Submitted Photo. Meagan Ritter, 11, will act in various series such as Apple TV's 'Pugent Sound' and a DC Comics show. 

VALDOSTA — Valdosta, it’s time to shine. 

Talent scouts will soon visit Amanda’s Models and Talent in search of new actors, singers, dancers and models.

Jayme Pervis of J. Pervis Talent and Click Model Management will hold an open call 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at AM&T.

There is a $25 cash fee for the open call, and participants are asked to bring a headshot. A one-on-one meeting with the Atlanta-based agency is included.

An audition and improvisation workshop is scheduled for 12:30-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, with J. Pervis. There’s a $125 fee. Visit jpervistalentopencall.com for more information.

Stephanie Duke of Halo Models and Talent Agency will visit from Savannah 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Participants must be at least 4 years old, and there is no fee involved.

People are encouraged to bring a non-returnable photo, professional or non-professional, and an optional resume with them to the open call.

Duke is searching for people with personality and the “it” factor, organizers said.

“I think personality can outweigh experience,” said Ivey Hall, AM&T instructor. “If you have a personality, and you have no resume, no experience, I think that could surpass someone with a large resume and so much experience on set.”

Hall said personality is what makes people want to work with someone. Personality and passion are what captures AM&T instructors.

AM&T Owner Amanda Kirk said about 48 people arrived at Halo’s November open calls.

“That’s a really large turnout for us, especially coming out of Valdosta,” Hall said. “We had people traveling in from Tifton, Moultrie and places like that.”

Instructors said Halo’s previous open calls sparked a community interest in AM&T and helped to increase class sizes.

This has caused AM&T’s relocation to 1400 Baytree Road from its Downtown Valdosta location, Kirk said.

“We realized we did not have enough space for 48 people at one time for an open call,” she said.

It only took one week for AM&T to relocate and Kirk said this is because of God.

“We prayed about it, and it just all fell into place,” she said. “It was meant to be. He had His hand in everything.”

The agency will continue to build its classes and accommodate its students, staffers said. Classes range from pageantry to acting to modeling lessons. 

Recently, some of the agency’s students have had Coca-Cola voice-over auditions and have had bookings.

Meagan Ritter has been with AM&T for about one year, and she has had six bookings, she said.

The 11-year-old will be seen in a DC Comics show. She can also be seen in season one of “Raising Dion” on Netflix.

She will have two appearances in “The Passage,” to be released Monday, Jan. 14, on Fox. Ritter will also be in “Puget Sound” on Apple TV March 7.

Ritter said being at AM&T has helped her transform from being quiet to overcoming nervousness.

“Whenever I first came, I was very shy,” she said. “At school I wouldn’t do any projects or anything; and now, I’m the one who wants to do a project or stand up and talk in front of the class.”

AM&T students Isabella Castleberry and her younger sister, Audrey Castleberry, were booked for an upcoming Hulu series, “The Act,” Kirk said. They’ll be cousins of the main character and will film in Savannah.

“The Act” is about a mom who feigns illnesses upon her child, she said.

AM&T also coached Isabella Castleberry for American Pageants which she won Young Miss of America 2019, Kirk said.

Hall is part of a national wedding campaign for fashion company Show Me Your Mumu.

Instructor Meredith Proctor won runner-up for Miss Teen Georgia USA in November.

Visit amandasmodels.com or call (229) 269-8404 for more information about AM&T or its upcoming casting calls. 

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.