Need help researching modeling agencies...

September 23, 2005 4:29 PM

I'm researching how to start a modeling agency. An actual agency, not a "pay us a fee and we'll make you famous" scam. I have some industry experience but I need to know about a few fundamentals. 1. Who are the modeling agencies direct clients? Is it the designer (i.e. Guess, Christian Dior, etc.) or is it an ad agency? 2. Who pays the models, the agency or the company that a model does work for? I'm assuming agencies take a percentage or a fee. 3. Any other basic insight you can provide into starting a modeling agency? Thanks for your help!
posted by ieatwords to clothing, beauty, & fashion (3 comments total)

for magazines, the Creative Director/Art Director is the client. They'll call you (if they know about you and are daring enough to steer away from the agencies they're used to) asking for all the 25 year old athletic Hispanic Women or Mom types or chunky little boys, etc...for either a go-see or just to send pics of so they can then get a look at them or book them.

It's a very very tough business. I wish you luck, and be very very aggressive in spreading your name around.
posted by amberglow at 7:13 PM on September 23, 2005

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you could benefit from a lot more industry experience before you start your own agency. Get a job in a modeling agency. If you can't get a job, volunteer as an intern. I learned more about auditioning (acting) in one day interning for a casting director than I did in a four month class on auditioning.
posted by zanni at 11:30 PM on September 23, 2005

ieatwords, what is the target market, either in terms of models or clients, that you are seeking?

I worked for an agency in CT that existed only because of its industry contacts. They started out as only a production company doing large scale conventions and events. In the process, the owner made many contacts in the markets his business had ample penetration in.

(It's really not this simple, but this is the gist of it.)

One day he needed some models for an event and the idea hit him. He knew the models. He knew the agencies. He had, in fact, gained significant insight into the business. Being a business man, he started an agency.

His clients were the people he already did business with. The models were easy to find. In the end his models primarily did promotion work, though some of it include print and film, but almost always in respect to promotions.

Over time, he settled into a niche and had little diversity. His models were almost uniformly local high school and college girls. They had limited, irregular work available. The company, overall, was profitable, but it wasn't what many traditionally think of as a modeling agency.

If you have either the contacts to produce models or jobs for models, it would be relatively easy to bring the two together. If you're in a crowded market, that's another story. The agency I worked for had very little competition.

The way it often works with agencies is that the agent charges a fee for the model. The client pays the fee, possibly on net 30 terms and possibly up front. The fee goes directly to the company, which then takes its share, then pays the model(s). Low end models are often paid hourly wages. Some models work on a per day or even per event basis.

For example, one of the catalog models I worked with charged $20,000 per shoot, plus travel and accommodations. She was her own agent, but would happily take work from agencies if they could cover her fees. On the other hand, I've seen promotion models working for $10 an hour in a giant Dunkin Donuts mascot outfit. In general, though, if your an agency, you're going to pay the models.

As far as the rest of the details, it's a social business. Much if it is who you know and who knows you. Good luck.
posted by sequential at 5:25 PM on September 24, 2005