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How Utah Stories was invited to report on Sundance Film Festival's most exclusive party full of super models.
Super Models and Stars at Sundance
January 17, 2009
by Richard Markosian
Never did I imagine that Utah Stories and Entertainment Tonight would be mentioned in the same breath. But now we both have something in common -- we are the only two news providers invited to cover one of the most exclusive parties during Sundance--the Elite modeling agency party.
This might come as a surprise seeing how Utah Stories has never done a single story on the entertainment or modeling business nor have we ever done any stories on celebrities or paparazzi style news, so why are we invited? We had no idea until we met a man named Stacey.
Stacey Eastman operates the new Pulse Management Elite modeling office in South Salt Lake. Yesterday Eastman told us they chose Salt Lake City to open their next office "because Utah is a mecca for gorgeous girls." Eastman says that his biggest hurdle opening in Salt Lake City is demonstrating to those who he is recruiting that his modeling agency is very different. Unlike many less reputable modeling agencies Pulse is not out to scam people for thousands of dollars for classes and head shots.
Eastman decided that by inviting Utah Stories -- with our local emphasis and reputation for debunking the con artists and scams -- he could get the story out that Elite and Pulse Management are different.
Eastman says unlike other modeling agencies, he never asks his new recruits for money. Instead, he will often pay to send his recruits to New York where they will go through an intensive session of head shots from top photographers, and runway walking lessons from the best in the business.
"My problem is the reputation that others have created in this business." Eastman is a practicing Mormon who doesn't drink and won't work with any models who use drugs or abuse their bodies. Eastman says that often his "ground team" will find recruits, who brush off the notion that they are serious when they say they can make them a model. Eastman says this is due to the number of scams out there.
Eastman recently recruited Ali Stephens from East High School. His talent scouts located Stephens at the Gateway mall took a few snapshots, brought her for an interview and convinced her LDS Father and Mother that he could make her a top model. In the past few months Stephens has traveled to Paris, Milan and New York for photo shoots for Prada, Vogue Magazine then walked the runway for Chanel and Louis Vuitton, all while maintaining her studies at East High School and running track.
Entering Eastman's office, we were skeptical. Eastman was in his glass office talking to a young lady and her father and mother. By all appearances Eastman was giving a very animated sales pitch. Eastman was late for our appointment and later we found out why. Eastman believed that he could make the young girl into a modeling star, but her father was apprehensive. Eastman said that he had to convince her father that not all models end up "coked out and anorexic" that with the right balance top models can live very happy stable lives. Eastman was very pleased that he had convinced the girl's father and mother to sign a contract that would begin the process to get their daughter on the path to becoming a fashion star possibly like Stephens.
So what is in store for Utah Stories' coverage of the Elite Modeling party? Eastman ran off a list of celebrities and top models who would be attending, two of which are Victoria's Secret models. Without knowing the first thing about the business none of the names were recognizable. But the invitation mentions music by Perry Farrell and DJ Skribble some headline names are Dree Hemingway, Lydia Hearst and Noemie Lenoir. We hope to provide short interviews with each of these people.
I told Eastman how uneducated we are in the entertainment world and he recommended we follow Entertainment Tonight--good advice. I asked Eastman to write me a permission note to my wife because I didn't believe she would be so pleased about the idea of me attending an all night party with models -- he didn't write the note. So I begrudgingly said to my wife, "I'm sorry, it's a tough job but somebody has got to do it." Luckily she understands the lengths a reporter must go through to get the story.
Monday morning read Utah Stories' first installment of what we found at the Elite party. By Wednesday we will have video interviews with some of the models and celebrities Jonny Glines and I meet.
