Working for Modeling Agencies ... Becoming an Agent, Booker, Scout, Manager

[Lena]

no schooling required really, just ask for an assisting job and grow from there

 

[TiffanyNY]

Luisa Models Agency in Munich, Germany, is currently looking for a Booker. Experience is not required, and they say people with a language school degree are welcome.

is 35 too old to start in the business ?

 

[Carrme]

Becoming a Agent

How do you become a agent for models????thanks in advance!

 

[FC5]

The best (only?) way a legitimate agency starts up is when bookers at an established agency decide to break away on their own. They tend to take 'their' models and clients with them so it generally isn't very popular with their old employers.

 

[Carrme]

hmmokay,.thanks for the info.... what kind of schooling would i need? It sounds neat.id love to work with models

 

[Acid]

the good thing about creative intustries is that you dont actually need to be qualified in anything particularly to be good at what you do, its much more about experience

to be an agent, you can either start working at an agency, if you have no experience you would probhably start as the office manager or tear sheeting models books before you went onto the booking table and doing higher things

alternatively if you scout, you can be mother agent to the ones you find and place them with agencies and manage them that way.

 

[Carrme]

thankyou guys! i appreciate it very much

 

[fullfrontal]

Luisa Models Agency in Munich, Germany, is currently looking for a Booker. Experience is not required, and they say people with a language school degree are welcome.

is 35 too old to start in the business ?

You're only as old as you feel.

 

[Fabulyss]

I recently contacted my local Elite modeling agency about a possible internship. They advised me to e-mail them my resume and that they will be interviewing soon.

My question is, I am a Senior at University with a major in Graphic Design. I'm afraid my resume is short and not at all modeling industry related. What do you think they look for in employers of a modeling agency? What sort of characteristics? What can I do to stand out? Can I be creative (visually) with my resume (to stand out) or are they strictly professional & not interested in creativity/humor?

In case you're wondering, I'm incredibly interested in the position because I have been reading Vogue since I was 10 and am convinced I have a keen eye.

 

[BetteT]

They might respond to some humor ... it's a weird and ever changing buisness. Most bookers fancy themselves experts on fashion and such. But fashion skills are not necessary to be a good booker. You just need to have a good eye for potential models, be able to learn what the clients want and produce results for the agency.

Bookers need to be good with people and have some serious sales skills, since they essentially present the models (as theeir product) to prospective clients. They need to be organized and goal oriented as well . It's basically a combination of baby sitting, sales and lots of paperwork.

So I would think that they want someone with good organizational skills, good people skills, flexibility and who is willing to do any kind of work ... even gettin coffee for the boss.

 

[writergal28]

I interviewed with a major agency for an internship position. I think one of the reasons why turned me down after I said that in the ideal situation, I'd be a designer for petite sizes!

 

[tristan]

Hello guys! Just saw this thread. At the agency we differentiate between Management and Booking Agents. Management steers the model's every move, who he/she will shoot with, what markets they will go to, holding of charts etc. Booking agents deal with domestic bookings.

Now the scout is one of the most important jobs at the agency. With no new faces your agency because stagnant. I take alot of time going on scouting trips myself, and we have many full time scouts out there looking for new girls. I'd say every month we take on maybe three new faces to our board in the market I work in.

With poaching models, the only markets where major binding contracts make sense are New York, Milan, Paris and London. Consequently, in New York, Milan and Paris *most* of the girls on the board do not call these agencies mother agent. So the only way to steal them is to get in touch with the mother agent.

 

[Atelier]

From The Toronto Star
link: http://www.thestar.com/living/article/244845

Scouts hone their skills on the job
Aug 10, 2007 04:30 AM
Bernadette Morra
Fashion editor

There are many routes to becoming a model scout, none of which involve formal education. On-the-job training is the best way to learn how to spot a model's marketability.

Matti Gidilevich, an agent and scout at Elite Canada, was a hairstylist in Kitchener-Waterloo before moving to Toronto and landing an entry-level job at Ford Models Canada.

"I was assistant to the bookers, the kids' agent, the talent agent, and the agency directors," recalls Gidilevich. "I was able to learn the business, and it gave me a firm understanding of all aspects of the agency. It was like learning from the mail room up, but we didn't have a mail room."

After assisting for two years, Gidilevich began representing models in the area of television commercials. Next he worked in the children's division and began scouting for kids across Canada at model searches and conventions.

Then the opportunity came to handle bookings and scout for the Giovanni agency, which was handling budding stars Heather Marks and Jessica Stam at the time.

"That was more my end goal," Gidilevich says. It also gave him the chance to see two of the country's top independent agents in action: Kelly Streit of Calgary and Michelle Miller of Barrie.

"I watched how their eye worked, how they could see through an individual, past a girl's makeup if she was wearing a lot, right through to the bare bones," he says. "They could strip that away and see how to change a girl's hair cut and colour, that she needed to get to a gym. They would also take into account the confidence of the girl, because she has to be able to handle herself on stage. It's the whole package: the height, the look, the bone structure, the perfectly symmetrical face. You get used to recognizing what a model is, then you can spot it."

"We have lots of people calling to ask how they can become a model scout," says Elmer Olsen, who was also a hairdresser before becoming one of Canada's most successful agents. "I say, `Bring us someone and we'll see if you have the eye.' But the people who can spot talent are few and far between. The average person just sees a pretty girl. A true scout sees the body shape and proportion, the length of the knee to ankle, how long the neck is, how flat the ears are. Body proportion has never been more important because designers want clothes-hanger bodies."

Cynthia Cully made the segue to scout and agent after modelling herself for 10 years, starting at age 16.

"I did all the catalogues – Sears, Eaton's, and lots of runway shows," Cully explains. She also modelled while studying jewellery design at George Brown College, then launched her own line. But Cully missed the modelling world. So she joined an agency, working her way up to director of Ford Models Canada. Now, she runs her own scouting and development business. Cully finds new faces, helps hopefuls develop their look and their portfolios, then presents them to agencies around the world.

Her fee is a 5 to 10 per cent commission from the agency's earnings (agencies take their commissions from the model and the client.)
Liisa Winkler and Tasha Tilberg are among Cully's earlier "finds."

"Scouting is something people can learn to a certain degree because there are standards," she says. "But for the best scouts in the world, it's something that comes naturally."

 

[Derin]

$$?

Lots of useful info and stories on this thread.. Thanks to everyone who posted!

But the big question is, how much a booker can make - or at least expect to make out of this?

 

[model_mom]

excert from an article by Christie Dinham
source findarticles.com

Not quite 10 years into her high-profile modeling career, she decided to leave the glamour of the catwalk to pursue a position behind the scenes. Bethann Hardison and Tyrone Barrington, then an agent for Bethann Management, served as mentors and facilitated her transition from model to becoming an agent for New York Models where she ran the New Faces division. "Even though I came in with a modeling background, there were still a lot of things I needed to learn, like negotiating contracts, and developing the model's image, as well as their portfolios." Those were the fundamentals she learned from her mentors. There were other skills she had to develop, like learning how to negotiate through an assortment of personal idiosyncrasies: pushy "stage" moms and finicky teenage girls, some of whom suffered with eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. It's been an adjustment but Dinham acknowledges it's part of the terrain. "You have to be everybody's mother, nurse, social worker, and best friend," she says. "When it came to anorexic or bulimic girls, I wouldn't book them until they got better."
Salary: An agent can get paid between $40,000 and $300,000 annually depending on their experience and the agency. Commissions are also a possibility. "Mother," or head agents with a casting agency, can usually receive up to 7% of the company's 20% commission for a client's work.
Getting Started: Although Dinham's career path from model to agent seemed like an easy progression, she offers suggestions for those interested in becoming agents but who have never worked in the industry:
* Call the agencies. Try to get placed as an assistant agent or even an intern. Eventually, if you have what it takes: good follow through, good management skills, negotiating skills, you will become an agent in your own right. She recommends the 2002 Guide to Talent & Modeling Agents by Rachel Vater (Writers Digest Books, $23.99) as a comprehensive directory of agencies, schools, conferences and scouts.
* Know there is no one path. "If you ask anyone how they became an agent, you will get so many different stories," she says. "But a good agent has an eye for trends, and knows how their models can translate the attitudes of that trend. You have to learn management skills and have an idea of how to move a model's career from one level to the next--from runway shows to catalogues to couture shows to commercial endorsements, etc."
* Know your craft. "Know who the top make up artists are. Know who the top photographers are, study their style and become familiar with their work. Ask questions. The more you know about what you're doing, the better it will be for you," Dinham says.
* Know what kinds of models are currently being booked for jobs. Study the fashion magazines and the runways to see what looks are in.
"They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there's a certain type of beauty for modeling. Every area of modeling has particular requirements. [A good agent will] need to have that eye, to be able to pick out somebody in a crowd. There are a lot of beautiful people out there, but there's an edge a potential model has to have that you have to be able to pick up one' Dinham says, "a quality that the camera responds to, one that audiences can appreciate."
Dinham recently left the agency, Independent, to represent models through her newly launched Tyler Media, a fashion marketing and publicity company that also produces runway shows.
NAME: Christie Dinham
AGE: 37
OCCUPATION: Modeling agent
Location: New York, New York

 

[Acid]

all of these articles are kinda pointless because its like saying 'how much does a lawyer make' and the go into detail
well it all depends WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS!

how much does a doctor make? how much does a p*rn star make? how much does a celebrity make?
see, how can you possibly answer these questions because it depends!

 

[model_mom]

I personally thought the article was very helpful. Do you suppose she listed the salary as anywhere between $40,000 to $300,000 for the very reason you stated?...some agents start out on commision only but if they have the talent and they have the know how anything is possible.

 

[Derin]

..Commissions are also a possibility. "Mother," or head agents with a casting agency, can usually receive up to 7% of the company's 20% commission for a client's work.
..

This answers my question. Thank you!

 

[Derin]

OK, I think I found the best source that'll answer most of our questions about being a 'Model Booker'. Jonathan Phang (an expert) simply tells the tricks of the trade in short videos:
http://www.videojug.com/interview/becoming-a-model-booker

 

[BetteT]

Thanks ... great information ... karma coming your way, Derin!

BTW ... I noticed other videos about model bookers there, in addition to this one ... so be sure to check them out, too.

And ModelMom ... as always, you find great information to share. Karma for you, too!