Here's How Much Randall Emmett Is Really Worth
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Fans of "Vanderpump Rules" know Randall Emmett as Lala Kent's mysterious boyfriend-turned-fiancé. For years, his identity was a closely guarded secret, and the former SURver dared not utter his name. He was known solely as her "man" — nothing more, and nothing less. This mysterious man also happened to buy her a Range Rover (the day after they first slept together) and a pair of Gucci slides (which he allegedly tried to take back after one of their many breakups). Fans couldn't help but wonder: Who is this guy, and how does he have so much money?
Today, younger generations regard Emmett as a fringe Bravolebrity, akin to how Kelsey Grammer once reluctantly agreed to appear on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" amidst his divorce from Camille Grammer. In truth, reality TV is just a side gig for Emmett, who's actually a bigwig Hollywood producer with a decades-long career that includes highlights like his work on "Rambo," "The Amityville Horror," and "The Wicker Man." As Kent and Emmett, who welcomed daughter Ocean in March 2021, navigated their latest relationship drama in that fall (an alleged breakup following an alleged cheating scandal), fans had one question: How much did Kent supposedly walk away from?
As it turns out, probably not much. The "Vanderpump Rules" star might actually be the breadwinner, as Randall Emmett's paltry $500,000 estimated net worth is just a fraction of what it was years ago. So, what happened? Let's get into it.
Randall Emmett's films have made billions
According to Vulture, Randall Emmett has worked on over 110 films. They have collectively grossed over $1.2 billion, but that still doesn't mean some of them are any good (Vulture claims some are so bad they "require a category all their own"). Instead of focusing on quality, Emmett seems to have patented a style of filmmaking that hinges on roping in big name stars like Bruce Willis and Nicolas Cage on a shoestring budget.
As Vulture puts it, Emmett built his production company Emmett/Furla/Oasis (EFO Films) by "accept[ing] money from just about anyone willing to hand it over, offer[ing] vast sums of it to an aging star for a day or two of work, then leverag[ing] that actor's name to presell the movie in foreign markets." The company cuts costs even further by filming in distant locations with plush tax credits and ditching union talent.
That doesn't explain how big name directors get involved, but part of it has to do with Emmett's willingness to take a chance on projects nobody else will finance. For example, Emmett's former colleague told Vulture the producer "begged [Martin Scorsese] for a script that he couldn't get financed so that he could finance it for him." The film in question? "Silence," which ultimately raked in more than $23 million globally and landed an 83% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Emmett's recipe might be criticized, but it's a recipe that works.
His high school job gave him a taste of Hollywood
Randall Emmett got his start like everyone else — by picking up a summer job in high school. Unlike the rest of us, he wasn't flipping burgers or hawking clothes at the mall. Instead, he worked on a movie set. How did a teenager get that job? It's hard to say.
According to the New York Film Academy, who brought Emmett in as a guest speaker in 2013, the producer had an interest in filmmaking from a young age. He mainly focused on acting, but also did what most creative (and bored) teens do: He messed around with his family's camcorder and made short films in his free time. It's not a huge leap from the TikTok videos kids make on iPhones today. It wasn't until he spent his summer break working on a movie set as a production assistant that he knew he wanted to be a producer.
From there, Emmett moved to New York, where he attended the School of Visual Arts. He began producing senior thesis projects and making them for $5,000 a pop as a sophomore film kid (not a bad part-time job). When it came time for his own senior thesis, he managed to raise $25,000 to make a feature length film. The hard work paid off, and it became one of the first flicks Emmett ever sold (though it's not clear what the going rate is for student films).
Randall Emmett went from Hollywood intern to agency assistant
Randall Emmett didn't always make big bucks. According to Vulture, he worked his way up in the film industry, starting as an intern for famed producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who is best known for movies like "Flashdance" and "National Treasure," proving Emmett was no less than two degrees away from Nicolas Cage for most of his professional career). It's impossible to know how much he got paid for his role since it was back in the '90s, but in more recent history, the Harvard Business Review found that "43% of internships by for-profit companies [were] unpaid." If anything, Emmett's salary was probably nominal.
During this time, Emmett was lucky enough to have Aaron Spelling as a mentor. According to the New York Film Academy, Spelling suggested he get an agency job — so he did, even though he really didn't want to (can you blame him for not wanting to work an office job?). Emmett started as an assistant at International Creative Management, an entry level job that pays about $15 per hour today (per salaries reported to Glassdoor). Everyone has to start somewhere.
His gig with Mark Wahlberg inspired an Entourage character
Remember back when Kim Kardashian parlayed a stint as Paris Hilton's personal assistant into a multi-million dollar career? Randall Emmett basically wrote the book on that career move. According to Vulture, he started working as Mark Wahlberg's assistant after a friend introduced him to the star. Needless to say, he left his office job quickly.
"We spent every minute together," Emmett said on the "Behind the Velvet Rope" podcast (via Vulture). "So I took a job with him and we traveled the world." Emmett ended up working with Wahlberg as a producer much, much later (see: "Lone Survivor") — but his beginnings as an assistant might be one of his biggest cultural contributions. Vulture claims he was so infamous as a "hard-partying hanger-on" that he's struggled to shake the assistant title. He even supposedly "inspire[d] the character [of] Turtle" on HBO's "Entourage" (which Wahlberg produced).
According to the Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants (via Job Hero) the average celebrity assistant makes around $62,000 a year, but an assistant to an A-lister can make as much $150,000 annually. Not bad!
Randall Emmett was broke before meeting business partner George Furla
Randall Emmett struggled to gain footing as a producer. According to the New York Film Academy, by the time he was in his late 20s, he was flat-out broke and crashing on a friend's couch (a far cry from his Bel Air home). Things turned around when he met George Furla, a former hedge fund manager with a thick wallet. In 1998, they founded Emmett/Furla Films, which became Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFO Films) after merging with Oasis Ventures Entertainment in 2013.
According to Variety, this venture began with "Speedway Junky." Not long after, they inked a 10-film distribution and financing deal with Nu Image/Millennium Films. As part of that deal, they enlisted Steven Seagal for the 2003 direct-to-DVD flick "Out to Kill." Emmett was one of the early purveyors of the format, and by 2008, the direct-to-DVD market was worth $3 billion, per Vulture.
Emmett and Furla's partnership led to one of Emmett's biggest film investments of all time. Vulture reports that the producer "secured $525 million" (more than a half a billion) from Russian oil moguls Remington Chase and Stepan Martirosyan in 2011. This was quite controversial as both men reportedly had "convictions related to cocaine trafficking" and Chase later got charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for "fraudulently raising $62 million" for films. "It's a surprise Randall hasn't been killed by Russians or something, knowing the kind of money he deals with," a producer told Vulture.
Get rich or complain about it in text messages
Randall Emmett and 50 Cent are perhaps the most unlikely business partners in Hollywood (aside from the rapper's ultra-lucrative partnership with Vitamin Water). Alas, their ill-fated business endeavor spawned one of the most pervasive memes in recent history. It also gave us a window into Emmett's potential financial issues.
In the mid-aughts, Emmett's Emmett/Furla Films linked up with Fifty's Cheetah Vision to create a string of movies for Lionsgate. This was said to be a $200 million deal that included straight-to-DVD flicks like "Set Up." The pair also co-produced Starz's "Power." Things only went south after Fifty reportedly gave Emmett a $1 million loan, according to People. After six years, Emmett still allegedly hadn't paid up.
According to Us Weekly, the situation went public in 2019, when the rapper decided to air his grievances on Instagram. He claimed that Emmett still owed him $1 million, then started trolling Lala Kent by posting a clip from "Vanderpump Rules" where she bragged about the expensive gifts she received from the producer. It gained traction in the tabloids, but didn't go viral until Fifty leaked text messages where Emmett seemingly made a glaring typo.
"I'm sorry fofty," Emmett allegedly wrote. "I'm heading to the emergency room. I'm not doing well. Please don't text me anymore. I'm sorry for everything." At the end of the day, 50 Cent ended up getting his money — and then some. Per Page Six, the rapper earned $300,000 from "fofty" branded merchandise.
Let the multi-million dollar lawsuits begin
Randall Emmett is no stranger to an expensive lawsuit or two. In 2015, the producer extended his deal with Lionsgate to include 10 more films. Not long after, one of the first films in the renewed deal — the Robert De Niro thriller, "Heist" — became the subject of a distribution-related lawsuit, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This didn't explicitly involve Emmett, but it was a harbinger of lawsuits to come. Over the next few years, Emmett likely spent a heck of a lot of money on legal fees.
In 2016, Nemesis Finance sued Randall Emmett/George Furla Productions for fraud and breach of contract relating to the 2013 film, "Broken City." As Deadline reports, the suit claimed that Emmett and Furla "misrepresented the amount of debt owed to investors so that they could reduce the residuals reserve deposits required by the major guilds." This became a problem when the film's pre-sales reportedly fell $11 million short of what was anticipated. According to THR, Nemesis faced losing $1.6 million. They asked for $6.2 million in damages and settled for an undisclosed sum.
The following year, Emmett's company was sued for $4.5 million by his "Inconceivable" co-producer. The suit alleged Emmett and Furla "fraudulently induc[ed] a $1 million investment" for the film and "paid themselves $650,000 more in producer fees than was agreed upon," according to THR. Furla claimed the lawsuit was "disgusting, frivolous, and without merit," and the resolution is unclear.
Randall Emmett inked an ill-fated deal with MoviePass
Today, MoviePass is looked at as one of the most colossal failures in Hollywood. It's not quite a disaster of the same magnitude as Fyre Festival or asking Bernie Madoff to invest your money, but it did cause a lot of people to lose a lot of money. One of those people was likely Randall Emmett.
In 2018, Deadline reported that MoviePass' parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, had acquired Emmett's EFO Films. The deal included the company's back catalogue and the upcoming John Travolta flick, "Gotti" (which was funded by MoviePass Ventures, Helios' seeming last-ditch pivot to increase revenue). Though there's no word on the value of the deal, it's safe to say that it probably wasn't cheap.
This acquisition marked the start of a new MoviePass division called MoviePass Films, which the company hoped would save their struggling brand. Per their announcement, they planned to focus on "studio-driven content and new film production for theatrical release and other distribution channels." Helios owned a 51% stake, and EFO Films owned the rest. Deadline likened the deal to "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic," but Emmett was excited.
"What impresses me the most is that MoviePass can guarantee box office attendance, which is a game changer," he said (via Deadline). "I don't believe anybody else can do that." As it turns out, nobody can do that. In 2020, MoviePass filed for bankruptcy, and Emmett's wallet likely paid the price.
Gotti was a flop of the highest proportions
It'd be remiss to call MoviePass a colossal failure without mentioning Randall Emmett's film, "Gotti," that likely accounted for at least a few million in losses for the company. The John Gotti biopic was known as John Travolta's "passion project." It was supposed to be an obvious money maker, but it had problems from the start. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it took nearly seven years to get off the ground before MoviePass Ventures invested (the company reportedly took a "low seven figures" stake in the movie's soon-to-be abysmal equity). When it finally saw the light of day, it was lambasted by a nearly-historical 0% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Gotti" didn't just flop. It lost millions, and Emmett's bank account (and reputation) undeniably took a hit, though it's hard to say by how much. According to QZ, the film had a $10 million budget, but saw just $1.67 million in box office sales in its opening week. Deadline estimates that as many as 40% of those sales came from MoviePass, whose business model involves buying bulk tickets at a discount. In other words, they cannibalized a portion of their own potential revenue. At the time of this writing, Box Office Mojo reports that the film has brought in $6.4 million worldwide, meaning it lost $3.6 million.
Randall Emmett's Bel Air home is worth millions
The true value of Randall Emmett's Bel Air home hasn't made its way to the internet, but it's likely worth at least a few million. For reference, Reality Blurb claimed in 2019 that four of his fiancée's "Vanderpump Rules" co-stars purchased Los Angeles homes around the $2 million mark. Sutton Stracke, who stars on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," also spent $5.35 million for a home in Bel Air in 2020. Emmett's home doesn't look all that different, and it's virtually brand new.
According to Bravo, Emmett and Lala Kent spent more than 18 months renovating their luxury home with Jeff Lewis and Megan Weaver from "Flipping Out." It was a gut renovation that encompassed nearly every room — from the huge living room and massive kitchen to the main bedroom and a playroom for their daughter, Ocean. The couple debuted the final results in 2020 — and let's just say it doesn't look cheap. Still, Emmett and Kent probably added a decent value to their property.
This producer made bank playing poker
Outside of his film career, Randall Emmett is an avid poker player, and he's made a ton of cash on the professional poker circuit. According to Poker Go News, he's pulled in $500,000 from live tournaments (which isn't bad for a hobby). $38,297 of those winnings came from the World Series of Poker, where he placed sixth in 2018. The following year, the "Vanderpump Rules" fiancé won back-to-back ARIA High Roller tournaments, which he described as "one of the highlights of my life so far" (via Poker Go News).
Apparently, Emmett's secret to success is nothing more than hard work (and enough money to play a high roller game to begin with). "It took years and years of heartbreak, studying and coaching, and for a lot of things to go right those days for me to win back to back high rollers against the greatest players in the world," he told Poker Go News of his ARIA High Roller wins.
Hey, if all else fails, at least Emmett has a fallback career — though it might be a gamble.
Lala Kent isn't just a future wife – she's an asset
Based on the lavish gifts Lala Kent flaunted on "Vanderpump Rules," you'd think that Randall Emmett would be the family's breadwinner. When they first started dating, Kent was working at SUR, making what we could only assume was the average $27,000 a year salary for a hostess in Los Angeles. In 2019, when Nicki Swift reported on how much the stars of "Vanderpump Rules" were worth, Emmett had an estimated $16 million fortune. The tables have since turned.
Emmett's net worth has shrunk to an estimated $500,000, but Kent's has risen to an estimated $2 million. As we previously reported, Kent is a musician, author, and entrepreneur. She has her own cruelty free beauty line, Give Them Lala Beauty, and released her own memoir, "Give Them Lala," in May 2021. She also probably makes bank from her reality series. Though her specific income hasn't been reported, InTouch claims that "Vanderpump Rules" cast members make between $10,000 to $25,000 per episode.
Basically, Lala Kent is more than a fiancée. She might also be considered an asset, and Emmett stands to quadruple his fortune if they tie the knot (which might take some convincing following their alleged October 2021 split).
The coronavirus pandemic rocked Randall Emmett's bank account
The novel coronavirus pandemic hit the film industry hard as productions indefinitely shuttered amidst lockdowns. Randall Emmett's income was dramatically affected, but fans didn't know the true toll until court records from his child support battle with ex-wife Ambyr Childers hit the tabloids (but more on that situation below).
According to Radar, Emmett admitted that he only produced a single movie in 2020, compared to the several he'd produce in a normal year. "My income has been drastically reduced and I am having liquidity issues," he said, adding, "The state of film production right now due to Covid protocols is tenuous at best. Productions can be shut down at any time. Further, I am not sure additional projects that I have lined up will proceed. My income is far too uncertain during this pandemic."
On top of this, Emmett allegedly personally guaranteed loans for his production company, but was struggling to pay rent. Days before his alleged split from Kent in the fall of 2021, Radar reported that Emmett was being sued for $281,000 on the grounds of unpaid rent on his production company's office space. This came on top of a lawsuit from American Express, who claimed he owed more than $390,000 in credit card bills, and a reported bill from the IRS for $500,000 in unpaid taxes. It seems like Emmett is in a sticky financial situation.
Is Randall Emmett nearing bankruptcy?
Randall Emmett might be nearing bankruptcy, at least that's what he claimed while trying to negotiate child support with Ambyr Childer. According to Radar, who obtained the court documents, Emmett has been desperately trying to adjust his child support obligation in the wake of his financial woes.
In January 2021, a judge "ordered [Emmett] to maintain a minimum monthly balance of $50k" in a child support security account to help his ex-wife pay "non-tuition related expenses" for their two children, London and Rylee. Childer was reportedly "allowed to spend as much [as she] needed for their kids," and as Radar reported, Emmett claimed her spending was excessive (around $2,414 per day) and "more akin to a contestant on 'The Price Is Right' than a devoted mother." The producer revealed that he already paid $5,250 per month in child support and covered $300,000 worth of expenses for the children every year, but couldn't maintain the account's balance without serious financial issues.
"Randall will fall deeper and deeper into debt and will be forced to file for bankruptcy," his lawyer said (via Radar). "A bankruptcy filing will not only harm Randall, but [Ambyr], and most importantly, the children, as Randall is the sole income earner for the family."
What will happen? We'll just have to see.