The International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) is a professional organization of modeling and talent training centers from around the world, who meet biannually for talent and modeling conventions in both
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Founded in 1987, IMTA conventions are week-long displays of modeling, acting, singing and dancing competitions where unsigned talent and models compete in hopes of being discovered by one of the nearly four-hundred fashion and
talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...
s, personal managers, casting directors, network representatives and music producers in attendance.
History
After its first meeting in New York City in the summer of 1987, IMTA’s early conventions found actor
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...
and model
Joel West. Since then, actors and actresses such as
Aaron Paul,
Katie Holmes
Kate Noelle Holmes (born December 18, 1978) is an American actress. She first achieved fame as Joey Potter on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003).
Holmes made her film debut with a supporting role in Ang Lee's '' The Ice Sto ...
,
Ashton Kutcher
Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
K ...
,
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...
,
Jessica Biel
Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress. Biel began her career as a vocalist appearing in musical productions until she was cast as Mary Camden in the family drama series '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2007 ...
,
Jeremy Sumpter,
Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott (born October 3, 1976) is an American actor. In film, Scott is best known for his breakout role as Steve Stifler in the ''American Pie'' film series (1999–2012). He also starred in a lead role as Doug Glatt in '' Goon'' (2 ...
,
Brandon Routh,
Sofia Vassilieva
Sofia Vladimirovna Vassilieva (born October 22, 1992) is an American actress. Notable roles include portraying the children's book character Eloise (books), Eloise in ''Eloise at the Plaza'' and ''Eloise at Christmastime'', Ariel DuBois in the ...
,
Alyson Stoner,
Josh Duhamel, and
Ashley Greene
Ashley Greene Khoury (born February 21, 1987) is an American actress. She is known for playing Alice Cullen in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's ''Twilight'' novels.
Early life
Greene was born on February 21, 1987, in Jacksonville ...
have competed and gotten their start at the week-long convention, as well as models
Jessica White and
Tyson Ballou.
Conventions
Held in January and July in Los Angeles and New York City, respectively, IMTA conventions are week-long events where thousands of models and talent compete and attend different acting and modeling competitions, runway shows and seminars in front of entertainment industry insiders and agents. At the end of the week, contestants are called back by the agents and managers to discuss possible future representation.
Legitimacy
Questions have been raised regarding the legitimacy of IMTA and its conventions. A 2009 report on the program ''
Dateline NBC
''Dateline NBC'' (also known simply as ''Dateline'') is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on ...
'' found that almost every person who applied to attend an IMTA convention was accepted, with prices for attendance as high as $9,000 per person. Representatives from
Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management (MM) is a modeling agency that originated in Paris in 1972.
In 2004, the agencies in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Toronto separated and formed Elite Model Management North America. Elite MM is a subsidiary of El ...
and the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
questioned these fees and other aspects of the IMTA process.
Modeling school's steep price
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See also
* List of modeling agencies
References
{{reflist
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090307223914/http://www.beseeninhollywood.com/2009/01/international-modeling-and-talent-association-convention-2009-imta/
*http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100113/LIFE/1130324/-1/caucusright/Johnston-native-lands-Project-Runway-modeling-gig
External links
IMTAIMTA blog
Modeling agencies