Agencies and Agent Responsibilities

This is an article I wrote in response to someone who was asking a general question about agents. It
describes my experiences with agents, both commercial and fashion, and I don't pretend that it reflects
accurately how every agent works with the models they represent (for instance, there is nothing here about
talent managers who work with TV or Movie actors, I have had no contact with these people), but it
should give you a general over view concerning agents who work with models.

In the popular media, the picture which is presented of an agent is that which describes a very small group
of agents associated with editorial fashion agencies, who work with a very small number of uniquely
qualified models. Most models really wind up working for a much larger group of agents (agencies),
which, for lack of a better term, are called commercial agencies.

A commercial agent provides a number of important and exclusive functions for a model. The agent (or
more accurately the agency system) normally sets the "going rates" for models in a reasonably large
market, say a city like Chicago, Atlanta, or Los Angeles. The agent (and again, I am referring to the
agency system) provides the necessary contractual language (description of rates, releases, usage
restrictions on resulting images, cancellation fees, etc.) for a model and the client to establish a successful
working relationship. The agent handles billing to the client, and payment (after the money is paid) to the
model. And finally, very few (if any) large clients (advertisers) would want to deal directly with individual
models, so their work is made available in the market place almost exclusively through agents. Is an agent
important to a commercial model? Absolutely, if they have any hope of working at the upper end of the
commercial market.

Notice, at no time did I refer to model career development. Most commercial agents act as clearing
houses for jobs which come available through large clients. Models are expected to provide basic tools to
the agent so the agent can make the model available to clients. These tools include comp cards, head
shots, résumé's, etc. Sometimes, if the agent has the time, they will offer a model advice on putting
together some pictures for a card, or recommend that the model see a particular photographer (or more
commonly, provide a list of photographers who the agent has some confidence can provide usable
pictures). The reality is that in most large markets someone who wishes to be a model must find their own
way through the jungle to obtain the pictures and experience to put together the tools they need to work as
a model. Time is not particularly critical to a commercial model. If they are twenty or twenty four, if it
takes six months or two years to collect the necessary tools, that is fine as far as the agent is concerned.
Most commercial jobs require the model to play a roll, to look like a particular character, to meet some
pre designated set of physical qualifications for "That Particular Job".

Why does a commercial agent not have to be in the model management (or more accurately, model
development) business? Primarily, because in most major markets so many other people are doing it for
them. Actors work as commercial models, photographers develop models on smaller jobs with their direct
(usually smaller) clients, and so called fashion agencies have models who fail to catch on editorially, and
who then wind up listing with the commercial agencies.

This is the normal experience that most models will have when dealing with an older established
commercial agency. It is very rare for any single model to be particularly important to a commercial agent
(unless, like anyone in the business, there is some personal reason. Hey, you want the truth? Or the
fantasy?). It is the advertising clients, and the agent's relationship with those clients, which drives a
commercial agency, not the models. The models are a commodity which the agent makes available to his
or her clients. The more models they have, and the greater the variety, the happier the agent. Is it fair for
the agency to collect it's fees for placement? Yes, particularly since they have access to clients (and work
hard to establish and maintain those relationships) that any model would not be able to get to directly.
Their fees are a function of the access they provide to clients and the contractural arrangements they
maintain, the fee's and commissions collected from the model and client are not for model management.
The rates a commercial model normally commands in the market place do not ususally justify a significant
commitment to model career development by an agent..

Now, the popular concept of an agent, which is that of an editorial fashion agency. These agents
(agencies) succeed or fail on their ability to discover, develop, and promote new faces. Two or three hot
new models, and the agency is getting calls and bookings for those premium commercial fashion jobs. The
agents (and now I am going to introduce a new word here, "bookers", the real power in any agency) really
do select, manage, and develop the careers of these select few models. If a booker is successful in finding
that new face, in properly promoting the model, in training and managing the model, AFTER the editorial
image is established, then a long string of highly paid commercial jobs follow. The model has no chance of
entering this market without an exclusive relationship with a qualified booker in an agency. There is no
beginner editorial market a model can find on their own. It is possible that a model can get hooked up with
an important editorial photographer on her own, get a few editorial jobs, maybe a high profile commercial
booking, as a result of that relationship, but this is pretty rare these days. Is an Editorial Agency worth their
fees and commissions? Yes, again this career is not possible without them, and a successful booker is
what every fashion agency depends on. They are paid too much after the model is successful, and not
nearly enough when they are developing the model. So it goes.

So, why not go directly to those wonderful editorial agencies? After all, this story makes them sound like
the real deal. They manage a model, they promote the model's career, and the individual model is
important to them. Well here's the rub. You must be young, very young. You must be tall, very tall. You
must be ready to sacrifice everything about your personal life, where you live, what your schedule is, often
schooling, and you must be ready to take on a whole raft of adult responsibilities. And there is no promise
that this will work, even if you do everything asked of you. Editorial modeling is a crap shoot, win and you
win big, loose and you may walk away with some pretty bad experiences. This is not what most people
want to hear.

What most people want is a commercial modeling career...... with the attention and promotion of an
editorial agency. Not going to happen. Get over it. Get your pictures, and put together a comp. Promote
yourself through agencies, photographers, and social contacts, and hope for the best. Take any good job
you can get without regard to pay in the beginning. Don't think you can make a living at it immediately.
After a few years, if you are going to work, you will have enough good pictures to have a pretty good
comp card. You will have worked for enough people to have some idea about the level of work you will
get on a regular basis, and enjoy the business!

There is one small section of the commercial modeling business which is time sensitive, and that is
children's modeling. Here things do have to move a little faster (you will outgrow the business!), and the
agents do have to get involved more directly with the model (parent). But this is such a strange area, I
really don't want to get into it.

--
John Fisher
900 West Avenue, Suite 423
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
Voice: (305) 534-9322
Fax: (305) 675-9286
http://www.johnfisher.com