» Sandra issues a warning
Sandra Omo wants to make it very clear how to avoid getting ripped off
The ability to be able to tell a genuine agency from a fraudulent one is a must-have for every model who does not want to be scammed. Models are talking about this, and agencies are warning their models to beware of such scams, but how many people can actually tell or smell a scam before they fall prey to it? Very few. So how then can a model sense whether she is just about to be scammed, or signed by a genuine agency?
“Just as Rome was not built in a day, so a model’s book cannot be built in one“
Firstly, there’s no guarantee in the modelling industry and no agency has the power to guarantee you a job because they do not create or give the jobs. They put you out there for the designers, producers, companies, etc to select who they want – it’s not the agencies that decide. In fact, they have no say over who is chosen.
So how can an agency guarantee a model a job? This is the first sign that you are about to be scammed. Also, these agencies always accompany their guarantee with an ‘if’. They guarantee you a job ‘if‘ you pay, buy, or give, etc. and so many models fall prey when they hear these guarantees, but the truth is that any contract you sign always has a ‘no guarantee‘ clause.
Another common one is a registration fee. Boy, these agencies should be ashamed to ask for registration fees, and it’s pathetic that models actually fall for this when there are modelling manuals everywhere telling models never to pay an agency upfront. Why cant these models just listen? I mean, how else can we stress this?
No genuine agency asks for any payment what-so-ever upfront. Now it doesn’t matter how big they, or the contacts they have seem to be, paying any agency upfront is a no-no! For acting agencies, there are a few exceptions, even then, you have a choice to ask that the fee be removed from your first job. However, in modelling there are no such thing as registration fees.
Thirdly, and most tempting, is the portfolio offer. I can imaging being a model without a portfolio; you walk into an agency and they show you some captivating photos – which their photographers did not even snap – and offer you the same for £400. It sounds like heaven on earth, especially when you kind of know that getting a portfolio costs thousands of pounds and takes ages. Here comes this offer, probably with words guaranteeing you jobs at the same time. Then you think, why not? Honey, just as Rome was not built in a day, so a model’s book cannot be built in one.
Professional models have their books built over years of jobs and test shootings. Yet there is still room for improvement, talk less of a book shot one day in a studio. If a photo studio is offering you this, no problem. After all the experience is worth it and you could have a couple of photos for your book, and keep the rest in your family album, but for an agency to ask you to go shoot your book in a day just shows the agency is an amateur and a fraud. In addition, a genuine agency will never charge you for a portfolio. They help you build your book over time through test shoots and jobs done. After all, they will make money off you.
What am I saying here? It’s simple: don’t be fooled by empty guarantees, do not ever pay an agency upfront for anything, whether it is for a headshot, registration fee, or portfolio. No genuine agency will ask for this, so the next time you come across an agency offering you any of the above for a fee, hang up or head towards the nearest exit.
