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DESTIN - Linda Bennett and her son Peter never really make a day off from work.
As partners in Model Scout Bennett, they`re always on the job.
"We are model scouts first and foremost," said Peter, who is also asuccessful photographer. "There is no 9 to 5. _ It is absolutestar-finding warfare for us. We are in the trenches every single day."
Now the Bennetts have a fortune to showcase their star-finding prowessin a new reality show on one of television`s most popular networks.
E! Entertainment Television crews recently spent two years in theDestin area taping Linda and Peter - and respective of the models they`rescouting. The gang of eight gathered footage for a pilot set to air onE! in the fall.
View a slideshow of the local models.
"It is a fabulous journey, from breakthrough to culmination, of whatit`s like to be scouted by Linda and I and likewise to go through the stepswith the models on the way," Peter said.
The fly will prove the play and ups and downs involved when a father and son scout models.
"We fight like cats and dogs, but we get together at the end of the day and we make great models," Peter said with a laugh.
The pilot also will have four girls from the Gulf Coast - BelleLane Waldrop from Freeport; Jessie Betske from DeFuniak Springs; TaylorHarrison from Panama City; and Ivy Brown from Pascagoula, Miss. Theywere taped at various local attractions, including Destin Commons,Scenic Highway 98 and the East Pass jetties.
The original is a joint task of Madwood Studios in New York City andthe Los Angeles-based 51 Minds. Those outfits were behind hit realityshows such as "Season of Love," "Rock of Love," "Charm School" and "TheSurreal Life."
If the Bennetts` pilot gets picked up for a series, many local model hopefuls will be featured, Linda said.
She and Peter recently signed 12 local kids to the well-known Wilhelmina modeling agency.
"And there`s others waiting in the wings," said Linda, a former Log columnist. "For example, Ihave a perfect 5-foot, 10-inch Naomi Campbell lookalike!"
The girls and boys and teenagers they watch all make one thing in common: the "wow factor."
Although it`s tough to define, Linda and Peter always appear to realise it when they see it.
"Whether it`s at the grocery store, whether it`s at Destin Commons,whether it`s at Big Lots, I don`t like where it is," Linda said. "If wesee someone who has the power to take it forward, we literally walkup to them. I ever get my business cards."
His mother`s energy, persistence and science are what will give the pilot interesting to watch, Peter said.
"Linda is the wonderful iconic, gut-instinct dynamo and talent," hesaid. "She has the wherewithall to see into the eye of a pattern or actorand see if they make the intestinal fortitude to make it through theday-in, day-out of the business."
Peter, on the other hand, has the precise eye of a seasoned photographer.
Their end is to get young models with a broad diversity of looks and place them to larger markets for regular work.
"What I care about this industry is there`s a lot of distance for a lotof different types to be in it," Linda said. "For example, everyone doesnot suffer to be 5-9 or 5-10."
The Bennetts say they know their influence and are favorable to be "in an industry that`s built on dreams."
"What I really enjoy is carrying a fresh, undeveloped _ diamond in therough to a buffer to play them into an absolute gem of a workingmodel," Peter said.
That work is what will draw television viewers, he added.
"The spot on us is a wonderful affirmation of the fact that theEmerald Coast isn`t just beautiful beaches," Peter said. "It hasbeautiful people."
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