I am seeking advice on the modeling industry - in particular - with regards to young children. Our daughter has been seen by a few agents, and they are interested in her. I am curious to know what we should/shouldn't be paying for, doing, etc....
please respond via email.
kinds regards,
Shelley,
A couple of tips:
For a child of that age, DO NOT have professional pictures made,
exclusively for modeling (and do not let an agency tell you that you MUST
have them). This is a waste of your money. Children at this age grow and
change so quickly.
What you need is a few good, clear snapshots taken from your 35mm. camera
that show the child as they would normally look.
When taking pictures, DON'T do anything like put cutsie bows her hair or put her in a frilly dress.
DO let her play naturally with her favorite toy and get her natural expression and
laughter to come out. This is what you need to show in your pictures -
this is what casting directors want to see.
Once you have a couple of good shots (headshot and full body shots) you can order inexpensive 8x10 headsheet with her name, a blank space for her height and weight (so you
can fill it in as she grows), her hair color, eye color, etc. You will
then send these out to local shops, newspapers, and photo studios that may
use children.
The second piece of advice I can provide is to not work with ANY agency
that requests money in advance for anything. Again, for a child of that
age, any sort of "schooling" or training isn't necessary. You shouldn't
pay for any type of marketing fee, signing fee, etc.
The only fee you pay is the 10-20% of gross monies your child is entitled
to after a job is completed. For instance, in our market if your
child did an ad and made $150 for 3 hours of work (this is the
gross amount), your agent receives up to $30 (20%) for that job, your
child would receive $120 for her work. The agency isn't
responsible for taking income tax on that money - it is your
responsibility to file that with the IRS at the end of the year.
You will have to pay for your marketing materials (i.e., the 8x10 cards I
mentioned earlier), but that is all until your child is about 6
years old. Then you will need to invest in professional pictures from
local area talent photographers.
