SECOND OPTION

Feature Documentary - In Development

When you exist in the gaze of others, what happens when they stop looking?

Logline

1990s. Young models flocked to Milan hoping to be chosen. I was one of them, filming our private world on Hi-8 video. Thirty years later, now a fashion photographer and filmmaker, I return to ask what became of us in a world where beauty was currency, attention was self-worth, and survival depended on the gaze of others.

The Film

Supermodels were household names, Europe was uniting. We were young, ambitious and convinced something extraordinary was about to happen.

Before everyone carried a video camera in their pocket, I filmed our lives as models in Milan: castings, shows, apartments, relationships, parties and rejection. The spotlight found some. Most of us stayed just outside it.

When I left modeling, I hid the tapes for thirty years. Reopening them, instead of nostalgia I saw misfit dreamers navigating a world built on beauty, attention and image.

Now I’m returning to find our stories.

Why Now

Modeling was an economy of attention: beauty was currency, visibility created opportunity, and being chosen could change your life. This often left us vulnerable within a system where others held the power.

Today, social media has made that psychology commonplace. The approval of strangers based on one’s projected image increasingly shapes identity and self-worth. We lived an early version of that reality.

SECOND OPTION explores ambition, vulnerability, rejection, aging, and the human need to be seen.

The Filmmaker

I first entered the fashion world as a model and never fully left, spending more than three decades as a fashion photographer, filmmaker, producer and creative executive.

I was first subject, then participant, then witness and now storyteller. My archive and longstanding relationships provide intimate access; my career behind the camera brings a contemporary cinematic approach and distinct visual language, and my creative executive experience brings disciplined execution.

Current Status

Development trailer completed. Production underway. Principal photography continues in Milan, fall 2026.

The project is in development for producing, financing and distribution partnerships.