So you’ve signed up with an agency and you are waiting at home for those phone calls
and texts to star and shine.
How to make it in modeling and work full time?
Let’s discuss working with an agent, mastering audition and casting, being on the job, and
freelance modeling.
My name is Zdenka and I am a former model…
Currently a professional photographer.
here it goes:
Let’s start with what you shouldn’t be doing!…
Sitting at home, doing nothing and complaining that you are not getting jobs is not going
to get you anywhere.
Don’t forget that your agent has roster of models hungry after those jobs.
You got to be proactive.
Check in once a day, call in, ask how they are doing if there is anything new for you.
When you are in the neighbourhood pop in to say hello.
Don’t do it every single day though, but you know, once a week is good to discuss your
career with your agent.
I used to consult my look, anything needed to be changed or develop portfolio.
I used to show my agent photographers I found online to get approval if it was worth doing
a TFP shoot with them.
The agent will see that you are trying really hard and he or she will remember to submit
you whenever you fit that category.
Whenever I got a call from the agent it was like, this is the address, be there at this
time.
Most of the time, I wasn’t given much of a detail.
So I went to casting sometimes even not knowing what it is for.
It is not good.
That was a very big mistake.
Later on, I completely changed it.
I always asked the agent, what is it for, what am I casting for, what should I wear
and all other details.
My portfolio was set up by an agent.
They always pick about 10 shots maximum and keep it very general.
Some clients were people from fashion industry so you know they were ok with it.
They liked it that way.
BUT when I was casting for example a swimsuit company I tweaked my portfolio a bit.
I took few general photos out and I added a good number of best swimsuit photos I had,
I mean a lot of photos I had, very classy though, nothing cheesy and nothing too sexy.
My agent didn’t know I was doing it and I don’t suggest it if you don’t know what
you are doing and what photos are great and acceptable.
I was getting lot of bookings though when I did that, so it did worked for me.
General rule for castings, you want to show up 10 min early, dress the part and if you
are doing a talent audition, know your lines well.
When I did acting I didn’t speak English very well so I struggled with memorizing lines…
sometimes there were words I even didn't know what they really mean.
If someone wakes you up in the middle of the night, you need to deliver the lines without
mistakes.
You’ll be in huge advantage.
Have your modeling bag always ready to go.
It should have nude bra and underwear, Strapless bra is the best, black bra and underwear,
white bra and underwear, nude, black and white nylons, nude high heels, black high heels,
and if you have white high heels, and really important item, very slippery scarf to put
on your head when you are changing so you don’t get makeup on their wardrobe.
You know in any business, showing only the best and being the best can be will only grow
your name and reputation.
It takes really long time to build a name and I am talking years, but you do one bad
thing and you are going downhill in top speed and then try to climb up, slippery right?
So general rule again, come 10 min early with your model bag and portfolio.
If you are bringing your own wardrobe, make sure it is clean, steamed or ironed.
Bring water and snack.
Always be polite and confident, but don’t act a like a superstar.
Another tip, leave your boyfriend or girlfriend at home, it is not a date and the big one
try to limit the phone!!!
If you belong to younger generation, good chance is that you are highly addicted to
your cell phone.
At least pay attention if someone is calling you on the set.
Agency will get you work but it might not be as often as you want depending on what
agent you have.
When I had excellent agent like Stephan Dosko was, I didn’t even think of looking for
freelance jobs how busy I was.
But then I got to big agencies and those were giving me nice big gigs, but not every single
day.
So I tried Freelance Modeling on top of it which went great.
40% of work I got from agency, 60% of work I got on my own.
Before you do it though, talk to your agent if he or she feels OK with it and review your
contract if you are even allowed to do such thing.
Don’t do anything behind someone else’s back as it might turn against you, you will
either get fired or you’ll fly downhill.
As a freelance model though, you will have to lots of extra work what your agent would
normally do.
You will have to do your marketing.
You’ve got to be really active on social media, especially Instagram these days.
You will need to prepare a nice introduction email with few photos which you will be sending
out to all photographers, designers, makeup artists, clothing companies, magazines and
anywhere else you think they might need model.
And you will need to resend it once in a while just to remind yourself.
There is one dark side to internet though.
It will happen 100% and it will, that you will attract certain individuals or “creepers”.
Get ready for strange requests, ugly emails and all the bad stuff which comes with internet.
You cannot avoid it, you will eventually encounter something like that here and there.
So think about it before hand how you are going to handle it and don’t loose your
sleep over it.
Protect yourself.
When booking a shoot with someone you don’t know, do a research, ask for references.
Don’t feel like you are bothering them or even worse, don't think you might not get
the job because you want to know if you will be safe or not.
And you will also need to network, network, network.
Network with photographers, other models, on the low pay jobs, on no pay jobs, anywhere.
Someone will eventually remember you and call you for something else in the future.
And don’t be afraid to refer someone yourself, they will eventually return the favour.
Lastly you will have to discuss rates on your own, sign model releases, issue invoices and
receipts.
… and pay taxes....
So that is it for today’s video how to make it in modeling and I would love to hear from
you what works for you and what not, simply comment below.
If you would like to see a video on a certain topic or you might have questions for me,
please comment below as well.
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videos.
Thank you for watching Cau…
Ahoj…