Avoiding scams, scam artists, and wastes of time.

It's summer, the big horse races are over (that's not a race horse I'm told) and it's a fun picture. Nothing to do with the seriousness of this blog, just think it's fun.

So a while back I took pictures for someone who turns out what scammed, and in looking back I could kind of have seen some warning flags but honestly I'm just here to take pictures and get pictures to my clients. Not here to manage their careers, help promote them (past taking pictures), or really get involved and give more involved advice. I have a hard enough time managing myself between photos and work.

The point of this blog is to look at those warning flags as well as look at other things that go on which are either wastes of time or money or both. Keeping in mind my main focus has been models and more traditional commercial modeling and/or fashion modeling so some of these points may not apply to promotional modeling or acting.

So, the scam I was involved in was this. Two guys decided to talk themselves up as promoters who know a old fashion model out of state who can help their client into the industry. They end up taking a bit of money (although they paid me) and skipped town. The guy in question that was their client did have a good look and I hope he tried to do this locally, and I did get him the pictures.

But, let's look at this point by point here.


Being approached by someone who says they are a scout or can make you into a model. 

It is not unrealistic to be approached by someone who can say "I'm a scout and work with so and so and can get you in the industry". This happens all the time and sometimes the models blow up and become big (there was a 16 or 17 year old from Arizona in the past few years that went from skater girl with friends to the lead runway model for major designers in the course of a year). Although it's not super common,

A thing to keep in mind here is that a professional scout will have a business card, contacts, and ways to check into them. In fact I would be willing to bet they would love to be researched and vetted since they want to set themselves apart from the scammers. So if they say "I work with X agency" then call that agency up and see what they have to say.

What happened with the scam I was witness to is that the guys made up their contacts and no one ever followed up with checking them out. Again, I was hired to take pictures and as far as I knew or cared the story was good. Not really my part to check that out, although I would have if asked.


Being asked to give money to promote you as a model. 

So, normally, the scouts would make their model by referring the model to an agency and getting a cut of earnings or whatever they have as a deal with that agency. This works in a models favor if they want to move to a different market and not start over as their home agency would do some of the legwork to get them work, although the paychecks for the model may be a bit smaller.

That said, it's not really normal to pay a scout a ton of money or to pay an agency a ton of money. Normally things like photoshoots will be done outside of the agency, and comp cards and other stuff normally don't add up to more than a few hundred. If someone says "you can be a model with us" or "I can make you a model" and then mentions thousands of dollars, more than likely the only thing they can do and want to do is put money in their pocket.

Again though a lot of good legit agencies in town here have fees, but they aren't all that unreasonable.


Photographers saying "I can make you a model" or giving model classes for free or for a fee. 

This is the one I can't really figure out. The easy way to make someone a model is to point them to agencies. Why someone would want to take on more responsibility or even try to sell themselves as some kind of entry level promoter is beyond me. The only thing I can think of is they are the personality where they want to be validated by having people look up to them or take them more seriously.

The only people that can make you a model (at least for mainstream work) are at the agencies. If you want to learn about how agencies operate then you should talk to the agencies. Seriously, we have some that have been around for 10-20+ years, talk to them, see what they have to say.

Even free classes and stuff. I just really question what the persons motives are. Again, if you want to learn about the model industry then talk to the people who are actually in it, not some photographer giving free advice. Ok, I know I'm giving advice here, but again I'm not trying to manage someones career and mostly saying "talk to the agencies". Talking about those who will go on at length telling new models how it is, when they don't even come close to working in or around the industry.


Photographers saying "sign a release and it's a free shoot" or something. 

So this is what you have to be careful of as bad images or nude images or bad nude images can come back and bite you. This is also why I say that if you're starting out, just pay someone. That way you don't have to sign full releases (or any releases), don't have to worry about what's going to be done with the shots, you can get the images back within a reasonable amount of time, and you're set.

Testing, or TFP, or whatever they call it now days can be fun, can get good images, but it can also be a lot of work, get you a lot of bad images (Lord knows I didn't do great stuff when I started out) and can tend to getting you more naked and in more glamour poses. So not only is it a waste of time to get a portfolio built, but you have bad images floating around out there and the photographer more than likely has a release.


In closing. 

Just be careful, vet people, check out what they are saying, and don't pay someone a ton of money to promote you, and maybe don't sign any release any random photographer puts in front of you.

If you want a list of good solid agencies in town please email me.

After talking with a new model the other day.

Image has nothing to do with the post, other than it's getting warmer out and it's nice to think about summer and ice being off the lakes. 


I was talking with a new model the other day and she was wondering if an agency that asked for money up front was a scam and a agency that didn't ask for money which was sending her to castings wasn't a scam. Up front, this sounds like a open and shut case right? Money up front means red flags, where as someone taking you on without charging is normal? Well, although this could have been the case years ago, things are changing now and we need to look into the situation a bit more.

This isn't meant to be the end all be all of advice, I'm sure I've said some of this before, and I'm sure others have said some of this before, and it all gets back to asking questions when talking with agencies.


This agency asked up front for money?

You really have to look at the agency, the amount of money, and ask questions to figure this out. Way back in the day it was usual to take costs out of the first few pay checks talent had (this is really boiled down) where as now either the pay checks are lower or it's more competitive or a number of things that have moved agencies to ask for some of these costs up front. If the cost seems reasonable, and the request reasonable, then it's reasonable to assume we're on the up and up.

This would be around $100 to get listed on a website (may have to pay someone to plug your name into the site) or a few hundred for the layout and printing of compcards. This is on top of any photo shoot you would pay for, and styling for that shoot. Yes, modeling has costs, and these costs are normal.

Now some agencies in town don't charge, some do, and it's just a matter of talking to them and understand where they are coming from. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, just to be aware that these costs can be normal.


These agencies haven't responded yet, but this one has. 

So, part of the reason we call models "models" is that everyone can't be one. They are a "model" or something or another. If models were normal people we would call them "normal people" and anyone can do it. I'm not an agent, I don't have my finger on the whole pulse of the market here as an agent would, so I'm not going to get into who could or couldn't be a model. Just that if you want to do it, then give it a shot and see what happens. No harm done, never know until you try sometimes, and who knows what would happen? The worst thing you can do is not try, then you never know for sure if you could or couldn't have done it.

On the flip side there are A LOT of agencies here and other places who will sign up people whom they know will never be successful, ask for money up front, and maybe send the person out on a few fluff castings. So, if you have tried with the major agencies here and none of them were interested, it's really not productive to find someone that will pick you up. Because, someone will, you will pay them, and you may not get any work. Again, although everyone can try, not everyone can be a model.

I'm not going to list off local agencies that I trust publicly, but I will answer any emails asking about them.


I talked to X agency and they are exclusive. 

Some agencies like models to be exclusive with them, some don't. I know models who are in both situations as well as models who are with a few different agencies. It just depends on how you feel about the agency and if you want to work with them. This is a situation where you would need to sit down with them, go over the details, ask a lot of questions, and go from there. The agency may be a great place for you, or it may hold you back from other castings or going with (for example) both a print agency and more of an acting agency.

What I don't feel is a good reason is not being able to do test shoots or shoots on your own. Part of the reason to having an agent is that they are there not only to get you work but also help you with your development. Part of helping you would be to setup or approve additional photo shoots. This isn't because they are control freaks and want to manage every part of your life, just that they may have specific looks in mind for their models and wouldn't want them doing shoots with every Tom Dick and Harry that has a camera. Not to mention they wouldn't want their models signing any old release that may be presented to them to do a test shoot.

Either way, it's best to talk to the agency about this, see why they are doing what they are doing, and then deciding which is best for you going forward.


Photoshoots are expensive, which is why I am trying to do tests. 

I get this sometimes, or models trying to "test up" and yes, sometimes they can be great ways to build a portfolio, however most of the time they are more of a waste of time. For example,  why spend a year testing when more or less the same results can be had by paying someone $300-500 and having the images back within a few weeks? Sure, it's a bit of money, but within the month you could either have updated images to show to your agency, or have a good start to your portfolio when you contact agencies for the first time. Either way you saved 11 months, which may be worth the money.

Also, some photographers who aren't that great charge a lot of money and give you images that aren't that great. So it's best to really look at their work, shop around, and pay someone that fits your vision as well as that can deliver the type and style of shots you're going to need.

I've said this before many times, but professional images aren't needed in order to be first picked up by an agency. Yes, as a photographer I would rather have you pay me =) at some point, but understand that expensive images aren't needed to start out. The same applies to tests. I feel it's a flag, maybe a red flag, if a photographer says how they can get you in agencies or get you work if you pay them or shoot with them - not saying that never happens, just normally not the way it works. Usually these photographers who say that shoot glamor/nudes or just bad images and are easy to spot.


I live a few hours away, but still want to be a model. 

In short, part of modeling is going to castings, many castings. You may or may not get the job when going to these castings, but you definitely won't get the job if you don't go to these castings. Now yes, agencies can understand if you have a job or if you're a student or if something comes up, but generally the point is to go to castings. If you can't go, and things just aren't going to work out, then it may be best to wait and try modeling when you're living closer or when you can afford to take that time - or try to make that time and make that extra commitment.


I haven't talked to my parents yet... 

I get this from time to time. So three things just off the top of my head. 1) Somehow you're going to need to go to castings, depending on age parents may need to be involved for that. 2) If you're under 18 a parent or guardian will need to sign anything that needs to be signed. 3) There may be requirements for a p/g to be on set along with 1 and 2.

So in short, yes, you will need to talk to your parents and yes they will need to be on board if you're going to model. No way around that until you're 18.
 

I read online that... 

So there are a number of places online that give advice, suggestions, and information. As with this blog, anyone can write anything and get it online and sometimes (although not like this blog) it becomes popular. Although I do feel getting a background in a topic is important, it's best to ask a lot of those questions in person.

Examples are... (off the top of my head)

• Can I be a model? (This is why agencies have ways to submit images and contact them)
• How will I be paid? (Again, best asked in person as each has their own way of doing it and it could different even from client to client)
• I'm thinking of moving to a larger city in a few years? (There are a number of local agencies who have sent models out of state for work or have other contacts in larger cities)
• What kind of photos do I need to start? (As a photographer I will freely admit and have always said that you don't need to pay someone before contacting agencies, their specific requirements will be on their sites) 

We are lucky that in our area here we have some agents and agencies that have been around for a number of years. They know what they are talking about and would be more than able to answer any questions. Remember, it's their job to get models jobs, and they really do know what's best for models careers both locally and nationally. 

Again, being a model isn't for everyone and just by it's definition can't be for everyone. That doesn't mean it's not worth a try, but just that there is more too it than looking amazing and friends saying you should model.




Andrew Thomas Evans
www.andrewthomasevans.com | www.mplsfashion.com

New to modeling in Minneapolis Minnesota?

So, some may think that just because they are totally new to modeling that they won't get work or won't be successful. I just got word last week that a headshot client of mine a few months back, a gentleman in his late 40's to 50's was picked up by an agency here in town and got work. I think he did do some acting way back when, but nothing recently, and was pretty much new to it. This adds to what I keep saying, that a person only needs the desire to try more than anything else - and you never know what will happen unless you try.