Teen Actor Jamie Mann Hosts Virtual Cabaret for Actor/Screenwriter Obi Ndefo Who Lost Both Legs

9/11 to Covid 19…

It’s been a rough spring. I’ve gone quiet on Modelingmentor.com in the same way I struggled to churn out an issue of Tear Sheet magazine after 9/11. The modeling and fashion industry seemed so superficial from the vantage point of an office in Chelsea, where the stomach churning odor of the mass grave downtown lingered for weeks. Now, during the Covid 19 pandemic, we’ve all been in sweatpants for months and fashion shoots seem like opulent affairs from another lifetime.

Back in 2001, I coped by dedicating the subsequent issue of Tear Sheet to everyone in the fashion industry who was doing something to help the families and companies hit hardest. Those planes of doom may have changed the skyline of New York City but not its heart. Likewise, this pandemic has ravaged people and businesses across the globe, but hope is only ever as far away as the click of a mouse. John Krasinski’s Some Good News was my favorite feel-good pick-me-up of the spring. Watch every 15-minute episode if you haven’t yet.

Actor/Screenwriter Obi Ndefo

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood…

Closer to home, my oldest son Jamie broke out of his Netflix-binge-watching cocoon and did some good. He had been on the other side of the screen this winter, actually acting in a Netflix show (Country Comfort), up until the pandemic hit and halted production. It was like going from the high of your childhood dream come true with the most awesome cast and crew ever to being quarantined for four months with just your family. Oh, wait a minute, it wasn’t like that, it was that! But during that cooped-up time, Jamie took to running (briefly) with his dad. And that’s when he met Obi Ndefo, by chance, in Silver Lake, where Obi lives, and where we happened to be living during filming. Obi, a Nigerian-Jewish American actor/screenwriter was in a wheelchair and Jamie’s dad recognized his Yale classmate.

Jamie Mann and Obi Ndefo during the June 30 Virtual Cabaret Benefit

To learn what happened next and why Obi Ndefo is the role model for the attitude we need to get through these trying times, both with the pandemic and racial tensions, read the story in Broadway World.

And listen to Obi Ndefo’s powerful message for humanity:

Have a Model Citizen story for me?  That’s what I’m digging these days. Model submissions welcome as well—fingers crossed the biz kicks in so we can shed our sweatpants someday soon. But let’s not lose our new-found perspective on the stuff that’s really important.

Congrats to Model of the Month Connor Antico!

September Model of the Month Connor Antico. Shot by Corrine Louie.

Height: 6′
Shoe: 11
Based in New York
Seeking Representation 

It was thanks to a football injury in high school that Connor Antico gave musical theater a try and soon redefined what “awesome play” meant in his life. He has appeared in several movies and just finished a run of A Comedy of Tenors. He loves to play guitar and sing his heart out. And the camera happens to love him. I don’t expect it to take long for a modeling agency to snap him up!

Check out Connor’s Pace University Senior Showcase, which proves this model has a voice!…

I have tons of model search submissions I still need to review, so just because you weren’t featured this month doesn’t mean you won’t be next month …or the month after! Subscribe to my free newsletter to be first to see the winners: Modeling Mentor Newsletter

Enter the 2018 Modeling Mentor Model Search and get discovered!

Model of the Month Updates

One of Em Marie’s many new tear sheets from Tokyo

Em Marie, Model of the Year 2016, is enjoying amazing success in Asia! She spent two months in Tokyo, two months in Seoul, and has just landed in Beijing. Keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram to see all the stunning tear sheets she is getting there. I knew when I first laid eyes on her that Em had the potential for supermodel stardom, and she is right on track!

Model of the Month Graeme Buffenbarger  (June 2017) just finished filming Season 2 of Stephen King’s TV show Mr. Mercedes! It premiered Aug 22 on Audience channel.

Have news? Email me at comment@modelingmentor.com

Too many models figure they’ll just marry a rich man. Don’t leave that as your only out. You could fall in love with a poor sweet soul, or, worse, force yourself to marry a rich creep you don’t love.

Supermodel Carla Bruni somehow covered all the bases, marrying the President of France and branching out into a successful singing career.

Model/First Lady/Chanteuse Carla Bruni

Check out her music video, “Chez Keith et Anita,” from her new album Little French Songs:

The list of models who have successfully crossed over into other high-profile careers is long, but equally long is the list of those who have faded out of the picture and found themselves lost, destitute, depressed, drug addicted, or in trouble with the law.

Here is a recent story about former model Dean Kelly, whose future is not looking so pretty.

Be smart, save your money, and think ahead!

ENTER the Modeling Mentor Model Search

After years of Stairmasters and yoga and kickboxing and spinning, my new exercise passion is dance. I take ballet, modern, and belly dancing—my all-time favorite exercise regimen! Not only do these classes provide a great workout, but I am also learning a skill and actively using my brain to memorize choreography, which has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia later on. Add to that the bond that forms between people who dance together, and the benefits multiply. I have found a warm, supportive, wonderful community among the women at the Belly Gobbah. This means I never have those feelings of drudgery before going to work out.

Unmata, a renowned avant-garde belly dance troupe from California, just visited the Gobbah for a series of workshops and an awe-inspiring performance.

Here is a snippet of their belly dancing performance. You don’t see this in Connecticut every day:

Did a core workout ever look so fun or exhilarating?

Whether it’s dance or another outside-the-box exercise (Parkour anyone?), shake up your routine this spring. You body and soul will thank you.

Texas is an enormous state, but agent and scout Page Parkes has got it covered. With agencies in Dallas and Houston, a Modeling and Acting Center in Houston, and now new Modeling and Acting Centers in Dallas and Austin, Page is not likely to miss a single Texas rose blooming in her home state and ready to be picked, prepped, and sent off to New York, L.A., Paris or Milan. She’s equally adept at spotting guys with potential, as gals (eg. Angelina Jolie, Alexis Bledel). Channing Tatum, People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2012, owes his start to Page.

Page Parkes’ Discovery, Channing Tatum

To see how Page Parkes finds her diamonds in the rough and shines them up all nice for New York, watch “Scouted” on E!

Enter the Modeling Mentor Model Search for a chance to be seen by Page Parkes and other agents across the globe!

When my three-year-old was watching this video of the Carolina Herrera show with me today (see below), she kept asking which one of the models is my friend. True, Audi is a model—Carolina Herrera’s house model, no less. BUT having your songs played in a show is such a promotion from walking the runway.

Le Blonde’s Audi Martel at Fashion Week, Italian Vogue

This pic Italian Vogue snapped of Audi during New York Fashion Week proves the Le Blonde lead singer still can strike a pose. She just may not have much time to do so once the world hears her band…

Look for my Rebelmom.com feature next week. Hopefully I’ll be channeling a little Audi!

Audi Martel (shot by Julian Hibbard)

As Carolina Herrera’s house model now, Audi is one of the few models who has found the key to longevity in the business.

Audi Martel and Carolina Herrera

She also has found the key to happiness as a clothes hanger: Have other stuff going on. We began penning our memoirs together a few years ago (I’m using “few” loosely) and Audi revealed a talent for writing and a memory for detail—and skill in recounting those details—that is truly astonishing. Not to mention her riveting life story.

What else? Style. She has inimitable style. Even fashion magazines/bloggers notice this.

Audi Martel, British Vogue (shot by Candice Lake)

Just when it’s hard to imagine this hip downtown New Yorker making us suburbanite moms in our minivans look any more frumpy and lame, Audi calls me and says she’s starting a band. Le Blonde is born and suddenly Audi is juggling modeling, writing, and a singing career. Audi can sing?? Really? I’m sure some of us doubted any more talent could be packed into one person, but the release of Le Blonde’s first song proves Audi has a voice. An amazing, haunting, gorgeous, cool, kick-ass voice. I give up. My only hope is to be cool by association.

Listen/download Le Blonde’s “Sisters of the Moon”

Teens, stay tuned for info on Page Parkes’ Role Model Camp to be posted this Wed. An awesome opportunity in early August, if you aren’t otherwise booked at band camp.