Modeling? - San Lorenzo,CA

It is pretty hectic. Like another mom said, there is a lot of waiting. From my experience, children really don't like the waiting. More often then not, your child won't get selected. Just a suggestion for you. If you do decided to get into child modeling, send your pictures or go to a casting call for a very reputable agency. No real agency asks you for money up front, period. There is no photography packages to buy or any kind of fees. They will create a portfolio with you/for you. If you get jobs, they will take a percentage of the job. If someone is asking for money, pass them up. The best agencies are commission based. They take you in to make you successful and invest in your child, they don't make you invest first. Good luck!!

A good friend of mine did it when her kids were little, and if she were on here she'd discourage you. She spent a lot of time sitting in hallways, eating out of a backpack and entertaining her children while they waited for auditions. There were so many kids at the auditions and many times her kids were not picked -- and they were adorable and personable. While she was sitting in hallways and offices and at photo shoots (she did get her kids a couple of catalog shoots and one local -- and very dorky -- commercial) we were outside at the pool or the park or bike riding or at playgroups with our kids. They missed out on a lot of fun with their friends.

Both of my daughters are modeling. My oldest has been doing it for 2 years and I got my baby signed with the agency at 3 months old. It does take a lot of time and can be expensive if you get professional headshots, but you can also use good photos from a portrait studio like JC Penny or Sears. I also just put great staged photos I took of my baby on the industry website and she got called straight for 2 jobs, without an interview (called a go-see), from those photos. You don't have to pay a legitimate agency anything since they will generally take 20% of whatever work you do (not a bad deal since most jobs pay $100-$150/hr).

You will go to more go-sees than you will get jobs. In most cases you will have a scheduled time to go, and other's will be an open call (aka Cattle Call) which can be crazy, but if you get there before the call time you can limit your wait. You just bring toys and snacks for the child and usually end up talking to other parents and the kids play together.

If you have the time and aren't already heavily scheduled, it can be a fun experience. I've learned to take advantage of the go-sees or shoots and see things in the area.

If you're still interested, you can check out my kids agent's website, http://www.modelsincagency.com/services.html. Another agency I hear a lot at go-sees is FORD in SF, http://www.fordmodels.com/offices.

I've read the other posts, and basically it is what you make of it. We've had fun and no bad experiences. Please contact me if you have any other questions or just want to talk more.

S.

Hi,
Be careful.....Most of these modeling places for kid's are only schools that take your money & do nothing else.....I sat in on a few classes & learned that anything they taught my daughter I could have told her?? We went to a few "scouting" appointments, where an agent was looking for kids for commercials etc...What a joke! These were just ways of making my daughter question her abilities,looks etc....she is 14 & wears a sz 3 & is 5'5"
weighs about 95 lbs & they made her feel like she needed to have defined ab's....??
They would call constantly to let me know about "scouting" events, but once they rec'd ALL the fee's (for a LIFETIME ) they stopped calling or trying to set appt's for her.....And we went thru a reputable company.,They are NOT AGENTS !! They are a school only!! So just be careful. No Agent should require you to pay anything. Now you may need to spend money to set up a portfolio w/professional pic's etc but other than that they should not require any amount of money.....
Just be careful....

MCL, I have a dear friend that had her daughter in this in fact she was one of those in heavy makeup in a Pepsi comercial.
It took alot of family scheduling, they were purchasing dresses sometimes 4 at a time for different parts as well as the traveling, it was a great experiance for her but a stretch for the family. In this day of so many being out of work it might make it even harder.
It is hard on thier ego and often my friend told me that parents were so awful that she could not understand the lack of values they had let alone were teaching. So be sure to have your eyes open and checkbook handy as well as a lawyer on staff to read and understand the contracts before you sign them.
I know that my neice started by modeling for Macy's and Norstrums -- at childrens fashion shows and did it for free just for the experiance and to get into the door.

google child model agents in Lorenzo CA. Be prepared to be sold a package. Your child will need a portfolio and they will be more than likely to have a photographer with a package for your photography needs. Don't forget to check the reviews of the places you look at and spend the time to find out about them.