ling conventions. During the lead in to the story, the program's anchor says "what we found isn't pretty." Then for the next several seconds her statement is drastically contrasted by beautiful images of the New York 2008 IMTA convention. In fact every image in the first few seconds of their story is of IMTA contestants who left the convention with numerous contract offers from agents and managers - a simple fact Hansen and the story producers never bothered to learn. The one-sided story continued with more misleading information and disregard for the truth. The Internet Option:
The only agent appearing in the story was Neal Hamil with Elite Model Management who suggested that the only thing anyone has to do to be discovered as a model is upload a photo to Elite's web site. Without any follow up, the viewer may be led to believe finding a fashion agent is just that simple. In reality, although an agency intern or secretary may look at the up to 2000 unsolicited photo submissions per day (Hamil claims 2000 submissions per day in an interview with ExploreModeling), they are rarely reviewed by the agency’s fashion agents.
In perhaps the most glaring sin of omission, however, the story never revealed that Elite Model Management has attended practically every IMTA convention for 20 years and the agency found many of its top models through IMTA.Hamil knows that Elite Model Management has numerous IMTA models working around the world. Other industry sources tell us he did tell Dateline interviewers that Elite attends and scouts at IMTA but Dateline producers and editors ignored those portions of his interview.
In an effort to clarify his position, Hamil, wrote the following in an email:
In an effort to clarify his position, Hamil, wrote the following in an email:
"I stated very clearly that…Modeling Schools, in my opinion, have a lot of good things to offer and the students can get a great benefit from the experience." He certainly knows the benefits of modeling schools first-hand having run a modeling school in Houston prior to working in the agency business in New York. His email continues, "I also clearly stated that Elite represents models from Barbizon Schools." Since the Dateline broadcast, Mr. Hamil's is no longer employed with Elite Model Management.
We know of several young ladies who fit the high fashion criteria and have gone to great time and expense to personally visit and meet with agents at fashion agencies in New York only to be turned away. Then go to IMTA through a Barbizon and have those very same fashion agencies sign them and put them to work modeling all over the world.
The Cost:
In the report, George Burke, father of twin daughters who went to IMTA New York 2008, complains that it cost $4700 to send one of his daughters to the convention. That money included:
In the report, George Burke, father of twin daughters who went to IMTA New York 2008, complains that it cost $4700 to send one of his daughters to the convention. That money included:
· Months of coaching and preparation
· Professional photography
· Transportation to and from New York City
· Seven nights of accommodations at a luxury hotel in the heart of Manhattan
· Professional photography
· Transportation to and from New York City
· Seven nights of accommodations at a luxury hotel in the heart of Manhattan
Hotel costs alone account for much of the total not to mention the cost of producing a mammoth 7 day convention that utilizes practically every square foot of meeting space at the New York Hilton.
Models’ Dreams: The Rest of the Story
Almost the entire story focused on modeling - particularly high fashion modeling. What you didn't hear was the fact that the Burke twins (the girls featured for most of the piece) were not accepted to IMTA for modeling. They did not participate in any modeling competitions or events at IMTA. They never set foot on the IMTA fashion runway for a single competition. Although they look like very sweet young ladies, they do not have the height or measurements necessary for modeling. The school that brought them to IMTA wisely and appropriately directed them toward the acting competitions.
Models’ Dreams: The Rest of the Story
Almost the entire story focused on modeling - particularly high fashion modeling. What you didn't hear was the fact that the Burke twins (the girls featured for most of the piece) were not accepted to IMTA for modeling. They did not participate in any modeling competitions or events at IMTA. They never set foot on the IMTA fashion runway for a single competition. Although they look like very sweet young ladies, they do not have the height or measurements necessary for modeling. The school that brought them to IMTA wisely and appropriately directed them toward the acting competitions.
So it is absurd when Hansen asks, “did they ever get a job modeling?” since they did absolutely no modeling at IMTA.
The scene of Hansen showing the photos of Alexis and Alazae to Neal Hamil of Elite is grossly misleading. Elite is a high fashion agency. Neither the school nor IMTA ever suggested that the Burke girls were candidates for high fashion work.
They did participate in several acting competitions but no talent managers or agents were interviewed for their story. We have conducted interviews with numerous fashion and talent agents and you can view some of those at the end of this article.
In direct contrast to the story line, Dateline continued showing IMTA footage with example after example of IMTA participants whose dreams came true as a direct result of their IMTA experience.
Success Stories:
The Dateline story tried to minimize the model and talent search opportunities at IMTA by mentioning only two well-known IMTA success stories when there are numerous celebrities and literally thousands of working actors and models who launched their careers through IMTA.
The story even glosses over the fact that one of Chris Hansen's own shows featured Dani Miura in numerous episodes. Dani credits her Barbizon training and IMTA experiences as pivotal to her successful acting career. In an interview with IMTA Dani said,"I had the most amazing time of my life. I can remember every detail of every time I went. Meeting with so many casting directors, agents, managers, and producers all in one room, it's like a dream come true. " You can read more about Dani on IMTA's blog, which features models and actors who got their start at IMTA.
In the end, Hansen does acknowledge that agents do indeed come to the IMTA convention and contestants can get meetings with them but no one from Dateline ever witnessed the IMTA convention itself – something they chose not to do even after IMTA extended the offer for them to bring their cameras and see IMTA for themselves.
Anyone who comes to an IMTA convention can see for themselves that it is the most incredible modeling and talent opportunity on the planet.
If Dateline had wanted to tell a balanced story, they could easily find numerous agents who love IMTA and are proud of their IMTA success stories. As an example, the following is a random sampling of fashion agents from IMTA New York 2008.
The scene of Hansen showing the photos of Alexis and Alazae to Neal Hamil of Elite is grossly misleading. Elite is a high fashion agency. Neither the school nor IMTA ever suggested that the Burke girls were candidates for high fashion work.
They did participate in several acting competitions but no talent managers or agents were interviewed for their story. We have conducted interviews with numerous fashion and talent agents and you can view some of those at the end of this article.
In direct contrast to the story line, Dateline continued showing IMTA footage with example after example of IMTA participants whose dreams came true as a direct result of their IMTA experience.Success Stories:
The Dateline story tried to minimize the model and talent search opportunities at IMTA by mentioning only two well-known IMTA success stories when there are numerous celebrities and literally thousands of working actors and models who launched their careers through IMTA.
The story even glosses over the fact that one of Chris Hansen's own shows featured Dani Miura in numerous episodes. Dani credits her Barbizon training and IMTA experiences as pivotal to her successful acting career. In an interview with IMTA Dani said,"I had the most amazing time of my life. I can remember every detail of every time I went. Meeting with so many casting directors, agents, managers, and producers all in one room, it's like a dream come true. " You can read more about Dani on IMTA's blog, which features models and actors who got their start at IMTA.
In the end, Hansen does acknowledge that agents do indeed come to the IMTA convention and contestants can get meetings with them but no one from Dateline ever witnessed the IMTA convention itself – something they chose not to do even after IMTA extended the offer for them to bring their cameras and see IMTA for themselves.
Anyone who comes to an IMTA convention can see for themselves that it is the most incredible modeling and talent opportunity on the planet.
If Dateline had wanted to tell a balanced story, they could easily find numerous agents who love IMTA and are proud of their IMTA success stories. As an example, the following is a random sampling of fashion agents from IMTA New York 2008.
This is a sampling of comments from talent agents, managers, casting directors and successful IMTA Alumni who love IMTA.
To see the complete IMTA story click http://www.imta.com/experience.aspx
