AMTC Blog

Brandi-Danielle Doss is a young Christian performer who is a dancer and an actress. She made it to the AMTC Talent Finals, moved many within the audience that saw her, and received talent callbacks from major agents!

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so that ye shall be my disciples. (John 15:8 KJV)

In Jesus’ own words, we are told to bear much fruit. What type of fruit? Our fruit differs with the gifts that God put inside each one of us. God loves diversity; therefore, He gave us a diversity of gifts. Within AMTC, we see abundant talent. God put a calling within exceptional individuals of all ages to perform: to act, sing, dance or model. Why? To glorify Him with their talents. To bring light into a dark industry. To move others toward Him. God gave stars charisma. We see it on TV, in the movies, on the stage, and in beautiful models. Stars fascinate us. God has a purpose in it, but the purpose can be perverted. Dark forces tempt today’s vulnerable celebrities toward money, power, pride, vanity, and a misuse of their gifts.

What is AMTC’s role? To launch new stars with a passion for God- stars who will set good examples- stars who will shine a divine light to inspire others! When talented individuals deny their gifts, when parents don’t allow their children to perform, frustration sets in. It will only be lifted by following their calling. Tens of thousands of Christian families have held their young performers back, fearing the effects of a dark industry. I believe these parents must root their children in the Word, trust God, and allow them to pursue the calling God put in their hearts!

How else can the world be changed?

See Brandi-Danielle’s Video Performance

I am Glynis Arban’s Mom! So, I am far from impartial. Yet, it’s great to see Millie Lewis’s granddaughter living and thriving in the New York modeling scene six decades after her grandmother’s own career there. However, Glynis is behind the camera- not in front. Still, I remember a small sterling silver teaspoon given as a birth gift from Eileen Ford to Glynis in 1982; the card read, “I look forward to you working with Ford one day.” That card become prophetic as 2008 opened with Glynis shooting the Ford Supermodel of the World competition.

Glynis recently shot and published the Show Package for the Marilyn Agency, one of the top fashion agencies in the world. The models are incredible, of course. The photos speak for themselves. I am attaching several reviews of the package, and, like many women, it’s a great adventure for me to see what the top fashion designers, agents, artists and models present to the world twice a year!

Glynis’s Website

Reviews of the Marilyn Agency Show Package

New York Post Fashion Week by Danica Low “Throughout the week, I’ll be posting my favorites. Let’s start with Marilyn Agency’s ethereal pastel pastiche…”

Models.com “Marilyn hits the SS 09 show market with what just might be its best show package ever. A delicate and ethereal suite of original photographs by Glynis Selina Arban, commissioned exclusively for the package, highlights each girl in gorgeously wistful colors. The feeling is painterly, romantic and note perfect for Spring.”

COACD or Confessions of a Casting Director “WOW, a show package from Marilyn. (COACD) Loves it…”

The Imagist “The Marilyn package blew my socks off because there was an attempt to resonate an idea of Spring: soft colors, a spirit of feminine abstraction and a clever visual rendition that made the girls resemble flowers. Glynis Selina Arban, the photographer of that package, as they say, truly turned it.”

Shelby Allegood was a role model!

AMTC Regional Director and Owner of Touch of Class, Shelby Allegood, passed away on July 28, 2008, following surgery for intestinal complications. Shelby loved the fashion, modeling, and talent industries, and she loved her students! Her family has suffered a great loss. So have we all. The world has lost a touch of class, but the world’s loss is God’s gain. It’s Shelby’s gain as well. Shelby’s Touch of Class is now another touch of class in heaven. We respect of her contributions to our industry, and we mourn her loss.

Proverbs 13:22 (KJV)
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Shelby left a great inheritance to her family. She left a great inheritance to thousands of students and friends over many years. She built up a Holy Spirit treasure chest, and she passed it along. We all hope for a similar outcome!

Macey and Josh Harr, a fellow AMTC contestant!

One of Macey’s photos from her professional photo shoot!

After the show, Stephanie, our director, told us she would meet us around 9pm to “wait on callbacks”….(After all the competitions are over, the agents/managers/casting directors give lists to the AMTC staff, and they print letters with a copy of each contestants callback on it…) I took the kids on back to the room to get in bed, and James waited with our group, Direct Knoxville, for our callbacks…..One of the teens, Josh, has been doing a Bible Study each night, and James attended this…..well, 10 pm, 11pm, 12 midnight….James came back to the room, and said it would be around 1 before Steph had the callbacks in hand, so he came to the room for an hour….(we could have waited until 8am to get them…but we were too excited…and wanted to know….) So, finally around 1:40 he came back to the room with a letter folded up in his hand..with Macey’s name on it….Steph had requested no one in our group talk about callbacks to each other, and that no one read them until they got back into their room….To prevent anyone from getting hurt feelings, ect….Well, we opened the letter to see that Macey had received 3 callbacks….two agents from New York, and one from Los Angeles…..We were ecstatic…We were going into this with the attitude that she wouldn’t get any…so to get 3 was awesome….Sleep was hard to come by…and finally around 2:30 we fell asleep…..

To read a day-by-day account and see lots of pictures from Macey’s Mom’s journal, visit Allen Family of 5 Blogspot

The internet is like the wild, wild west, and I feel like I’m in the middle of a shoot-out. The latest bad guy is a U.K. web terrorist who has never been to AMTC. His “guns” include spiritual sarcasm and nasty cartoons. As the Owner of AMTC, I deny cyber slander. I deny lies. When we went public as a Christian company in early 2007, I was told to expect attacks. Thank you, God; they are here!

As Christians, we want to imitate Christ. When I became a committed Christian at the age of 51, I prayed in imitating Christ that I might bear His virtues: patience, kindness, humility, generosity, love, and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, it’s painfully obvious that Jesus bore much more than virtue. He bore a cross. He bore persecution, lies, and all of our sins in the world’s most self-sacrificing act. He made it possible for people like me to be forgiven, and even to forgive those who harm us.

The Bible says, “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.” (James 1:2) I am tempted to defend myself. I am tempted to tell anyone reading this blog everything wonderful that my mother, my company, and my staff have done over these many years. Instead, I thank God for His strength, His patience, and His blessings over AMTC. I am thankful for the excellent talent, families, success stories, and industry support He has brought us. I thank Him for His love, and I thank Him for Jesus.

AMTC will continue to be bold. I am a bold defender of truth in the talent industry. I am bold in believing that modesty, integrity, family values, and loving God can not only peacefully coexist in the entertainment industry, but can actually lead it to improvement. I am bold in asking for clean faces on teens, clean lyrics in songs, and clean words in a monologue. Am I alone? Certainly not! Are Christians in the minority? Yes, but we are the strongest minority.

Is AMTC just for Christians? Read my article entitled Actors, Models & Talent for Christ in our Reading Room.

As for cyber slander and negative blogs, it is written, “But shun vain and profane babblings: for they will increase as to more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a cankor.” (2 Timothy 2:16-17) With thanks, love, humility, and a continuing commitment to unite the best people in the Talent Industry, I follow God.

Carey Arban