Modeling & Acting 101 - A Model/Actor's Diary

(This applies to both female and male models) Easy to Spot You can always tell which people walk around with confidence versus those that don't. It's the way they carry themselves, the body language used and the way they interact with others. Confident models walk with heads held high, maintain eye contact with others and stand tall instead of slouching. There is an air about them that can't quite be explained or expressed except to say that they walk with confidence--whether it's into a casting call, modeling assignment or just running errands on an ordinary day. Not Deterred by Rejection Confident models aren't immune to rejection. What makes them truly confident is still possessing the same amount of confidence in themselves even after they've been rejected for an opportunity. Instead of breaking down and feeling sorry for themselves, they know it is only a temporary setback and are further motivated to do better next time. Because they understand...

For little girls today, it is normal to grow up being surrounded by a media that is bombarded by images of beautiful, amazing, stunning and exotic faces and bodies. When such imagery is thrown in your face 24/7, it's easy to see why so many young girls strive to one day be among the chosen few to become successful in the modeling industry. On the flip side, it's also easy to see how feelings of insecurity, low self esteem and lack of confidence end up becoming a regular part of these young ladies' lives. As much as the truth about airbrushed images and not-so-glamorous side of the modeling industry has been brought to light over the years, it hasn't stopped aspiring female models from feeling like they have to transform themselves completely in order to have a shot. I get countless emails from young girls not just asking for advice about becoming a model but asking for my opinion and--in many instances--validation that they are pretty. It breaks my heart. I can ...

I can't tell you how many aspiring/new models seem surprised or can't believe it when I advise them to stick to non professional, digital snapshots in order to impress modeling agencies. Sometimes I have to point them to other credible sources to prove my point. Here is a quick tidbit of modeling advice straight from the mouth of Pamela Frank, modeling scout for Ford Models in Los Angeles: "Every model should have at least one unfiltered headshot where they are not smiling. The light should compliment all their features, from cheekbones to nose and eye structure and lips. Little to no makeup." It really is as simple as that, ladies.

Newer readers may not notice certain changes I make to my Modeling 101 blog but I know my long-time readers will take note of a big change I made that was LONG overdue. Still don't see it? It's cool...I'll wait... Hint: scroll down and keep an eye on the right hand side of the blog as you do so. Are you there yet? Almost? Okay. See it now? Yes! I've added "Labels" to my blog. They pretty much categorize all my posts and make it much easier to find content that's relevant to whatever modeling topic you're curious about. You're probably wondering to yourself what the heck took me so long? Sometimes I'm a slow learner...I've seen the "Labels" option before as I've been creating my posts but ignored it because I wasn't sure what it was for. Well, I finally looked into it and BAM, all my problems with organizing my posts were solved! Okay, so the solution is like 6 years late, LOL, but better late than never, right? I...

Okay, okay, I know you're probably wondering with all these dang updates about the webinar, whether or not it's ever going to happen! Work has been kicking my butt these past few weeks (what else is new?) but I did make significant progress by creating an outline, as well as fleshing it out more by expanding on the talking points I want to address during the webinar. That may not sound like much progress to some of you but believe me, now that I have these pages of talking points to cover, it has helped motivate me even more to move towards completing these last steps needed to make the webinar official. I have a few more pages of talking points to write down and once that's done, I'll be putting together some slideshow images and links to sites I plan on adding into the presentation so that webinar attendees can see what's happening on my screen in real time. When that's taken care of, it'll just be a matter of choosing a Saturday and sending out ...

Ah, modeling agencies. They're awesome and scary all at the same time. Whether they're boutique or a mega operation with multiple office locations, these businesses employ the pros that know how to turn an unknown female or male model into a recognized and established professional. There continues to be a lot of misconceptions and myths about submitting to agencies. I can only hope that my blog has helped to properly educate and inform so that anybody thinking about sending a submission to a local agency does so with successful results. It's normal to be confused when navigating modeling agency websites and trying to figure out how to go about getting noticed. Going to casting calls (also known as "open calls") are one of the most effective ways to catch an agency's eye. After all, it's free and you get to actually meet with the staff. Getting invited to an interview at an agency is even better. In case you thought casting calls/open calls and agen...

To avoid any confusion, this blog post is referring specifically to the castings that models go on where they meet with the client in the hopes of getting hired, not "casting calls" where agencies allow models to come in without an appointment to be evaluated for free. Actors attend "auditions" and models attend "castings." I've found this is an easy way to understand the concept of a casting. "Go-sees" fall under this category as well but I like to keep the two terms separate since go-sees are usually reserved for fashion models who go in to meet with a designer/client, try on their garments and then do a runway walk to determine whether or not they'll get hired for a fashion show or editorial shoot. Go-sees are usually really fast, in-and-out type of meetings. For the sake of argument and to keep things simple, in this post I'll be talking about general castings that aren't as speedy as go-sees and cover a variety of model...

I've done a fair share of blog posts dealing with tips and techniques to help models with posing. The downside is that I always have a tough time finding photo examples that clearly illustrate some of the points I try to make. Luckily, a colleague of mine passed along this link to an online article written by another working, professional model. Not only does she provide really relevant and useful posing tips, the article comes with the very photo examples that show what she's talking about. These are the photos I've been looking for! I mentioned a while back that I would love to do the photos myself to go hand-in-hand with the posing tips I write about but with my busy schedule I just don't have the time or ability to really put them together the way I want so I'm very grateful that Jen Brook took the time to do so. Here is the link to the online article...it'll help all models regardless of experience level, although I will admit that these poses are p...