Hartsoe wrote:
for models and wannabes... Lol - but some of them are greedy...

So what else is new about that... we see it here on MM every day.

What most of you [web based US "models"] may not realise about the European area is that in the "modelling" context there are just not the PAYING jobs for MODELS - not even the numbers of photographers doing TFwhatever - but there are paying jobs here for many of the others [dancers, ect] who will also "model" to fill in their otherwise non-working time and fill out their income. There is virtually no such thing as being only a "model."

Here in the UK there are lots of small local and regional agencies, some run by photographers, that have a virtual lock on the industry locally in their local areas... and outside of that there are the major and 2nd tier agencies in London who have a virtual lock on the national [major client] parts of the business. Some of the smaller ones also double as "talent" and [TV and movie] "extras" agents as well.

So if you can't get one [agency], or don't want one [usually a photographer who also calls himself a "model manager"], to represent you or you don't want to freelance glamour/nude/erotic/adult work, and you don't "do" anything else in the entertainment field, what's the point if the work's not there in the end? Some of the local ones, and I can even say many of them, are also known to be operating nearly like any of the other usual scams that models should avoid - up front fees, administration fees; as photo and portfolio mills; double dipping; operating with conflicts of interest [representing clients; models; MUAs; and photographers all at the same time]... and all the rest of the worst practices you can think of.

Even in spite of all the scamming, right near me I had at least one regional model agency that went out of business because there wasn't enough work to even fill the time of the people they already had signed... and they were sending them out for local advertising as well as for promotional work [e.g. handing out flyers on the street]. Nobody was earning their living from it, including, in the end, the agency them self. Another has recently opened but it turns out that they are promoting "models" but at the same time working promotions [fliers in the street and sandwich board advertising]; managing conferences; managing exhibitions; supplying other talent areas [singers; dancers; ect - even stripper-grams]; and even running beauty contests. If they had to rely on "modelling" they wouldn't have even bothered to open.

Anything in the UK in the way of work, and that is bigger than a breadbox, tends to gravitate to the, usually major, London based brick and mortar agencies. There they represent perhaps several thousand models in total - out of a population of about 60 million Brits. So you can guess what the chances are of being signed by one of them.

Web based models in Europe like they are here on MM? Not a chance. For the European "wannabe models" there seems to be something of a more practical viewpoint - if it doesn't pay to be a "model" then they may as well just move on and find that paying work somewhere else, doing something else, and not in modelling... and they do exactly that.

Studio36

ItalyBondage wrote:
In Italy you can try also these:
http://www.hostessweb.it
http://www.unicasting.com

Ciao ItalyBondage!!!
Ma non saranno mica siti al livello di questo, quelli...  ehehhe

This is:
www.modeldream.com

JvR wrote:
I'm hoping that with two million tourists each year, I can get some models (or wannabees) who are willing to do a shoot while hanging out in Ayia Napa for a week or two.

So, I'm looking for ways to get find models or make my Cyprus presence known to models.

In that case, in Ayia Napa you ARE going to find a lot of Brit girls, and others from all over Europe, that you can approach. Basically STREET CASTING... as long as you are paying something. That is practically "party central"*  for the Brits in the summer months and most of them are usually damn near broke after the first week of a two week holiday... just to know... they won't be models, or even wannabes, but just girls who need to earn a bit to keep partying. Need I say more?

*Party central = think something like Bike Week at Daytona, or MardiGras in NOLA, but without the rules... or the cops.

Studio36

IMPORTANT EDIT: WATCH THEIR AGES. ASK TO SEE THEIR PASSPORT No s*it you will find Brit girls going off to Ayia Napa from 15 and up completely alone with a bunch of their mates... but no family with them either.

studio36uk wrote:

So what else is new about that... we see it here on MM every day.

What most of you [web based US "models"] may not realise about the European area is that in the "modelling" context there are just not the PAYING jobs for MODELS - not even the numbers of photographers doing TFwhatever - but there are paying jobs here for many of the others [dancers, ect] who will also "model" to fill in their otherwise non-working time and fill out their income. There is virtually no such thing as being only a "model."

Here in the UK there are lots of small local and regional agencies, some run by photographers, that have a virtual lock on the industry locally in their local areas... and outside of that there are the major and 2nd tier agencies in London who have a virtual lock on the national [major client] parts of the business. Some of the smaller ones also double as "talent" and [TV and movie] "extras" agents as well.

So if you can't get one [agency], or don't want one [usually a photographer who also calls himself a "model manager"], to represent you or you don't want to freelance glamour/nude/erotic/adult work, and you don't "do" anything else in the entertainment field, what's the point if the work's not there in the end? Some of the local ones, and I can even say many of them, are also known to be operating nearly like any of the other usual scams that models should avoid - up front fees, administration fees; as photo and portfolio mills; double dipping; operating with conflicts of interest [representing clients; models; MUAs; and photographers all at the same time]... and all the rest of the worst practices you can think of.

Even in spite of all the scamming, right near me I had at least one regional model agency that went out of business because there wasn't enough work to even fill the time of the people they already had signed... and they were sending them out for local advertising as well as for promotional work [e.g. handing out flyers on the street]. Nobody was earning their living from it, including, in the end, the agency them self. Another has recently opened but it turns out that they are promoting "models" but at the same time working promotions [fliers in the street and sandwich board advertising]; managing conferences; managing exhibitions; supplying other talent areas [singers; dancers; ect - even stripper-grams]; and even running beauty contests. If they had to rely on "modelling" they wouldn't have even bothered to open.

Anything in the UK in the way of work, and that is bigger than a breadbox, tends to gravitate to the, usually major, London based brick and mortar agencies. There they represent perhaps several thousand models in total - out of a population of about 60 million Brits. So you can guess what the chances are of being signed by one of them.

Web based models in Europe like they are here on MM? Not a chance. For the European "wannabe models" there seems to be something of a more practical viewpoint - if it doesn't pay to be a "model" then they may as well just move on and find that paying work somewhere else, doing something else, and not in modelling... and they do exactly that.

Studio36

Very informative, Studio36.  Thanks!

studio36uk wrote:

In that case, in Ayia Napa you ARE going to find a lot of Brit girls, and others from all over Europe, that you can approach. Basically STREET CASTING... as long as you are paying something. That is practically "party central"*  for the Brits in the summer months and most of them are usually damn near broke after the first week of a two week holiday... just to know... they won't be models, or even wannabes, but just girls who need to earn a bit to keep partying. Need I say more?

*Party central = think something like Bike Week at Daytona, or MardiGras in NOLA, but without the rules... or the cops.

Studio36

IMPORTANT EDIT: WATCH THEIR AGES. ASK TO SEE THEIR PASSPORT No s*it you will find Brit girls going off to Ayia Napa from 15 and up completely alone with a bunch of their mates... but no family with them either.

Yeah, I've heard the stories about Ayia Napa. Never been there, though. I was actually wondering whether I could make some dough shooting quick shots there that they can use for dating/friends sites etc., but you make some good points about them going broke fast. Still, maybe 20 pounds for a few quick shots in a walk-in studio might be an idea. I could then reserve the real sessions for those I want to work with.

What is the legal age for nudity in the UK? What would these kids carry, a passport or some other identity card?

I've got to check out the scene there upon our arrival. Too bad I go to bed here most days before the clubs there even open...

JvR wrote:
What is the legal age for nudity in the UK? What would these kids carry, a passport or some other identity card?

Got to be careful about what you shoot with anyone U-18 - it's not the nudity per se but the context. The issue, for you, is probably more about how you would get a valid release from someone U-18.

The Brits still have to carry passports because we don't have national identity cards valid for travel. Some of the others you may run into from other European countries will be able to travel only on their OFFICIAL national identity cards. The French and Germans I believe and probably the Italians as well. Can't say for sure because I don't have a fully up to date set of the rules on travel documents for Cyprus.

Have a dig around on this site:
http://cyprus.diytraveldirectory.com/

Studio36

studio36uk wrote:

Got to be careful about what you shoot with anyone U-18 - it's not the nudity per se but the context. The issue, for you, is probably more about how you would get a valid release from someone U-18.

The Brits still have to carry passports because we don't have national identity cards valid for travel. Some of the others you may run into from other European countries will be able to travel only on their OFFICIAL national identity cards. The French and Germans I believe and probably the Italians as well. Can't say for sure because I don't have a fully up to date set of the rules on travel documents for Cyprus.

Studio36

You're right. With no parents around, I couldn't get the release. Okay, the simple solution is to see the ID, take a pic of them holding the ID, get the release signed and never, ever go near someone younger than 18.