Stephanie K. Nihon
award-winning producer
casting director
visual artist
Stephanie K. Nihon
award-winning producer
casting director
visual artist
BIO
Stephanie Krista Nihon (nee Smollett) was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. She was discovered at a scouting conference at 15 years old and began modeling internationally appearing in magazines such as Italian VOGUE, American VOGUE, Harper's Bazaar, ID, and the Dolce & Gabbana Campaign as well as many seasons of pret-a-porter and couture runway shows for well-known designers. Stephanie was the first Bahamian model to sign with Elite Model Management and appear in Italian VOGUE.
She then made a career for herself in art direction, casting, TV & Film production and LFD Productions was born. Nihon became passionate about mentorship and worked as a consultant for CMM Talent and Modeling Agency in Nassau, Bahamas for 6 years in which she assisted in getting up to 30 models and actors signed with international top agencies. With time Stephanie discovered her life's work and passion was to help develop and further the under-represented talent from her home country while creating impactful content.
Her most beloved endeavor yet is as the Creator and Executive Producer of the #1 live action children's show in The Bahamas and Caribbean, 'GOOMBAY KIDS,' (5 seasons) which received international festival recognition and won 15 international awards. Most notably winning Best TV Series at the Cannes World Film Festival where Stephanie also won Best Producer. The series was inspired by the amazing homegrown talent of The Bahamas and secured a historic streaming deal for the Caribbean region. Goombay Kids is now airing on the Roku, Tubi, AmazonFireTV, AppleTV, Happy Kids, BatteryPop and OUR TV. She hopes that Goombay Kids can become a global vehicle for change and is climate forward and passionate about women's and children's rights, youth empowerment, better representation in TV and Film, disability inclusion, education and cultural advocacy. Nihon was named in the Top Ten Inspiring Women to look out for in 2024 by Women’s Herald, one of the Top Ten Entrepreneurs disrupting their industry in 2023 by Disrupter’s Magazine and received a Global Recognition Award in 2024.
Recently Nihon was the keynote speaker and panelist at UNESCO's Transcultura Event and founded The Cays Conference that hosted 15 of the TOP Modeling and Talent Agencies for a Weekend-Long Event. The Cays Conference, a first-of-its-kind red-carpet modeling and acting scouting event welcomed aspiring models and actors from around the world for the opportunity to be discovered in paradise. The Cays had a successful first year at the beautiful and renowned Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas Resort in Nassau, Bahamas on November 11th and 12th 2023, that showcased models and talent primarily from The Bahamas and Caribbean – providing growth opportunities for the industry at large and serving a marginalised and underserved market. The event had 100's of attendees and amassed over 400 callbacks for the talent that showcased for the top international agents and scouts and has had four models and actors sign contracts.
Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/stephanieknihon
THE CAYS CONFERENCE
Industry and Scouting Event featuring the TOP Agents and Scouts in the World! Join the mailing list.