Part 3: Modeling Q&A Amber's Quesitons

I've said this before and I'll say it again: I love answering your questions! The question for today comes from my reader Amber in Japan and she has asked a rather interesting question which we shall explore together.

Amber Chong23 December 2013 23:22

Hi LIFT

Thanks so much for sharing your stories! I never really knew much about showbiz and advertising (I guess that applies to most of us) and it's interesting to know what goes on behind those 15-30sec short clips. I intend to work for an advertising firm after graduation so all the information you have shared really comes in handy!

I have one more question though! How did you get an agent to find work for you? I can't seem to find an agency that doesn't charge its models for portfolios and training. I keep feeling like I'm getting scammed... I don't really want to be a full-time model, I just want to do some part-time work on the side, but the agencies don't seem interested in hiring these kind of models. Or maybe the city you live in matters?

Thanks for your question Amber. Now I am aware that you're in Japan and I can only answer your question in a British context as I live and work in London. But for what it is worth, allow me to try to offer some insight into the issue from a British perspective, okay? The Japanese system may be somewhat different.

On the issue of agents, you must be careful. There are so many rogue agents out there who are nothing short of con artists trying to make money from gullible people who are trying to make it in the industry. It is not easy to tell a con agent from a genuine one - the fact is some con agents will get you a little bit of work, if they just take the money off the models and get them absolutely no work, they wouldn't be able to keep up the masquerade. So rather than there being two clear cut categories of "real agents" vs "fake agents" - it is a sliding scale of corruption: some agents are absolutely clean and on the other end of the scale, there are totally corrupt clients and there are plenty somewhere in between the two extremes. Even the most corrupt agents may do some legit work to maintain a facade of respectability.

The moment you hear the words "portfolio" or "training" - run, run, run. Run away. Fast. Very fast. It is a scam - it is a total scam. I can't stress to you just how much of a scam it is. You should never hand over any money up front. I can accept that some agents have some element of costs involved when taking on a new client - these costs should be reasonable should only be recovered from the model's first job.

So for example, if a model doesn't have decent photos, the agent can arrange a photo shoot (this is usually done in a group, never on a solo basis) with a professional photographer in a studio. The cost of the shoot is then shared between the agent and the models involved and say if the agreed amount is £100 for the shoot, then that comes out of the model's first assignment. But quite frankly, if this is a proper agent who can get you quality paid jobs (which pay several thousand pounds per shoot), then it seems a bit petty for the agent to then charge the model £100 or £150 for the photo shoot really, when they will be making so much money out of the model in the long run. If you're not confident that you can recover even £100 from the model in the long run, then you shouldn't be taking on that model at all in the first place. The model can always have the option of saying, it's fine I'll sort out my own photos. As long as you can supply photos of an acceptable quality, there's no reason for the agent to insist on you using their photographer.

As for training, it is another big scam. So much of modeling comes down to having the right 'look', short of plastic surgery, there's little they can train you to help you get the job. If you have the right look, the director/photographer will gladly work with you even if you're inexperienced. If you don't have the right look, no amount of training is going to help. If someone is totally new to the industry, a good agent should sit you down and explain to you what auditions entail. I could probably go through that with you in a vlog or blog post if you want - but it is pretty straight forward.

There are some pretty straightforward tips which are so obvious, like make sure you arrive early just in case you cannot find the building and always read the casting brief so you turn up appropriately dressed. So if you know that the shoot has a white Christmas theme, you bring the appropriate winter clothing for the audition (and change when you get there) even if it is +24 degrees outside and warm. Always try to remember the name of the casting director so you can make a connection during the casting, even something like saying, "Hi Eleanor, how are you today?" It would make the casting director think, oh have I met this model before? S/he clearly knows my name, maybe I should remember him/her? Remember by the time it is your turn at the audition, the casting director may have already seen 50, even 100 models - so you need little things like that to make an impression. You will be asked questions like, "So Amber, tell us what you've been working on recently?" You should always have a two or three sentences ready to summarize your most recent work, rather than ramble on nervously. You should be calm and confident during the audition.

I could go on - but you get the idea, these are all 'tips' that an experienced model who has spent years in the industry can give you, indeed a good agent should offer you this advice for free rather than charge you for it. Even if it is useful information to any new model, it is useless information if you simply do not have the right look at will get you paid work. I hope that makes sense - I stress, no amount of catwalk training, make up training, posing training and all that crap can help someone if they simply do not have the right face/body for this industry. The con agents will try to convince you otherwise and that's when you have to be very realistic about this issue when dealing with the agents.

Now there are useful courses that you can take out there to deal with various aspects of performance, but these tends to be courses relevant to actors rather than models. The line between acting and modeling has blurred so much in the last ten years: plenty of actors turn up at modeling auditions and get modeling jobs and vice versa. So I'm not saying that all courses/training are scams designed to rip you off - but you have to be extremely realistic about what you want to get out of the course. Remember, good courses are run by experts in the industry, rather than agencies themselves so if a modeling agent tries to sell you a course, that's your cue to run away, quickly.

How much can you learn from a course when it comes to modeling?

How do the agents make money then? Simple. They take a cut of your earnings - the cut varies from between 10% to 20% depending on the nature of the work. In return, they find you the audition, deal with all the paperwork and ensure that you get paid. If there are any disputes, they will act on your behalf to resolve it. So if you don't work, they don't get to make any money. They will always try their best to get as much money as possible for you on the job - the more you get, the bigger their cut. The good agents are very transparent about exactly how much money changes hands, what their cut is etc - there are dodgy agents who take as much as 50% of a model's/actor's fee and that is nothing short of daylight robbery. Oh there are so many horror stories of actors/actors being ripped off.

The easiest way to find a good agent is through the word of mouth. You need to ask someone who is a successful working model and ask him/her, "who is your agent? Are they good to you? How long have you been with them? Can you recommend me to your agent and see if they will take me on?" A good agency is one who will be brutally honest with you - over the years, I have known of agencies reject people because they do not have the right look or simply look too 'common'. It makes me angry when I hear of agencies rejecting people if they don't have the right portfolio or photos - I just wanna scream, "you are just not good looking enough and you need a plastic surgeon, not a new photographer - just accept that you're too ugly for modeling lah!" Sorry if that sounds brutal but that is the truth that a lot of people don't want to hear - and they are the same people who fall prey to the sweet-talking con agents.

Be careful whose advice you take!

It's a brutal industry. Very cruel, very brutal.

As for full time versus part time models, good grief Amber. Where do I even begin man. Stop stop stop, let me explain to you how it works okay? Allow me to bring it right down to earth for you by using an analogy. I have a good friend Joe who fixes computers for a living. When there's something wrong with your laptop, you give Joe a call. He will come round and fix it for you at a very reasonable price. Joe is self-employed: he is dependent on people calling him up and requiring his IT skills in order to find paid work. Sometimes he is so busy that he has to apologize to some people for not being able to fix their computers (unless they can wait a few days), sometimes he goes for weeks without work if he cannot find any. He doesn't have a regular salary per se. Thankfully, he's been doing this for long enough and has a great reputation for what he does - so he does find enough work to sustain him financially.

So when Joe works, he earns pretty good money fixing computers. When he doesn't work, he doesn't earn a penny/cent/yen. Get it? Simple enough yeah? You with me so far Amber?

Computer won't connect to the internet? Quick, call Joe now!

Models are self-employed, like Joe. When they work, they usually earn pretty good money. When they don't work, they don't earn any money. It is really that simple. There is no such thing as a part time model or a full time model. Everyone is a self-employed model - so there are some models who work more than others, but the work is irregular (just like in Joe's case). Sometimes you're very busy, other times you go for weeks or even months without any work. Obviously, the more successful models do manage to get enough work to sustain them financially, so they don't need to do any other kind of job to make ends meet. Those who are less successful models often have another job on the side to make enough money to pay the bills - these models are in the majority in the industry.

Now my parents worked as teachers in Singapore (they are now retired). They were paid at the end of every month for the work they did as teachers - that is a very straightforward arrangement. Their work is guaranteed as long as the school is open and their services are required. No model receives a pay check or salary from the agency at the end of the month, the way my parents did when they worked as teachers. This is because no modeling agency in the world can guarantee a steady supply of work for any of their models - all they can do is send their models to as many auditions as possible and hope that they are successful at these auditions. There is an element of luck involved when it comes to these auditions as well, as discussed in my last piece.

Do you understand how self-employment works?

How does one get started in the industry then? Well all models start off at the same place. They sign up with an agency, they get their first job. They then get their second job and it may take a while before they start getting a steady stream of work. The more experienced you get, the more contacts you make, the easier it becomes over time to get more and more work. If you impress a photographer/director, they may like you and offer you work again in the future. Some models achieve success quickly, others struggle on for years. As for myself, I am perfectly content with getting a couple of good jobs now and then - I am under no illusions that I can make a living from showbiz alone. That is why I am hanging on to my day job in finance (which I am rather good at actually).

I am currently doing my tax return and have worked out that about 35.6% of my income came from acting/modeling in the last tax year. Of course, that doesn't mean that I spent 35.6% of my time working in showbiz as work in showbiz tends to be very well paid but such work is hard to come by. Some people may ask, hey if acting/modeling is so lucrative, if you can earn hundreds, even thousands of pounds a day in this industry, why don't you just give up your day job in finance and just work in showbiz full time? The answer is simple: my career in showbiz depends entirely on how successful I am with the auditions. There is an element of luck involved in that process - but a lot of it also depends on me having a good agent who sends me to the right auditions.

As for what kind of models the agencies want to hire - well the most obvious answer is beautiful models. Let's not beat around the bush here. You need to be tall and beautiful in order to make it in this industry. They also want to work with people who are available - let me explain: if you hold down a proper office job (say as an accountant), how are you going to make yourself available if your agent calls you up and says, "I have an audition for you next Monday at 10:45 am." They don't want to deal with someone who says, "sorry I can't make it, I have to be in the office then."

You see, I am very flexible with my work schedule as I work from home most of the time. Furthermore, I live in the West End of London, most auditions are walking distance from where I live. My bosses are also very flexible when it comes to me doing acting work because I am a contractor as well with them - when I work, I earn: when I take time off and go do acting (or go on holiday), I don't get paid a bean. I am very lucky to have worked this out because many models do very low-paid work (shops assistants, waiters, ushers) - where they are easily replaceable and can swap shifts in order to make auditions. Yeah people like that struggle to make ends meet whilst they wait for their big break...

Time management: can make sure you are available for auditions?

So perhaps you're using the wrong term to describe the kind of models the agencies want to deal with. It is not a matter of part or full time models - rather, it is people who are committed and prepared to make the sacrifices necessary in order to say YES to every audition. In reality, I can't say yes to every audition (I may be sick, I may be out of the country on holiday, I may already have other work commitments) - but I do say yes 90+% of the time and my agent is happy enough with that. When I was in Oman earlier this year, my agent called me saying that she has got me an audition with the RSC and I'm like, "I told you I was going to be in Oman, I'm in the middle of the desert in the Middle East now and there's no way I make it back to London just for that audition even if it is with the RSC."

As for the city you live in, let's get real here. The bigger the city, the more work there is for models. Many aspiring models move to big cities just to be able to access the opportunities there - we're talking London. New York, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, LA and Hong Kong.  However, the influx of young, naive, gullible models in these big cities has fueled the number of con agents in these big cities, so you have to be very careful when dealing with these agents.

Many aspiring young models flock to places like London

Thankfully, many models/actors do form support groups online to warn each other about con agents and in the UK, Equity is the union for actors/models. Equity has been excellent in terms of taking care of young performers and standing up against con agents - but the bottom line is don't get conned in the first place. Prevention is far better than cure. Amber, you need to find an online community for models/actors in Japan and start networking with successful Japanese models/actors - they would be able to help you out and give you far more useful advice. I can only really be of help to you should you wish to come to London and work here.

I hope I have answered your questions Amber. If you guys have any other questions relating to showbiz, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks everyone and happy holidays!