Meet the Judges

Gary Cole: Director of Photography, Playboy magazine and Editorial Director, Playboy.com

If it weren't for Gary Cole, college girls' pictorials may never have become a part of Playboy. Even though Cole readily admits that Playboy Art Director Tom Staebler first came up with the idea, it was Cole who took the ball and ran with it. "It was such a great idea," he says. "But then there was the problem of how to make it happen."

The first few years were a learning process, and Cole wasn't sure what to expect when he sent photographer David Chan out to shoot the inaugural Girls of the Big 10 pictorial. "I thought we might get ten girls trying out at each school, so I was stunned when David called me from Michigan State asking for more film because 100 girls had shown up," he says.

Cole plays the most crucial role in the search for college girls -- it's his trained eye that chooses which girls make the final cut. "It's really about how pretty the girl is," he says. That, and making sure the photo has a real college "feel." Images of girls in letter sweaters and cheerleader outfits or posed in a dorm room setting tend to make the grade with Cole.

Sure, it's a tough decision. And since the photographers shoot more girls than the magazine needs, some very sexy coeds get left out of the issue. In the past, if a girl didn't make it into the magazine, her photos did nothing more than gather dust in the Playboy photo library. "It was a waste of effort and money, and it was a big disappointment for the girl," Cole says. "But now, we can use those girls on Playboy.com and in the Special Editions. So readers aren't missing out."