About Us
Tara Cooke
Founder and CEO
Tara’s mother raised championship English Bulldogs and Standard Schnauzers that won Best of Puppy, Best of Breed and the most coveted Best of Show, many times over at both the AKC and UKC. From this Tara inherited a wonderful love of animals. Tara has trained Seeing Eye Puppies for the blind, raised funds for Search and Rescue Dogs, and has been involved with Animal Charities.
​
A recognized master of Graphic Design, Tara creates the fresh, eye-catching designs of Tails OF Hollywood. She originates and oversees the execution of all designs & products from start-to-finish. Tara blends aesthetically pleasing color palettes & unique compositions for each energetic layout while always conveying powerful on-point informative messages with commercially bold appeal.
​
Inspired by legendary Graphic Designers Saul Bass & Herb Lublin, Tara began her artistic expertise under the tutelage of Fashion & Commercial Ad Photographers in Dallas, New York and Milan Italy. She learned the direction of arranging photos, text & illustrations, composition & color overlays on commercial print ads for Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar &
W Magazine.
After that, Tara worked directly with the legendary artist Patrick Nagel at the height of his career. Under his personal guidance, she learned the fine art of hand screened prints. Tara experienced first hand the creation of his ground-breaking images with their bold and colorful layered designs, that came to symbolize an entire decade. To this day, Nagel's extraordinary influence can be seen in Tara's evocative designs.
​
From there, Tara went on to become a successful Designer & Interior Decorator, traveling the world to create evocative homes, rooftop spaces & gardens. While living in Paris she was introduced to the magnificent French Poster designs and fell in love with their bold configurations, and unforgettable advertising messages.
​
Tara was brought up with a detailed knowledge of auctions and priceless art and antiquities. She further developed her interior design skills while traveling throughout Europe, which enabled Tara to establish a highly successful custom design business.
Now living in Southern California with all the glamour of the entertainment business, Tara remains widely praised for creating aesthetically beautiful designs, evocative atmospheres and exciting, energetic art.
​
Tara’s cutting edge designs are captivatingly simple but ingenious with artistic beauty and inspiring harmony, their lighthearted humor stirs the soul. ​​
​
Tails OF Hollywood gloriously reflects her passion for fine works of art, adorable animals, clever comedy, and all done within a framework of timeless classic movies and famous films that will be loved forever!
David Samson
Co-Founder
and
President
A K A
Big Dog
Dave
David Samson (FunnyGuy.com)
is an award-winning advertising & marketing expert.
​
He is also the author of 47 books, and his works have been published by Random House, Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s Press, Penguin, Signet, Time Warner International, to name a few. They have been translated in many countries around the world as well.
David's work has been seen on David Letterman, Larry King, The Today Show, ABC Prime Time, Politically Incorrect, Comedy Central, Fox News, and in the pages of Cosmopolitan Magazine, People Magazine, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, & The New York Times.
A major creative force at some of the nation’s top agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann-Erickson, and Young and Rubicom, David has created advertising for Wendy’s, Toyota, Diet Coke, Hilton Hotels, Century 21, Continental Airlines, Cadbury Chocolates, Cheerios, Yoplait Yogurt, MasterCard, Celebrity Cruises, Bausch & Lomb, El Pollo Loco, The Los Angeles Times, Days Inn, Lifesavers, plus many other top tier clients.
Since meeting Tara,
David's life has been full of pets and animals!
When David first met her pets,
her 5yr old feral cat wrapped himself around David's feet
like a pair of white fluffy slippers
and then ran to cuddle up in David's lap.
Tara enjoyed David's witty sense of humor
and liked that David had studied writing under Joseph Heller,
author of one of her favorite books "Catch 22".
However,
since Tara's cat would NEVER come up to anyone but herself,
she knew David was absolutely a keeper. ​
David & Tara have been together and in love ever since!
David & Tara
as Kids
David & Tara
as Teens
with Big Hair!
David & Tara
Finally Meet
and
Become Sweethearts!
David & Tara
Still In Love Today!
Tara's Mom
Tara's Mom shown here at her Kennels with her Prize Winning 6 month old
English Bulldog, Tootsie Roll’s Lolly Pop,
who started off by first winning
Best of Sporting Match, and Best of Match - then went on to win the coveted
Best of Breed and Best of Show.
​
As a little girl, to me all our dogs
and the dogs at my mother's kennel
were my dolls & playmate pets
to have great adventures with.
​
I’d let them out of their enclosures to
runabout with me. I'd always dress them
up and yes ride if they were big enough.
​
My Mom and her staff would then
round up all the animals,
remove what ever garments
I’d adorned them with
and clean off any lipstick I’d put on them.
They'd spruce all the dogs up - just to
have a repeat as soon as I could manage it.
My Mom bred and raised many English Bulldogs that also won
top honor championships of First Place in the Sporting Group,
Best of Breed and Best of Show at both the AKC Shows & the UKC Shows.
She also was a top ranking
Barrel racer
and loved
Trick riding.
We had great adventures
riding together
and lots of fun
feeding them carrots.
Because of my Mom,
I have the courage
to be an entrepreneur.
Plus I get to share
two of her greatest passions:
the wonderful world of films, and the importance animals
are to our well being.
Thank you!
Tara
Enjoy Our Artwork
or
Contact UsToday
And we'll create an Original Artwork
Inspired by
your Favorite Films
with the Pets who enrich your life!
