Without star power, any party’s a flop.

So claims celebrity booker Lori Levine, who has built her livelihood by convincing celebrities to attend events. And mug for the paparazzi – with her clients’ logos in the shot.

This weekend she’s luring rockers, actresses, and the like to five parties and a three-day gifting bonanza in South Beach. All are associated with the MTV Video Music Awards, which take place in Miami on Sunday (the show is usually held in New York, but was moved this year to avoid conflicts with the Republican National Convention). The VMAs have taken an iconic role in pop culture – Madonna and Britney Spears’s kiss last year provided gossip fodder for weeks.

Ms. Levine’s upcoming events boast celebrities as both hosts and guests. Hip-hop singer Missy Elliott is throwing an “Old School Barbecue” at the Sagamore Hotel (funded by Adidas). Actress Jaime Pressly is hosting a party with Le Tigre as sponsor. Paris Hilton is giving a party for David LaChapelle at the club Mansion. Outkast and the Simpson sisters (Jessica and Ashlee) are the draws at after-parties on Sunday evening.

At the ripe age of 32, Ms. Levine is aware that everyone involved has ulterior motives. Having fun does not a business model make.

“Of course I want them to stay and hang out. But for the most part I find they go for a limited number of reasons: Supporting the cause – Halle Berry at a Revlon event, for instance. Promoting the project. Helping a friend.”

Other bait is the free stuff – and Ms. Levine has become the master of celebrity gifting. For the Video Music Awards, she’s set up the Style Villas at the Sagamore Hotel, which offer free food by Nobu and giveaways from Jacob the Jeweler, Estee Lauder, and Stella McCartney, to name just a few.

“This is a celebrity sanctuary. I wouldn’t call it a hospitality suite. It’s the Olympic village of celebrity gifting,” she said.

Other perks: open bar, manicures and pedicures, blowouts, aromatherapy massage, and astrology readings.

All told, Ms. Levine expects about 2,500 people to pass through, including publicists and reporters.

Ms. Levine, whose company, Flying Television, is based in New York, has been preparing for the Video Music Awards weekend for the past five months – along with Florida-based firm Miami Marketing Group. She arrived in South Beach last Friday with her staff of 4. From her temporary office in the Sagamore, she looks out on the Style Villas, constantly monitoring comings and goings.

Ms. Levine developed a taste for partying hard in high school, working for a club promoter on Long Island, where she grew up the youngest of five children.

“I didn’t even realize at the time what promoting was. I was just kind of there. I was figuring it all out. It wasn’t until I got into television that I realized that this was it, that I would be working in show business,” she said.

At 18, she moved to Manhattan to study mass media at Fashion Institute of Technology. Television felt like a natural career choice, she said.

“Instead of babysitters, my parents sat me down in front of the television and I absorbed a lot by osmosis,” she said. “I was the entertainment lifeline for a friend on ‘Millionaire,'” she added.

Ms. Levine’s first job in television was working for the “The Cosby Show” spin-off “Here and Now,” starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

“I didn’t care what they paid me. I said, ‘I’m never going back to work in a clothing store.’ That same ambition made them recognize I wasn’t this usual production assistant. I was helpful.”

She was promoted quickly and was soon juggling production responsibilities and booking talent. She landed positions at Lifetime Television and Fox Network. At Lifetime, she took on the role of a booker by her own initiative, convincing celebrities to come out to Queens. At “Fox After Breakfast,” she booked guests against the dominant “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” show.

She wrangled big-time celebrities as a booker for Conan O’Brien. “I’d met with people at Conan many, many times. Then all of the sudden, one girl went on maternity leave. I worked for six months, then left for Christmas vacation,” she said.

While she out of the office, her boss called to ask her back – as a fulltimer.

“Working for Conan was great. He’s just as he appears on the air: unpretentious, nice,” she said.

With permission, she started doing freelance booking on the side for events, which eventually led her to run Flying Television.

Her assignments have included the Entertainment Weekly Oscar party at Elaine’s, Glamour’s Woman of the Year gala, and GQ’s Men of the Year gala.

Ms. Levine maintains a professional distance toward her work. She doesn’t swoon.

“For some reason, I don’t look at actors that way. Who do I think is the hottest actor? George Clooney. But it’s so boring, who cares?”

She did have a close friend who was a celebrity, but no more. “She was very very famous and she disappointed me greatly,” Ms. Levine said.

“I believe I have a good reputation in this business because I really understand the line and I very much respect it, with publicists, managers, and agents.”

She’s also smart about matching the celebrity to the event. “I’m not going to go to Kevin Spacey with the same event as Tara Reid or Paris Hilton. They’re fun and lively, whereas Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman may want to do something more literary,” she said.

Finally, at the end of the day, she’s no longer a die-hard party girl. “I don’t know that I would be going to VMA parties if I wasn’t working VMA parties.” She added, “My attitude is, ‘Let’s not take it so seriously.’ It’s still a party. I know the event business has become a way to promote and sell and be seen. It’s still a party.”

The demand for her services is growing, she said.

“I’ve never seen so many VMA parties. It’s Miami, people are throwing them during the day, versus in New York when, everything starts at 9. All of the sudden we can have parties 24 hours a day.”