The lifeblood of the entertainment industry is people like Charlie Pasarel and his PMTS International, where so many benefit from his IMTA success as a performer, producer and mentor.
What’s with all the hubbub about the International Modeling and Talent
Association (IMTA) and its twice annual conventions? Are talent and modeling events that confer awards in performance competitions really fertile fields of finding new talent?
Over the years, we’ve written about the wonderful opportunities for discovery and self-development that these modeling and talent competitions impart. We’ve covered the competitions of Runway, Monologue, Cold Reading, Headshot, Dance, Singing, TV Commercial, and numerous others. We’ve identified their success stories, mentioning the names of easily recognized household celebrities who, through their training and participation in IMTA competition, were able to open the doors to the entertainment industry and realize their wildest dreams — celebrities such as Eva Longoria, Katie Holmes, Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel, Elijah Wood, and Brooke Burns. That’s pretty good company.
But what about the member schools and associated trainers who head up those centers of performing arts? How do they fare due to their involvement in IMTA? We recently found out the answer to those questions during the 2006 IMTA Convention in Los Angeles, where we spoke to representatives of an IMTA member school, PMTS (Pasarela Models & Talent Scouts International, Inc.), which is based in New York City, that has realized some impressive accomplishments at IMTA. This year alone, they earned 56 first-prize trophies, 52 honorable mentions, and team competition awards in acting, singing, dancing, and fashion. In addition, PMTS’s talented students attending the 2006 IMTA convention received more than 100 contract offers from both national and international agencies.
CHARLIE COMPANY: PMTS International’s Charlie Pasarel (opposite right) takes his charges to Los Angeles for the 2006 IMTA convention, the site of his numerous successes and the place where his talented young people received 100 contract offers from agents. Other IMTA acting and modeling hopefuls (above) took to the stage and runway during IMTA’s presentation and awards performance.
It is schools like PMTS, which attend model and talent searches like IMTA, that are training the industry leaders and celebrities of tomorrow. Is there a megastar who was formerly a student at PMTS? Does the name “JLo” turn on your spotlight? Jennifer Lopez went through PMTS before hitting her present status as an actress, recording star, and entrepreneur.
Charlie Pasarel has produced more than 500 fashion and talent extravaganzas in New York City, while appearing in numerous TV shows and commercials, magazines, and two feature films.
But what drives a person to dedicate himself or herself to the development of others? One such person is Charlie Pasarel, director emeritus of PMTS International, who knows firsthand the benefits of IMTA. Long before he was the director of this award-winning school, Mr. Pasarel, like many others, had dreams of stardom and of hitting the fashion runway. The door opened in 1981, 1982, and 1983, when Charlie attended IMTA conventions and was the recipient of numerous awards. It was during this time that Mr. Pasarel also began developing talent for IMTA. After founding PMTS in partnership with his mother, Eulogia Soto, in 1985, the studio has welcomed thousands of talented individual through its doors, including such notables as New York TV reporter Gelena Solano, Nick Scotti of The Young and the Restless, Christian Veliz of the movie The Bone Collector, and actor Jessica Conde (McDonald’s commercial alongside Shaquille O’Neal). To date, Charlie Pasarel has produced more than 500 fashion and talent extravaganzas in New York City, while appearing in numerous TV shows and commercials, magazines, and two feature films, An East Side Story and Panic Maker. It is his combined experience performing while also recruiting, training, and promoting young performers that has resulted in PMTS’s incredible success in 2006.
There’s so much more to IMTA than readily meets the eye. Yes, many of our current celebrities began their ascents through IMTA, but many more have found their calling not only in front of the camera, but behind it as well while developing and training the stars-of-tomorrow. As an IMTA Prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award winner, while also receiving the Educational Excellence Award six times, the Director of the Year award six times, Modeling and Talent Studio of the Year award five times, both PMTS International and Charlie Pasarel continue to prove that with the proper guidance, proper training, along with an industry-renowned venue to showcase talent such as IMTA, the future looks bright for tomorrow’s dreamers.
PHOTOS BY ROBERT ROSAMILIO/DIGITAL EVENTS PRODUCTIONS
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