Soleil Model and Talent Management
To Whom It May Concern:
I recently went to a model and talent management agency
for my nine-month-old son. It is called Soleil
Model and Talent Management.
Everything seemed legit. They didn't give me any lines.
They told me that I would only need to pay for a web
fee which was $600, and that was to get him marketed.
They are going to pay for all his pictures, and will
let us pay on a payment plan.
Is this something that they usually do?
I am just looking into getting started with my son.
If you have time I would be very happy if you could answer
my questions.
Your website is very insightful and is appreciated!
C.M.
C.,
It does not sound right. Six hundred dollars for internet
marketing is outrageous. Not just for adults, but especially
for babies. Models.com, for example, charges about $70/yr.
New Faces, if I recall correctly, was $129/6 mos.
You said: "They are going to pay for all his pictures." What?
He should not be getting a lot of pictures. This is scam:
getting parents to pay a huge amount of money for baby
pictures.
In her book, The Modeling Handbook, Eve Matheson writes: "Never
spend money on a portfolio for a baby or young child.
In three months they will look different. The pictures
in your wallet will do just fine" (p. 120).
Tim Tew, a photographer in Orlando, Florida, has this
advice for parents: "Don't let anyone sell you a
thousand-dollar portfolio. You only need a couple of
snapshots to find out if an agent is interested. Then
a good headshot is all your need to get started" (p.
155).
With a baby you only need to see the face, so one headshot
is enough. With older models you need to see both the
face and the figure, so at least a headshot and a bodyshot
is required.
The entire premise of web marketing for models young
or old is highly questionable. Modeling agencies and
the BBB (Houston) say top agencies don't use the internet
to scout for talent/faces.
The amount it costs an agency to market a model on the
web is almost nothing. Scanning a headshot takes little
time. Setting up a web page takes little time. The actual
cost of hosting one headshot for one year on a website
could be as low as 10 cents. Where do they get $600 from?
There is a limited amount of work for babies. An agency
should not be asking $600 for anything —photos,
registration fees, or web marketing.
Web marketing is now done on a pay-per-click basis.
In other words, for your son, no payment would be paid
unless and until his picture was viewed by a casting
director. If no casting director were to see his picture,
he has not been marketed. If he has not been marketed,
why should you pay for nothing?
From the Federal
Trade Commission brochure on modeling scams:
- A special word to parents of infants and
toddlers
-
- Think your child is model material? Bogus talents
scouts do. And they'll gladly set up a professional
photo shoot to allegedly help you get modeling and
acting jobs for your tyke. Of course, they don't tell
you that the market for infant models and actors is
very small. What's more, because an infant's looks
change quickly, the photos become outdated. In truth,
few infants are marketed with professional photos.
Legitimate agents, advertising agencies, casting directors
and producers generally ask for casual snapshots of
infants that have been taken by family members or friends.
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