My step-daughter (let's call her Helen for purposes of this story) recently decided that she'd like to try her hand at modelling, no doubt fuelled by the apparent instant-success culture of the American TV teen programmes that she so enjoys watching.
As she was so convinced that she was the Next Best Thing, she was given the task of doing some research to find a suitable agency to approach. After many hours of searching and excited appearances from behind the computer with another wad of information for us to patiently sift through, she finally found one that she liked the look of.
The agency, let's call them "New Faeces", requested she send a selection of photos for evaluation purposes. No problem there then. I was duly pressed into service to provide said pictures and these were subsequently despatched to the agency with accompanying documentation.
All OK so far.
A few weeks later, just as my wife and I thought it had all been forgotten, an email turned up saying that "yes indeed, Helen could be the Next Best Thing" and all that was required now was a cheque for £125 to "register" her with the agency and for them to produce a handful of picture cards.
Note that at this stage there was no offer of a contract or any guarantee of work. At all. What the £125 fee 'guaranteed' (and this was never tested) was that Helen's details would be kept on file and when a potential client requested details of a model that fit Helen's profile she, along with the however many hundred other 'matches', would pop up and her details made available to them.
From this, she MAY have been chosen to attend an audition, and following this she MAY have been picked and offered the contract.
The point is that there's an awful lot of "MAYs" involved, having already parted with a not insubstantial amount of cash. Now call me sceptical but there are a considerable number of young and eager aspiring models out there, perhaps more ready to shell out the money than we were in the hope of gaining a lucrative contract. You don't really need any mathematical prowess to work out how much money could be made from this - let's call it - scam.
Interestingly, a very well-known and respected agency - let's call them Storm Models - say on their website that "We will NOT ask you for any money up front - that includes NO joing fee." and that entry into their agency is purely by interview i.e. if they don't think that you are suitable for modelling work, you don't get in. But more importantly, you've lost nothing in the process.
Even more interestingly, we hear in the news recently that the Government are currently investigating these bogus modelling agencies who charge fees to join. Makes you wonder how prevalent this is for the Government to get involved doesn't it?
So to all you aspiring models out there, I'll happily take a portfolio of pictures for you but beware who you submit them to!
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