Press Releases

"I was discovered by a local model agent in my hometown and she urged me to do this modeling contest, competition, where people go to get discovered, and it's called the IMTA. The IMTA had discovered tons of people, from Elijah Wood to Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, Ashton Kutcher and myself, but there have been a million people who have been discovered there."" - Riley Smith

2014 promises to be a year in which audiences will get to see NY97 IMTA alum Riley Smith in a group of very diverse roles. His upcoming projects include both TV and film and include a romantic comedy, a horror thriller, a Civil War period drama, and playing a vampire on HBO's hit "True Blood." Smith ended 2013 co-starring in the well-reviewed Hallmark holiday romance drama Christmas in Conway alongside Andy Garcia, Mary Louise Parker and Mandy Moore.

"Because I started working as an actor from the age of 8, initially on commercials, and quickly small roles on films that then developed into larger roles on film, it all happened relatively quickly. And I loved it immediately." - Elijah Wood

In spite of having starred in epic studio blockbuster movies such as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Deep Impact, Disney features such as Huck Finn, and the animated Happy Feet hits, IMTA alum Elijah Wood (LA89) is currently very content forging a new chapter in his career working on smaller, independent films that challenge and stetch him as an actor, while also often allowing him to control as a producer. As one reviewer put it, now when Wood makes a film, "It's because that is material that he loves, and there are no half-measures in the way he attacks a role, and he's made the transition from being a famous kid to being an adult whose body of work reflects the ecletic tastes he has."

With filming set to start in April, two IMTA alumni have been added to the high-powered cast of Fathers and Daughters which includes Amanda Seyfried, Russell Crowe, Octavia Spencer, Diane Kruger and Quvenzhané Wallis. LA97 alum Aaron Paul and NY01 alum Haley Bennett have been cast in the drama about a widowed novelist (Crowe) struggling with mental illness as he tries to raise his 7-year-old daughter, Katie.

The story flashes between past and present as it revolves around the life of the now-25-year-old woman (Seyfried) dealing with the aftermath of her troubled childhood. Paul will play a young man having an affair with the grown Katie in the present, while Bennett will play a college student who watches over the young Katie in the past.

"It's very reminiscent of those older movies and of the disaster movies I loved as a kid...so it becomes classic entertainment." - Julianne Moore

So you're on a plane 40,000 feet in the air, trying to relax during a long flight from New York to London. Everything seems fine until you receive a cryptic text message demanding a massive ransom in exchange for the safety of everyone on your flight. As if airline travel wasn't unpleasant enough these days, until the ransom is received, a passenger will be killed every 20 minutes. What do you do? This is the terrifying question facing the flight's air marshal as he decides who on the plane he can trust…and who is dangerous.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"It is refreshing to have a bunch of people who care so much about the product that they are producing and want to make it the best it can be." - Brian Gross

The original "Star Trek" television series ran for only three years but few would have imagined that the franchise created by Gene Roddenberry would be going strong after nearly 50 years, with 12 feature films, numerous spin-off TV series, hundreds of books, comics, magazines and video games, and countless "Star Trek" conventions worldwide. It only seems logical that a group of intrepid fans, lead by actor James Cawley, would utilize technology, the internet, and a vast collection of set pieces, props and costumes from the original series to create "Star Trek: Phase II," a series described as continuing the fourth and fifth seasons of the original series, telling "the untold stories of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Kirk, and his crew with the intention of filling in the missing years of the original five year mission, and bridging the gap to Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"I'm a licensed Auctioneer and I'll tell you what, the fast-talking came in handy because we have a significant chunk of dialogue that is spoken very, very quickly and i had to pull out those old auctioneering skills to get it without stumbling all over the words." - Christoper Gorham

IMTA alum Christopher Gorham (NY90 because a familiar face to TV watchers with guest-starring roles on many hit shows such as "Party of Five", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "CSI," "Felicity" and "With a Trace."

Jessica Biel IMTA Press Release"I want for this movie to do so well. I want Playing for Keeps to do great in the theatres." - Jessica Biel

It may be hard to argue that there is an actress in Hollywood who has been more in the news in 2012-for all the right reasons-than IMTA alum Jessica Biel (LA94). In addition to her much publicized marriage to Justin Timberlake, helping philanthropically and on the ground with hurricane relief efforts in New York, and starring in four films released during the year, it has just been announced that another Biel project, Emmanuel and the Truth About Fishes, is one of 16 films selected to premiere in the Dramatic Competition category at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January. The announcement comes just prior to the release of Biel's fourth 2012 film, the romantic comedy Playing for Keeps, which opens Friday.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"I had no idea what to expect, it was so much fun. I loved meeting all the people and everyone was so nice. I felt sad when it was finished." - Dillon James Galanski

Since winning the International Modeling and Talent Association's inaugural Songwriting Competition at the 2012 IMTA New York Convention, singer/songwriter Dillon James Galanski has been steadily working on his music career, writing, recording for his debut album, preparing for an upcoming concert…and giving little thought to becoming an actor.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"Sean was our first choice for Michael. I cannot imagine anyone else for this role. We met in Los Angeles after he read the script and it clicked. It's amazing how well Sean understands and embodies the character." - Stanley J. Orzel (Director)

After a successful showing on the international film festival circuit, Lost for Words is finally coming to mainstream theatres. NY99 IMTA alum Sean Faris stars in the film opposite Grace Huang and Will Yun Lee. Fellow IMTA alum (LA06) Breanne Racano, Faris' longtime real-life girlfriend, has a co-starring role in the film.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"There will always be voices telling you to turn a different way, and it takes courage to stand in your center and stay true to your heart." - Rachel Boston

For fans who have been feeling a lack of love for witches since "Charmed" went off the air in 2006 after eight seasons, there is good news. The Lifetime Channel's "Witches of East End" is set to fill that void starting Sunday, and as a Lifetime series, it promises to provide strong female characters who just happen to be witches.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"A lot of people just look at acting as a quick fix - they don't have a work ethic. This is a job; it's not all margaritas on the beach." - Jeremy Luke

When actors talk about being typecast, they usually think of it as a bad thing. But if you ask IMTA alum Jeremy Luke, who is getting a lot of buzz for his role as Danny in Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, Don Jon, being typecast does have an up side. "Typecasting is a good and a bad thing," Luke said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "I get type-casted to play characters that are all, 'Who's got the money?' BOOM! SLAP! 'Joey's got the money!' But it gave me an angle. It gave me a way to work." He added, "But then again, I can do more than that; I've been acting for 15 years." Hopefully, opportunities for Luke to expand his range of role will be coming. But for the time being, typecasting as a Jersey boy seems to be working well for Luke, who is currently filming a starring role in Clint Eastwood's big-screen project of the stage musical Jersey Boys, which is due out next year. He also played up the typecasting in last year's SyFy Channel cult-favorite TV movie, Jersey Shore Shark Attack.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"I have to give the credit to the cast because this is a script that not everyone wants to be part of because of the subject matter and the fact that I'm a first-time director talking about such a sensitive subject. We're talking about some issues that have never been seen on the big screen. So we were lucky to have this cast." - Sam Kadi, Director

Each generation has a historical event that partially defines that generation and becomes a collective memory: the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the war in Viet Nam, Watergate and the resignation of Richard Nixon, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dismantling of communism. For so-called Millennials, it is the events of September 11, 2001 that have shaped the world in which we currently live. And it those events and how they affect one man that are at the center of The Citizen.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release"Acting is something I always wanted to do. But I didn't know how to get started in Augusta." - Brad James

After receiving excellent reviews following showings at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals, the crime thriller Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhall, Terence Howard and Viola Davis, is set to hit theatres Friday. The feature follows a father's desperate search for his missing daughter, the conflict and frustration with the police heading the investigation, and his life-altering decision to finally take matters into his own hands. IMTA alum Brad James co-stars in the film as Officer Carter, a small time cop thrust into a big time situation.

TV Stars IMTA Press Release2013 Fall TV Season Shines Bright with IMTA Stars

After nearly 27 years of events, there is a fact well-known among Hollywood insiders: it is almost impossible to open a magazine, turn on the television, or watch a motion picture without seeing a face first seen at IMTA. This is particularly true of TV where every day IMTA alumni can be seen in national commercials, guest-starring in a single episode or featured as a series regular. With modern technology and the ever-expanding outlets offered by the internet for watching "web TV" series, the visibility and opportunities for IMTA alums have greatly increased.

Ashton Kutcher IMTA Press Release "Our goal with making this film is… to inspire people and make people see the world in a different way, make people think a little bit differently, if you will. And that's what I hope for." - Ashton Kutcher

In the big screen bio-pic Jobs, NY97 IMTA alum Ashton Kutcher plays the late Apple Computers co-founder Steve Jobs, a man many consider one of the greatest innovators in technology. While there was much internet buzz when Kutcher's casting as Jobs was announced, director Joshua Michael Stern never had a doubt that Kutcher was right for the role. "[Ashton] really had an understanding and an empathy from the very beginning," Stern said. "He tried to understand how you have an obsession. Steve's obsession was the computer, and so much more had to fall to the side. For me, as a director, when I first met Ashton, he came into this knowing that. I think that was most important. He got it."

Lyndsy Fonseca IMTA Press Release "I knew for a fact when I was in London working with these kids, I was like, 'Every one of you are going to literally take over Hollywood.' They're all amazing… I'm just so proud of them all." - Lyndsy Fonseca

In 2010's Kick-Ass, IMTA alum Lyndsy Fonseca (LA00) starred as Katie Deauxma, girlfriend of Dave Lizewski, aka superhero Kick-Ass. The film became a hit, making many critics' list of the top films of the year and ensuring a sequel. Kick-Ass 2 opens with the original stars returning, a group that, along with Fonseca, includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plass.