The Secret Life of Naomi Campbell

In 1985, while window shopping outside of a London department store, Naomi Campbell, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, was discovered and signed to a professional modeling contract. Lithe-figured and strikingly exotic, Campbell’s early stint on runways throughout Europe soon led to higher-profile ad campaigns for internationally recognized brands, and little more than a year later, the cover of Elle Magazine — an honor that effectively introduced her to the world.

In the years that followed, mentored and championed by many of the most iconic names in fashion — Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Galliano — Campbell overcame the racial discrimination of the modeling world and scored a number of firsts for a woman of color: appearing on the cover of French, British, Japanese and Chinese Vogue and being the featured model in spreads shot by the industry’s most renowned fashion photographers.

By the mid 1990s, Naomi Campbell had become one of the world’s most recognizable faces — appearing frequently in pop music videos, films and TV shows; becoming the featured model in international ad campaigns for Versace, Ralph Lauren and Dolce & Gabbana — and in the process, secured a place in the pantheon of the famed “supermodels.”

But while beauty and fashion were Campbell’s ticket to fame and fortune, and while her celebrity has fueled the media’s lurid fascination with her private life, far less public — far less celebrated — are the many charitable and humanitarian causes upon which Campbell has brought her celebrity to bear, and for which she has been honored the world over.

Since 1997, Campbell has supported charity work focused on the peoples and communities of Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, via organizations like the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Quincy Jones’s Listen Up Foundation, the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) orphanage in Jamaica, Fidel Castro’s Cuban Children’s Fund and We Love Brazil, which she founded for the nation’s children, and for which she was named International Ambassador of Rio de Janeiro.

In 2005, Campbell created Fashion for Relief, raising $1M for victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, she hosted the South African leg of Live Earth in Johannesburg; she also received the Black Retail Action Group (BRAG) “Special Recognition Award” in honor of her efforts to promote acceptance of men and women of color throughout the fashion industry. In 2009, Campbell was awarded the Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society from Trinity College, Dublin for her charitable and professional work; she also received the “International Woman of the Year” award from Russian Glamour. And just last year, at its famed Charity Gala for Children in Need, Campbell received the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s Pyramide Con Mani award for her outstanding social commitments.

The Secret Life of Naomi Campbell will explore these little-known facets of Naomi’s identity — shedding light on the causes that inspire her, helping to dispel many of the notions that have marred her reputation, and allowing Campbell, perhaps for the first time, to paint and to frame a portrait of herself.

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This concept summary is excerpted from an original treatment conceived, written and designed by me in 2011. (“The Secret Life of Naomi Campbell” is registered with the WGA West, Inc.)