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Agency Scams. Stop The Madness, please.
Agency scams Ok. It really is becoming annoying to see all of these agencies that are charging fees to sign 'the talent' and lately the 'photog'. And/or the aspiring talent must use only these additional services 'directly solicited by them to be represented. No others. Hell, in the last two years, you have these agencies that say, "Ohh, if you have professional pics, you can use them 'as long as they fit the look our agency wants'." And, what do you know? No one's pictures are ever the 'right look'. So, many agencies out here that acting like terrorists holdiing your modeling career hostage. List of problems: 1) You have non of the scences that you need. Yes, you need more than one. 2) You have NO clients. 3) You don't even have a booking department? That is what makes an agency an agency. 4) You drive an 89 Honda with engine trouble. I drive a new BMW. How in the hell can you help me? (Not trying to be materialistic... But, using imagery to make an in your face point.) 5) You've worked with eveyone under the sun. Don't tll me you book $500k annually for your A/R and, you can't show for it. This business is about imagery. 6) I have to pay a regisation fee. (paying anything to YOU is out.) 7) You are operating as a photo studio. ILLEGAL. a) You caown a studio that is 'seperate' from the agency. b) You CANNOT solicite the service. You can offer it. And, you must have at least one alternative to offer. c) You must use whatever photos that talentrovides you.If you wish to use them and you DO NOT like their images. Find a good tfp. Or pay for the talentsho oshoot. Or both of pay together. Work it out. 8) All of your existing talent looks like shit. I ended my last modeling contract in '01. I stepoed away and eorked behind the camea for some time. I came back and represented myself. Why? Well, from my career I've built contacts and knew perfectly how to network and gan more. It also helped that I'm a marketing pro. PlusI d somee homework. 2004. In Atllanta where out of a whopping 167 agencies promoting, scouting, etc., only 12 are fully liscenced, a few more (not sure how many, around 20) that have some liscences. And, of the 12 liscenced agencies only two are Fashion House Agencies booking outside ATL. Understandable considering this is a commercial market. Oh and the other semi-liscenced agencies, I found most of them to be the T&A or the Video/nightclub booking co's. So, no real income. So, yes, I decided to rep myself. And, did very well. Combination of pure luck and experience just to honest Three things I'm looking for from this post. - If you are an agency (no matter where) that charges for ANYTHING other than the agent's commission to talent, tell me why. And, are you Liscenced? (Who's bold enough to answer that?) - Any talent or photorapher feel free to add your experiences good or bad. Humorous or tragic. Yes, tragic. And, feel free to add to the list anything you think anyone reading this should know. I'm only speaking from my research, experience and the experience of others. - Finally, if you're a talent who has been or is constantly scouted by agencies and you want to know what to look for. Or if you want insight before you make decisions. Feel free to post your questions here. This forum is for you. Smart asses are also welcome. We need to hear the good and bad to let people know how much 'business' goes into show business. lol. R. Angelus Copeland Wrekka Stow Inc www .wrekkastowagency.com [email protected] An Entertainment Development and Public Relations Firm ..NOT a talent agency. Oct 08 05 11:14 am Link Pet peeves? "Double dipping" - charging models an agency fee and, at the same time, charging clients an agency fee. Actually illegal in some, but not all, places. "Chipping" - after getting both model fees, client fees and anything else moneywise they can suck out of a booking - agencies then start chipping at model's post-fees earnings for everything from comp cards to website placement to phone calls to fees for advances to holding model's payments to the last millisecond possible so the agency can collect the bank interest. Fuck, most of them act worse than doctors and lawyers the way they try to suck a model [and/or client] dry... and charge the model for coughing and licking stamps, supposedly on their behalf. Screw 'em - I'd rather do street castings. At least the model then gets 100% and I don't get stuck with a 20% client override fee either. Studio36 Oct 08 05 12:32 pm Link Fortunately, I have a model "mentor" who's a former model for Wilhelmina (NOT Wilhelmina Scouting Network) and I run EVERYTHING by him first. A few weeks ago, I was attempting to create an account on www.OneSourceTalent.com. They called me to visit their office for an 'open call'. I got there, and all of us there received the usual talk on how good their company is and how many calls they send their clients on and blah blah blah. Honestly, it all sounded REAL good to me. At the end of the mass meeting, they informed us that we'd all be seen for individual interviews. They told us that there are three levels of interviews and not everyone would make it. (I was feeling confident, so that didn't phase me.) During my interview that night, they said that I'd need to pay for photos taken by their photographer (I think they quoted the amount to be about $300.) The lady said she's recommend me for the second interview, and tried to get me to commit to coming in the following day for the second interview and pay for the photo shoot. Well, after I got out of the 'interview', I immediately called my Mentor and he told me to stay away. He said there's no way an agency should be asking for an upfront fee for photographs. Suffice to say, I haven't returned to OneSourceTalent. The moral of the story... Do your research. -CJ Oct 15 05 03:10 am Link Carl Ayers wrote: Funny you posted that story. I had a similar situation a few years ago, 2003, I believe it was. It was with this other modeling management company, whatever they want to call themselves. I received this business card on the street, the name of the company was Model 411. They asked to come for an open call, they make us watch a runway show while the room fills up with more people, then they start calling people, and those they dont call, they send them home. They called me, and they were going to see everyone individual to give them an "evaluation". So I go in the room and the lady is talking to me, but in a very demanding voice, like You dont look like you wanna be here, do you really want this, blah, blah, blah. I call it PRESSURE! Then she asks to see my teeth, and to stand up so she can see how tall I was. Now that I think about it, this agency, model management, was more than a SCAM, they were very unprofessional. Then she gives me a bunch of papers to sign, and she wants me to pay for this website comp card, that costs around 600 for the year, and then 14.95 per month for maintenance. She wanted me to pay right then and there, I told her I didnt have a credit card with me. Of course I lied, and I left that place and never went back. WHAT A SCAM!! Oct 15 05 07:02 am Link Carl Ayers wrote: Tell you what... as a photographer I KNOW the scams and scamsters in my local area and I have absolutely no hesitation about spilling the beans to any [particularly new] model I shoot that is shooting for an agency submission. Oct 15 05 07:41 am Link i love this had an agency call me an ask me what i would charge for a 3 look shoot gave them a price.......they were like do you supply mua? no but if i had to i can get one...but i think they want to get paid too. he was like damn.. 3 days later i got a call from the same agency telling me they had models that would really like to work with me.then asking if the price was correct .....i was like ":yes:" o ok well get back to you.... tick tock tick tock....2 weeks later havent heard nothing.....yawn... {hence} we really love your work but we want to make money off our models... they really want to work with you....will you drop your price.....? {nope} thats why im freelance .....you want me to work with you ...ill either own the rights and a release signed before shooting or you pay me.period.certain models/me dual rights.just depends. i gotta pay my bills too and this equipment was givin to me.... Oct 15 05 08:01 am Link Carl Ayers wrote: Yeah I got a call from them, i told them to screw off. agencies that ask for money up front are bad news. even john cassablancas are notorious for that cause of there modeling school. Oct 15 05 09:08 am Link On a slight tangent, I think that some people (particularly models) forget that the pre-shoot interview is a two-way interview. (Pre-shoot interview? What's that???) There, you're not only being 'interviewed', but you are also interviewing the photographer, agency, etc. to see if they match your vision and goals. You have to LISTEN to what is being said and READ READ READ what is being signed. Don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed and pressured. Sorry, just an FYI. -CJ Oct 15 05 02:18 pm Link Carl Ayers wrote: hmm... OneSource definitely has a bad rep... one of their scouts found me on the street this summer (ironically, this is what started me thinking about getting into modeling..) Oct 16 05 02:45 pm Link Thanks for backing me up on that story. For a moment, I thought I was the only one with a bad outlook on OneSource. I'm happy to see that we have a support group for people who have sworn off OneSource. -CJ Oct 16 05 04:24 pm Link Similar scams include guys with cameras pretending to be magazine publishers. They typically advertise on the internet in an attempt to recruit naive young females to pose for the cover of their soon-to-be-released magazine. Of course these guys NEVER offer pay, and try to get the girls to strip down as quickly as possible for them. Internet archives show the same recruiting ads for the "new magazines" have been around for the past 3 to 8 years,yet the magazine has never been published! That should be a strong clue that the offer aint real! Surprisingly, there are several guys that use this scheme in order to meet naive young women. As OBVIOUS as it is, along with the countless warnings about these scammers and others... it seems that there is a never ending line of new 'wannabee models' that have the stars shining so brightly in their eyes, that they refuse to use common sense and become blind to the fact that they are being scammed. Oct 17 05 10:43 am Link |
