Job Description: Fashion photographers are employed by catalogs,
magazines, Web sites, and fashion houses to conceptualize, shoot,
develop, and print still photos and/or videos to show off clothes and
accessories in a creative manner that catches the eye of consumers.
Professional fashion photographers must have a good eye for style and
beauty and be skilled at working with models to achieve the best
possible poses and photos. In addition to taking pictures, photographers
may also be responsible for scouting locations and hiring models and
personnel for the photo shoot
Salary Range: Earnings potential up to $100,000+
Top
level pay for experienced fashion photographers is around $50,000, but
those who are able to establish themselves as brand names - like Herb
Ritts or Annie Liebowitz - can make upwards of $100,000 annually.
Outlook:
Employment in the field is expected to grow by as much as 17% between
2004 and 2014, according to the US Dept of Labor. Competition for jobs
in magazine and commercial photography is stiff, and aspiring fashion
photographers may outnumber the available assignments. However,
increased use of the Internet may spur further growth in fashion
photography, as Web sites look to continuously refresh their content.
Starting as an assistant or an apprentice is one way to get a foot in
the door. With experience comes more opportunity, and those who can
develop a solid portfolio (body of work) may attain full-time staff
positions or set up their own studios and work with more exclusive or
well-known fashion clients.
Qualifications: Education - A degree
in Photography or Art is not required but is very helpful for getting
the first job and making contacts. Knowledge of or coursework in fashion
design and merchandising is also a plus.
Experience - A
portfolio of previous work that demonstrates skill, imagination, and
personal style is required. Internships, apprenticeships, and other
on-the-job training is essential.
Personal Characteristics/Skills
- Artistic and creative expression; thorough knowledge of the technical
and aesthetic aspects of photography, including camera operations,
lighting, composition, darkroom procedures, and special characteristics
of films and paper; good business and networking skills; solid
interpersonal skills to communicate with models and convey your ideas;
ability to promote oneself; knowledge of trends in both photography and
fashion industry.
Career Path: Photographer's Assistant > Staff/Freelance Photographer > Photo Editor > Director of Photography
Famous
Fashion Photographers: Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Mario Testino,
Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, Michael Thompson, Mario Sorrenti
source::www.fashion-schools.org
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The "TFP" "Free Trade" Inigma
I recently came across this site that had a great definition of the term
TFP and a breakdown of it's purpose and history within the fashion
industry. Great information posted. Many times I come across amateur
models or artist who throw this term around and not quite understanding
what it really means so I decided to re-post the information here.
Information credit goes to
http://www.datahero.com/stmarc/tfp.html
TFP stands for one or more of the following:
Time For Prints
Time For Portfolio
Trade For Prints
Trade For Portfolio
“TFCD” or “TFP/CD.” These mean:
Time/Trade for CD
Time/Trade for Prints/CD
Basically it means "FREE". All participants are doing the shoot in hopes of getting good quality images for their portfolios, which they can use for self-promotion to get more, and hopefully paying, work.
TFP is usually the domain of amateur photographers and/or beginning models, although many pros will do a TFP shoot with an amateur model (or an amateur photographer) who can’t pay their usual rates but whose look or previous work the professional finds intriguing. That doesn’t mean that outstanding work can’t be produced at a TFP shoot: many amateur photographers are “amateurs” only in that photography is not how they pay their bills, and have talent and equipment equal to most professional photographers. Images obtained through TFP sessions are in many a model’s portfolio and have earned many a callback from an agency or pro shooter.
What a model should expect from a TFP shoot:
1) A friendly, professional demeanor from the photographer. Even if the photographer is an amateur, or a beginner, that’s no excuse for not treating the model as the valuable contributor to their work that she is.
2) Work that is a reasonable approximation of the photographer’s talent and expertise. TFP is not “second-class” photography and it should be of good quality.
3) A signed release specifying what the model is to receive as her compensation in the form of prints or digital images. This protects both the photographer and the model by making their rights and obligations clear to each other.
What a model should not expect from a TFP shoot:
1) Any money. That includes revenue from later sale or license of the photographs in most cases. Many photographers have a policy of giving the model some percentage of revenue from such sales or licenses, but unless the model is a pro and the photographer is not, this is not something the model usually demands. It is more in the nature of a pleasant bonus.
That being said, I would like to address a disturbing trend which has developed in the "Internet" modeling world and is starting to cross over into lower-budget print modeling: "Commercial TFP." This is where a client seeks a model (or a photographer) for advertising or other commercial usage but only wants to pay in "tears" and/or prints as opposed to compensation in money or at least in desirable products and services (it's quite common for models to get paid with a designer dress for walking the runway at Fashion Week, for instance, and while they're harder to spend than cash designer dresses are certainly not something to idly turn down.)
In my opinion, commercial use is not an appropriate venue for TFP because it's bad for models, and photographers, and makeup artists, et cetera, to give other people the means to make money from their work without getting money in return. Trade for portfolio, fine. Trade for art, fine. Trade, or work cheap, for an editorial tear, fine. But the line should be drawn at trading for commercial advertising use. It results in an inferior product and diminishes the overall power of models and photographers with relation to commercial clients.
If you're good enough to be in an ad, you're good enough to get paid. Now if a client has no budget to pay a model for an ad, I can sympathize, and I don't blame somebody for trying to get the best deal they can for themselves. But I don't have the money for a Lamborghini, and I suspect that this fact will be notably unhelpful if I try to use it as the justification as to why the dealer should give me one for free. Nor is "experience" or "exposure" a good reason to do commercial work. You need experience and exposure to get commercial work. Once you've got good enough to be in commercial work, it's reasonable to require some economic benefit for yourself in exchange for the economic benefit you provide.
2) Unlimited rights to the photographs. It is the law in most countries that photographs are the property of the photographer. The model may have the right to have some say in how they are used, but the photographer is the primary rights-holder. Most TFP releases provide that the model may only use the photographs for self-promotion and may not sell or relicense them. However, some models, especially models who are already under contract or hope to submit photographs to a specific user, will specify that certain uses (for example, print use of nude shots) are not allowed.
3) Unlimited prints. Prints, especially portfolio-quality prints, are not cheap. The photographer should offer a reasonable quantity, perhaps based on the total number of usable images captured. If the model wants more prints than are agreed upon before the shoot begins, she should expect to pay a reasonable price for them.
Probably the most common complaint about beginning models doing TFP is that they are unreliable and sometimes don’t show up for scheduled shoots. The usual reply to a complaint of this sort is that since the model’s not getting paid, she doesn’t have a real obligation to the photographer. This is, bluntly, wrong. The photographer has committed to the shoot. If they did not believe that they were going to have a shoot with that model at that time, they could have scheduled something else. A no-show model represents time and opportunity wasted, and both of those have a very real monetary value. Models with reputations for dependability get callbacks and referrals: models who don’t, don’t. The world of photography is surprisingly close-knit and it doesn’t take long at all for word to get around.
It is also important for the model to understand what will be expected of her at a shoot. This should be agreed to ahead of time and both photographer and model should honor the agreement. If the photographer specifies “figure studies,” expect to be asked to remove your clothes. (See my article Types of Nude Photography for more information.) If you told the photographer “no nude shots,” and they press you to undress, leave. If the session is going well and you are both comfortable with each other, you may jointly decide to “kick it up a notch” and do a lingerie shot, or an implied nude, or whatever you are both willing to do. There’s no harm in either party asking politely, once, and you shouldn’t be offended so long as the inquiry is polite. If it’s not polite, or if the photographer won’t drop the subject after you’ve made your limits clear, you should end the photo session.
TFP and Paid Tests
“TFP” is an Internet-originated term. In the traditional photographic/modeling industry, it isn’t used much. However, a similar idea known as a “test” is an established part of modeling practice. A “test” is a shoot where the photographer isn’t taking his usual fee from the model, or shooting for a client. It usually involves an established photographer and a fairly inexperienced model, although not always. Tests are often “paid.” This means that the photographer (and anybody else involved like a makeup artist or stylist) gets a nominal fee for their time and effort, which isn’t really reflective of what they’d normally get for that level of photographic performance. A photographer with a $2,000 day rate might do a paid “test” for a few hours and only ask for a few hundred dollars if the model wants the right to use the pictures in her portfolio. (If the model gets no pictures, she obviously is not going to pay anything.)
Some people use the word “test” to mean the same as “TFP.” They aren’t the same, however, and while models don’t pay anything for TFP work, they often pay some reasonable fee for testing with an experienced and established photographer. It is not at all unreasonable for a photographer with skill and experience to ask a model to pay some nominal fee for photographs which would otherwise cost her hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and models should be aware that some photographers will expect to be paid something for such work.
Information credit goes to
http://www.datahero.com/stmarc/tfp.html
TFP stands for one or more of the following:
Time For Prints
Time For Portfolio
Trade For Prints
Trade For Portfolio
“TFCD” or “TFP/CD.” These mean:
Time/Trade for CD
Time/Trade for Prints/CD
Basically it means "FREE". All participants are doing the shoot in hopes of getting good quality images for their portfolios, which they can use for self-promotion to get more, and hopefully paying, work.
TFP is usually the domain of amateur photographers and/or beginning models, although many pros will do a TFP shoot with an amateur model (or an amateur photographer) who can’t pay their usual rates but whose look or previous work the professional finds intriguing. That doesn’t mean that outstanding work can’t be produced at a TFP shoot: many amateur photographers are “amateurs” only in that photography is not how they pay their bills, and have talent and equipment equal to most professional photographers. Images obtained through TFP sessions are in many a model’s portfolio and have earned many a callback from an agency or pro shooter.
What a model should expect from a TFP shoot:
1) A friendly, professional demeanor from the photographer. Even if the photographer is an amateur, or a beginner, that’s no excuse for not treating the model as the valuable contributor to their work that she is.
2) Work that is a reasonable approximation of the photographer’s talent and expertise. TFP is not “second-class” photography and it should be of good quality.
3) A signed release specifying what the model is to receive as her compensation in the form of prints or digital images. This protects both the photographer and the model by making their rights and obligations clear to each other.
What a model should not expect from a TFP shoot:
1) Any money. That includes revenue from later sale or license of the photographs in most cases. Many photographers have a policy of giving the model some percentage of revenue from such sales or licenses, but unless the model is a pro and the photographer is not, this is not something the model usually demands. It is more in the nature of a pleasant bonus.
That being said, I would like to address a disturbing trend which has developed in the "Internet" modeling world and is starting to cross over into lower-budget print modeling: "Commercial TFP." This is where a client seeks a model (or a photographer) for advertising or other commercial usage but only wants to pay in "tears" and/or prints as opposed to compensation in money or at least in desirable products and services (it's quite common for models to get paid with a designer dress for walking the runway at Fashion Week, for instance, and while they're harder to spend than cash designer dresses are certainly not something to idly turn down.)
In my opinion, commercial use is not an appropriate venue for TFP because it's bad for models, and photographers, and makeup artists, et cetera, to give other people the means to make money from their work without getting money in return. Trade for portfolio, fine. Trade for art, fine. Trade, or work cheap, for an editorial tear, fine. But the line should be drawn at trading for commercial advertising use. It results in an inferior product and diminishes the overall power of models and photographers with relation to commercial clients.
If you're good enough to be in an ad, you're good enough to get paid. Now if a client has no budget to pay a model for an ad, I can sympathize, and I don't blame somebody for trying to get the best deal they can for themselves. But I don't have the money for a Lamborghini, and I suspect that this fact will be notably unhelpful if I try to use it as the justification as to why the dealer should give me one for free. Nor is "experience" or "exposure" a good reason to do commercial work. You need experience and exposure to get commercial work. Once you've got good enough to be in commercial work, it's reasonable to require some economic benefit for yourself in exchange for the economic benefit you provide.
2) Unlimited rights to the photographs. It is the law in most countries that photographs are the property of the photographer. The model may have the right to have some say in how they are used, but the photographer is the primary rights-holder. Most TFP releases provide that the model may only use the photographs for self-promotion and may not sell or relicense them. However, some models, especially models who are already under contract or hope to submit photographs to a specific user, will specify that certain uses (for example, print use of nude shots) are not allowed.
3) Unlimited prints. Prints, especially portfolio-quality prints, are not cheap. The photographer should offer a reasonable quantity, perhaps based on the total number of usable images captured. If the model wants more prints than are agreed upon before the shoot begins, she should expect to pay a reasonable price for them.
Probably the most common complaint about beginning models doing TFP is that they are unreliable and sometimes don’t show up for scheduled shoots. The usual reply to a complaint of this sort is that since the model’s not getting paid, she doesn’t have a real obligation to the photographer. This is, bluntly, wrong. The photographer has committed to the shoot. If they did not believe that they were going to have a shoot with that model at that time, they could have scheduled something else. A no-show model represents time and opportunity wasted, and both of those have a very real monetary value. Models with reputations for dependability get callbacks and referrals: models who don’t, don’t. The world of photography is surprisingly close-knit and it doesn’t take long at all for word to get around.
It is also important for the model to understand what will be expected of her at a shoot. This should be agreed to ahead of time and both photographer and model should honor the agreement. If the photographer specifies “figure studies,” expect to be asked to remove your clothes. (See my article Types of Nude Photography for more information.) If you told the photographer “no nude shots,” and they press you to undress, leave. If the session is going well and you are both comfortable with each other, you may jointly decide to “kick it up a notch” and do a lingerie shot, or an implied nude, or whatever you are both willing to do. There’s no harm in either party asking politely, once, and you shouldn’t be offended so long as the inquiry is polite. If it’s not polite, or if the photographer won’t drop the subject after you’ve made your limits clear, you should end the photo session.
TFP and Paid Tests
“TFP” is an Internet-originated term. In the traditional photographic/modeling industry, it isn’t used much. However, a similar idea known as a “test” is an established part of modeling practice. A “test” is a shoot where the photographer isn’t taking his usual fee from the model, or shooting for a client. It usually involves an established photographer and a fairly inexperienced model, although not always. Tests are often “paid.” This means that the photographer (and anybody else involved like a makeup artist or stylist) gets a nominal fee for their time and effort, which isn’t really reflective of what they’d normally get for that level of photographic performance. A photographer with a $2,000 day rate might do a paid “test” for a few hours and only ask for a few hundred dollars if the model wants the right to use the pictures in her portfolio. (If the model gets no pictures, she obviously is not going to pay anything.)
Some people use the word “test” to mean the same as “TFP.” They aren’t the same, however, and while models don’t pay anything for TFP work, they often pay some reasonable fee for testing with an experienced and established photographer. It is not at all unreasonable for a photographer with skill and experience to ask a model to pay some nominal fee for photographs which would otherwise cost her hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and models should be aware that some photographers will expect to be paid something for such work.
The reason why you're "broke"
I don't care if you're a model, hair stylist, wardrobe stylist,
photographer, makeup artist, or whatever in the fashion industry. If you
don't have a boss guess what you are considered a SMALL BUSINESS!
Unfortunately many of us do not conduct ourselves as such.
1.We often times mix business life with personal life far too much.
2. We undersell ourselves thinking people do not want to pay our worth.
3. We spend out more money then we are generating.
4. We constantly let our potential clients know that we are broke, thus seeming desperate. This sense of need makes us have to answer to our clients on THEIR TERMS which means they pay less and we work harder.
5. Because we have no physical person to answer to regarding our performance we become lazy and easily discouraged.
We have 1,000,000 excuse as to why we are not successful when it really boils down to just one...YOU.
It's Not the Economy, Stupid
Take charge of your business with these 5 uncompromising tips.
By George Cloutier
Your sales are down. Your operating costs are out of control. Your cash flow has slowed to a trickle. Your bank won't give you a loan. Of course you blame the economy. Everyone's suffering, so it's no wonder your business is in trouble. Right?
Wrong.
Don't blame the economy. Recession or no recession, if your small business is failing, it's your fault.
Sure, we all take hits in downturns. But if you're struggling, it's because you've been doing something wrong all along. Take a good hard look under the hood and you'll see that most of the problems in your small business are internal. But guess what? That's good news. That means the situation is not beyond your control and can be fixed.
It won't be easy. My advice is controversial and uncompromising, but there is nothing I preach that I don't practice myself as a business owner. Here are five things:
1. Forget teamwork. Teamwork is overrated. It simply doesn't work in most small businesses. Insisting on teamwork is a fast route to lousy financial performance. Why? Because your team is only as strong as its weakest link. A single poor performer brings everybody down.
Employees crave strong leadership and structure, so focus on individual performance. Place set goals and demands on each head, one by one. Your employees have to know that at the end of the day, they answer to you, not to each other. And replace that tired cliché "There is no 'I' in team" with this thought: There is no $ in team--just mediocrity and excuses.
2. Micromanage like crazy. Don't delegate to the point of abdication. Delegating is just another word for shirking responsibility. Expect someone else to do it and 90 percent of the time it won't get done. In a small business, you don't have the time or money to correct someone else's mistakes.
Instead, you should wear the badge of "control freak" with pride. Sure, delegate tasks, but watch your employees like a hawk until you are satisfied they are doing what they are supposed to do; then keep watching. Insist on "flash reports"--one-sheeters that give you daily updates on the status of each flashpoint in your business. And never hand over the reins of your business to anyone, no matter how senior the employee.
Micromanage, micromanage some more, then circle back to make sure the task is getting done, and done right. You may have to put in a lot more time at the office, but you'll ensure your business is making maximum profits.
3. Pay raises are over. Freeze your salaries now. Paying for performance is an absolute necessity for small and midsized businesses to achieve real profitability. Anywhere from 30 percent to 100 percent of an employee's compensation should be based on performance, and that amount should be against the goals set for employees by the owner.
This applies especially to businesses with sales staff: sales people should have 100 percent of their compensation based on performance. Keep in mind that pay-for-performance doesn't just mean an employee gets paid more for doing well--this is not an entitlement. You have to be willing to set up a system and then also penalizes failure to perform.
Pay-for-performance is so important to the success of your business that if you don't establish it today, you should fire yourself.
4. Fear is the best motivator. Owning a small business isn't a popularity contest. You cannot be effective unless you are feared and respected by your employees. Your employees won't thank you for being tough on them, but they'll respect the dictator who keeps the business afloat and continues to cut them a paycheck. And fear of not getting a paycheck was, is and always will be the best motivator.
Fear shouldn't just motivate your employees. It should motivate you. Never get too comfy. A business owner's internal fear of failure is what keeps the company alive.
5. If your business fails during a recession, it's your fault. This bears repeating. It's not the economy, stupid, it's you. Don't use the recession as an excuse. If you're not surviving it's because you weren't doing all that you should have during better times.
Resist the bunker mentality--if you wait until the tide turns, you will drown. Instead, take action: cut costs, get aggressive about sales and fire mediocre workers. Continue to invest in areas of your business that will generate growth.
Unfortunately many of us do not conduct ourselves as such.
1.We often times mix business life with personal life far too much.
2. We undersell ourselves thinking people do not want to pay our worth.
3. We spend out more money then we are generating.
4. We constantly let our potential clients know that we are broke, thus seeming desperate. This sense of need makes us have to answer to our clients on THEIR TERMS which means they pay less and we work harder.
5. Because we have no physical person to answer to regarding our performance we become lazy and easily discouraged.
We have 1,000,000 excuse as to why we are not successful when it really boils down to just one...YOU.
It's Not the Economy, Stupid
Take charge of your business with these 5 uncompromising tips.
By George Cloutier
Your sales are down. Your operating costs are out of control. Your cash flow has slowed to a trickle. Your bank won't give you a loan. Of course you blame the economy. Everyone's suffering, so it's no wonder your business is in trouble. Right?
Wrong.
Don't blame the economy. Recession or no recession, if your small business is failing, it's your fault.
Sure, we all take hits in downturns. But if you're struggling, it's because you've been doing something wrong all along. Take a good hard look under the hood and you'll see that most of the problems in your small business are internal. But guess what? That's good news. That means the situation is not beyond your control and can be fixed.
It won't be easy. My advice is controversial and uncompromising, but there is nothing I preach that I don't practice myself as a business owner. Here are five things:
1. Forget teamwork. Teamwork is overrated. It simply doesn't work in most small businesses. Insisting on teamwork is a fast route to lousy financial performance. Why? Because your team is only as strong as its weakest link. A single poor performer brings everybody down.
Employees crave strong leadership and structure, so focus on individual performance. Place set goals and demands on each head, one by one. Your employees have to know that at the end of the day, they answer to you, not to each other. And replace that tired cliché "There is no 'I' in team" with this thought: There is no $ in team--just mediocrity and excuses.
2. Micromanage like crazy. Don't delegate to the point of abdication. Delegating is just another word for shirking responsibility. Expect someone else to do it and 90 percent of the time it won't get done. In a small business, you don't have the time or money to correct someone else's mistakes.
Instead, you should wear the badge of "control freak" with pride. Sure, delegate tasks, but watch your employees like a hawk until you are satisfied they are doing what they are supposed to do; then keep watching. Insist on "flash reports"--one-sheeters that give you daily updates on the status of each flashpoint in your business. And never hand over the reins of your business to anyone, no matter how senior the employee.
Micromanage, micromanage some more, then circle back to make sure the task is getting done, and done right. You may have to put in a lot more time at the office, but you'll ensure your business is making maximum profits.
3. Pay raises are over. Freeze your salaries now. Paying for performance is an absolute necessity for small and midsized businesses to achieve real profitability. Anywhere from 30 percent to 100 percent of an employee's compensation should be based on performance, and that amount should be against the goals set for employees by the owner.
This applies especially to businesses with sales staff: sales people should have 100 percent of their compensation based on performance. Keep in mind that pay-for-performance doesn't just mean an employee gets paid more for doing well--this is not an entitlement. You have to be willing to set up a system and then also penalizes failure to perform.
Pay-for-performance is so important to the success of your business that if you don't establish it today, you should fire yourself.
4. Fear is the best motivator. Owning a small business isn't a popularity contest. You cannot be effective unless you are feared and respected by your employees. Your employees won't thank you for being tough on them, but they'll respect the dictator who keeps the business afloat and continues to cut them a paycheck. And fear of not getting a paycheck was, is and always will be the best motivator.
Fear shouldn't just motivate your employees. It should motivate you. Never get too comfy. A business owner's internal fear of failure is what keeps the company alive.
5. If your business fails during a recession, it's your fault. This bears repeating. It's not the economy, stupid, it's you. Don't use the recession as an excuse. If you're not surviving it's because you weren't doing all that you should have during better times.
Resist the bunker mentality--if you wait until the tide turns, you will drown. Instead, take action: cut costs, get aggressive about sales and fire mediocre workers. Continue to invest in areas of your business that will generate growth.
12 Tough Questions to Ask Yourself
12 Tough Questions to Ask Yourself
Evaluation is the key to keeping your business on track.
By George Cloutier | February 26, 2010
As a business owner, I always try to practice what I preach. My company, American Management Services, has 150 full-time employees around the country, constantly working shoulder-to-shoulder with small business owners whose companies have serious financial problems
. We understand the pitfalls of managing employees, keeping cash flowing and micromanaging every last detail of operations.
It isn't easy. I'm the first one to admit that I'm far from perfect, and when I don't follow my own rules, it is always very costly for the company. When a mistake is made, I remind myself that we have to be our own best client. This means that we have to be willing to ask ourselves the really tough questions--questions you should be asking yourself too.
1. Do you love your business as much as your family?
Last month's column, "Love Your Business More Than Your Family," was tremendously controversial. But let's be clear: You always have to love and provide for your family. However, there are times--especially in today's environment of hand-to-hand combat--when many of your normal family experiences have to be put on hold in order to tend to your business
. You have to maximize profits in your business so your family life can continue on a reasonable basis.
2. Do you take responsibility for every aspect of your business?
Don't blame employees when they don't do something right. You're the one who hired them, defined their jobs, and you're responsible for managing them. If something goes wrong, it's your fault. The more you take responsibility, rather than blaming your employees, the fewer mistakes you'll have to deal with. If some of your employees don't respond to your directions and continue to make the same mistakes, replace them. Now might be the perfect time--the silver lining of the current high unemployment rate is that there are lots of good people to choose from. Conventional wisdom places too much emphasis on limiting employee turnover. Turnover can be good because it allows you to get rid of the dead wood.
3. Do you play golf?
If you're playing golf instead of devoting your time to your business, you're failing both your business and your family. Let's face it: golf is an excuse to goof off rather than an opportunity to make meaningful business contacts.
4. Do you work on weekends?
If not, why not? You can use the time to meet with employees, order priorities, and attend to financial details you've neglected for the last few weeks (and fantasize what you'll deal with next week). Weekends are also a good time to meet prospective employees because you'll find out what they're made of.
5. Do your workers respect you?
I didn't say like you. I said respect you. Whether or not they like you is irrelevant. What's important is that you are making money and they will share in that directly or indirectly. Serious profits get everyone's respect.
6. Are you aware of all of your customers and their needs?
As a CEO I want to know who called and when, what they wanted, what they bought, how we helped them, how we didn't, what they liked, and what they didn't. You must micromanage and then micromanage some more. With a small business you should always know what's going on.
7. Does your ego get the best of you?
Never rest on your success (sales and profits). Today is a new day, and you need to make money every day. Don't rest on your laurels. Exorcise the ego.
8. Are you clear in your directions and do your employees listen to you?
When you say something, say it with conviction and stand by it. You are the boss, and there should be no need to tell people five times what you expect of them.
9. Do you pay for performance?
Money talks! Employees work better when they know they'll be rewarded financially. If someone does a good job, reward them with bonuses. If not, be sure they make less. Weed out the ones who are not serious about making your business as successful as it can be.
10. Do you pay yourself well?
Always pay yourself first. If you're not happy with your salary, you know there's more work to be done. Vendors like to pretend they have your interests at heart, but they really care more about themselves than about you. You are not in business to make them rich, so they can always wait a few days for their money.
11. Are you a defeatist?
It's not the economy, stupid, it's you! Never talk yourself into a negative position. It's easy to say, "Oh, the economy is down," "Everyone is hurting," or "I need a rest." If you find yourself making these excuses, it's time to work harder. You'll be surprised at the energy that comes when your hard work starts paying off.
12. Are you satisfied?
You shouldn't be. There's always some way to make things better. It's that little extra that makes the difference between just another struggling business and a resounding success. Failure isn't an option. Commit to doing whatever it takes. Decide how much profit you want to make. Focus on it. Don't wish for it or imagine what it would be like. Force it into reality. Fight for every sale. Learn to love winning.
George Cloutier is the author of Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing: No-Nonsense Advice from the Ultimate Contrarian and Small Business Guru (HarperCollins, Sept. 2009). He is the founder and chairman of American Management Services, a management firm that specializes in turning around small and mid-sized businesses
Evaluation is the key to keeping your business on track.
By George Cloutier | February 26, 2010
As a business owner, I always try to practice what I preach. My company, American Management Services, has 150 full-time employees around the country, constantly working shoulder-to-shoulder with small business owners whose companies have serious financial problems
. We understand the pitfalls of managing employees, keeping cash flowing and micromanaging every last detail of operations.
It isn't easy. I'm the first one to admit that I'm far from perfect, and when I don't follow my own rules, it is always very costly for the company. When a mistake is made, I remind myself that we have to be our own best client. This means that we have to be willing to ask ourselves the really tough questions--questions you should be asking yourself too.
1. Do you love your business as much as your family?
Last month's column, "Love Your Business More Than Your Family," was tremendously controversial. But let's be clear: You always have to love and provide for your family. However, there are times--especially in today's environment of hand-to-hand combat--when many of your normal family experiences have to be put on hold in order to tend to your business
. You have to maximize profits in your business so your family life can continue on a reasonable basis.
2. Do you take responsibility for every aspect of your business?
Don't blame employees when they don't do something right. You're the one who hired them, defined their jobs, and you're responsible for managing them. If something goes wrong, it's your fault. The more you take responsibility, rather than blaming your employees, the fewer mistakes you'll have to deal with. If some of your employees don't respond to your directions and continue to make the same mistakes, replace them. Now might be the perfect time--the silver lining of the current high unemployment rate is that there are lots of good people to choose from. Conventional wisdom places too much emphasis on limiting employee turnover. Turnover can be good because it allows you to get rid of the dead wood.
3. Do you play golf?
If you're playing golf instead of devoting your time to your business, you're failing both your business and your family. Let's face it: golf is an excuse to goof off rather than an opportunity to make meaningful business contacts.
4. Do you work on weekends?
If not, why not? You can use the time to meet with employees, order priorities, and attend to financial details you've neglected for the last few weeks (and fantasize what you'll deal with next week). Weekends are also a good time to meet prospective employees because you'll find out what they're made of.
5. Do your workers respect you?
I didn't say like you. I said respect you. Whether or not they like you is irrelevant. What's important is that you are making money and they will share in that directly or indirectly. Serious profits get everyone's respect.
6. Are you aware of all of your customers and their needs?
As a CEO I want to know who called and when, what they wanted, what they bought, how we helped them, how we didn't, what they liked, and what they didn't. You must micromanage and then micromanage some more. With a small business you should always know what's going on.
7. Does your ego get the best of you?
Never rest on your success (sales and profits). Today is a new day, and you need to make money every day. Don't rest on your laurels. Exorcise the ego.
8. Are you clear in your directions and do your employees listen to you?
When you say something, say it with conviction and stand by it. You are the boss, and there should be no need to tell people five times what you expect of them.
9. Do you pay for performance?
Money talks! Employees work better when they know they'll be rewarded financially. If someone does a good job, reward them with bonuses. If not, be sure they make less. Weed out the ones who are not serious about making your business as successful as it can be.
10. Do you pay yourself well?
Always pay yourself first. If you're not happy with your salary, you know there's more work to be done. Vendors like to pretend they have your interests at heart, but they really care more about themselves than about you. You are not in business to make them rich, so they can always wait a few days for their money.
11. Are you a defeatist?
It's not the economy, stupid, it's you! Never talk yourself into a negative position. It's easy to say, "Oh, the economy is down," "Everyone is hurting," or "I need a rest." If you find yourself making these excuses, it's time to work harder. You'll be surprised at the energy that comes when your hard work starts paying off.
12. Are you satisfied?
You shouldn't be. There's always some way to make things better. It's that little extra that makes the difference between just another struggling business and a resounding success. Failure isn't an option. Commit to doing whatever it takes. Decide how much profit you want to make. Focus on it. Don't wish for it or imagine what it would be like. Force it into reality. Fight for every sale. Learn to love winning.
George Cloutier is the author of Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing: No-Nonsense Advice from the Ultimate Contrarian and Small Business Guru (HarperCollins, Sept. 2009). He is the founder and chairman of American Management Services, a management firm that specializes in turning around small and mid-sized businesses
Modeling Myths and Scams
Modeling Myths and Scams*
H.L. Mencken once said, "For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong."
Mencken was an optimist.
The purpose of this essay is to present some truths about the modeling industry and the scams that infest it, and show that, even though you know “the truth” there is more to making good decisions about a modeling career.
Still, even though what is said here is true, everything said has an exception, and the scammers are relying on you to think you will be the exception.
Is there, for instance, a 5’5” fashion model who flies all over the world for jobs? Yes. Do you know why she has made it work where so many others haven’t? No, you don’t, and a scammer isn’t going to tell you. If you insist on believing you will be the 5’5” fashion model who lives in North Platte and flies in to do major campaigns and fashion shows, you are simply ripe for the picking.
This isn’t neat, it isn’t simple, and it isn’t easy. So sit down, open a can of something wet and cold, and be prepared to spend some time reading.
The Rise of the Myths:
There have been “model agency” (or “model search”) scams for nearly as long as there have been model agencies. What all the scams have in common is a plan to make money by taking it from the models, without having to go to the trouble of actually getting much work for the models.
This process is a chain reaction that ripples through several iterations. Real agencies create a market; scammers rush in to take advantage of the market; government bureaus, several nonprofit organizations and, lately, a number of books, articles and websites have all taken on the task of educating the public to avoid the scams.
At every one of those ripples, new myths are created. To be sure, most of these myths have a basis in reality – and that is what makes them so seductive. Simply read, the myths created by the agencies, the scammers, and the scam busters are all true. Unfortunately, the world is not simple. Myths are true only in certain circumstances, at some times and in some places. Most of the time they don’t apply to you, the reader who is trying to make sense of all of this. And without a little guidance, you can’t easily tell that they don’t apply to you. A good myth is seductive, doesn’t come with a user’s manual, and can hurt you if you don’t understand what it means.
And so we come to the next link in the chain of events caused by the rise of the fashion model industry. Someone has to provide the “user’s manual”, or context in which the consumer (or aspiring model) can tell not only what is “true” (most of the myths are true) but how it actually applies to the real world, and to you.
The Agency Myths:
To be fair, most of these myths are not created by the agencies themselves (although they are useful to the agencies). Rather, the media has created they hype and fantasy that describes what people think of when they think of “modeling”.
1. Modeling is Glamorous: Exotic locations, fabulous clothes, fancy parties and models at the pinnacle of desirability.
2. Modeling can make you fabulously wealthy. You don’t have to get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.
3. You can get discovered while doing everyday things. Sit on a stool in a soda shop, go shopping in the mall. The agencies will find you and make you a star.
Each of these is true, at least once in a long while. But for most models, most of the time, none of them are.
Most modeling is hard work, often in difficult locations and situations. Most of the time you aren’t modeling: you are trying get an agency, going to go-sees trying to get jobs, writing letters to agencies or clients, trudging to places you don’t want to be, to see people you don’t much like, all for the opportunity of being told “no”. By far the most common experience a model has is rejection.
Will you get rich as a model? Maybe. A few do, and quite a few more make a respectable living at it. But the vast majority of models don’t make nearly enough money to live on from modeling, and a large percentage don’t ever recover the investments they make trying to become a model. It’s not unusual for an aspiring fashion model to spend $10,000 pursuing a career that never takes off.
Can you get “discovered” just because you “look like a model”? Maybe. It happens. But the vast majority of models go to open calls at agencies, send pictures to everyone they can think of, beat the pavement and, lately, put up websites all while networking as much as they can. And is still doesn’t happen for most people.
The Scammer Myths:
A really good scam uses true statements to mislead consumers. That’s why it’s so hard to give good, simple advice on how to tell a scam from a legitimate agency. So scammers will tell you things that are true to get you to part with your money. They will tell you:
1. All kinds of people can be models. Models can be young, old, thin or fat, beautiful or a “real person”. They don’t have to be tall, skinny and teenagers.
Look at magazines (other then fashion magazines) and take a look at the people in the ads. Sure enough, you will find tall and short (though you may not be able to tell which is which), young and old, thin and heavy. A lot of the people in the ads don’t “look like models”. So you can do this too, right?
Probably not.
The particular “type” that tends to get hired is every bit as specialized as fashion modeling, and requires a trained eye to recognize. Most people outside of the industry don’t have that training, and often can’t easily describe what they are looking for. But it is still true that most people can’t be competitive as models.
One of the secrets of the modeling world: “Real people” as defined in modeling isn’t the same thing as what most people look like.
2. There is a market for Petite or Plus modeling. The industry has matured, retailers and designers realize that not everyone is tall and skinny, and they are using models who are heavier and shorter than the traditional fashion model.
There has been an increase in the number of “plus” models used in fashion, and there always have been “Petite” models (which means anyone under 5’8” tall) used. The market for “Petite” in fashion is very small, and virtually nobody can make a living at it. In many smaller cities there is virtually no market for Petite models. Even where there is, the competition is vastly greater; there are a lot more 5’6” girls than 5’10”. The chance of a shorter girl getting much fashion work is very small.
“Plus models” are used primarily in the larger market areas and are a significant subset of the market. But what the scammers don’t tell you is that Plus modeling is every bit as competitive and demanding as the more traditional fashion modeling. You still have to be tall (5’9” and above), you still have to be beautiful (usually a classic beauty is preferred instead of the “edgy” types that are common for thinner models). And you have to be well proportioned. A size 12 Plus model still likely has long legs and a 10 inch difference between her waist and hips. They are a very specialized type, and most size 12 to 16 women don’t qualify for it.
3. Models look like models. Your whole life people have been telling you that you ought to be a model.
The trouble is, unless the person telling you that is a fashion designer, a fashion magazine editor, or a creative art director at an advertising agency, what they are telling you means no more than “you are good looking”. “The look” (and other things it takes to be a model) is a lot more demanding than simply being “good looking”. Most people have no idea what it really takes or how to recognize it when they see it.
When someone tells you you look like a model, the right answer is, “Thank you”. You need to understand the background of the person who made the comment. Are they associated with the business at all? If not, ignore them. Are they simply “scouts” who don’t work for a legitimate agency (or worse, never did)? Ignore them. There are only two kinds of people whose advice counts:
a. Someone with nothing to gain by giving the advice, but who is an industry professional who really is involved in choosing models for real work, or
b. Someone who has something to lose if they are wrong. Real, legitimate agencies have limited resources and limited numbers of people they can represent. They can’t afford to be wrong very often (although all of them are wrong some of the time). Their livelihood depends on making you, or someone like you, successful.
Your family, friends and people on the street don’t have to make you successful. They just want you to like them. Scammers don’t have to make you successful. They just have to get into your wallet.
4. You can be flown in to modeling jobs. You think they hire all those high-cheekboned, tall skinny white girls in Morocco when they do the shoot there? Of course not. They are flown in for the job.
But they aren’t flown in from North Dakota or Ohio. First they have to get hired, and that means being where the casting takes place: New York, Milan, London or some other major modeling city. You have to be where the work is to get it.
It’s true that models can be “direct booked” by clients and flown in based solely on their composite cards or pictures on a website. For catalog work shot outside of major market cities that is reasonably common, and it happens once in a while for other types of modeling. But almost inevitably, the model is flown in from a major market city (through an agency there) like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. They don’t fly from small cities to do mainstream modeling work.
5. You need a portfolio of modeling pictures. Virtually every professional model (at least print and fashion models) have a portfolio, and it is vitally important to some of them. If you want to be a professional model, you need one.
Most fashion models do need portfolios, and often other types of models do too. They do help you to get a good agency, if they are well done. But most people who get portfolios before they get an agency waste their money. The book hurts them, not helps, unless it is exactly what it needs to be. And a lot of models are accepted into an agency before they have a portfolio.
6. Modeling is a learned skill. Any fashion photographer will tell you that it makes a huge difference to be able to work with an experienced, talented model.
It’s true that a skilled model is much easier to work with and more likely to get work. But it’s also true that most professional models have no training. They learn on the job (all of them had a first professional job at some point) or with test photographers. Sometimes special skills are needed, and agencies will arrange for models to get them free, or at modest cost.
“Modeling classes” are almost never required, and most legitimate agencies and clients prefer than a model not take them.
7. The agency photographer is chosen because he knows how to take the kinds of pictures we need. Models are notorious for being unable to make good choices of photographers or photographic style. They don’t know what they really need, who can provide it, and how to make sure they get it from a photoshoot.
That’s true, and it’s often even worse. Outside the major markets there may be no more than one (or perhaps there is no) photographer in the area who can reliably deliver the kinds of pictures the models need. Even in a city like New York there are lots of photographers who would love to take your money but aren’t competent to deliver what you need. One of the primary jobs of a good agency is to find good photographers, make sure they know what is required for models, and make them available to you. If they don’t do that, you are likely to waste a lot of time and money on inappropriate pictures.
It’s also true that scammers often arrange kickback schemes with photographers, and make a lot of their money by getting you to shoot with their photographers. Those pictures may or may not do you much professional good. From the scammer’s standpoint it doesn’t matter, since your check cleared and he isn’t much worried about you getting modeling work anyway. A legitimate agency is highly motivated to send you to photographers who can get you what you need to be successful. A scammer isn’t.
8. You can be seen by hundreds of agencies and casting directors from a website. Modeling sites get used by legitimate agencies for recruiting models, and there are legitimate modeling jobs that get cast through online model listing sites.
For decades there have been people telling new models that they should buy space in their magazine or book that they claimed was sent to casting directors and agencies all over the country. A few of those still exist, but they have largely been replaced by companies with websites that promise to “get you exposure” to the same people.
To a limited degree, some of them can. There are a small number of websites that have relationships with legitimate agencies who do actually use the sites to recruit models. Once in a while a client with a modeling job will try to cast it by finding models on the web. Inevitably they are the lower paying clients who have decided not to pay agency model rates, and who are very unlikely to fly anyone in for a job. They will cast locally.
It seems like a good idea. The web is a wonderful communications tool that is used by the agencies themselves, so why not market yourself on it?
You should, but only at very low cost and with low expectations.
The vast majority of people who pay to be on a “model exposure” web site get no agency contracts and no work from it. The reasons for that are beyond the scope of this essay, but most of the more experienced clients and agencies are well aware of them. If you have to pay a nominal amount ($50 or so) it may be worthwhile on the better sites, but what most people will get from the expense is the lesson that nobody is interested in signing or hiring them. Even then, choose the sited carefully. If the site is primarily oriented to glamour and nude modeling, it’s not likely you will get mainstream agencies making you an offer from it.
9. You can find out if an “agency” is a scam by checking with the Better Business Bureau. If it has a lot of complaints and an unsatisfactory rating, you ought to ask a lot of hard questions before dealing with them.
It’s usually true that a really awful scam has a bad rating with the BBB. But frequently, for a variety of reasons, they will give “satisfactory” ratings to companies that have a lot of problems with the public. As of this writing there is a “model agency” in New York City that is the subject of two class action law suits and a Federal criminal investigation. The BBB shows them as “satisfactory” and with no complaints filed. Another agency has delayed payment to its models by a year or more, has been doing it for several years, and is the subject of legal action. They have the same "satisfactory" rating with the BBB.
If a company has a really bad BBB report, that means something. If the BBB says they are “satisfactory” you should never rely on it.
All of the “myths” italicized above are true, and all of them are used by the scammers to get your money. They want you to take their classes, pay for their pictures, pay to be on their web site or for whatever other kinds of things they can find to separate your wallet from its contents. They will even find authoritative sources to tell you these things. Why not? They are, after all, true!
Only by understanding the very narrow circumstances in which each of those myths is true can you keep from spending money uselessly in pursuing a modeling dream.
The Scambuster Myths:
Throughout the country there are organizations devoted to consumer protection. Some of them have a broad charter and the modeling industry is only one of many that they try to regulate; others (particularly on the internet) are specifically devoted to modeling. Sadly, few of them have people with a deep understanding of the industry they are commenting on.
Governmental (Federal Trade Commission, Departments of Consumer Affairs, Attorney General Offices and the like) and quasi-governmental organizations (such as the Better Business Bureau) rely on three primary sources of information: consumer complaints, the press, and sometimes interviews with people in the industry. That tends to expose them to real information, but they get a strong bias because of the limited sources and experience they have.
Internet “scambuster” websites rarely are staffed by people who have actually worked in the industry (except, sometimes, as models). They rely on some of the same information sources, but can have even less confidence in what they hear. If a BBB or city prosecutor’s office hears of a complaint, they can be reasonably sure they know who it is coming from and that there is some accountability for the information. The internet lends itself to anonymous, often false assertions from people who are not who and what they claim to be and have a personal hidden agenda. It isn’t surprising that most of the false, lurid information comes from the internet.
That said, there is a lot of useful information available from these sources. You just have to understand its limitations and not put too much trust in what you are hearing.
For the most part these organizations are well-meaning and sincere in their desire to help (although there have been some examples of very nasty personal agendas being pursued by the owners of some internet “scambuster” websites). But well-meaning or not, few of these sites organizations really understand the advice they give, and they usually present it in a way that can sometimes make matters worse.
Even when they do understand, there is a natural tendency for organizations who try to educate the public to package their message in nice, clear, easy-to-understand messages. People don’t want to spend their time reading 7,000 word essays on the modeling industry. They just want to be told what they need to know to make a decision. So the scambusters rush in to help. In the process they create a whole new set of myths and misunderstandings.
You might ask yourself “Why do we care?” After all, anyone who reads that stuff will be a lot more able to avoid the scams, and isn’t that the point?
No, it isn’t. The point is to be as successful as you can be as a model, with as few mis-steps as possible. To spend less money than the scammers would want you to spend, but to invest wisely and not fail to do the things you should simply because you are afraid of getting caught in a scam. Unless you are very careful that does make it a little more likely that you will get caught in a scam, but also makes it more likely that when opportunity really arises, you will be prepared to take advantage of it.
So let’s take a look at some of the things the scambusters say about agencies and model searches, and try to put them into context. All of this underlined advice is taken from books, pamphlets or websites of organizations who try to protect models from scams:
1. There are standards of behavior in the modeling industry. If an agency doesn’t meet those professional standards, they may be a scam.
The modeling industry is diverse, and people entering it generally don’t understand how it all works. Even people who have worked in the industry for years may not appreciate how another segment of the market works. Editorial fashion agency employees, for instance, rarely understand how the commercial print business works, and the reverse is equally true. What is true in Colorado isn’t true in New York.
2. Most new female fashion models are tall, slim, at least 5'8," and ages 14-19.
That is true in New York City, and to a lesser degree in Miami, LA and Chicago. But most models aren’t fashion models, and most models aren’t in those cities. Where is the discussion of other types of modeling and other locations, and their requirements? All too often these commentators act as though there was only one kind of modeling, and seem to suggest that if you don’t meet those requirements, you can’t be a model. That’s not true.
3. Models are discovered at free open calls. You don’t have to spend money to be discovered.
Certainly some models are “discovered” at open calls. That’s why many agencies have them. But many agencies don’t even have open calls, and those that do usually find that they don’t get very many useful models at them. New York fashion agencies may search worldwide for models, going to model searches (or in some cases, sponsoring them), advertising for models in trade-related publications and the internet, through mail-in submissions from models, and through networks of relationships with other agencies and (yes) modeling schools.
The scambuster wants you not to spend money on expensive model conventions and schools, but to meet that goal they greatly misstate the way the industry actually works.
4. Modeling agencies are not interested in most new models who do not live near the agency.
This is misleading. Commercial agencies, and agencies in smaller markets, do feel that way. Fashion agencies do not. They are perfectly willing to scout worldwide for models, and do. At some point the model will have to travel to where the agency is, but that isn’t the same as what the "scambuster" said, and it need not be a permanent relocation.
5. Non-professional snapshot photo submissions by regular mail with the aspiring model wearing little if any makeup. Modeling agencies do not want or need professional photography until the model gets representation. Never pay a lot of money to have photos taken unless you already have an agent and she has directed you to have them taken.
This is much more true for fashion agencies than commercial. Commercial agencies generally prefer models who already have professional pictures, including makeup, and often would prefer that they also have a good composite card.
It’s common for an agency to throw out some or all of the professional pictures a model has and start fresh. From that you could conclude that the professional pictures were a waste. But that may not be true. The point of the pre-agency pictures is not to get work, but to get noticed. The pictures to get you work come later.
It’s always wise to try inexpensive approaches to agencies first. Sometimes they work, and when they do a lot of money can be saved. It’s also true that agencies have seen lots of “professional pictures” which make the model look worse, not better, than simple snapshots would.
But when the simple, cheap ways of trying to get representation don’t work, you need to do something else. One reasonable thing to do is to stop trying to work as a model. You’ve sent in your pictures or gone to an open call. They haven’t taken you. There is a message there that you should pay attention to.
The modeling world is full of stories of highly successful models who persevered and were accepted after many rejections. Sometimes the right pictures did the trick. So if you are absolutely determined not to take no for an answer, a possible approach is to have good professional pictures done.
In doing that, you have to be careful to get the right kinds of shots. You have to know what the agencies you are interested in want to see, that you can look like that, and that you are working with a photographer who can make you look like that. That takes some research, but it can be done, and it can help.
6. Even if a model search is legitimate, you still need to be on your guard.
There are a lot of problems wrapped up in that one short sentence, even though it is true. First, what is meant by a “legitimate” model search? Some clearly aren’t legitimate: they have little to do with finding models for good agencies and lots to do with selling something to the models.
But what to make of the searches that honestly do bring dozens of real, legitimate booking agencies to look at their models? These can be run by modeling schools, the agencies themselves or by independent companies. One thing seems universally true: the vast majority of the people competing in the search are not ever going to be signed by those agencies, and a lot of them have no reasonable hope of ever being signed. Still, the agencies get a respectable percentage of their new models from these kinds of searches. Are they a scam? That seems too harsh; they do deliver what they promise to deliver, and most of the better ones make it clear that a lot of the competitors won’t be successful.
7. Searches attract unscrupulous photographers who come and take pictures of the participants and then try and sell the photos to them at exorbitant prices.
It’s pretty much never true that pictures taken at these events will end up being useful in a model’s portfolio or composite card. If the search firm or photographer says they will be, that looks a lot like a scam. But if they are simply mementos of an event they are no worse than the photographer at a theme park who sells you shots you can take home with you to remember the experience. The consumer ought to buy them, or not, on that basis.
8. The agency pays the cost for photos and photo sessions up front, and the model reimburses them when she starts working.
This might be true, but only sometimes and with some agencies. It used to be common for New York, Los Angeles, Miami and other large market fashion agencies to advance (not pay for) pictures for models and then take the costs back out of the model’s earnings. That is less true now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, and it has never been true at many very good commercial and smaller market agencies.
Pictures are an investment in a model’s career, and many agencies cannot afford to make that much of an investment for as many models as they represent. That’s the model’s responsibility.
There is another consideration. Model agencies deliver more than models to their clients. They also deliver reliability – something a client doesn’t get when working with independent models. The agency will guarantee that their models will show up, on time and ready to work. From long, painful experience they have learned that a model who has invested in her own career is much more likely to be reliable than one who has had everything given to her.
9. Modeling agencies do not charge any upfront fees. They do not make any money from a new model until the model works. Commissions are an agency’s only source of income from models.
As a matter of actual practice, this is not true. It should be true, and in some agencies it is true. But it often is not, and models need to know it and decide what their reaction to it should be.
In New York it is common for even top model agencies to make money through a variety of charges they make to models. One example is “models apartments”, which are owned, operated or leased by the agency and the model is charged an inflated rate per month to stay in them. Even if the model never gets work, the agency makes money from the apartment fees. They may charge an inflated amount for courier and copying services too, and there are other similar examples. They frequently will also charge a model for inclusion in the agency headsheet book or web site.
It can be worse. In many smaller cities there simply isn’t enough of a market for agencies to be financially viable solely on work they get for models. To make up the difference they supplement their income in other ways: by offering classes or taking profits from pictures, or by sponsoring a model into a “model convention” and taking a commission from the convention organizers. None of these things are desirable, but in many cities it is a fact of life. If you want to be an agency model there, you have to play by their rules. It’s the only game in town, and if the rules are forced to change, the agency will simply go out of business.
Nobody in the industry likes that situation, but it is true, and you may find yourself having to deal with it.
10. The modeling agency commission is 20%. (or 10%, or whatever the scambuster thinks the commissions ought to be).
Wrong. Different states have different practices and laws. If it’s an “agency” in New York, for instance, it is limited to 10%, but there are no significant true modeling agencies in New York City (they are all “model management companies”). Generally, “management companies” charge more than “agencies”, and are less regulated or unregulated by the government. Depending on the circumstances and location, the “agency/management company” commissions in the US run from 5% to 25%, and overseas can be much higher. An agency commission of 40% to 50% in Europe and Asia is not uncommon.
11. Modeling contracts are exclusive.
Wrong. Modeling contracts may be exclusive or non-exclusive, and if exclusive may be limited by time, geography or type of modeling. Why anyone would think they are all exclusive is beyond comprehension, but some people who write about these things seem to think so.
12. Never sign an exclusive contract.
The bottom line is that you will have to sign whatever contract you are given, in most cases, or be unsigned. There are both good and bad features to being exclusive with an agency (for instance, an agency is much less likely to invest in you if you are not exclusive to them).
You may have to make a choice between an agency that has exclusive and one with a non-exclusive contract, and you need to understand all of the pros and cons of each offer. Simply deciding not to sign an exclusive could cost you a wonderful opportunity, or it could keep you from making a horrible mistake.
13. Modeling contracts last one-year and roll over to the next year unless terminated by the model or agency.
Many scams or predatory schools or “agencies” will try to get models to sign multi-year exclusive contracts and take unfair advantage of the leverage that gives them.
But the advice is wrong. Modeling contracts are whatever the individual agency says they are, and they vary widely. Some do not have a definite expiration date. Some are cancelable at will. Some are for several years. Some automatically renew, others do not. Some agencies will negotiate terms of their contract – at least with some models – and others will not.
14. Payment to models by modeling agencies should be within 30 days of receiving payment from the client.
It is, sadly, not unusual for model agencies (even some well-known ones) to hold models’ money for a long time after they get it from the client. Certainly they should pay the model within 30 days (or a lot less) if they are treating their models fairly.
Many agencies, especially fashion agencies, pay even before the payment is received by the client (sometimes after taking an additional percentage for the privilege). Others pay within a week or 10 days of receipt from the client. Union rules require payment within two weeks on acting jobs. There is no single “standard”.
15. Modeling agencies do not require the use of a specific photographer, or manipulate models to use a particular photographer.
Many agencies will maintain a “recommended photographer” list, often with many names on it, that they can give to their models. When feasible, that is preferable to having a single photographer that is used by the agency.
Still, the advice is too strong. Many very good agencies either require models to use a particular photographer or choose from a list. Some even make the appointments for the models. Scams also do this, of course, but the fact that the agency does it does not mean they are a scam or do not meet “industry standards”. Often there are very good reasons for the practice by the agency.
16. Modeling agencies do not charge or collect money for photography, comp cards, etc. Payment for photography, comp cards, etc., is made directly to the photographer and printer.
Often this is not true. Some very good agencies do in fact collect the money from the models and disburse it to suppliers – it’s easier on the models and gets things done more reliably. Some charge a markup for the service, some do not. And some (not all) scams also do this. Still, the fact that an agency does it doesn’t mean it is a scam, it just means to pay attention.
17. Portfolios are not made before a model gets representation or at the beginning of a model's career; they are largely the collection of their published work (e.g., tear sheets) over their career.
Again, often not true. A portfolio is a living document which changes frequently during the course of a model’s career. It is common for an agency who takes a new model to throw out most or all of the contents of the existing portfolio and have new shots created which reflect the vision and image of the agency. They may or may not include tear sheets. A model may or may not need a portfolio to get representation. Blanket statements that they do not are misleading.
18. Modeling agencies do not require attendance at or graduation from modeling schools as a condition of representation. Modeling agencies are modeling agencies only, not modeling schools and modeling agencies.
In the larger markets this is true. In fact, most model agencies would prefer a model NOT attend a modeling school. Still, schools are a significant source of new talent for the agencies, and they usually coexist and cooperate with the schools because it is in their interests to do so.
As noted above, in smaller markets it isn’t uncommon for the best (or only) agency in town to also require modeling classes to qualify for representation. If that happens to you, you have to look at it as what it is: a fee you have to pay for the privilege of being represented, not as money spent to acquire skills you need. Whether that fee is worth it to you or not should be looked at very carefully.
19. Reputable modeling agencies train their models free.
This is largely true, at least in larger markets, but some specialized paid training may be necessary. For instance, many modeling agencies compete not only for print (modeling) jobs, bur for TV commercials (acting jobs). Their models are more competitive if they have received some training on how to be a commercial actor. That kind of training often exceeds the in-house resources of a modeling agency, and they may recommend or require their models to take a commercial acting class, usually at modest cost.
20. Local modeling agencies are also placement agencies, promoting models to larger market modeling agencies. They neither wait for, nor send them to, modeling conventions to get discovered by leading agents; nor do they split fees with the modeling conventions.
This is true of the better local agencies, but hardly true of all agencies. Many local agencies rarely have an “international quality” model come through their doors, and don’t have well established relationships with agencies in larger markets. Many “modeling schools” and predators do have those kinds of relationships, and they use them to milk even more money out of the model after she has paid for classes, overpriced photos and comp cards, and attendance at a modeling convention.
And, sadly, many real local agencies do use the modeling conventions as an income source. If your local agency says they are waiting six months to take you to a “modeling convention” (or send you to New York, Los Angeles or Milan), it may be for any of several reasons:
a. You have no chance of actually being selected at the convention, but they want the money for sending you there.
b. You might have a good shot at “the majors” but the school wants to get as much money from you for classes as they possibly can get.
c. You need some development: good pictures, experience in front of a camera, or maturity. When you are ready they will take you.
Your job as a model is to understand the real reason for the delay, and why they are taking you where they are. If they are a good, booking agency (or, perhaps, the only good, booking agency) near you, you need to decide what to do about it. Simply hollering “Scam!” frequently isn’t the right answer, and finding another local agency might not be possible. Do you want this badly enough to allow them to make money from you this way?
21. Modeling agencies do not need or ask for professional photography to represent infants and small children, only snapshots.
Children change rapidly, and keeping up with that is an onerous burden if you have to get complete portfolios or comp cards done every year or so. Agencies and clients know that, and they are usually much less demanding of pictures of children than they are of adult models.
Still, the statement is not always true. Professional pictures are sometimes required, although they usually need not be as extensive or expensive as an adult model will need. It depends on the expectations of that particular market, and in a small city a good agency will often set those expectations.
22. Sources of agency referrals can include friends, the telephone book, or model/talent associations such as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
SAG maintains a website that lists franchised agencies, as does their sister union, AFTRA (see the sites at http://www.sag.com and http://www.aftra.com). In most areas the franchised agencies have been, for the most part, better than non-franchised, although in recent years contract disputes have led many excellent agencies to become non-franchised.
Still, SAG has nothing to do with print modeling and isn't competent to recommend a commercial print or fashion model agency. Friends might be able to, if they happen to be in the industry, but otherwise they are a pretty unreliable source. The telephone book contains every scam "agency" in town, but not a lot of the real ones. Good agencies are more likely to appear in the Business-to-Business book (f there is one), not the consumer yellow pages.
23. Modeling agencies are required to have a license issued by. . . [fill in your own favorite state licensing agency.]
The scambusters would have you believe that a good agency has to be licensed, but that’s not always true. Most of the best-known and most successful “model agencies” in the country don’t have licenses.
Some states require agencies to be licensed, and the law is written and enforced so tightly that anyone performing agency-like functions, including search firms, has to have a license. Some states have a licensing requirement, but as a practical matter a lot (or all) of the “agencies” who book work for models are “management companies” who don’t have a license. Some states don’t require a license at all.
In at least one state, modeling schools have to be licensed, but agencies do not. That results in a situation where the “agency” with the license is worse than the one without.
24. Ask for the names, addresses and phone numbers of models and actors who have secured successful work — recently — based on the company's training.
The hard part of this piece of advice is that a legitimate agency will (unless they are very new) have lots of models that they have gotten work for. If they don’t, you should be very, very careful in dealing with them.
Still, this advice is extraordinarily unrealistic. One of the functions of a good agency is to protect the privacy of their models. Under no circumstances should they release the names and phone numbers to the public. There is a little less of a problem with releasing contact data for clients, but no agency wants a bunch of models calling up their clients for references. That’s a quick way to lose clients.
This is hardly the whole list. There are countless pieces of advice given to models to avoid scams. Some of that advice is well done. Some, as noted above, is misleading. Sometimes you even need to decide if you want to allow yourself to be “scammed” just because you want to do this so badly and there is no other way.
Again, why does this matter? Because every good agency has had some promising model come in, listen to what they had to say, and be told that the model thinks they are a scam. She knows it, because the agency refused to give her names telephone numbers for their clients and successful models, “isn’t licensed” or told her to do something she has been told scammers will tell her: to sign an exclusive contract; to pay for her own pictures; to go to the photographer an agency tells her to go to; to let the agency pick the shots for her portfolio and comp card, and charge her for getting the card made; and a dozen other things that good agencies routinely do, and scammers do too. Agencies get tired of the accusations, and the models lose out on good opportunities, because they don’t know what they really should expect from an agency.
There are reliable ways to tell if you are dealing with a scam. Mostly it’s making sure of this simple fact: The agency spends a lot of effort to get models work. All of the other things are a variable, and you may have to accept some things that are “scamlike” if you want to be in the business. That fact isn’t pretty, but it’s the truth.
* - Some Notes:
All of the discussion here pertains to “agency style” modeling: fashion, commercial print, catalog, showroom, and fit modeling. It does not pertain to the burgeoning category of “glamour/nude modeling” which has taken on a whole different character since the advent of the internet. Neither is it very appropriate to promotional modeling, which typically does use agencies, but which operates very differently.
The essay also mostly applies to modeling in the US, except where specified. Similar concerns come up in other countries, but are in a different context that may not be appropriate to this discussion.
Throughout this discussion we will use the commonsense term “agency” to mean both true agencies and model management companies which perform the functions of an agency. The difference between them is a discussion for another time.
H.L. Mencken once said, "For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong."
Mencken was an optimist.
The purpose of this essay is to present some truths about the modeling industry and the scams that infest it, and show that, even though you know “the truth” there is more to making good decisions about a modeling career.
Still, even though what is said here is true, everything said has an exception, and the scammers are relying on you to think you will be the exception.
Is there, for instance, a 5’5” fashion model who flies all over the world for jobs? Yes. Do you know why she has made it work where so many others haven’t? No, you don’t, and a scammer isn’t going to tell you. If you insist on believing you will be the 5’5” fashion model who lives in North Platte and flies in to do major campaigns and fashion shows, you are simply ripe for the picking.
This isn’t neat, it isn’t simple, and it isn’t easy. So sit down, open a can of something wet and cold, and be prepared to spend some time reading.
The Rise of the Myths:
There have been “model agency” (or “model search”) scams for nearly as long as there have been model agencies. What all the scams have in common is a plan to make money by taking it from the models, without having to go to the trouble of actually getting much work for the models.
This process is a chain reaction that ripples through several iterations. Real agencies create a market; scammers rush in to take advantage of the market; government bureaus, several nonprofit organizations and, lately, a number of books, articles and websites have all taken on the task of educating the public to avoid the scams.
At every one of those ripples, new myths are created. To be sure, most of these myths have a basis in reality – and that is what makes them so seductive. Simply read, the myths created by the agencies, the scammers, and the scam busters are all true. Unfortunately, the world is not simple. Myths are true only in certain circumstances, at some times and in some places. Most of the time they don’t apply to you, the reader who is trying to make sense of all of this. And without a little guidance, you can’t easily tell that they don’t apply to you. A good myth is seductive, doesn’t come with a user’s manual, and can hurt you if you don’t understand what it means.
And so we come to the next link in the chain of events caused by the rise of the fashion model industry. Someone has to provide the “user’s manual”, or context in which the consumer (or aspiring model) can tell not only what is “true” (most of the myths are true) but how it actually applies to the real world, and to you.
The Agency Myths:
To be fair, most of these myths are not created by the agencies themselves (although they are useful to the agencies). Rather, the media has created they hype and fantasy that describes what people think of when they think of “modeling”.
1. Modeling is Glamorous: Exotic locations, fabulous clothes, fancy parties and models at the pinnacle of desirability.
2. Modeling can make you fabulously wealthy. You don’t have to get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.
3. You can get discovered while doing everyday things. Sit on a stool in a soda shop, go shopping in the mall. The agencies will find you and make you a star.
Each of these is true, at least once in a long while. But for most models, most of the time, none of them are.
Most modeling is hard work, often in difficult locations and situations. Most of the time you aren’t modeling: you are trying get an agency, going to go-sees trying to get jobs, writing letters to agencies or clients, trudging to places you don’t want to be, to see people you don’t much like, all for the opportunity of being told “no”. By far the most common experience a model has is rejection.
Will you get rich as a model? Maybe. A few do, and quite a few more make a respectable living at it. But the vast majority of models don’t make nearly enough money to live on from modeling, and a large percentage don’t ever recover the investments they make trying to become a model. It’s not unusual for an aspiring fashion model to spend $10,000 pursuing a career that never takes off.
Can you get “discovered” just because you “look like a model”? Maybe. It happens. But the vast majority of models go to open calls at agencies, send pictures to everyone they can think of, beat the pavement and, lately, put up websites all while networking as much as they can. And is still doesn’t happen for most people.
The Scammer Myths:
A really good scam uses true statements to mislead consumers. That’s why it’s so hard to give good, simple advice on how to tell a scam from a legitimate agency. So scammers will tell you things that are true to get you to part with your money. They will tell you:
1. All kinds of people can be models. Models can be young, old, thin or fat, beautiful or a “real person”. They don’t have to be tall, skinny and teenagers.
Look at magazines (other then fashion magazines) and take a look at the people in the ads. Sure enough, you will find tall and short (though you may not be able to tell which is which), young and old, thin and heavy. A lot of the people in the ads don’t “look like models”. So you can do this too, right?
Probably not.
The particular “type” that tends to get hired is every bit as specialized as fashion modeling, and requires a trained eye to recognize. Most people outside of the industry don’t have that training, and often can’t easily describe what they are looking for. But it is still true that most people can’t be competitive as models.
One of the secrets of the modeling world: “Real people” as defined in modeling isn’t the same thing as what most people look like.
2. There is a market for Petite or Plus modeling. The industry has matured, retailers and designers realize that not everyone is tall and skinny, and they are using models who are heavier and shorter than the traditional fashion model.
There has been an increase in the number of “plus” models used in fashion, and there always have been “Petite” models (which means anyone under 5’8” tall) used. The market for “Petite” in fashion is very small, and virtually nobody can make a living at it. In many smaller cities there is virtually no market for Petite models. Even where there is, the competition is vastly greater; there are a lot more 5’6” girls than 5’10”. The chance of a shorter girl getting much fashion work is very small.
“Plus models” are used primarily in the larger market areas and are a significant subset of the market. But what the scammers don’t tell you is that Plus modeling is every bit as competitive and demanding as the more traditional fashion modeling. You still have to be tall (5’9” and above), you still have to be beautiful (usually a classic beauty is preferred instead of the “edgy” types that are common for thinner models). And you have to be well proportioned. A size 12 Plus model still likely has long legs and a 10 inch difference between her waist and hips. They are a very specialized type, and most size 12 to 16 women don’t qualify for it.
3. Models look like models. Your whole life people have been telling you that you ought to be a model.
The trouble is, unless the person telling you that is a fashion designer, a fashion magazine editor, or a creative art director at an advertising agency, what they are telling you means no more than “you are good looking”. “The look” (and other things it takes to be a model) is a lot more demanding than simply being “good looking”. Most people have no idea what it really takes or how to recognize it when they see it.
When someone tells you you look like a model, the right answer is, “Thank you”. You need to understand the background of the person who made the comment. Are they associated with the business at all? If not, ignore them. Are they simply “scouts” who don’t work for a legitimate agency (or worse, never did)? Ignore them. There are only two kinds of people whose advice counts:
a. Someone with nothing to gain by giving the advice, but who is an industry professional who really is involved in choosing models for real work, or
b. Someone who has something to lose if they are wrong. Real, legitimate agencies have limited resources and limited numbers of people they can represent. They can’t afford to be wrong very often (although all of them are wrong some of the time). Their livelihood depends on making you, or someone like you, successful.
Your family, friends and people on the street don’t have to make you successful. They just want you to like them. Scammers don’t have to make you successful. They just have to get into your wallet.
4. You can be flown in to modeling jobs. You think they hire all those high-cheekboned, tall skinny white girls in Morocco when they do the shoot there? Of course not. They are flown in for the job.
But they aren’t flown in from North Dakota or Ohio. First they have to get hired, and that means being where the casting takes place: New York, Milan, London or some other major modeling city. You have to be where the work is to get it.
It’s true that models can be “direct booked” by clients and flown in based solely on their composite cards or pictures on a website. For catalog work shot outside of major market cities that is reasonably common, and it happens once in a while for other types of modeling. But almost inevitably, the model is flown in from a major market city (through an agency there) like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. They don’t fly from small cities to do mainstream modeling work.
5. You need a portfolio of modeling pictures. Virtually every professional model (at least print and fashion models) have a portfolio, and it is vitally important to some of them. If you want to be a professional model, you need one.
Most fashion models do need portfolios, and often other types of models do too. They do help you to get a good agency, if they are well done. But most people who get portfolios before they get an agency waste their money. The book hurts them, not helps, unless it is exactly what it needs to be. And a lot of models are accepted into an agency before they have a portfolio.
6. Modeling is a learned skill. Any fashion photographer will tell you that it makes a huge difference to be able to work with an experienced, talented model.
It’s true that a skilled model is much easier to work with and more likely to get work. But it’s also true that most professional models have no training. They learn on the job (all of them had a first professional job at some point) or with test photographers. Sometimes special skills are needed, and agencies will arrange for models to get them free, or at modest cost.
“Modeling classes” are almost never required, and most legitimate agencies and clients prefer than a model not take them.
7. The agency photographer is chosen because he knows how to take the kinds of pictures we need. Models are notorious for being unable to make good choices of photographers or photographic style. They don’t know what they really need, who can provide it, and how to make sure they get it from a photoshoot.
That’s true, and it’s often even worse. Outside the major markets there may be no more than one (or perhaps there is no) photographer in the area who can reliably deliver the kinds of pictures the models need. Even in a city like New York there are lots of photographers who would love to take your money but aren’t competent to deliver what you need. One of the primary jobs of a good agency is to find good photographers, make sure they know what is required for models, and make them available to you. If they don’t do that, you are likely to waste a lot of time and money on inappropriate pictures.
It’s also true that scammers often arrange kickback schemes with photographers, and make a lot of their money by getting you to shoot with their photographers. Those pictures may or may not do you much professional good. From the scammer’s standpoint it doesn’t matter, since your check cleared and he isn’t much worried about you getting modeling work anyway. A legitimate agency is highly motivated to send you to photographers who can get you what you need to be successful. A scammer isn’t.
8. You can be seen by hundreds of agencies and casting directors from a website. Modeling sites get used by legitimate agencies for recruiting models, and there are legitimate modeling jobs that get cast through online model listing sites.
For decades there have been people telling new models that they should buy space in their magazine or book that they claimed was sent to casting directors and agencies all over the country. A few of those still exist, but they have largely been replaced by companies with websites that promise to “get you exposure” to the same people.
To a limited degree, some of them can. There are a small number of websites that have relationships with legitimate agencies who do actually use the sites to recruit models. Once in a while a client with a modeling job will try to cast it by finding models on the web. Inevitably they are the lower paying clients who have decided not to pay agency model rates, and who are very unlikely to fly anyone in for a job. They will cast locally.
It seems like a good idea. The web is a wonderful communications tool that is used by the agencies themselves, so why not market yourself on it?
You should, but only at very low cost and with low expectations.
The vast majority of people who pay to be on a “model exposure” web site get no agency contracts and no work from it. The reasons for that are beyond the scope of this essay, but most of the more experienced clients and agencies are well aware of them. If you have to pay a nominal amount ($50 or so) it may be worthwhile on the better sites, but what most people will get from the expense is the lesson that nobody is interested in signing or hiring them. Even then, choose the sited carefully. If the site is primarily oriented to glamour and nude modeling, it’s not likely you will get mainstream agencies making you an offer from it.
9. You can find out if an “agency” is a scam by checking with the Better Business Bureau. If it has a lot of complaints and an unsatisfactory rating, you ought to ask a lot of hard questions before dealing with them.
It’s usually true that a really awful scam has a bad rating with the BBB. But frequently, for a variety of reasons, they will give “satisfactory” ratings to companies that have a lot of problems with the public. As of this writing there is a “model agency” in New York City that is the subject of two class action law suits and a Federal criminal investigation. The BBB shows them as “satisfactory” and with no complaints filed. Another agency has delayed payment to its models by a year or more, has been doing it for several years, and is the subject of legal action. They have the same "satisfactory" rating with the BBB.
If a company has a really bad BBB report, that means something. If the BBB says they are “satisfactory” you should never rely on it.
All of the “myths” italicized above are true, and all of them are used by the scammers to get your money. They want you to take their classes, pay for their pictures, pay to be on their web site or for whatever other kinds of things they can find to separate your wallet from its contents. They will even find authoritative sources to tell you these things. Why not? They are, after all, true!
Only by understanding the very narrow circumstances in which each of those myths is true can you keep from spending money uselessly in pursuing a modeling dream.
The Scambuster Myths:
Throughout the country there are organizations devoted to consumer protection. Some of them have a broad charter and the modeling industry is only one of many that they try to regulate; others (particularly on the internet) are specifically devoted to modeling. Sadly, few of them have people with a deep understanding of the industry they are commenting on.
Governmental (Federal Trade Commission, Departments of Consumer Affairs, Attorney General Offices and the like) and quasi-governmental organizations (such as the Better Business Bureau) rely on three primary sources of information: consumer complaints, the press, and sometimes interviews with people in the industry. That tends to expose them to real information, but they get a strong bias because of the limited sources and experience they have.
Internet “scambuster” websites rarely are staffed by people who have actually worked in the industry (except, sometimes, as models). They rely on some of the same information sources, but can have even less confidence in what they hear. If a BBB or city prosecutor’s office hears of a complaint, they can be reasonably sure they know who it is coming from and that there is some accountability for the information. The internet lends itself to anonymous, often false assertions from people who are not who and what they claim to be and have a personal hidden agenda. It isn’t surprising that most of the false, lurid information comes from the internet.
That said, there is a lot of useful information available from these sources. You just have to understand its limitations and not put too much trust in what you are hearing.
For the most part these organizations are well-meaning and sincere in their desire to help (although there have been some examples of very nasty personal agendas being pursued by the owners of some internet “scambuster” websites). But well-meaning or not, few of these sites organizations really understand the advice they give, and they usually present it in a way that can sometimes make matters worse.
Even when they do understand, there is a natural tendency for organizations who try to educate the public to package their message in nice, clear, easy-to-understand messages. People don’t want to spend their time reading 7,000 word essays on the modeling industry. They just want to be told what they need to know to make a decision. So the scambusters rush in to help. In the process they create a whole new set of myths and misunderstandings.
You might ask yourself “Why do we care?” After all, anyone who reads that stuff will be a lot more able to avoid the scams, and isn’t that the point?
No, it isn’t. The point is to be as successful as you can be as a model, with as few mis-steps as possible. To spend less money than the scammers would want you to spend, but to invest wisely and not fail to do the things you should simply because you are afraid of getting caught in a scam. Unless you are very careful that does make it a little more likely that you will get caught in a scam, but also makes it more likely that when opportunity really arises, you will be prepared to take advantage of it.
So let’s take a look at some of the things the scambusters say about agencies and model searches, and try to put them into context. All of this underlined advice is taken from books, pamphlets or websites of organizations who try to protect models from scams:
1. There are standards of behavior in the modeling industry. If an agency doesn’t meet those professional standards, they may be a scam.
The modeling industry is diverse, and people entering it generally don’t understand how it all works. Even people who have worked in the industry for years may not appreciate how another segment of the market works. Editorial fashion agency employees, for instance, rarely understand how the commercial print business works, and the reverse is equally true. What is true in Colorado isn’t true in New York.
2. Most new female fashion models are tall, slim, at least 5'8," and ages 14-19.
That is true in New York City, and to a lesser degree in Miami, LA and Chicago. But most models aren’t fashion models, and most models aren’t in those cities. Where is the discussion of other types of modeling and other locations, and their requirements? All too often these commentators act as though there was only one kind of modeling, and seem to suggest that if you don’t meet those requirements, you can’t be a model. That’s not true.
3. Models are discovered at free open calls. You don’t have to spend money to be discovered.
Certainly some models are “discovered” at open calls. That’s why many agencies have them. But many agencies don’t even have open calls, and those that do usually find that they don’t get very many useful models at them. New York fashion agencies may search worldwide for models, going to model searches (or in some cases, sponsoring them), advertising for models in trade-related publications and the internet, through mail-in submissions from models, and through networks of relationships with other agencies and (yes) modeling schools.
The scambuster wants you not to spend money on expensive model conventions and schools, but to meet that goal they greatly misstate the way the industry actually works.
4. Modeling agencies are not interested in most new models who do not live near the agency.
This is misleading. Commercial agencies, and agencies in smaller markets, do feel that way. Fashion agencies do not. They are perfectly willing to scout worldwide for models, and do. At some point the model will have to travel to where the agency is, but that isn’t the same as what the "scambuster" said, and it need not be a permanent relocation.
5. Non-professional snapshot photo submissions by regular mail with the aspiring model wearing little if any makeup. Modeling agencies do not want or need professional photography until the model gets representation. Never pay a lot of money to have photos taken unless you already have an agent and she has directed you to have them taken.
This is much more true for fashion agencies than commercial. Commercial agencies generally prefer models who already have professional pictures, including makeup, and often would prefer that they also have a good composite card.
It’s common for an agency to throw out some or all of the professional pictures a model has and start fresh. From that you could conclude that the professional pictures were a waste. But that may not be true. The point of the pre-agency pictures is not to get work, but to get noticed. The pictures to get you work come later.
It’s always wise to try inexpensive approaches to agencies first. Sometimes they work, and when they do a lot of money can be saved. It’s also true that agencies have seen lots of “professional pictures” which make the model look worse, not better, than simple snapshots would.
But when the simple, cheap ways of trying to get representation don’t work, you need to do something else. One reasonable thing to do is to stop trying to work as a model. You’ve sent in your pictures or gone to an open call. They haven’t taken you. There is a message there that you should pay attention to.
The modeling world is full of stories of highly successful models who persevered and were accepted after many rejections. Sometimes the right pictures did the trick. So if you are absolutely determined not to take no for an answer, a possible approach is to have good professional pictures done.
In doing that, you have to be careful to get the right kinds of shots. You have to know what the agencies you are interested in want to see, that you can look like that, and that you are working with a photographer who can make you look like that. That takes some research, but it can be done, and it can help.
6. Even if a model search is legitimate, you still need to be on your guard.
There are a lot of problems wrapped up in that one short sentence, even though it is true. First, what is meant by a “legitimate” model search? Some clearly aren’t legitimate: they have little to do with finding models for good agencies and lots to do with selling something to the models.
But what to make of the searches that honestly do bring dozens of real, legitimate booking agencies to look at their models? These can be run by modeling schools, the agencies themselves or by independent companies. One thing seems universally true: the vast majority of the people competing in the search are not ever going to be signed by those agencies, and a lot of them have no reasonable hope of ever being signed. Still, the agencies get a respectable percentage of their new models from these kinds of searches. Are they a scam? That seems too harsh; they do deliver what they promise to deliver, and most of the better ones make it clear that a lot of the competitors won’t be successful.
7. Searches attract unscrupulous photographers who come and take pictures of the participants and then try and sell the photos to them at exorbitant prices.
It’s pretty much never true that pictures taken at these events will end up being useful in a model’s portfolio or composite card. If the search firm or photographer says they will be, that looks a lot like a scam. But if they are simply mementos of an event they are no worse than the photographer at a theme park who sells you shots you can take home with you to remember the experience. The consumer ought to buy them, or not, on that basis.
8. The agency pays the cost for photos and photo sessions up front, and the model reimburses them when she starts working.
This might be true, but only sometimes and with some agencies. It used to be common for New York, Los Angeles, Miami and other large market fashion agencies to advance (not pay for) pictures for models and then take the costs back out of the model’s earnings. That is less true now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, and it has never been true at many very good commercial and smaller market agencies.
Pictures are an investment in a model’s career, and many agencies cannot afford to make that much of an investment for as many models as they represent. That’s the model’s responsibility.
There is another consideration. Model agencies deliver more than models to their clients. They also deliver reliability – something a client doesn’t get when working with independent models. The agency will guarantee that their models will show up, on time and ready to work. From long, painful experience they have learned that a model who has invested in her own career is much more likely to be reliable than one who has had everything given to her.
9. Modeling agencies do not charge any upfront fees. They do not make any money from a new model until the model works. Commissions are an agency’s only source of income from models.
As a matter of actual practice, this is not true. It should be true, and in some agencies it is true. But it often is not, and models need to know it and decide what their reaction to it should be.
In New York it is common for even top model agencies to make money through a variety of charges they make to models. One example is “models apartments”, which are owned, operated or leased by the agency and the model is charged an inflated rate per month to stay in them. Even if the model never gets work, the agency makes money from the apartment fees. They may charge an inflated amount for courier and copying services too, and there are other similar examples. They frequently will also charge a model for inclusion in the agency headsheet book or web site.
It can be worse. In many smaller cities there simply isn’t enough of a market for agencies to be financially viable solely on work they get for models. To make up the difference they supplement their income in other ways: by offering classes or taking profits from pictures, or by sponsoring a model into a “model convention” and taking a commission from the convention organizers. None of these things are desirable, but in many cities it is a fact of life. If you want to be an agency model there, you have to play by their rules. It’s the only game in town, and if the rules are forced to change, the agency will simply go out of business.
Nobody in the industry likes that situation, but it is true, and you may find yourself having to deal with it.
10. The modeling agency commission is 20%. (or 10%, or whatever the scambuster thinks the commissions ought to be).
Wrong. Different states have different practices and laws. If it’s an “agency” in New York, for instance, it is limited to 10%, but there are no significant true modeling agencies in New York City (they are all “model management companies”). Generally, “management companies” charge more than “agencies”, and are less regulated or unregulated by the government. Depending on the circumstances and location, the “agency/management company” commissions in the US run from 5% to 25%, and overseas can be much higher. An agency commission of 40% to 50% in Europe and Asia is not uncommon.
11. Modeling contracts are exclusive.
Wrong. Modeling contracts may be exclusive or non-exclusive, and if exclusive may be limited by time, geography or type of modeling. Why anyone would think they are all exclusive is beyond comprehension, but some people who write about these things seem to think so.
12. Never sign an exclusive contract.
The bottom line is that you will have to sign whatever contract you are given, in most cases, or be unsigned. There are both good and bad features to being exclusive with an agency (for instance, an agency is much less likely to invest in you if you are not exclusive to them).
You may have to make a choice between an agency that has exclusive and one with a non-exclusive contract, and you need to understand all of the pros and cons of each offer. Simply deciding not to sign an exclusive could cost you a wonderful opportunity, or it could keep you from making a horrible mistake.
13. Modeling contracts last one-year and roll over to the next year unless terminated by the model or agency.
Many scams or predatory schools or “agencies” will try to get models to sign multi-year exclusive contracts and take unfair advantage of the leverage that gives them.
But the advice is wrong. Modeling contracts are whatever the individual agency says they are, and they vary widely. Some do not have a definite expiration date. Some are cancelable at will. Some are for several years. Some automatically renew, others do not. Some agencies will negotiate terms of their contract – at least with some models – and others will not.
14. Payment to models by modeling agencies should be within 30 days of receiving payment from the client.
It is, sadly, not unusual for model agencies (even some well-known ones) to hold models’ money for a long time after they get it from the client. Certainly they should pay the model within 30 days (or a lot less) if they are treating their models fairly.
Many agencies, especially fashion agencies, pay even before the payment is received by the client (sometimes after taking an additional percentage for the privilege). Others pay within a week or 10 days of receipt from the client. Union rules require payment within two weeks on acting jobs. There is no single “standard”.
15. Modeling agencies do not require the use of a specific photographer, or manipulate models to use a particular photographer.
Many agencies will maintain a “recommended photographer” list, often with many names on it, that they can give to their models. When feasible, that is preferable to having a single photographer that is used by the agency.
Still, the advice is too strong. Many very good agencies either require models to use a particular photographer or choose from a list. Some even make the appointments for the models. Scams also do this, of course, but the fact that the agency does it does not mean they are a scam or do not meet “industry standards”. Often there are very good reasons for the practice by the agency.
16. Modeling agencies do not charge or collect money for photography, comp cards, etc. Payment for photography, comp cards, etc., is made directly to the photographer and printer.
Often this is not true. Some very good agencies do in fact collect the money from the models and disburse it to suppliers – it’s easier on the models and gets things done more reliably. Some charge a markup for the service, some do not. And some (not all) scams also do this. Still, the fact that an agency does it doesn’t mean it is a scam, it just means to pay attention.
17. Portfolios are not made before a model gets representation or at the beginning of a model's career; they are largely the collection of their published work (e.g., tear sheets) over their career.
Again, often not true. A portfolio is a living document which changes frequently during the course of a model’s career. It is common for an agency who takes a new model to throw out most or all of the contents of the existing portfolio and have new shots created which reflect the vision and image of the agency. They may or may not include tear sheets. A model may or may not need a portfolio to get representation. Blanket statements that they do not are misleading.
18. Modeling agencies do not require attendance at or graduation from modeling schools as a condition of representation. Modeling agencies are modeling agencies only, not modeling schools and modeling agencies.
In the larger markets this is true. In fact, most model agencies would prefer a model NOT attend a modeling school. Still, schools are a significant source of new talent for the agencies, and they usually coexist and cooperate with the schools because it is in their interests to do so.
As noted above, in smaller markets it isn’t uncommon for the best (or only) agency in town to also require modeling classes to qualify for representation. If that happens to you, you have to look at it as what it is: a fee you have to pay for the privilege of being represented, not as money spent to acquire skills you need. Whether that fee is worth it to you or not should be looked at very carefully.
19. Reputable modeling agencies train their models free.
This is largely true, at least in larger markets, but some specialized paid training may be necessary. For instance, many modeling agencies compete not only for print (modeling) jobs, bur for TV commercials (acting jobs). Their models are more competitive if they have received some training on how to be a commercial actor. That kind of training often exceeds the in-house resources of a modeling agency, and they may recommend or require their models to take a commercial acting class, usually at modest cost.
20. Local modeling agencies are also placement agencies, promoting models to larger market modeling agencies. They neither wait for, nor send them to, modeling conventions to get discovered by leading agents; nor do they split fees with the modeling conventions.
This is true of the better local agencies, but hardly true of all agencies. Many local agencies rarely have an “international quality” model come through their doors, and don’t have well established relationships with agencies in larger markets. Many “modeling schools” and predators do have those kinds of relationships, and they use them to milk even more money out of the model after she has paid for classes, overpriced photos and comp cards, and attendance at a modeling convention.
And, sadly, many real local agencies do use the modeling conventions as an income source. If your local agency says they are waiting six months to take you to a “modeling convention” (or send you to New York, Los Angeles or Milan), it may be for any of several reasons:
a. You have no chance of actually being selected at the convention, but they want the money for sending you there.
b. You might have a good shot at “the majors” but the school wants to get as much money from you for classes as they possibly can get.
c. You need some development: good pictures, experience in front of a camera, or maturity. When you are ready they will take you.
Your job as a model is to understand the real reason for the delay, and why they are taking you where they are. If they are a good, booking agency (or, perhaps, the only good, booking agency) near you, you need to decide what to do about it. Simply hollering “Scam!” frequently isn’t the right answer, and finding another local agency might not be possible. Do you want this badly enough to allow them to make money from you this way?
21. Modeling agencies do not need or ask for professional photography to represent infants and small children, only snapshots.
Children change rapidly, and keeping up with that is an onerous burden if you have to get complete portfolios or comp cards done every year or so. Agencies and clients know that, and they are usually much less demanding of pictures of children than they are of adult models.
Still, the statement is not always true. Professional pictures are sometimes required, although they usually need not be as extensive or expensive as an adult model will need. It depends on the expectations of that particular market, and in a small city a good agency will often set those expectations.
22. Sources of agency referrals can include friends, the telephone book, or model/talent associations such as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
SAG maintains a website that lists franchised agencies, as does their sister union, AFTRA (see the sites at http://www.sag.com and http://www.aftra.com). In most areas the franchised agencies have been, for the most part, better than non-franchised, although in recent years contract disputes have led many excellent agencies to become non-franchised.
Still, SAG has nothing to do with print modeling and isn't competent to recommend a commercial print or fashion model agency. Friends might be able to, if they happen to be in the industry, but otherwise they are a pretty unreliable source. The telephone book contains every scam "agency" in town, but not a lot of the real ones. Good agencies are more likely to appear in the Business-to-Business book (f there is one), not the consumer yellow pages.
23. Modeling agencies are required to have a license issued by. . . [fill in your own favorite state licensing agency.]
The scambusters would have you believe that a good agency has to be licensed, but that’s not always true. Most of the best-known and most successful “model agencies” in the country don’t have licenses.
Some states require agencies to be licensed, and the law is written and enforced so tightly that anyone performing agency-like functions, including search firms, has to have a license. Some states have a licensing requirement, but as a practical matter a lot (or all) of the “agencies” who book work for models are “management companies” who don’t have a license. Some states don’t require a license at all.
In at least one state, modeling schools have to be licensed, but agencies do not. That results in a situation where the “agency” with the license is worse than the one without.
24. Ask for the names, addresses and phone numbers of models and actors who have secured successful work — recently — based on the company's training.
The hard part of this piece of advice is that a legitimate agency will (unless they are very new) have lots of models that they have gotten work for. If they don’t, you should be very, very careful in dealing with them.
Still, this advice is extraordinarily unrealistic. One of the functions of a good agency is to protect the privacy of their models. Under no circumstances should they release the names and phone numbers to the public. There is a little less of a problem with releasing contact data for clients, but no agency wants a bunch of models calling up their clients for references. That’s a quick way to lose clients.
This is hardly the whole list. There are countless pieces of advice given to models to avoid scams. Some of that advice is well done. Some, as noted above, is misleading. Sometimes you even need to decide if you want to allow yourself to be “scammed” just because you want to do this so badly and there is no other way.
Again, why does this matter? Because every good agency has had some promising model come in, listen to what they had to say, and be told that the model thinks they are a scam. She knows it, because the agency refused to give her names telephone numbers for their clients and successful models, “isn’t licensed” or told her to do something she has been told scammers will tell her: to sign an exclusive contract; to pay for her own pictures; to go to the photographer an agency tells her to go to; to let the agency pick the shots for her portfolio and comp card, and charge her for getting the card made; and a dozen other things that good agencies routinely do, and scammers do too. Agencies get tired of the accusations, and the models lose out on good opportunities, because they don’t know what they really should expect from an agency.
There are reliable ways to tell if you are dealing with a scam. Mostly it’s making sure of this simple fact: The agency spends a lot of effort to get models work. All of the other things are a variable, and you may have to accept some things that are “scamlike” if you want to be in the business. That fact isn’t pretty, but it’s the truth.
* - Some Notes:
All of the discussion here pertains to “agency style” modeling: fashion, commercial print, catalog, showroom, and fit modeling. It does not pertain to the burgeoning category of “glamour/nude modeling” which has taken on a whole different character since the advent of the internet. Neither is it very appropriate to promotional modeling, which typically does use agencies, but which operates very differently.
The essay also mostly applies to modeling in the US, except where specified. Similar concerns come up in other countries, but are in a different context that may not be appropriate to this discussion.
Throughout this discussion we will use the commonsense term “agency” to mean both true agencies and model management companies which perform the functions of an agency. The difference between them is a discussion for another time.
Friday, March 28, 2014
SHAMAYIM: "homemade" lighting
As a photographer I have a very keen idea of the shot in my head before I pick up the camera. Sometimes I simply can not get the professional studio equipment to "play nice" and read my thoughts and give me the tone i'm looking for. No matter how proficient I am with equipment knowledge it just doesn't give me the results I like. So I have to get very hands on and "create" the lighting I desire.
This can be as simple as going to Walmart and heading over to the lighting section in the home decorating department and purchasing a lot of different bulbs at various wattages. When you get on set, take the lights and just explore with them. Try different distances from your subject to provide you with intensity options. You'll know it works when it feels perfect. Creating your light source can be tedious but the hands on experience with it allows you to feel your art more intimately and get the results you want.
SHAMAYIM
www.shamayim.net
Follow me on instagram and twitter | @shamayim
Thursday, March 27, 2014
SHAMAYIM: My signature lighting style
The more technical use of the term chiaroscuro is the effect of light modelling in painting, drawing, or printmaking, where three-dimensional volume is suggested by the value gradation of colour or shade and the analytical division of light and shadow shapes—often called "shading". The invention of these effects in the West, "skiagraphia" or "shadow-painting" to the Ancient Greeks, traditionally was ascribed to the famous Athenian painter of the fifth century BC, Apollodoros. Although virtually no Ancient Greek painting survives, their understanding of the effect of light modelling still may be seen in the late-fourth-century BC mosaics of Pella, Macedonia, in particular the Stag Hunt Mosaic, in the House of the Abduction of Helen, inscribed gnosis epoesen, or 'knowledge did it'.
This technique of photography lighting is more often used in high fashion, editorial, and portrait photography. It does not compliment the mood element or emotion of commercial photography or beauty.
I personally perfer this style because of the emotional resonance effect. I believe that it elevates the image from being merely a photo copy of a subject to a genuine artistic expression.
Chiaroscuro enables me to explore the tones of my model's skin. I enjoy photographing models from many different ethnic groups and this style of lighting compliments the different tones of skin. Lighting reacts differently with darker skin tones then it would with lighter skin tones. Lighting also has an effect on the undertones (green, yellow, red).
High contrast lighting also brings out the details of the image. This works great for contrasting the fabrics of wardrobe, the texture of hair, the curves of body and facial features. The shadows and light balance each other to give dimension to all of the details that I wish to focus on.
This lighting style also has a wonderful way of assisting with story telling. Whatever is unnecessery to the plot of my intention the shadows hide, thus enhancing my viewers experince and allowing me to be a better director.
Pull out some art books and study the lighting techniques of some classical painters to add to your personal photography style. All art is simply sitting on the shoulders of the artist that have come before us.
-SHAMAYIM
The Universe is on our Side
www.SHAMAYIM.net
instagram and twitter | @shamayim
Google+ | +Shamayim Shacaro @
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)