"Changing The Face Of The Look-Alike Industry"

Mirror Images Co., the highly successful look-a-like agency based in Los Angeles, California, is headed by company President Dot Findlater, and boasts over 1,000 clients (Look-a-likes, Impersonators, Historical Figures, and Political Figures) across the United States as well as abroad.

Established 14 years ago, Mirror Images Co. came about through its founder, Dot Findlater, realizing a dire lack of quality look-a-likes within the entertainment industry (a realization that the demand was continuing to increase). As a result, she set out to establish the most highly regarded agency of its kind.

"There came this phenomenon, possibly though the impact of mass media of a shift in how look-a-likes were perceived. If they were good, there was a connection made between them, the audience, and vice-versa. It was as if the experience of getting close to celebrities was guaranteed a positive one; people could interact with their idols and completely absorb themselves in the illusion," says Findlater.

With this in mind, Findlater set out to create an agency that would become well known for raising standards within the industry and a stable of accomplished actors who were both authentic in their appearance and professional in their performance. Her recipe paid off. Today, her company literally reaches all four corners of the globe. Whether it is Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing in Farewell Atlantis (directed by Roland Emmerich) or President Obama booking a commercial in Japan, Mirror Images Co. is behind the best look-a-likes in the business.

As an agency, the company continues to pride itself on presenting its clients in the most professional light possible. "In a profession that is clearly maturing and gradually winning the status it deserves, clients need protection," Findlater comments. "Sadly, look-a-likes (the vast majority of which are trained professional actors and actresses) do not receive the treatment they deserve. As far as I am concerned, Mirror Images Co. is out to change that and set a new industry standard."

Supplying professional actors and actresses to many facets of the entertainment business, the company’s clients' appear in an abundance of commercials across the world advertising well-known consumer brands (whether on camera or behind the microphone). In film, clients appear as doubles; in flashback scenes depicting well-known Hollywood stars as well as TV’s political satire programming, biographies, and comedy sketches. Many leading corporations hire for corporate events particularly in LA where each look-a-like performs live on stage. Findlater adds that each entertainer (beyond being a look-a-like) is required to "be a performer, adopt the appropriate persona, impersonate, ad-lib, and present themselves as professional, consummate actors."

Mirror Images Co.'s Martha Stewart look-a-like frequently appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show while the Royal Family of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry, and (last but not least) Camellia Park Bowels made royal appearances across the US and Europe.

Findlater credits a significant part of the historic success of her company to her website, www.mirrorimagesco.com, where prospective look-a-likes from across the US (as well as Europe) seek Mirror Images Co. out as a significant bridge between their talents and the building of a successful career. She requests an initial DVD of each potential client. Findlater also acknowledges the universal appeal that look-a-likes continue to have by saying "People still crave the positive opportunity to interact with their idols." There is no surprise that Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Robin Williams, and Cher continue to be Mirror Images Co.'s most popular look-a-likes.

So what’s next for Hollywood’s leading look-a-like agency? The answer is an opportunity to take the aforementioned appeal further afield. While the ‘fascination for all things idol’ continues across the globe in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Africa, a series of seminars in key US cities are planned throughout 2010 to continue to swell the company’s pool of talent. What’s more, Mirror Images Co. has established itself in London, England. Quite simply, for Mirror Images Co., the quest is on to find the best in the business.