I have been working with a new face who is getting started here in Miami, and she has been visiting the
agencies looking for representation. I've been through this before, but she hadn't and she questioned why
I was introducing her to some of the commercial agencies here on the beach rather than the upper end
editorial shops. Certainly she has a good look, and at 5'11 is tall enough for editorial fashion. The issue
was simple, age. At 22 she is too old to be a new face, and while the editorial agencies expressed
interest (I finally did take her into a couple of them), they explained to her that models her age had
"developed" books.
"What does that mean? Aren't my pictures good enough? What do they mean by a 'developed book'?",
she asked. The short answer is tear sheets. The models with Elite, Karin, or Next who are over twenty
have books with tears, good ones, editorial tears, and if the client is strong, even commercial tears. "Still,
they are just pictures, if mine are good, what difference does it make if they are just pictures or if they are
tear sheets? And why do I have to have tears, but the younger girls don't have to have them to get
accepted?"
Good questions, and the answer is neither short nor simple. The deal is this, everyone knows that a true
new face is inexperienced, and they are cut some slack when they are getting started. Not a lot, and the
development curve is steep, but if they are sent on an assignment the photographer(s) should expect to
provide more input than with an older model. But a model over twenty is competing with other
experienced
models, and if the agency sends a model on a go-see and she's booked for the assignment,
it is expected
that she can produce quality work on demand. That's what tears tell the client, and the
agency. Not that
the model is beautiful, or has nice pictures, but that she has produced good images in a
defined limited
time frame with people she may not know, and has never worked with before. The
models over twenty
with Karin, Next, Elite, Wilhelmina, etc. have those tears, and the experience that
comes from producing them.
How does this relate to the 22 year old model who is trying to get started? If she wants to work she has
to start with smaller agencies who will give her the chance to get those tears. The jobs will be smaller, the
pay more conservative, but with luck and a little push she might put together a book of work which will
make her more attractive to the larger agencies. A couple of good editorials, even in smaller magazines, a
string of strong commercial assignments (fashion related), and all of a sudden the model has the
credentials to open the door at Wilhelmina or Ford. So, why would a smaller agency take on a model
that Irene Marie passes on? Well, the smaller shops don't get first crack at the hot 16 year olds, and they
aren't really in the development business anyway. The best talent they can book have the look, but are
over twenty. If they are sent on a go-see, book the job and bomb, well, the agency reputation wasn't
really on the line the way it is with DNA, as an example. But, catch a break and do a good job, things
can really open up. Anyway, we will see how things work out for her this season. It's a rough business at
best, and only the toughest survive. I often think we are not successes (when we are), so much as we are
survivors.
John
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John Fisher
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