Has Your Baby Done Modeling?

I have modeled most of my life. One thing to keep in mind is that it is WORK.

If an agency is interested in you, they will contact you. You spend NO MONEY or you are being scammed. They do not need a portfolio, a simple snapshot is just fine.

Most legit companies do not advertise. You submit a snapshot and they will contact you if you are a good fit for a particular shoot.

IF you are called to a casting... keep in mind, you go when you are told to do so which may bein the middle of nap time, fussy time, dinner time, etc. Be prepared for a lot of rejection because everyone thinks they have the most beautiful baby and it is ruthless out there, especially with some parents.

IF your child does not like it, STOP. Do not do it for you because it is your child working, not you. If they do like it, allocate ALL the monies earned to the child.

I continue to model occasionally. My 17 yr old models occasionally as well. It is not always fun and within your schedule. Be ready for loads of rejection but don't think for a minute it is because your baby is not pretty.. they match models to the jobs.

The companies that advertise are not at all legit. They are looking for you to spend hundreds of dollars on photography packages for headshots, and seminars & acting classes. My brother, a graphic artist, used to work in the advertising deparment of a big company in Manhattan. My child modeled for some point-of-sale displays when she was just a year old. It was very tough. It's an all day thing by the time you leave the house in the morning, wrangle your child all day on the set and to be "on" for the photographer when it works best for them. Feeding, naps, diaper changes are all messed up based on the employer's schedule. There are no toys or anything on set to interest your child - so you have to carry not only changes of clothing that you'd usually bring, but anything needed to clean up your kid, toys, food, etc. I live only 35 miles from NYC and it was still an arduous task that we opted to never do again.

We did that one shoot for my brother. We have shots of the website, the giveaways with my daughter's photos, the postcards, etc. That day I was urged to take my child to some real agencies as she was so photogenic (she still is) but after talking my husband and I concluded that it's just not a way we wanted to raise our child. The money is fine - but the disruption to your life is troubling. As a teen many people told us to get our daughter in to modeling but we decided that the focus on beauty alone is not a good thing and the industry itself is just so very disturbing that we don't want our kid screwed up that way. There are way too many things that can be stumbled upon by accident that will damage our kids - why go into it intentionally?

My daughter has always wanted to model and I tell her when she's grown up and we're no longer suporting her she will have that freedom. And I pray she doesn't do it.

Nope. I used to model, and while I loved it, I LIKED hearing what a gorgeous baby I had, and I liked him hearing it. The thing about modeling... is that that is the OPPOSITE experience one has.

Models are just living art, and they're looking for a piece of art... not a person. If your baby/child is in modeling you hear what's WRONG with your baby/child all the time. The photographer (or company/ designer/ whomever) has an image in their mind, and they're looking for the flesh and blood duplicate of what they are imagining. Anything that doesn't line up with their image of what they want is "wrong".

It's not actually anything wrong WITH your baby, it's what's wrong for the shoot.

There's a line in a show (Nip Tuck) about "thin villainous lips" that this baby model "has", that just sends me into gales of laughter. It's sooooo on the money. You do NOT hear how beautiful you (or your child) are. You hear how ugly you or your child is. Hundreds of ways, thousands of times.

You have to have a strong stomach for modeling, because it literally has nothing to do with YOU and everything to do with your PARTS.

I didn't want my son to be exposed to that kind of negativity or fawning (you get both) when he was little. If he wanted to now (he does act, some), no worries. But, having been in the industry, I didn't want that for my child until he could understand the difference between himself and his parts.

***TO KNOW***

NO ONE LEGIT ASKS FOR MONEY

YOU are the one being paid.

An agent takes a cut. And you need an agent or agency... or you will be standing for HOURS in cattle calls. But you never never never pay an agent ahead of time. They get their cut, they don't charge fees in advance.

Portfolios... you DO pay for the first couple shots. No more. After that, your portolio is the work you've already done. If you're paying for some big fancy portfolio... you're being ripped off, and your child will never work. No one looks at a portfolio of non-work, even assuming it went anywhere. They look at 2 shots, typically, and then call for looksees, and they look at your past work. DO NOT PAY FOR A PORTFOLIO

Don't spend any money. Dont sign up for portfolio fees or modeling classes. Those are scams.

My big girl, 19 yr old, models. We started by having a relationship with a clothing designer. She is her "muse model." She set up a photo shoot to take gorgeous pictures of her clothes to promote her business. She had a stack of her clothes, a photographer, and hair and makeup artist. They made my girl up and took beautiful pictures. I took those pictures and went to a copy place. They made a comp card for me. This is like a models business card. We sent these comp cards to the modeling agencies in town and she started getting calls for jobs.

If I wanted to get my baby, little kid started, I think I would buy a few cute outfits and take him to a professional photographer to shoot. Take those photos and make a comp card and send to the agencies.

I sent away for an info packet for a company here in Chicago.
Honestly, the information in the packet they sent me was enough to steer me off of it.
The included a huge list of "what to really expect" in an average day of modelling/acting with kids. And like the first posted noted, it's hard on you and hard on the kiddo.
Bottom line, any company that asks you for $$ up front is NOT LEGIT.

My son had a 3yr. contract with the Ford modeling agency (San Fran) we paid for NOTHING... he never got a job but was put "on hold" a few times, we did alot of driving around in some shady places. Look on the web for an agency near you. Take some pictures of your child (I think the ones outside turn out best). and go from there....

good luck!

I have been looking into getting my daughters into modeling. I have researched many agencies in Chicago, and there are two that have had good overall reviews from many sources. Lily's Talent Agency and Stewart's Talent Agency. There is also Ford Modeling Agency and BMG Agency that also seem reputable. Make sure that you only contact AGENCIES, not MANAGEMENT companies. Talent Management Companies charge you a fee to send your pictures to agencies. You can do that for free. I had a brush with one, AdKids, and was almost scammed out of hundreds of dollars. Also, any headshots you send of young kids do not need to be professional. Snapshots are fine since the kids grow and change so frequently. And, I know it was said before by other posters, but don't pay anyone any money out of your pocket. They get paid when your child books a job. And, also be wary of anyone who says they'd like to sign you on but you must go with their staff photographers for headshots that will cost hundreds of dollars. You should always be able to choose your own photographer. This business is completely overwhelming!
Best of luck to you!