Child Modeling - Roselle,IL

My daughter models for Helen Wells Agency in Carmel.
They have monthly open calls where you submit a photo and information.
www.helenwellsagency.com

The only thing I don't like is that there is no training or preparation for upcoming auditions, and no feedback if you don't get it. All of those things would be helpful!
But that's probably the industry, not the agency.

Try the Baby Gap casting call: http://kodak.eprize.net/gapcastingcall/index.tbapp?affili...

Yvette
Try contacting the Ford model agency, both my granddaughters
model for them. They are a well known modeling company.
They are located in downtown chicago.
C.

Yvette..my daughter models and has done print work and tv work. For every legit company there are 10 bad ones out there. Best rule of thumb I can give you, is..a legit company will never ask you for money ever, unless the money is for the website fee or for composite pictures.

Website fee, the cost of maintaining the website that all clients see the childrens picts on, no identifying info on the child, client never knows any identifying info about the child either.

Composite pictures..all talent must have composite pictures. These are a variety of poses, including head shots that the talent uses to showcase themselves and get jobs.

All talent should have a resume also. Any age can have a resume. Has your child ever had their picture taken for a holiday photo, or yearly photo's/ This counts as experience.

Note on composites..some modeling agencies only allow their format for composites, some dont care, as everything is going digital now. But you still need to bring a composite with you to the audition, so your child has a leg up so to speak. Composite prices vary greatly also. I have paid next to nothing for some and they look like it, I had paid 2000.00 for some and they were well worth it. The composites are your childs calling card. The better quality of the pictures, the better chance at landing a job.

You as a mom must be committed to this also. 99% of the time, agencies will call you the day before an audition and either you rearrange your schedule for the next day or you dont. This weeds out the committed from the non. Getting to the audition is all your responsibility, after that things may be negotiated. You should expect to go on at least 100 auditions a year at a minimum to "get a break". My daughter was going on 1 a week for about 6 months til she actually landed a commercial. It was a long road getting there.

Good luck to you. Its a great "job" for the kids who dont mind doing it, if they dont want to do it, and the parents are making them, it shows. All the money my daughter makes goes into her college account.

K.
www.arkparties.com

If you find out, please let me know. I would like to get my daughter in modeling too. If you visit cutekids.com. they normally have advertisements there somewhere for modeling and acting.

My friend took her daughter to Indy Models. you can go to indymodels.com for info. her pics are on the net. Her son even got a job so i know it is legite

if you hear something let me know, I am also looking for that

Yvette,
I was contacted by an agency near O'Hare. They said they had some recommendation from someone else to audition my child. I took her up there, she became one of the youngsters they chose to work with, but I turned it down. They wanted me to come in for an orientation on a school day. I told them I'm not taking my child out of school for orientation or auditions. They told me I can kiss my kid's modeling/acting career good-bye. That was fine with me, because I think it's more important for kids to learn the value of a good education and not to rely on their looks, which can be taken away at any moment. My daughter's also very pretty. She's mixed. Her skin is light brown, like she's Puerto Rican. Her hair is curly and fine. She has great features. And everyone booed me for turning the company down. So think about all that your child has to sacrifice before you decide to take this job for them. Weigh the pros and cons first. Is it important to you that your child be known nationwide or is it important that they have the lower stress performing locally and at will? If it's not important that your child is known from coast to coast, then go to the local modelling shows at the malls and all. Not only will your child get practice and be able to decide if they like that line of work, there are talent agents in the audience quite often looking for a fresh face. Just beware the scam artists (never put money up front) and child molesters who are just looking for prey. Good luck!

my 3 1/2 yr old daughter has been modeling since she was about 1 1/2. We originally were with Arlene Wilson a very reputable agency in Chicago area(Also Atlanta and Milwaukee), we were really happy with they have exclusive clients like One Step Ahead, Kohls, Sears, etc. and some that only book with them. My daughter did print work with them and we only took assigned jobs that were confirmed paying bookings, no open calls or anything where it wasn't a guaranteed payed job. We live in the suburbs and with the drive and napping schedules, she was just in it for fun, not a high stress, competitive job. She always loved it and had lots of fun, it should be fun not a chore, at least at this age. Over the summer she got accepted to Ford Model Chicago, so we made a big decision to switch over to Ford(they only will accept models who book exclusively with them), so we resigned with Arlene Wilson and signed exclusive with Ford, hoping this was the right choice. Ford is worldwide and a big opportunity, so we took it, but they have had no jobs for her yet. So anticipating we made the right decision, hopefully in the long run in will be. Like everyone said if you have to pay any money upfront at all, it is a scam. A reputable agency will not need any money at all and not even professional pics/composites at this age, I don't think till maybe like 4 yrs old, they recommend you get professional composites done. Interview the agency and make sure you feel comfortable and that they are interested in your child's best interest. We never had to carry around lots of clothes/shoes with us, all the jobs provided this stuff and again you can pick what assignments you want to do, you don't have to do them all. The most important thing is have fun! I would highly recommend Arlene Wilson and Ford, both very reputable and nation/worldwide agencies. Just contact them for info on open calls or online/mail submissions. Goodluck, it is a fun thing and if your child ends up liking it...who knows!

Ford Modeling has open casting calls, check the website. Also, the Suntimes a few months back had an article on children models, you may want to see if you can find the article, it had some good info.

My cousins use to be represented by David & Lee agency in Chicago. Their agent retired long ago to start her family. I can check with my aunt to find out what agencies she last recalls being reputable. She (my aunt) use to help other families she knows get into the business.
The pposters are right. You have to be very committed, have an extra suitcase or two ready for clothes without branding labels on them, clean/new shoes, things to do while you sit and wait, possibly for hours...
My cousins are outgoing and love to talk, so they always did really well. They were able to travel quite a bit and met some great people. It can be very rewarding if your child enjoys it.

My son models for Baby Gap and the way we got him into it was by taking him to one of those beautiful baby contests in the mall. He won first place there and they paid his entrance fee to the Indiana State contest where he also won first and gave him a gift certificate to get his photos done by a professional and well known photographer name George Papadakis in Barringotn, IL. When he got his photos taken they gave us a packet with a bunch of names of agencies in downtown Chicago and Indianapolis that you can send the photos to and then they call you in if its the look the agency is looking for. If you don't feel like doing the baby contests...contact George Papadakis in Barrington, IL and you can set up a photo shoot with him. I will warn you though, it's very pricey. I hope this helped.