Casting (performing arts)

In the performing arts industry, a casting (or casting call) is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, singer or dancer for a particular role or part in a script involving a dramatic production meant for an audience.

Casting process

The casting process involves a series of auditions before a casting panel, composed of individuals such as the producer, director and/or choreographer. In the early stages of the process, performers often may present prepared audition pieces such as monologues or songs. These audition pieces are usually video taped, attached with resumes, and head shots and then shared with producers, directors and studio representatives. Later stages may involve groups of actors attempting material from the work under consideration in various combinations; the casting director considers both the talent of the individual actors and the chemistry of their combination.

Depending on the prestige of the role, casting calls may go out to the public at large (typical for community theater), to professional and semi-professional local actors (for supporting roles in theater and film) or to specifically selected actors (for leading roles, especially in films). In the production of film and television, a similar process is followed.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American Sports Illustrated magazine. The cover photograph features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. All models featured on the cover of the swimsuit issue in the magazine's history have been women. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. The swimsuit issue of the magazine carries advertising that, in 2005 amounted to US$35 million in value. New issues come out around the middle of February or later. First published in 1964, it is credited with making the bikini, invented in 1946, a legitimate piece of apparel. The issue that got the most letters was the 1978 issue. The best selling issue was the 25th Anniversary Issue with Kathy Ireland on the cover in 1989.

Through the years many models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter, Rebecca Romijn, Petra Nemcova, Valeria Mazza, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, and Marisa Miller, have been featured on the cover. Other models within its pages, but not on its cover, include Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Niki Taylor, Angie Everhart, and Naomi Campbell. The eight models featured on the cover of the 2006 issue were featured in a coffee-table book called Sports Illustrated: Exposure. Photographed by Raphael Mazzucco, and produced by Diane Smith, the unprecedented "reunion shoot" featured 139 pages of previously-unpublished images. In 2006, the issue expanded publishing to handheld devices. In 2007, the swimsuit issue was first available in China.

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media franchise owned by Time Inc. Its self-titled magazine has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million people each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice. Its swimsuit issue, which has been published since 1964, is now an annual publishing event that generates its own television shows, videos and calendars.

There were two magazines named Sports Illustrated before the current magazine began on August 16, 1954. In 1936, Stuart Scheftel created Sports Illustrated with a target market for the sportsman. He published the magazine from 1936–1938 on a monthly basis. The magazine was a life magazine size and focused on golf, tennis, and skiing with articles on the major sports. He then sold the name to Dell Publications, which released Sports Illustrated in 1949 and this version lasted 6 issues before closing. Dell's version focused on major sports (baseball, basketball, boxing) and competed on magazine racks against Sport and other monthly sports magazines. During the 1940s these magazines were monthly and they did not cover the current events because of the production schedules. There was no large-base general weekly sports magazine with a national following on actual active events. It was then that Time patriarch Henry Luce began considering whether his company should attempt to fill that gap. At the time, many believed sports was beneath the attention of serious journalism and did not think sports news could fill a weekly magazine, especially during the winter. A number of advisers to Luce, including Life magazine's Ernest Havemann, tried to kill the idea, but Luce, who was not a sports fan, decided the time was right.

Brazil

Coordinates: 10°S 52°W / 10°S 52°W / -10; -52

Brazil (ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/; Portuguese: Brasil [bɾaˈziw] ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil,  listen  ), is the largest sovereign state in both South America and the Latin American region. It is the world's fifth-largest country, both by geographical area and by population. It is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world, and the only one in the Americas.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and occupies 47.3 percent of the continent of South America. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.

Kate Upton

Katherine Elizabeth "Kate" Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model and actress, known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Upton was named Rookie of the Year following her first appearance in 2011 and was the cover model for the 2012 and 2013 issues. She was also the subject of the 100th anniversary Vanity Fair cover. Upton has also appeared in the financially successful films Tower Heist (2011) and The Other Woman (2014).

Early life

Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, and raised in Melbourne, Florida. She is the daughter of Shelley (née Davis), a former Texas state tennis champion, and Jeff Upton, a high school athletics director. Her uncle is U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-MI). Upton's great-grandfather, Frederick Upton, was co-founder of appliance manufacturer and marketer Whirlpool Corporation.

Upton attended Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. As a young equestrian, she showed at the American Paint Horse Association and competed at a national level. With her horse Roanie Pony, she won three APHA Reserve World Championships — 13 and Under Western Riding, 13 and Under Horsemanship, and 14–18 Western Riding. She was named the 13 and Under Reserve All-Around Champion, giving her a total of four reserve championships (2nd place). In addition, Upton ended up third overall on the APHA youth Top Twenty. With a second horse, Zipped, she won 14–18 Western Riding and was included in the top 5 in 14–18 Horsemanship and 14–18 Western Pleasure in 2009.