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

***I have to say a huge THANK YOU to one of my readers, Kliah, for showing me where to find the most recent submission info for JET Beauty of the Week...below you'll find the updated submission requirements.*** JET Magazine is one of the most well known and well read publications targeted towards the African-American community. One of the magazine’s most popular features—if not “the” most popular—is the “Beauty of the Week.” The opportunity to be published and have millions of readers looking at your photo can be quite an accomplishment and is great exposure. If this is something you want to give a shot, keep reading. Here is the link to the new way to submit yourself for JET's Beauty of the Week, which has been taken right from JET Magazine’s website so it’s all you’ll need to know in order to have your shot at becoming Beauty of the Week (BOTW). I've also included a link to the pdf that contains the details of what photos and other information candidates will need to ...

Because Modeling 101 – “A Model’s Diary” didn’t exist back in 2004, I wasn’t able to blog about my experience shooting and being chosen as JET Magazine’s “Beauty of the Week” so I figured, why not reminisce about that experience here? I actually got into the JET gig while doing an unrelated project. I had just taken on a TV hosting project that was going to take me down to Los Angeles, where I was scheduled to co-host a pilot episode of a new show that was hoping to be picked up by a station. The person in charge of the project was a part-time photographer who had a lot of great connections within the industry. One of those connections happened to be photographer LaMonte McLemore, a widely acclaimed photographer who has shot for Playboy, Ebony, Jet, People, and Harper's Bazaar, among others. The plan was to kill two birds with one stone by combining the red carpet hosting event with a test shoot for JET Magazine. Three other models were along for the road trip and the plan w...

(This post is ideal for freelance models. While modeling agencies do request non-professional, digital pictures, the type of photo taking I am talking about in this post is for taking pictures of yourself when you don’t have anyone around to take it for you. When taking digital pictures for agencies DO NOT TAKE THEM YOURSELF! ‘Nuff said.) This post is targeted towards freelance models that submit themselves for modeling gigs. It is important to be prepared for anything, especially when sending certain photos to potential clients. Don’t be surprised if you come across a client that requests recent, non-professional images that are not retouched. If you’ve been modeling for a while, the chances of you having such pictures may be slim. This calls for a mini photoshoot using your trusty digital camera. However, there are a few pointers I want to make here so that you get the best results. Even though many clients will cast models based on their professional pictures and portfolio, ma...

Washington Wrote: Is the fee ligit? $1,500. The company sponsoring is called: K2 Productions, Inc. Hello, Washington, and thanks for the question. K2 Productions, Inc. is the company responsible for putting together the Miss California USA Pageant. I had the opportunity to work closely with the main players involved in K2 Productions during my time as a 2009 Miss California USA contestant. They've been heading this operation for some time now. The $1,500 fee is legit and quite common in the pageant industry. Smaller, local pageants are usually a few hundred dollars but upscale productions such as Miss California, Miss USA, and Miss Universe require hefty entry fees that are thousands of dollars. Many title holders have their fees paid as a part of their winner's package, while other contestants have the option of paying the fees themselves or finding sponsors to help. Using sponsors is highly encouraged and pageant contestants are given the chance to sell ad space in the pagea...

So I’ve had a very productive week! Monday was my first bridal magazine shoot. For a while now I’ve longed to do bridal modeling but was never able to usually for two reasons: 1) lack of bridal modeling gigs available 2) gigs that were available were looking for girls 5’9” and taller. Luckily, I came across a posting on Craigslist of all places, asking for models of color for an upcoming bridal magazine. So I attended the casting, met the magazine staff and photographer for the shoot, had them look at my portfolio and booked the shoot! The bridal shoot was for the first issue of Mocha Bride Magazine, which is set to launch in June of this year. My morning started super early—I had to BE AT the first shoot location at 7:45am! Thankfully there was an entire crew on hand, including two makeup artists and a hair stylist so I had no trouble at all getting up, washing and moisturizing my face, throwing on my clothes, and grabbing my things. The night before I packed some snacks and dri...

Jovan Doe Wrote: Okay nice idea for post but what about the "What did you get this money for" question from the 1099-misc. taxes. I left my major agency last year mid season, did most of my runway shows & presentations and quite a bit of print ads through a smaller agency in NYC. I received my 1099-misc for the first time and deceided to do them myself. The answers they give could be any 3; Occasional worker, contract labor or consulting, or even wages. Which one is the best to pick bar all chances to get killed by taxes. Hey, Jovan, and thanks for the question. I am not a professional tax advisor so I can only offer my opinion for what I would if I was in your situation. I would opt for the "Occasional Worker" answer. If the word "consulting" wasn't attached to the "contract labor" answer, then I would pick that, but so far it seems the "Occasional Worker" option is your best bet. I would also suggest visiting a tax website lik...

As with the other two posts I did, I got this information from Independent Modeling . Some of you may be wondering where the hot spots are for modeling and below is general information on this topic: Fashion Capitals New York in the United States, Milan in Italy, and Paris in France Secondary Markets Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami Local Markets Tampa, Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, San Francisco, and other large cities Model Job Rates For Service Markets Both Tampa and Seattle are considered to be local markets with a close proximity to secondary markets, which leads to a healthy mix of work. Tampa is a short drive from Miami, which is a secondary model market, and Seattle is up the Pacific coast from Los Angeles, another secondary market. So what happens if you don't live in any of these areas? That doesn't mean you can't make it as a model but the chances of hitting it big will be drastically reduced. Living in or near a good modeling market will give you...