be an actor. Somebody wants to be a singer. Are you doing it now? Forget the industry. The industry is a word, right?

But if you wanna be an actor, if you wanna be a musician, you don’t need the industry to do those things; just do it. If you sing, sing. If you play an instrument, are you playing an instrument? Are you singing? Are you doing it in front of people? Are you doing it on social media? You do not need an industry. You can break into it in your bedroom. You break into it in your basement. Do the thing you want to do, and if you do it enough, it will create other opportunities. That’s the biggest thing. Get to where it’s happening.

If you wanna be an actor and you live in Nova Scotia, I am not gonna tell you probably you’re going to have to do what you can in Nova Scotia, but the reality is once you maximize and exhausted the acting opportunities in Nova Scotia, you gotta get somewhere like New York or Los Angeles, where the action is. You gotta get in the middle of it. You wanna swim? You cannot live in Texas; you gotta go where there’s water. I encourage everybody out there, whatever it is your want to do in life, to go where the action is.

Culturess: How do you stay inspired to try new business ventures?

Greg Centineo: I do not have to stay inspired. I do not do it unless I want to do it. I get hit with a lot of different business ventures, especially now, from NFTs to entertainers to start-up companies.

If something that I am looking at moves me and gets my attention, that’s the first step. Then I move toward it. If I can believe in what it is they’re doing, that it could get me out of bed in the morning to do it, then I’ll do it. That’s what generates inspiration. If you believe in what you’re doing.

If you’re motivated and inspired to get out of bed in the morning, that’s how I look at everything. There are a lot of good things that come across my studio, but I lean toward things that I feel passionate about and drawn to, and that’s what creates the inspiration.