It is common sense to take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it
frankly and try another. But above all, try something. — TeddyRoosevelt
Selecting an Agency
The first thing you have to do is decide who to apply to. So how do you choose?
Location
This is one of the most critical factors, and yet it rarely given enough weight by models. If you are an editorial fashion model
type, you need to be where editorial models are used: New York, or one of the major modeling cities overseas. The path to an agency in New York may pass through a “mother agency” local to you, but that’s the ultimate destination. You are going to have to move. If you are a commercial fashion model, it’s best to be in one of the cities where a substantial amount of catalog-style work is done: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, Boston and a few other cities. Commercial fashion models also can get work, although at lower levels, in local agencies in a substantial city near where they live. It may not be advisable to relocate to be a commercial fashion model.
Commercial print, glamour and promotional models generally should not consider relocating to model. They should apply only to an agency near them. Fitness models may have to relocate, although the market for fitness is small enough that it is
often not worth the investment in relocation.
Assess Yourself
Are you suitable as an editorial fashion model? Then that’s the kind of agency you should seek. A “young mom” or
“businessman” type? Then apply to commercial print agencies. If you are a perfect “businesswoman” type and apply to a fashion agency, they will not respond. If you are a perfect editorial fashion model, a commercial print agency will know (and you should) that they are not going to be able to do the best job of marketing you. A local “hybrid” agency may be able to deal with any kind of model, and if there is a good one near you, that’s a good starting place, no matter what type of model you are.
SAG/AFTRA Affiliation
Often you hear that you should seek SAG- or AFTRAfranchised agencies. That’s not always true. A union-franchised agency is likely to be real agency, and not engage in some of the abusive practices that so many “agencies” do. The unions have strict rules about those kinds of things, and the agency franchise agreement prohibits them. Still, the unions don’t enforce those rules on non-union jobs, and print modeling is always non-union. There are plenty of instances of SAG-franchised agencies which play by SAG rules for actors in SAG productions, but by a different set of rules entirely for models. There are SAG-franchised agencies which also run modeling schools and portfolio mills for models. You can’t rely on SAG or AFTRA affiliation to protect you. However, in major cities the best modeling agencies usually are not union franchised. They make their money from getting work for models, not actors, and living under the union rules would be a burden that they don’t want. If you look for an agency based on union affiliation you may be passing up the best agency in your area. Also, in many states there are no union-franchised vagencies.
References
Other Models
Do you know other models who have worked with the agency? What do they have to say about it? These references are
a little unreliable, since any given person can have an experience that doesn’t represent the norm. But still, seeking such advice is useful.
Reference Sources
There are a number of published reference sources that list good agencies. The Black Book and Le Book are two excellent
ones. Other sources are more inclusive but do not quality-check the agencies they list. If you find local affiliates of known
modeling school franchises in a list, for instance, you should use the book to identify and locate agencies, but not as a guide to quality. There are also lists of agencies on the Internet, at a number of sites. An extensive one is at www.modelnetwork.com. Except for the list on www.models.com none of these lists make much of an attempt to
validate agencies, but that list is quite incomplete.
Self Reporting
You can’t rely on what an agency says about itself. Some are so good and well known that they don’t have to brag or inflate
their credentials. Some are relatively unknown but good nonetheless. (Commercial agencies are all virtually unknown
outside the industry.) Usually the more an agency puffs up its own importance, the less good it is. Good ones let their
reputations speak for themselves. Hype is a bad sign. You should also pay little attention to famous name models that the agency claims to have discovered or represented. When those things happen it’s largely a matter of luck, and it’s likely that for every big name model there are a several agencies and managers who claim to have made her career.
The Yellow Pages
If you see an agency with a big ad in the yellow pages, or advertising its open calls or model searches in the newspaper or
on websites like www.craigslist.com it’s very likely to be a scam. Real agencies rarely do that.
Agency Web Sites
These days most model agencies have websites. Agencies which are focused on getting work for models will have a site
which helps clients find and book models. It will list the physical address of the agency, telephone and fax numbers. It may show its models openly or require registration for qualified clients to see them. While it may discuss how a model can apply to be part of the agency, model searches and recruiting should be a very small part of the total presentation. A site which focuses on recruiting is a sign the agency likely makes its money from aspiring models, not from booking work.
