Maui girl, 13, Thirteen-year-old Ashley Suliman, an eighth-grader at Maui's Iao Intermediate school, has won a two-year, $30,000 modeling contract as second runner-up in the L.A. Models' agency "L.A. Looks Model Search."
wins contract
in national
modeling search
Ashley Suliman aims to
balance school with
her L.A. Models gigBy Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.comThe 5-foot-9, 112-pound teen-ager was one of 40,000 entrants nationwide that had been whittled to 12 finalists. Suliman, who lives in Wailuku with her parents and 9-year-old brother, was awarded the $15,000 a year, two-year contract earlier this month in Los Angeles.
"It's very rare for such a young girl to place so high in a model search," said Steve Young of Canoe Girl Productions, whose agency forwarded Suliman's photo to the N.Y. Models agency, the sister agency of L.A. Models.
Heinz Holba, president and owner of both the N.Y. Models and L.A. Models agencies, said his company is "very, very excited" about Suliman's modeling future.
"She has wonderfully interesting features and a great personality," Holba said. "Ashley is very attractive in terms of her mix, has height and is still at the age to learn the business."
Ashley is "a little young" because the agency prefers its models to be in the 17- to 18-year-old age range so that schooling isn't an issue.
"We always encourage the girls to stay in school," he said. "We're going to make an investment in Ashley and wait."
The agency, through Suliman's local modeling agency Hawaii Sports Models, will get local modeling assignments for her to get experience of being in front of a camera. During school breaks, Suliman will travel to Los Angeles. to work to build up her portfolio, Holba said. "We have long-term plans for Ashley. She's a lot more than a pretty picture."
Holba flew to Maui after seeing pictures of Ashley to meet with the girl and her parents. "Looks is only 50 percent of this business; there's background, character, the family environment."
Suliman's mom, Troi Suliman, said she's "excited and wary" about her daughter's fledgling modeling career.
"You do hear some horror stories about what happens to some girls who make it big and how even their careers can be very short," said Troi, a real estate agent. "As long as it's fun and doesn't interfere with her grades, we'll be fine with it."Ashley has never done any modeling, though her interest was sparked by friends' and relatives' encouragement. "Everyone persuaded me I could do it."
When Hawaii Sports Model agent Angela Emory told the family about the L.A. Looks people coming to Oahu in May to view contestants, Suliman entered the contest.
The family has not yet signed a contract with the agency and won't until they know how much work and time away from home would be required, Troi said. "She would need to be available 24-7, but I don't think that means we have to move to L.A. anytime soon," she said. "They'll start the contract at any time."
Ashley, a middle blocker on a Maui volleyball team, does have a few more important things to attend to before she hits the runway, including a major volleyball tournament in Davis, Calif., this week.
Following the tournament, she will travel from Davis with her grandfather to Los Angeles to meet up with Troi and L.A. Models' executives.
"I'll see how Ashley likes it," Troi said.
Ashley thinks it's all going to be good. "During and after the finals' contest, we did runway and some screen tests, and we were on a couple of L.A. television stations," said Ashley, who is also a junior lifeguard. "It was a lot of fun."
L.A. Models is the largest modeling agency on the West Coast. The L.A. Looks Model Search Contest is an annual professional model search open to U.S. residents 12-24 years old. The grand prize was a $100,000 modeling contract over two years and an appearance in an L.A. Looks advertisement. L.A. Looks also produces a line of hair products, including gels, hair spray and mousse.
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