A Model's Life?
By Louis Austad. TCW Author.
The glamour in the world of modeling should be judged by the impact it has on those young people who strive to be the next cover shot. While largely ignored, the truth about modeling does need to be told, for the effects modeling can have on youth can lead to their death. Modeling is not as beautiful as the pictures make it to be.
This three part article will examine the start, progress, and possible results from seeking a life as an actor or model. Today we will discuss being discovered. In the following days, we will look at a models lifestyle, concluding with a focus on the end result of seeking this fashionable career.
Glamour, glitz, and provocative poses are enough to suggest to a young teen that success awaits them. Why work at the market, fast food drive through, or in the department store when magazines will pay big money to have models grace the articles of the world's publications? This is the thinking of young people influenced to run to the world of modeling.
Television shows like America's Next Top Model, expose a small selection of young women to the world of modeling with guidance. These girls have people watching over them, counseling them, and paying the bills for travel, lodging, clothing, and food. However, only a few girls are selected from tens of thousands who want to be models.
These shows create a mystique that few girls may experience – the rest will experience the world of modeling in a different way. This too will be filled with people who act as help, but are feasting on the careers that may or may not flourish.
How does a person become a model?
Pageants, cattle calls, and auditions to be a model only produce a very small fraction of people who will enter the modeling world. The main intent of these events, billed as "talent searches," is a business that feeds off parents by manipulating them to believe their Billy or Sally can command top dollar for their looks. From both angles, this business is greed driven and produces much disappointment.
Walking through a mall, you may be surprised to have a person approach you, claiming that your child looks the part and inviting you to an open audition. With promises of opportunity to be the star, youth subjected to this type of sales pitch are filled with passion and excitement. If a parent is not filled with pride that he or she produced said prodigy, the reaction of the child is often enough to drive them to attend the audition.
At an open audition, it is common to encounter excited youth in crowds of fifty, one hundred, and sometimes more. Standing in a waiting line becomes a tool in the hands of the promoter, who is setting the desire as a hook in the minds of their targets.
Step one is the Polaroid shot. The Polaroid is used in the modeling and acting industry for casting agents selecting candidates for their projects. Whether you are a seasoned model or actor, Polaroid shots are common and suggest that your aspiring star will be considered. Besides, it slows the line down.
Step two is an interview. Often billed as "Interviews with an agent," your aspiring star will speak with one, two, or more people who ask questions – prompting the person to exhibit enthusiasm. The panel displays various reactions which target an individual's emotions, building desire.
Step three is an on-camera interview. Taken into a separate room, our aspiring star has his or her five minutes of fame. The interview starts with your name and age, followed by sharing personal interests or continually repeating a line. Though it seems legit, many of these auditions are rarely viewed and they are designed to be one more time consuming events making people feel as if they have invested themselves in the process of the star's big break.
Time invested is a hook all of its own. You stood in line for over a half-hour, then you waited to complete each station, now you have one more step where you meet a responsible looking person who will tell you the good or bad news about your prodigy. At this point in the process, parents are ready to leave and the youth is restless and bored. The desire, however, could never be higher.
Now where the approach may differ in each situation, the company that has sponsored the open audition makes their money helping your star reach their potential. They feel that a person has a chance, but will prompt both parent and youth to work hard at becoming the next star.
They will tell you that an actor or model will need to have an agent, headshots, business cards, and a few training classes so they can go on casting calls. That is the business of the company, making the future's stars; "like the ones they proudly post on their office walls."
The company will help your child with the essentials that they need to get their start; however, it will cost you. For a nominal fee, compared to what the child could make, you will receive headshots, on-camera lessons, and assistance with finding an agent. It all is legitimate and can get your child to castings where they may get lucky to land a part. However, many never make it that far.
The company that invited the potential individuals to the open call will only offer its services to you if you sign a contract with them. The contract commits 5 to 10% of the child's earnings should they get work; which seems small enough. Yet to balance the costs of the company who provided the photographer, printer, and casting crews, that have interviewed your child, a small fee of $1000 to $3000 is due at signing.
What a small amount to make millions, right? This is only the start, there will be 20% paid to the agent for the work the actor or model does. Then there will be transportation costs to the casting calls, food on the road, time away from work, and a very busy hustle and bustle where your aspiring star will join thousands of others trying to land 1 to 3 opportunities a week.
What people do not realize or stop to think about is that jumping in line is not the only way to become an aspiring artist. This truth can become a light in the darkness or a tunnel to deeper darkness, depending on what the industry life does to your child; however, there is an easier road and it does not cost you a bunch of money.
Simply enough, take a few photos of your star or yourself and write a short (very short) bio, add your phone number and email, then walk into an agency. Tell the receptionist of your intent and have a seat. Soon you will have a very busy person rush to see you who will hurl some comments towards you.
Ready to hear the truth?
You're too fat, you're too light, you're too dark, you need this or that. Rarely will you hear that you are perfect because everyone is a critic. This cold criticism will follow every aspiring star and their ability to change will make or break them. You will have either an invitation or a rejection; it is that simple.
Cold, hard truth faces actors, and models; the only liberating point is that they can choose to believe the critics or reject them. Enduring criticism and adjusting can advance one further than they imagine.
In the next article, we will look inside the world of modeling and explore the lifestyle of those selected and committed to be the next cover shot.
