On Modeling Contracts

A dear friend of mine recently was offered a "modeling" gig. Perhaps "gig" is better suited towards being the word in quotation marks. The offer was real enough, and I suppose whatever the photo shoot actually consisted of constitutes modeling. It's just that the offer itself was phrased in the least legitimate manners possible.

For one thing, she was approached through text-only contact over the cam chatting site stickam.com. By a "woman." (Who just claimed to not have a webcam.)

Second, when they emailed her (under a fake name she gave them until she tested their veracity), they were somewhat unconvincing. Let's take a look:

Hello Angela:


A great friend and former model of mine, Sienna Baker, found you on the chat site and sees some real potential in you.  Sienna is a great judge of talent and has already helped a couple girls get some great pro work with a couple top magazines and thinks you could be very good too.


MY big concern is IF you are serious and I truly hope you are.  We are anxious to find models for various projects.  Based on what Sienna has told me you seem interested.  This is a highly competitive business and commitment is everything.  Plus we are on a major time crunch and need to make a selection within weeks for future modeling assignments over the next 12-18 months all over the world!!  That is why I think it important, if Sienna thinks you do well enough during her training sessions, we get some audition pictures of you ... specifically in lingerie and/or swimwear and other ways that show off your body and figure... so we can make some assessments of your potential.  Do not be concerned with having a "perfect" body.... we need ALL shapes and sizes for many different magazines and catalogs.


She specializes in artistic work for mags like Maxim, Allure, and has done some work with Cosmo Girl... and with Suicide Girls on occassion.  Mostly swimwear, lingerie and other sensual fashion.  The work we would want would be very much the same..   Being totally uninhibitted is the key.  Sienna does her initial interview and mentoring and training program online.  We do the audition shoots in person if you do well enough that she recommends you.  There are many BAD agencies out there that lure innocent girls in and then do things that are not polite to discuss.  Sienna never screen caps any of her training work; she is a huge advocate of models' privacy rights.  As far as our audition shoot is concerned, the one we will do in person, we will both sign a mutual release that states we can only show those pictures/videos to potential magazine clients so they can make their selects of models for various shoots.  Nothing will ever be displayed publically without your expressed written permission.

Sienna will expect a lot during her training, Angela.  More than you'd do for an actual photo shoot but she wants to open up, step outside the box but mostly she is wanting the prospect to have fun with what she does.  Just go with the flow.  Being shy will not make the cut.


I have worked with her for a long time and she is very professional and does great work.  Let her teach you and listen to her and you'll do great.


I wish you the best of luck!!

Cheers,
William Simmons

VP of talent Coordination
Tempting Sensations Modeling Agency

(formerly Attitude Models Ltd, UK)

Liverpool England (UK)

P.S.  We are a low-key behind-the-scenes modeling agency and, to prevent being bothered by thousands of girls that only "wish" they could model, we do NOT maintain a web site or publish any photos we do on the web.  We work strictly with the magazine and video industry.

Okay.

1) This guy must be really unprofessional, what with not knowing the name of the website a worker was scouting, double-spacing after sentences randomly, using CAPSLOCK instead of italics or even–god help us–bold, and of course not bothering to spellcheck his emails.

2) They want you to train (on camera) first, then take audition photos in lingerie and/our swimsuits. To show off your shape (but then assuage you that shape isn't everything). If you do well in all this, they will book you for up to 18 months of gigs they desperately need filled.

3) The "company" specializes in magazines you've definitely heard of, despite these magazines not having anything in common when it comes to the type of women they generally shoot. Also, they do softcore porn for a well known company which prides itself on open auditions through their own site. (Don't ask how I know that.)

4) "Sensual" is a word photographers use to describe shoots when they don't want to scare off naïve models with the word "nude." "Uninhibited" is likewise the word they use when they don't want to say, "just go with it if one of us gets naked too."

5) This is followed by very improperly mentioning that there are "BAD" companies out there who do these above things to naïve young models and then promises not to do any of those things or any other things of which you could conceivably think. They go on to promise that when they actually molest you on camera, you will sign a piece of paper they claim keeps them from ever showing it to anyone other than prospective "clients." Because you are a lawyer and you will know what it says.

6) 'Listen to what Sienna says and follow direction blindly or you will not become a star.'

7) The company is based in the UK despite agenting for models in US magazines.

8) The company does not have a website or contact information. Basic Googling reveals that neither version of the company's names actually exist. They are not even mentioned online outside of references to a London gazette from 2007. Also, even more typos.

9) What kind of modeling agency doesn't want young girls applying at every opportunity? What kind of business model is that?

Now, I can hear you thinking, "Man, that crane is never going to be able to lift that whole thing!" I hear you thinking this because nearly everyone who started reading this blog bailed a long while back, but if you're still reading or skipped all of the above, I can hear you thinking something different, and that thing is, "Well, maybe that guy's just bad at writing emails. He's a VP after all, not a recruiter."

Possible, but remember that he is a faceless dude on the internet promising lofty rewards for trust and showing some skin. Now consider that a Latino music producer approached this same friend for some acting work the same week and provided links to his Facebook, email, company, YouTube account, and the name of the artist for whom he was directing the music video in which he was offering a part. He also spoke with this friend at length. Dear Will didn't do much beyond send an obvious form email (unproofed) on the word of an underling who only has one name and some still photos for credibility.

And what happens when you blow off their stickam-based training session because they're unconvincing? Do you get written off because they don't want to waste their time on spazzes and flakes? Do they send a single email informing you that they're regrettably moving on? Or even checking to see if you are okay?

No, they get angry and threaten you back into stripping for them:

Angela....


I just got off the phone with Sienna.  I was VERY disappointed to learn that you never appeaed for your scheduled training appointment.
My time -- and Ms. Baker's time -- is very valuable.  Both of us have gone way beyond our normal functions to absolutely reassure you that we were seriously interested in you as a possible model and our legitimate belief you have that "it" we were looking for.  Emphasis now on the word "were"... we can NOT waste time on anyone that is as, apparently, unreliable as you have now proven yourself to be.
Unless you contact Sienna sometime within the next 24 hours with a reasonable reason why you missed your scheduled time with her we will totally remove you from any future consideration and pass along this information to the Studios' Network that you cannot be trusted as a legitimate modeling prospect.
I hope Sienna hears from you today.


William

That's right, more typos, more extraneous CAPSLOCK, and a huge guilt trip about how hard theyve worked to make you feel comfortable. You know, save for any form of contact more legitimate than a private message over a third-party cam site and promises of eventually sending binding contracts.

And yes, that second half is a threat, actually an ultimatum with a deadline, to blacklist a prospective, possibly hospitalized client from not only their company, but from others within the shadowy, ambiguous "Studios' Network."

This network, I assume, is William's mother's Linksys WiFi. The sultry "Tempting Sensations Modeling Agency, UK" is his room in her basement, and "Sienna" is the name he gave his polyurethane playmate, the one he keeps next to him as he goads young girls into removing most of their clothing for him on the internet, cackling maniacally as he violates both their dignity and his vow not to screencap their exploits, with the ever-crooked intent of blackmailing further seductive photography out of them with the black fruits of this initial endeavor.

Trust me, Angelas out there. I'm from the internet. I know what lurks.

UPDATE!

Sienna has responded in the comments below! But here's the text larger and in-line with the above correspondence:

Great piece of b.s. here, Dave. It's too bad that your alleged "dear friend" actually was just one of thousands of girls try to get into the industry that turns out is a WANNABE model ... like all the tens of thousand wannabe singers that try out for American Idol. It's too bad for her that she has no commitment... and pretty pathetic for you that she had you post this fluff nonsense to defend her honor.
Oh well, if it gets you off that you came to her defense thats kool for you!!!

Also, she gave me a shout-out on facebook, though not by name, which would have been fun.

I'm not really sure why I bothered to hide her surname or picture, as she used her full name below and linked to her Facebook, which seems to reveal that she frequently engages in the unprofessional behavior of calling girls who decide not to sign up with her as "wannabes" and unfriends them, (leaving her with just 22 friends).

Her position is "freelance photographer" and her job is "Finding new model talent for my old studios." No further specifics about any company are given. She studied "In England." A quick search reveals that her profile photo is actually a thumbnail of CURRENT runway model Ali Carr, taken by photographer Rupert Tapper for agency Elite New York's Fall 2010 fashion season. In fact, here's the comparison, since I now know it's neither a photo of nor by her:

In her defense, she could have easily been freelancing in the art department that week, which would explain why she has access to the thumbnail file of another photographer's work before it went to print. Or maybe she's just showing off her success story.

She calls me a loser, attacks 'Angela,' and erroneously assumes that I must her be her boyfriend to defend her. She also says I'm posting "false shit about me," which is very interesting considering at no point did I actually comment on anything Sienna did. All correspondence was with Bill Simmons and is documented. That this is a real company and a real agent seems somewhat more plausible now, since I can't imagine a creeper sitting home alone Googling his own fictitious persona to see if anyone's seen through it or railed against him. Currently, the most reasonable explanation is that this really is just an incredibly unprofessional company.

So, for the record:

• Sienna has a wonderful grasp of grammar and punctuation–she can properly space an ellipsis!–up until the final two words, but that's facebook speak for you.
• This just keeps getting more and more unprofessional.
• It's still kind of hilarious. Even if she were legitimately angry about anything previously posted, it's fairly easy to recognize this is A) a humor blog and B) doesn't particularly matter in the grand scheme of her company. I'm not flaming her wall posts and I'm certainly not going to actively seek out this company to berate them. If they didn't want people laughing to themselves about their unprofessionalism, they should strive to be more professional in the future.

This was a very interesting development for the day. Thank you, Sienna!


And it continues:

Dave, I could not resist responding this one last time to your latest post and comments about my reply. I just had to help you with some of your mistaken assumptions but dan you have soooo many!!!
First off, I am NOT an "agency" and have never worked for one. I modeled professionally in Europe when I was an exchange student and back here in the U.S. during college and after for a total of 12 years. As I tell prospects, I have done it ALL and seen it ALL so that is how I can help them get involved in the business with knowledge that an "agency" will never give them! Agents, agencies, and managers will suck you dry and take your money for their "services" and charging for portfolios and other things. If I feel a girl is truly serious I will not charge her (or him) because the studios pay me a finders fee...
Which leads to the second thing, I work with (not for) the actual photography studios...
and the third thing, yes, I do de-friend a LOT of girls!! Just like I said in my first reply, thousands of girls "wannabe" models just like all those sick-sounding wannabe singers that try out for American Idol. less than a few are truly serious and committed. My time is to valuable to waste on them so once I know they are wannabe-types. (BTW, your "dear friend Angela" is only a "wannabe LOSER" because she decided to use you to try to discredit me instead of just hanging her head and going to work quietly at the Hollister store like the rest of her kind.)
Next, although I look amazingly similar to Ali I am definitely NOT her. We all have a "twin" and I'd love to meet her sometime I guess but i usually stayed away from runway models. They always thought their va-ja-jas did not smell. Personally I was always told I looked more like a young Gwyneth Paltrow.
Last thing, Dave, YOU have actually done quite a bit to steal the dreams of some potentially VERY good prospects! They find this blog and actually think I am not for real and bail. That's sad because I truly thought a couple could have made it BIG... but that's on you now.
Please excuse any bad grammar or typos or whatever else you feel special about pointing out. I am not perfect nor do I want to be. And I am not a "pro"... we all know what girls that are "pros" actually are.
Luv and kisses, Sienna. 

I'm glad there's a dialogue going, at least. It's much more transparent.


I'll go ahead and accept that the profile photo is a "celebrity lookalike" picture, but not that it is a separate individual. It is clearly the exact same photo, pre-production. I found it via an identical image search. The fact that it's low-res implies (though does not prove) it is not widely available for distribution.


I'm also starting to wonder if Sienna is Bill Simmons, because she seems genuinely, personally affronted by my criticisms of his email comments, and that makes me sad. Why work for such a company? Why deny working for any company?


For that matter, why say I'm ruining young girls' dreams by defaming Sienna when her own comments are the only thing tying her to this blog? The only person critiqued originally was Bill Simmons at "Tempting Sensations Modeling Agency." In fact, checking my site analytics, I see only 1 6:16 viewing of two pages, with the search query being:

"william simmons vp of talent coordination tempting sensations modeling agency"

So yeah, think we're done here.

Impressionable girls trying to make it in the business: Sienna seems like a lovely girl. I encourage you to ask many questions of anyone offering you fame and fortune. Get business cards, check websites, ask your parents' opinions, look for reviews. Bill Simmons? Kind of seems to be a scumbag in his interactions, but that has little bearing on who else a freelance agent can work with. Find people who are wonderful and professional and if it is what you truly want to be doing with your life, go for it with gusto. I believe in you.