Child Modeling?! - Centralia,WA

JRP is not a talent agency. You pay them for classes and then they let you know where auditions are. My 19 year old daughter just paid them $500 and will take 2 full day classes in June. Then they said they will send her on at least 2 auditions per month. They called her after her first interview and told her she was great and wanted to see her again asap, but didn't say anything about money until her next meeting. If you ask me, I think she wasted her money. I guess we will see....

We have been trying to get our daughter an agency for the last year. There are SO many kids out there it's been hard! I found a few jobs myself on craigslist, and she has had a few auditions where she didn't get the job. The only agency I've liked in Seattle so far is natural child. She's sent us on auditions but wants nothing until she gets a job, which is how it should be. I've heard great things about Ryan artists in Portland, which may be more convenient for you. Most jobs through a Seattle agency will be around Seattle, which would be a lot of wasted time driving for you. Check out Ryan!

Hi J.,

Please allow me to share the voice of experience from two perspectives. First, my daughter was a child model and I learned a lot through that experience. You should remember one key plot if nothing else... real modeling agency will not have classes or request money to get your child work.

Secondly John Robert Powers is indeed a real business. They prey on the emotions of parents who think their child is adorable as all parents do. Sometimes they prey on parents who would like to live vicariously through their children. Their employees are taught how to make the best of parental weaknesses and earn a living and usually commissions from them. I also know a person who worked for them. Sorry, I don't want to deflate. They do get some print work, but that is reserved for their students.

Find a local company that won't charge to get you started and where you only pay a fee...their fair share AFTER the shoot/job. Generally their fee is taken out before they cut the check to your son.

Good luck,
T.

If they are a real modeling agency, you will not need to pay anything. If they ask you for money they are not legit, but may just be a school for fun for kids who are interested. If you really want to pursue modeling for your son you need to get some photos done and send them to real agencies.

You should not pay out any $$$ to model. If a company wants you they will contact you.

I have modeled most of my life. It is WORK, HARD work...lots of sitting around waiting on your turn, lots of competition, lots of rejection. You have to be tough emotionally to handle it. Yes, the rewards are very nice but don't count on them. I had some great jobs that I will look back on when I am old and cherish. I also had some jobs that were no fun at all.

My 15 yr old has modeled as well. After a week in LA, she told me "mom, this is not as fun as I thought it would be". She stopped and never looked back.

If your child does not like it....STOP. Don't pay $$, agencies use a snapshot to determine if they like someone. After a few jobs, your portfolio grows.

Good luck

My cousin allowed her son to do JRP. I think she paid for him to take the classes. He did well and got jobs. After all was said and done, there were agencies that wanted to sign him, but he decided to go on tour with a rock band instead of make money modeling... I think he could have gone far, because he's got "the look", but we'll never know.
YMMV
LBC

My son did do John Robert Powers for a few years. They are a school and cannot get you jobs. However, they do bring in agents and talent managers to audition the kids. My son had agents and talent managers that were interested in him but wanted us to move to LA. I did see and hear about many of the students starting successful careers. My son did get good training and learned skills that now help him in his adult life, but JRP is just a school (and not a cheap one). Ryan Artists in Portland is a good place. They are very selective and it took a couple of tries to get my son in. (You can submit a photo online.) By then he was in high school and had lost interest. The industry is very hard to get into. But if you want to do it, do it now while you son is young. Once they reach 9 or 10 years old there is very little out there until they turn 18. Good luck.

Driving for hours and wasting entire days is what modeling is. So you're getting good practice. My friend had both her kids in modeling when they were young. She lived out of backpacks, sitting on floors in hallways of agencies where her kids had auditions. She was doing this while the rest of us were playing at the park, going to the zoo, etc. Her kids were adorable, but so were all the other kids in line, and there was lots of competition. Her kids ended up doing a couple local commercials and were in a couple print ads. Mostly her kids were disappointed and sad all the time because they didn't make the cut. She quit after a couple years because it was tough emotionally on the kids. Good luck.

You shouldn't have to pay for any modeling classes to get your child jobs. Best thing for you to do is find a lisiting of Model/Talent agents in your area that handle children. Find out their submission policy and submit. Usually for children, many agencies will accept a snapshot but you may want to have comp cards made. You may get picked up by an agent but not get any jobs right away. Once you do get a job, send a picture postcard of your son to other agencies saying look what I've done. The more agents the better.
My daughter (5) has just been picked up by an agent. All I received was a notice of representation stating they will contact me further when they have a job or need updated photos. No solicitation for any further training.
I'd take him to the audition just to get a feel for what they are about. Even if nothing comes of it, he will have the experience of an audition. And you will get the fun of spending a day with your son focused on sonmething he wants to do.

Have you tried Puddle Town Talent? Our neighbors have a child with their agency and they've been really good and informative about the modeling industry.

ahttp://www.puddletowntalent.com/Puddletown_Talent/Home.html\\

When my granddaughter was 7-8 months old a representative from a modeling agency gave her mother a card and suggested that my granddaughter would be a good model. My daughter did not follow thru on that but did do some research. She found a couple of other agencies in the phone book. She called each agency and asked about their procedure. She decided that modeling with a baby was too much work for her.

Those agencies should have told you what to expect. If they didn't, call them and ask before you devote any more time and money in taking your son to them.

I have known a couple of adults who modeled and they said that you have to have a good portfolio of photos which is expensive to produce. They paid for this themselves. They also said to ask lots of questions of any agency in which you're interested so that you know what is expected before you start with them. Read the contract closely and be sure that you understand what it means. Often, they make promises that don't pan out and one can spend lots of money but make less than they spent.

A more recent acquaintance entered her 10 yo daughter in a modeling contest that she learned about on the Internet. She did have to send in pictures. The agency makes the rounds of larger cities every year. I don't know what happened. Guess it's time to call her. :)

Be careful with this.....My six year old girl loves to act and be in the spot light. She tells us all the time mommy i want to be on tv like those kids. We looked into things a little bit cause she wouldn't stop about it and a lot of people told us she should be in commercials so when she showed interest we too thought what the heck it cant hurt to look. Alot of places we were able to find wanted a lot of money which i have heard is a big no no so we passed. the thing you are talking about sounds like something we tried too. it is not an agency they are "talent scouts" totally not the same. Sat us all down and said they were looking for people to show to some agents that would have to fly down from all over to see us if we made it past them. We were there for a long time drove out of our way like you will to them. in the end they wanted a crazy amount of money...1500.00. Said it was for the cost to bring all the top agents to a weekend of auditions and so forth. it was crazy and a huge waist of time..I just wanted to let you know that...my daughter was excited to and was very disapointed with it in the end because she didn't get to do anything but talk to a guy for like a minute. he said she was pretty but because it was pasted her bed time and stuff by the time we got seen she was cranky and he thought she needed another year to be more social...Let me tell you that is the furthest thing from what she needs. Good luck and I hope you have a different or better experience. Keep looking if this is something your son wants to do and dont worry about anyone elses oppinion. what works for some doesnt for another.....good luck