International Modeling and Talent
Association (IMTA)
To Whom It May Concern:
I am a 16-year-old girl who was picked to go to the
IMTA convention in New York. I was taking classes at
Barbizon Boston when I auditioned. At the casting call,
the people there showed us video tape of all the "success
stories" and people who were discovered by IMTA
(which instantly drew everyone in).
A few days after my audition, I was told that I was
one out of 75 chosen to go to New York in July and that
I had to pay $5,000 just to go. I really want to
make it in the acting/modeling world, and I, like
everyone else, was suckered in to it.
My parents, the wise people they are, refused to send
me, even though I pleaded and pleaded.
Later, during my next Barbizon class, all the kids were
talking about how they made it, but couldn't go (in fact,
only two out of the 15 people in my modeling class had
the money).
What?! I don't mean to sound crude or offensive, but
these girls were certainly NOT Hollywood/Milan material.
They were ugly, ignorant, rude to adults, and they all
had big New England accents that made them mispronounce
every second word that flabbed out of their mouths (e.g. "bedda" instead
of "better"; "madda" instead of "matter," etc.)
The one girl who could go said she was "too short" to
be a model and that she was going for acting. Needless
to say, she never took ONE acting class in her life and
had NO previous experiance. She wasn't even interested
in acting before this. I am sure that I was the only
one out of any of them who was really serious about acting.
Well, my parents and I talked about it, and they insisted
the whole thing was a [...]. I talked about it with
the drama teacher at my school and he said it was
a [...].
Then, during my last modeling class in which the
instructor tells us what to do after Barbizon and waves
the IMTA video in our faces again, I asked her what my
drama teacher told me to ask, very politely, "Excuse
me, but what is the success rate for people who go to
IMTA?" There was no maliciousness or interrogation
in my voice, just a calm, wondering tone.
The instructor bluntly responded, "I am sorry,
but that is closed information!" or something very
similar to that. (I forget her exact words, but she said
it almost as if I offended her in some way.) Even the
other girls in that room looked at me as if I had insulted
them.
Shortly after, one girl bragged about how she was going
to "Give my friend money when I get rich." I
asked her how she would make that money and she said, "Acting.
I'm goin' ta IMTA next yee-ah. I'm geddin' a sponsah." (Sponsor,
mind my phonetic dialect in writing).
I had to pity her.
So, now that my long, tedious story is over, what do
you think? Was it right of my parents to refuse
to let me go, or should I audition next year
and get a sponsor to pay for my trip?
P.S. Thank you for taking your time to listen to me.
I know my letters are way too long!
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