well this is interesting…
D has, for quite a while, been interested in the idea of being a model. I say “idea” because she really doesn’t have any idea of the work and commitment it takes, and gets most of her information about the profession from watching “America’s Next Top Model”. I had told her we would take some snapshots of her and get them in the mail to some of the larger agencies. A couple of them take submissions through email, a couple take them in the mail, then there are some you have to visit in person on their open call days. So, we just hadn’t gotten those things done yet.
Then, last week I think, she got a message from a woman who saw her site on Facebook or MySpace requesting that she attend an open call at a local agency. Until now, the “agencies” who held open calls around here were really just thinly-disguised modeling schools and whether or not they actually booked jobs for anyone, they required their clients to enroll in a series of expensive – and in some cases, unnecessary – classes to train them to be models. So, I was skeptical about this woman.
But yesterday we got a call from a guy at the same agency and he was happy to talk to me (a good sign I thought) about bringing D in for an interview Sunday afternoon. He explained that they are an agency out of Chicago that has recently opened an office here to serve some of their clients better and that they are interested in seeing how D does with a pretend commercial audition and some initial photos. They have her pegged as a possible runway and print model, with some commerical possibility. I’m not sure about the commercial part, but I do think she has the face and figure for other things. This guy said I am welcome to be with her the whole time since she’s a minor, and told me what she needs to bring with her and how she should dress. I told him we’d be there.
Of course, D is VERY excited. What 15-year-old girl wouldn’t be excited to be asked to audition at a modeling agency? We’ll see what they’re offering, and what they expect in return. I noticed on their website they do state that they will pay for a makeover and headshots, so that was another good sign.
Our biggest concern, as you can guess if you’ve read this blog much, is that she’ll be thrilled to do this, and eager to take any/every job they offer her, but she will not work to keep her grades up (or get them up, if that’s needed) and will think this is her ticket to success without having to worry so much about school. And, if she is not doing well in school and we look at modeling as a privilege, just like driving or going out with friends, will our restricting her from taking jobs get her dropped from the agency? I guess we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. The first step is just showing up Sunday.
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