OTM (On Track Modeling) IN
To Whom It May Concern:
This is in reference to the OTM-Indianapolis branch.
I signed with the OTM out of Indy in 2002.
I like others went to an open call and they definitely
say if you use another photographer other than theirs
and they don't like the pictures they won't use them.
Well, I paid $165 down.
I was supposed to work the Indy 500, but got sick, so
I didn't do it. However, I worked for the Brickyard 400
(Winston) and Indy State Fair (Con Agra Foods).
When the eight weeks was up, I got my pay in full. I
made my $165 back and then some.
But I still haven't got my pics done or paid for. So
far it's been a good experience, but I talked with other
models at these events, and none of them who had paid
for their portfolios had done print (real modeling),
so that's got me worried.
Some of them said they hadn't got paid yet for other
jobs, and it was past the time, so I worried the whole
time I waited, but I got paid on time.
Lastly, like what's on this site, some of the models
said they had their portfolios done through OTM and they
hated the pics.
So I was going to call them in February and set it up
to finish, but now I am scared.
I made the money through them to pay for it, though,
so part of me feels I should give my current agency a
chance.
But, like others, I am still leery, because phone calls
and emails never got answered.
Only when they wanted us for promo work did they call
us back.
I got one spam letter to get on their website and that's
all I have heard from them.
So, I am thinking, since I am ahead of this game and
made my money back, I will go to another agency, since,
afterall, I am "non-exclusive." (Boy, do they
make sure you know that one! lol!)
I am glad I found this site, because my inside kept
telling me to beware.
Well, I know I got what it takes to be a model, so I
won't give up my dream.
In the meantime I made more money than I paid OTM.
Thank you,
What is really interesting and very ironic is you got
promotional work (twice!) through OTM without pictures.
If pictures are so important, as OTM leads you to believe,
how were you able to get work without them?!
The reason why you don't need prints to get promotional
work is because your picture is not going to appear in
print, and may not even be taken. Signing up people for
credit cards, for example, does not involve photography,
so nobody has to see what you look like in print, "how
you photograph," before you get the job.
The basic problem with promotional agencies like OTM
is the business model for low wages.
If you pay $1,000 for promotional work pictures, as
they want, it could be like paying $60,000 for a resume
to get a regular job, because it could take two years
to get your investment back. If you worked a 9-5 job,
earning $30,000/year, it would be two years before you
paid off your advertising expenses (resume).
If you would never pay $60,000 for a resume, why pay
$1,000 for prints to a promotional agency which gets
minor jobs?
Even worse, in promotional OTM modeling, you can't guarantee
you will work, how much you'll earn, or when you'll earn
it, so you don't even know if you'll get your money back.
You said you talked with other models at events where
you worked, but "none of them who had paid for their
portfolios had done print."
The same thing has been said by other people. OTM is
not an agency for print. It is promotions. It is probably
better to call OTM a promotional agency, not a modeling
agency!
If you want to make more money than you spend on advertising,
find an agency which has a proven track record for print
work, where models consistently work in print and earn
much more than they paid for photos.
P.S. Did OTM tell you they were a print modeling agency?
Did they lead you to believe you would get print work?
Yes, they did! I really believed if I got my portfolio
I may get print work! They showed us pics of other models
they had and said they made it big.
They told us they would submit our pics to clients,
but so far, like I stated in my letter, no one I talked
to who is rep'd by them has ever done print!
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