child model agencys (merged)

Scarlett1

I wasnt impressed myself with the Elisabeth Smith Agency, my daughter was on their books for 2 years, from 8 months old until nearly 2. DD wasnt sent for a casting until she was 16 months old, and in that time the agency wanted a second lot of money with the promise of work, but by the time came when my daughter was accepted for 2 photo shoots, one for a well know toy company, and another for a big toy store in london, my daughter was going through the terrible two's and clingy stage so played up at the shoot

I paid out just over £400 over the 2 years in fee's and earned back only £60 :mad:

Jamie1984_2

Hi everyone, I know people have posted about this before, but I just wanted to ask whether there was any chance of getting my money back and how I go about it. I hadn't heard of any bad publicity about the company when I signed my daughter up in November, and I hadn't seen the Watchdog program, but I began to search around in forums after I received a very tacky "model i.d. card" that my 8 year old brother could have made and then I didn't hear anything from them, and I found a lot of disgruntled parents who had made the mistake of signing up to them. I only found one person who claimed to have had work from them. I'm just really upset at falling for the whole spiel on the telephone.
Is there anything I can do, or do I need to just put it down to a very horrible experience and never be that stupid again?

KizzyK_2

Alba is a group that campaigns specifically on up front fees.

And Clive Hurst is trying (and winning!) to make these charges illegal

cheggers

My friend wants to get her baby son (9 months) work as a model in TV ads (nappies and other baby products) or get them in nursery catalogues (like mamas & pappas, mothercare) etc.

Has anyone got any tips how she can get her son into this.

starlite_2

There is a thread on a parenting group about this, they all use various agencies and know which are the best and which are cons so it's a good place to get advice

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=9&threadid=179145&stamp=060615131912

one thing though, unless you live in london you are very unlikely to get work. there are a couple of agencies in manchester and liverpool but not nearly as many opportunities.

https://www.childmodelling.net

is good too

black-saturn

I live nowhere near London (thank God) and my daughter used to work as a child model when she was up to about 3 years old. She has been on the front cover of a couple of baby magazines and in a few catalogues. Work in a nappy advert is very difficult to get though and they tend to only go for the ones who look younger than they are.

Sign up to lots of different agencies. Some of them will want you to bring your baby in to take a picture and some will be happy with your own snapshot. Never hand over money to be a member of an agency or get talked into paying to have a portfolio done. If they are genuinely interested in your baby they will not take any money from you.

boltonangel

hi

can anyone recommend a model agency that i could try and register my 3 year old son with?

also, could you give me some advice as to how they are usually set up - ie fee's etc.


thanks

hobo28

Cant remember which agency my son was registered with when he was a baby. I do remember tho that competition is tough as every parent thinks their child is the most beautiful. The money wasn't all that either once you take into account all the travelling, hassle, auditions, queueing etc. It was cute for a little while but not worth it in my opinion

Viz_2

We applied for a few for our daughter when she was 2 years old. A couple expressed an interest and we signed up with one.

The money was good. But as previous poster said, theres a lot of travelling, tantrums etc..

I don't think we paid a fee, but did pay to have a small portfolio for the company to use.

It was often short notice to do a job and the money was paid out within 3 months.
We moved home and didn't carry on with modelling as the novelty had worn off.

But it is great to see your child on t.v. or in a book !!

emmaBZ

i did some modelling about 4 yrs ago the no 1 rule when getting in to this industry is " NEVER PAY AGENCIES ANY MONEY" if any legitimate modelling company offer you a contract ect then they will not ask for any payment for fees or to "be on the books " ect its a con "trust me " been there got the t-shirt !