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The Model Agency Mega Thread (January 2004 - March 2010)
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Susanna-Cole
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Could anyone provide the names (and links, if there's more than one agency with that name or similar name... happens sometimes 
) of some good and respected agencies in NYC, that have a board of more commercial models? Like models who often do print work for stores like say, American Eagle, Hollister, etc... not super commercial, like not Wal Mart haha, but not really high-fashion either...? 
Any help would be more appreciate... and not to bribe, but I'm sure some karma could be passed on as well! 
) of some good and respected agencies in NYC, that have a board of more commercial models? Like models who often do print work for stores like say, American Eagle, Hollister, etc... not super commercial, like not Wal Mart haha, but not really high-fashion either...? Any help would be more appreciate... and not to bribe, but I'm sure some karma could be passed on as well!
Susanna-Cole
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Ok thank you for your help! 
yourbestfriend
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$3B STAR GAZING
EX-YAHOO! BOSS EYES BUYING IMG TALENT AGENCY
By PETER LAURIA
Click to enlarge
June 2, 2008 --
Former Yahoo! and Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Terry Semel plans to make a run at acquiring private-equity investor Teddy Forstmann's IMG marketing and talent agency, The Post has learned.
According to several sources with direct knowledge of the situation, Semel has been meeting with private-equity firms and the sovereign wealth funds of the United Arab Emirates, and has raised enough money to do a significant transaction.
One of these sources said Semel recently sat down with Forstmann and his bankers at Goldman Sachs, who have been working with IMG on various initiatives since last summer, to gauge their interest.
Earlier this year, Semel and a few Yahoo! defectors launched Windsor Media Capital with what one source described as "significant financial support from large investors."
Sources said Semel thinks he can transform IMG - which has a sports, entertainment, and media division and serves clients Tiger Woods, Gisele Bundchen and "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck - into a media and content company and also bolster its digital operation.
For Semel, the pursuit of IMG could help repair a reputation that tarnished during his years as Yahoo! CEO. Indeed, many Yahoo! insiders quietly blame Semel for making the Web giant vulnerable to Microsoft's current takeover attempts.
"Semel's clamoring for a platform so he can get back into the spotlight," said one source, referring to his low profile since he left Yahoo! last year.
Sources said there are two main obstacles to an IMG deal: price and Forstmann's infatuation with the business.
People close to IMG say Forstmann sees the agency as a "play toy" that allows him to rub elbows with celebrities. They said it would take a rich offer - north of $3 billion - to entice him to sell.
Sources were unanimous, however, in saying $3 billion is a "very aggressive price," especially considering the low margins on the sports side of the business. They said a more realistic price would be less than $2 billion.
However, despite Forstmann's reluctance to sell, he may face investor pressure to do something with IMG.
Sources said investors in the Forstmann Little fund that acquired IMG four years ago for $750 million are pushing for some kind of a deal. However, other sources denied that was the case, likening the prized agency to the fund's purchase of Gulfstream, which was held for a decade.
"IMG has grown substantially since Ted bought it," an agency spokesman said yesterday. "Ted's interest is in continuing that substantial growth into the foreseeable future."
While Semel prefers all of IMG, investors could compel Forstmann to first sell a part of it - perhaps its media or entertainment arm - and then flip the rest later.
That's if a deal happens at all.
A source close to IMG said the agency's board is aware of Semel's interest but is not concerned by it.
What's more, this source added that IMG's work with Goldman focuses on growth initiatives rather than a sale. One such "project," as IMG's board calls it, involves Goldman raising money for a new business line with an international component.
"It's a relatively new area for , but it could be an important deal if structured properly," this source said.
Reps for Semel, Goldman Sachs and Forstmann Little declined to comment.
[I][EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL][/I]
[/QUOTE]
NY POST
At the beginning of modeldom there were two agencies Ford and Elite. Every once in awhile I would see a reference to the "Model Wars" of the 1980's
Today I found an article printed by Times.com that put is all in persective and found it all to be very interesting.
Come with Me to Casablancas"
Monday, Aug. 25, 1980 By MICHAEL DEMAREST
So says upstart Johnny, as Manhattan's model wars rage
In New York City, the nation's fashion capital, the $50 million-a-year modeling business has long been the arena for some of the fiercest and most feline competition in the U.S. Rarely has the competition been more savage than today, when top models can, and do, switch agencies almost as often as they change costumes, often at the drop of a harsh word or a seductive whisper.
The pulchritude wars began in earnest three years ago, when the longtime dominance of Ford Models, Inc., was challenged by an interloper from Paris. The parvenu, John Casablancas, had owned the biggest model agency in Paris and for years enjoyed an uneasy working relationship with "Godmother" Eileen Ford, trading les girls between continents as occasion and opportunity demanded. Then, in 1977, despite an unwritten agreement that he would not set up shop in the U.S., Casablancas descended on Manhattan. He promptly aggravated the assault by raiding some of Ford's most toothsome stars—10s or near 10s all—as well as some of her key operational executives.
Hell hath no fury like a woman broker scorned. Eileen sent Bibles to the defectors with passages about Judas marked in red. More significantly, Eileen, 58, and her partner-husband Jerry, 55, filed a $7.5 million suit against Casablancas' Elite Model Management Corp. and his four Parisian partners for "violation of fiduciary trust." The second largest agency in the U.S., Wilhelmina Models Inc., sued Casablancas for $4 million. While the suits have yet to come to trial—and quite possibly never will—the epithets and the raids and the counterraids have piled up with the intensity of Hawaiian breakers boiling in the background of a bathing-beauty cover shot.
Beverly Johnson was one of Elite's most sensational catches. The superstar model, who was the first black to adorn the cover of Vogue, is a typical warrior of the model wars. She started with Ford in 1971, switched to Wilhelmina in 1973, and returned to Ford in 1974 until she landed in Casablancas in 1977. Last month she made a stab at leaving Casablancas and returned to Ford, only to rebound to the Casablancas stable. The most telling deserter from Wilhelmina was Patti Hansen, who disports her form in Calvin Klein jeans and has just finished acting in Peter Bogdanovich's film They All Laughed. In all, some 20 Ford stars—led by sultry, pouty Janice Dickinson and Christie Brinkley, the Chanel No. 19 girl—and a dozen young "boppers" from other agencies also joined John. (Brinkley ended up back with Ford last month.) Considering that an agency makes commissions of 10% to 20% on a star model's $200,000-plus annual income, such defections are costly not only in prestige but also in cash.
Casablancas has also suffered battlefield defeats, most notably the loss of Esme Marshall, 19, fresh-faced cover girl who pioneered the bobbed look. Other stars who have exited Elite are Anna Andersen (Opium perfume) and Cover Girls Kim Alexis and Lisa Taylor. Among the few stellar models who have remained faithful to one agency are Cheryl Tiegs, Lauren Mutton and Shelly (Charlie's girl) Hack, all longtime Ford belles.
Today I found an article printed by Times.com that put is all in persective and found it all to be very interesting.
Come with Me to Casablancas"
Monday, Aug. 25, 1980 By MICHAEL DEMAREST
So says upstart Johnny, as Manhattan's model wars rage
In New York City, the nation's fashion capital, the $50 million-a-year modeling business has long been the arena for some of the fiercest and most feline competition in the U.S. Rarely has the competition been more savage than today, when top models can, and do, switch agencies almost as often as they change costumes, often at the drop of a harsh word or a seductive whisper.
The pulchritude wars began in earnest three years ago, when the longtime dominance of Ford Models, Inc., was challenged by an interloper from Paris. The parvenu, John Casablancas, had owned the biggest model agency in Paris and for years enjoyed an uneasy working relationship with "Godmother" Eileen Ford, trading les girls between continents as occasion and opportunity demanded. Then, in 1977, despite an unwritten agreement that he would not set up shop in the U.S., Casablancas descended on Manhattan. He promptly aggravated the assault by raiding some of Ford's most toothsome stars—10s or near 10s all—as well as some of her key operational executives.
Hell hath no fury like a woman broker scorned. Eileen sent Bibles to the defectors with passages about Judas marked in red. More significantly, Eileen, 58, and her partner-husband Jerry, 55, filed a $7.5 million suit against Casablancas' Elite Model Management Corp. and his four Parisian partners for "violation of fiduciary trust." The second largest agency in the U.S., Wilhelmina Models Inc., sued Casablancas for $4 million. While the suits have yet to come to trial—and quite possibly never will—the epithets and the raids and the counterraids have piled up with the intensity of Hawaiian breakers boiling in the background of a bathing-beauty cover shot.
Beverly Johnson was one of Elite's most sensational catches. The superstar model, who was the first black to adorn the cover of Vogue, is a typical warrior of the model wars. She started with Ford in 1971, switched to Wilhelmina in 1973, and returned to Ford in 1974 until she landed in Casablancas in 1977. Last month she made a stab at leaving Casablancas and returned to Ford, only to rebound to the Casablancas stable. The most telling deserter from Wilhelmina was Patti Hansen, who disports her form in Calvin Klein jeans and has just finished acting in Peter Bogdanovich's film They All Laughed. In all, some 20 Ford stars—led by sultry, pouty Janice Dickinson and Christie Brinkley, the Chanel No. 19 girl—and a dozen young "boppers" from other agencies also joined John. (Brinkley ended up back with Ford last month.) Considering that an agency makes commissions of 10% to 20% on a star model's $200,000-plus annual income, such defections are costly not only in prestige but also in cash.
Casablancas has also suffered battlefield defeats, most notably the loss of Esme Marshall, 19, fresh-faced cover girl who pioneered the bobbed look. Other stars who have exited Elite are Anna Andersen (Opium perfume) and Cover Girls Kim Alexis and Lisa Taylor. Among the few stellar models who have remained faithful to one agency are Cheryl Tiegs, Lauren Mutton and Shelly (Charlie's girl) Hack, all longtime Ford belles.
cont.
Manhattan-born, European-educated Casablancas, 37, has lured the girls and revolutionized the business with a combination of personal charm, a fine eye for female sensuality, and marketing sagacity. Says he: "The girls were tired of the supermarket approach to modeling. They wanted more personalized service." Which he provides. He strokes their egos, breaks out champagne for newcomers and maintains a relaxed, easygoing manner that contrasts with Eileen Ford's housemotherly approach. Says blond Lisa Murrell, 24, a "bread-and-butter girl" who poses for many mail-order catalogues, and has twice quit and returned to Casablancas: "I feel comfortable and confident with John. He's got so much finesse. He may be full of bull, but he does it so well."
Casablancas also realized that the young Venuses who vend every imaginable product in print and on TV could command far higher rates than they were getting. The hourly charge for a top model has trebled (up to $300 an hour) in the past three years. Instead of setting fixed fees for a model's time, Casablancas started negotiating each booking with a canny perception of the client's particular needs and the girl's availability. The whole industry has had to follow suit, with the result that many models' incomes and clients' budgets have skyrocketed. Now, says one rival, "every booking is like deciding a most-favored-nation agreement." With annual billings (and cooings) expected to reach $9 million this year, Casablancas aims to top Wilhelmina in 1980 as No. 2 agency after Ford.
The come-with-me-to-Casablancas approach does not appeal to his competitors. "I confess to unpleasant feelings about John," the urbane Jerry Ford told TIME. "His methods are sleazy. I don't like him and I don't respect him." William Weinberg, who has headed Wilhelmina since the death last year of the former Ford model who founded the eponymous agency, disparages Casablancas with the observation: "The agencies were always competitive but never this low. The Fords always evidenced an ethic and created many of the good practices that benefited the models." Says Casablancas, who speaks in often unprintable terms about the vendetta: "What gets me is the permanent, ever present nastiness of Eileen Ford. She is Machiavellian and Byzantine. She is like a snake with seven heads: cut off six and she still has one left to bite you."
The Fords sprouted an extra head with the formation of a new agency called Fame. Its president is Jerry Masucci, 41, a onetime New York City policeman who made a fortune with the Fania record company. The Fords own one-third of Fame and handle the financial operations. Fame's first famous enlistee was Esme. Echoing the Casablancas philosophy, Lawyer Richard Talmadge, another part owner of Fame (and the Fords' attorney), notes that a model is "more than a pretty face selling a product." Says he: "A model is negotiated for now like an actor in a film series. A model today has almost the same importance to an advertiser or manufacturer as an actor or actress would to a film producer. The models are the movie stars of advertising."
Zoltan Rendessy, Hungarian-born owner of the fourth-ranking Zoli agency, sees Fame as another outpost from which the Fords can shoot Elite down: "The Fords will John." do anything to take models away from There is little doubt that Eileen and Jerry Ford will maintain their sovereignty in the model wars. But Casablancas al ways has a fallback. He is married to his first model, Jeanette Christjansen, a for mer Miss Denmark, who at 32 can still match cheek and thigh with some of bodydom's finest.
With reporting by Georgia Harbison
A LOT has changed since the 1980's.!
Manhattan-born, European-educated Casablancas, 37, has lured the girls and revolutionized the business with a combination of personal charm, a fine eye for female sensuality, and marketing sagacity. Says he: "The girls were tired of the supermarket approach to modeling. They wanted more personalized service." Which he provides. He strokes their egos, breaks out champagne for newcomers and maintains a relaxed, easygoing manner that contrasts with Eileen Ford's housemotherly approach. Says blond Lisa Murrell, 24, a "bread-and-butter girl" who poses for many mail-order catalogues, and has twice quit and returned to Casablancas: "I feel comfortable and confident with John. He's got so much finesse. He may be full of bull, but he does it so well."
Casablancas also realized that the young Venuses who vend every imaginable product in print and on TV could command far higher rates than they were getting. The hourly charge for a top model has trebled (up to $300 an hour) in the past three years. Instead of setting fixed fees for a model's time, Casablancas started negotiating each booking with a canny perception of the client's particular needs and the girl's availability. The whole industry has had to follow suit, with the result that many models' incomes and clients' budgets have skyrocketed. Now, says one rival, "every booking is like deciding a most-favored-nation agreement." With annual billings (and cooings) expected to reach $9 million this year, Casablancas aims to top Wilhelmina in 1980 as No. 2 agency after Ford.
The come-with-me-to-Casablancas approach does not appeal to his competitors. "I confess to unpleasant feelings about John," the urbane Jerry Ford told TIME. "His methods are sleazy. I don't like him and I don't respect him." William Weinberg, who has headed Wilhelmina since the death last year of the former Ford model who founded the eponymous agency, disparages Casablancas with the observation: "The agencies were always competitive but never this low. The Fords always evidenced an ethic and created many of the good practices that benefited the models." Says Casablancas, who speaks in often unprintable terms about the vendetta: "What gets me is the permanent, ever present nastiness of Eileen Ford. She is Machiavellian and Byzantine. She is like a snake with seven heads: cut off six and she still has one left to bite you."
The Fords sprouted an extra head with the formation of a new agency called Fame. Its president is Jerry Masucci, 41, a onetime New York City policeman who made a fortune with the Fania record company. The Fords own one-third of Fame and handle the financial operations. Fame's first famous enlistee was Esme. Echoing the Casablancas philosophy, Lawyer Richard Talmadge, another part owner of Fame (and the Fords' attorney), notes that a model is "more than a pretty face selling a product." Says he: "A model is negotiated for now like an actor in a film series. A model today has almost the same importance to an advertiser or manufacturer as an actor or actress would to a film producer. The models are the movie stars of advertising."
Zoltan Rendessy, Hungarian-born owner of the fourth-ranking Zoli agency, sees Fame as another outpost from which the Fords can shoot Elite down: "The Fords will John." do anything to take models away from There is little doubt that Eileen and Jerry Ford will maintain their sovereignty in the model wars. But Casablancas al ways has a fallback. He is married to his first model, Jeanette Christjansen, a for mer Miss Denmark, who at 32 can still match cheek and thigh with some of bodydom's finest.
With reporting by Georgia Harbison
A LOT has changed since the 1980's.!
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foreverandnone
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Well, Elite is still great...
I think it's all about management. I mean, they have so many models, and it seems like they just can't handle them all, and give them each the right amount of attention to help develop them and bring them far. To me, I just don't see the bookers do much for the models like a huge agency like IMG does, who have a lot of girls.
Ford also lost it's credibility when it started branching out into group websites where you can join, post pictures of yourself, get beauty tips, fashion tips, and chat with other members..Not to mention most of the castings their girls get sent to are cattle calls.
They also seem to shovel out a supermodel only every decade or so.
I also hear the girls complain about the agency itself....
That's what I gathered from others and it's my own opinion.
I think it's all about management. I mean, they have so many models, and it seems like they just can't handle them all, and give them each the right amount of attention to help develop them and bring them far. To me, I just don't see the bookers do much for the models like a huge agency like IMG does, who have a lot of girls.
Ford also lost it's credibility when it started branching out into group websites where you can join, post pictures of yourself, get beauty tips, fashion tips, and chat with other members..Not to mention most of the castings their girls get sent to are cattle calls.
They also seem to shovel out a supermodel only every decade or so.
I also hear the girls complain about the agency itself....
That's what I gathered from others and it's my own opinion.
IDK if fords website or whatever really is that big of a factor these days... I mean, today it seems every major NY agency has a blog (except IMG at this point) and the blogs often allow some level of interactivity with the public, such as comments, and things like being able to submit headers (Supreme).foreverandnone said:
Most other agencies, both big and small (I think even IMG but correct me if I'm wrong), have myspace pages too. So I think although they may not have done it in the best of ways (some definite restraint needed) Ford were just one of the firsts to incorporate and utilise the web in that sort of social context.
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foreverandnone
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That wasn't the only reason I spoke off, but okay.
But Ford, unlike all other agencies, have no sense of control when it comes to this type of stuff. It's almost like a lack of modesty. Like they have no reason to think they have become so great that they need to slap everyday people in the face with their less than wonderful achievements.
Its funny how the agencies with some of the best women worldwide, ie: Supreme & Women are able to get across intelligent, somewhat mysterious points in their blogs with the utmost modesty.
Ford seems more like a networking site, rather than an agency, and it just ruins the exclusive image.
But Ford, unlike all other agencies, have no sense of control when it comes to this type of stuff. It's almost like a lack of modesty. Like they have no reason to think they have become so great that they need to slap everyday people in the face with their less than wonderful achievements.
Its funny how the agencies with some of the best women worldwide, ie: Supreme & Women are able to get across intelligent, somewhat mysterious points in their blogs with the utmost modesty.
Ford seems more like a networking site, rather than an agency, and it just ruins the exclusive image.
youarearockstar
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Just a note:
I moved four posts from the "Models Switching Agencies" thread into this one as they were off-topic in the original thread. Please keep all agency related discussion in this thread, as the other one is simply to document changes in management and representation.
For what it's worth, Ford has done a great job re-establishing themselves as an editorial agency (Agnete, Chanel, Lakshmi, Jill, Kate, Jennifer, etc), in my opinion anyway. Oh, and agency blogs are inherent promotional, thus hardly modest.
I moved four posts from the "Models Switching Agencies" thread into this one as they were off-topic in the original thread. Please keep all agency related discussion in this thread, as the other one is simply to document changes in management and representation.
For what it's worth, Ford has done a great job re-establishing themselves as an editorial agency (Agnete, Chanel, Lakshmi, Jill, Kate, Jennifer, etc), in my opinion anyway. Oh, and agency blogs are inherent promotional, thus hardly modest.
Sorry, but i read some post i feel some are relly pure "marketing victim"
I understand that a blog can sounds cool, but let's face it, from a pure professional point of view, is completly useless, it is just there to make the agency to look "cool" for a large audience, and i must say that nowadays, to me it is just seems something to do because "everybody has one", instead than something there to really bring something new.
But that level of coolness felt in the large audience is absolutly not representativ of the reputation of the agency in the business.
Some agency care about their "public" image, some agencies just focus on their core business, and strangely i see there is sometimes a huge difference about the perception "people" have of agency compare to the perception people in the business think about the same agency.
Fontenrose
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Many agencies have poor web sites. Even a few who have had good ones, then do a re-design that seems lunatic.
I am not sure what a blog works for except maybe to attract prospective models (a very small group). However agencies mostly use it in a way that is unattractive to young girls.
Agencies should remember stunning young girls and their parents don't know anything about them and their industry when they decide where to send pictures, often based on the web presence.
There is a street casting agency called Development NYC. It is run by Douglas Perrett, the casting director (COACD blog)
http://developmentnyc.com/
There is also Ginny Edwards Development, a Mother Agency.
http://www.ginnyedwardsdvelopment.com
Hope that helps.
http://developmentnyc.com/
There is also Ginny Edwards Development, a Mother Agency.
http://www.ginnyedwardsdvelopment.com
Hope that helps.
Just to chime in on the Ford website topic, I don't have the exact facts, but I read an article on the new head of Ford in some business magazine (Enterprise maybe?) and he is a big businessman with no fashion background. Those cheesy videos on the You Tube channel are all product placed! SO un-cool!
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