I was doing a head of a young lady on Saturday.....her mother also brought along her "book". Basically consited of 8 11x14 color prints and a red cover with the agencies name embedded on it....

The photos, I felt, were not the type I would have done for a portfolio....they were more like enlarged snapshots of the model wearing different clothes.....no special lighting...no special locations....nothing really outstanding about them....

The agency had charged them $2,000 dollars!!!.....and they were done by the "official" agency photographer.....that was in additon to a number of other fees.....never sent her out on any jobs....and if she wants to update her book....she "must"  use the agencies "official" photographer.....

To me this sounds like a scam to sell photos....and not very good ones at that......has anyone had similiar experiences???

In many jurisdictions, it's illegal for a Talent Agency to be owned or directly associated with other businesses (especially photography studios, printing companies, schools... etc).  SAG and AFTRA regulations also prohibit the same practice.

In Florida, it's a FELONY to act as a Talent Agency without a license.  It is also illegal to hire an unlicensed agency.

This is to insure that the agency earns their income by doing what they're supposed to be doing (obtaining employment for the people they represent) instead of making money by selling items and services that may or may not be needed.

Most legitimate agencies that aren't in such a jurisdiction will still adhere to the same basic rules. 

Sounds like they got taken by a classic photomill scam.

Check out http://www.filminflorida.com/ela/tma.asp for some great information regarding Talent Agencies in Florida.

To verify license in Florida:
https://www.myfloridalicense.com/licens … 1.jsp?SID=

Funny story:
I recently submitted information to the Florida DBPR regarding a talent agency scam in Florida.  They responded by saying "Talent Agency licensing is not under the jurisdiction of the DBPR".   I had to actually resend them copies of the Florida laws and THEIR OWN WEB PAGES to remind them that the license IS part of their jurisdiction.

Where does your state get their employees from?

'Agencies' do that all the time.

There's one here in Buffalo that will 'sign' you but require you to purchase a portfolio from them. They do all the same kind of shots for everyone...they are pretty tacky and look more like senior pictures than modeling photos.

Either way, it all just comes down to someone wanting to do modeling so bad they lose their ability to have good judgement....

I've been to plenty of calls that always end up in me spending thousands of dollars for some not worth it convention or a not so great portfolio....thankfully I knew better than to fall for that kind of stuff.

I've had so called "agencies" try to scam me this way. One insisted on a $2000 payment but was kind enough to let me put down $800 right then and there. Gee thanks!

It was a scam.

W5 (Canada's "60 Minutes") did a great expose on the Barbizan School here in Toronto, an agency that's been around for a long time.  A reporter went undercover as a booker, and with a hidden camera recorded her training session, which consisted entirely of one theme:  get the models credit card number no matter what, never mind what she looks like.  It was unbelievable.

I've had two people contact me for modeling portfolio's only to be told by their agency that they have to go to who they say....and then they were wicked unhappy with it...

that really sucks -

Julia