The Structure and Functions of Editorial and Commercial Agencies
I was involved in an exchange of emails with Brian Yarvin (a professional photographer shooting commercial stock in New
York who posts very infrequently) about the nature of commercial as opposed to editorial agencies. His point (well taken)
was that most, if not all of the work in Miami is commercial in nature, so how does one refer to himself as an editorial agent in
a market like this?
Good question, and frankly you could put all the true editorial work shot here in Miami in a thimble and still have room for a
lifetime subscription to Ocean Drive. That said, this is still the second largest market for editorial fashion models, and
probably the best market during our abbreviated fashion season. Many of the top editorial fashion agencies are represented
here, with some of the biggest names like Mega, Ford, Elite, MCsquared, Wilhelmina and Next having busy offices in South Beach. The best
known local agency, Irene Marie, also has an active editorial board as well. So, how do you rectify these two seemingly
incongruous situations? The answer is both simple and difficult.
First, the work the models do here is indeed commercial work, and there are a large number of straight commercial models
shooting for lifestyle, TV, and other related advertising work. However, there is during season here (basically December
through March), a significant number of commercial clients who want, and will only use, editorial models for the advertising
work they come to Miami to shoot. A lot of this is straight catalog work (fashion related), and a significant amount of
magazine advertising work. Much of this is for the European and South American markets. Why do clients want editorial
models as opposed to commercial models for some types of commercial work? Why are they willing to pay a premium price for
these models, when the work is catalog or magazine print advertising? Excellent questions, and the answers lead us to
why some agencies present themselves as editorial fashion, or have an editorial "board" (more about that distinction later),
and some agencies are straight commercial agencies.
A short sidebar here, what follows is an explanation of the organization and mission of editorial and commercial agencies.
Nothing in this should be misconstrued to suggest that one is better than another, just that they are different in important
ways, and that anyone who wants to work with these agencies (or be an agent) should have a clear understanding of what
those differences are. If you don't, you have no idea where you are going, and most likely you won't get there! Admittedly, I
am working with an editorial bias, as that is where my personal efforts are directed. This will undoubtedly leave the reader
with the feeling that editorial is better than commercial. ..................Get over it.
Basically, commercial models play rolls. They represent working moms, construction workers, police officers, doctors, indian
chiefs, etc. A very active commercial model (Aaron Marcus) posted here several months ago, promoting a book I believe. He
could play anyone, he is that good (well, maybe not the working mom, but who knows, he is talented!) Most people could work
as commercial models, but the closer you are to "mainstream" looks (attractive, young, healthy), the more opportunity you will
have to work. However, as I have said in the past, sometimes they want a big, dumb, bald, white guy, then I get to work, and
have. These jobs are fewer than you probably think, so I don't get called often. Remember the "Where's the beef?" lady? Or the
woman who did some ads for Snapple? Hardly young, attractive, and well, maybe they were healthy, who knows. These are
commercial models, and they work when the casting calls for a person who looks like they do. The more flexible the look, the
more available and reliable you are, the more you will work.
Commercial agents load up on comp cards, featuring as many looks as they can. The prospective client calls, a commercial agent
wants to have models who fit the client's needs. Now, some commercial agencies (the more successful ones) do specialize in a
particular look for their market as a way of differentiating themselves, so one agency may have more ethnic models than the
others in their market, or more beefcake males, or more spanish speaking models. (Spanish SPEAKING? Yes, most commercial
agencies do castings for TV commercials, this is part of the business!)
So, a good commercial agency will represent as many models as they can, and will accumulate as many quality comp cards as
possible. Also, commercial agencies are always on the lookout for qualified male models, as males play a very important roll in
commercial advertising. Keeping track of the models, maintaining updated records as to phone numbers, addresses, getting
current comps, freshening the agency book, all play an important roll in the daily activities of a commercial agent. It is a hard
business, but commercial agents do far more bookings in shear numbers than their editorial counterparts. Virtually every city of
any size in the United States has a few good commercial agencies, and some larger cities support more than a few.
Editorial agencies are quantitatively and qualitatively quite different from their commercial counterparts. Here the market is
much smaller, limited to a few cities, and defined by the model. Tall, young, thin (mother wants to take you to the doctor thin),
beautiful (but unique, not necessarily blonde and blue eyed), and in reality, female. The editorial model plays herself. She
defines who she is, not the roll. They are promoted, they are exposed (sometimes literally!), ......and they are managed. This
differentiates the editorial agent, his job is not so much to keep track of the models, but to find a few exquisite creatures and
create a market for them. Create a market? Not possible you say? The market is there, you fill it. Not really in editorial, yes the
market is there, but it is the job of the agent to prepare and promote their models in such a way that the market comes to them.
The agent is looking for high profile jobs, not necessarily high paying jobs, particularly with a new face. Get that model known,
create a demand for "Mary", not a 5'9 brunette with high cheek bones. Get those editorial tears, get some covers. The pay is
lousy for those jobs? Tough, you will be better known, you have been picked! And there is the rub. Someone "picked" the
model. First the agent who signs the model, picks. (got a great comp? But your not really 5'9, 5'7 is closer, and your really 26, not
the 21 you told someone? Fogeddaboudit!) And this is where an editorial agent lives and dies, you have be able to tell who has
the "look". If you can't do it, your gone. Grizzly business that way. Then the magazines get to pick, the editors pick the models
for the fashion editorial spreads. Why? Because all the models want those jobs, theoretically the magazine picks the best!
Right.
What really happens is that the agents spend a lot of time calling, shmoozing, arm wrestling, what ever it takes to get the model
a go-see for those jobs. Makeup artists have favorites, they push certain people. A high rolling client likes a particular model?
They pay the bills at the magazines, you use that leverage. (Think of the models the Marciano brothers have literally created
with their "Guess" campaigns.) Getting picked. Think about the leverage Sports Illustrated has in editorial fashion, they pick,
the model becomes a bazillionaire, her agent buys a new car. SI pays next to nothing for those girls, and why should they? Suck
up to SI (or in my case, CBS)? You bet! As the guy said in "Pretty Woman", we are talking about major league sucking up!
Getting picked. That's editorial fashion. The clients know next to nothing, but if a good agency picked the girl, if a magazine
used her in editorial spreads, if another high profile client picked her, then the client thinks she must be great! "I want her! I'll pay
for her!" Anyway, that is how it is supposed to work. And, it does for the most part. Now, how does that fit Miami? Well, the
commercial fashion clients come here, and they want (or think they want) those big deal editorial models, so they go to agencies
who have them. (By the way, that also defines South Beach. Clients looking for editorial models do come to South Beach for
season. They do not go to a hundred other markets I can think of.) If you can establish your editorial credentials as an agency
by successfully finding, developing, promoting and managing a few high profile models, they will call you, and only agencies
like yours. Here, there are maybe seven such agencies, and thirty other relatively successful commercial agencies. But those
seven get the big calls for the top dollar catalog and advertising work. Brian Yarvin asked me if they really wanted those sixteen
year old new faces. Yes Brian, in Miami, they do. If the girl can deliver, they want them most of all. They are cheaper, and they
are "fresh". Everyone wants to get in on making one of those rare faces successful, everyone wants to share in the "glory".
("Oh, I made her, I gave her her first real break, she was nothing before us, trust me!") Oh yeah, part of the business.
If an agency can get to a position where it is thought of as an editorial agency, it raises all the boats. Again, here in Miami, the
agencies like Wilhelmina and Irene Marie have substantial commercial books. Most of their models are commercial models,
because even commercial clients will call Irene Marie and Wilhelmina first. Why? They are thought to have the best models.
They get to pick. They must be better. And the commercial clients pay. Irene Marie's bookings for commercial models are better
bookings than those exclusively commercial agencies get. It all works down hill for Wilhelmina and Irene Marie, because they
have the reputation (deserved or not) as having an editorial board, they get the cream of the commercial market as well. (That
word again, "board", it means a separate part of the agency, where the bookers work only with a select group of models, the
editorial "board". The comps are kept separate, on their own rack, hence the name "board". The bookers in that part of the
agency do not cross over models with the other parts of the agency. Usually. Anyway, that is how it is supposed to work.)
So how do you do this in Miami? Well, you find models who look like editorial models to start with. They will be tall, young and
uniquely beautiful. You do not cheat, if you say the girl is 5'9, she is 5'9, if you say she is 19, she is not 24. Cheating comes later,
after you are successful. First you have to show you know how to pick. Then, after season in Miami, you have to be prepared to
move the models to Milan or Paris to get their true editorial credentials. There are probably twenty times more fashion
magazines in Europe compared to the US. The pay stinks, the pictures are fabulous. Every young boy with a camera in the US
wants to shoot for Playboy, every young boy in Italy wants to shoot for Vogue. And their work shows it. Then when the models come
back to Miami (or New York), the young new faces DO have those editorial tears, the covers. And their commercial rates go up.
AND you are an editorial agency. Ultimately, the agencies and their models wind up in the same place. Commercial bookings pay
the bills for all the agencies and the models, commercial and editorial. But how you get there, and what rates a client is willing to
pay for those commercial bookings, differ significantly.
It is how I see it, and I'm playing the game. If I'm wrong, I'm history. And that certainly makes the game more interesting!
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John Fisher
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