incidently, Shine models agency
did approach me on my way home in toa payoh mrt station a few nights
ago. being new to this experience and easily coaxed into submission for
an interview, i made a trip down to the agency in parklane mall today
at around 2pm. my first impression of the agency was that it seemed
pretty normal(people were going about doing their things). there were
in fact, quite a number of males attending the grooming course, all
looking so eager to become a potential model.
i was interviewed by a rather young looking but pleasantly groomed guy.
i was required to memorise a number of lines and then told to act it
out, as if i were modelling for the product. to my surprise, they
seemed ready to accept me despite me giving a really horrid rendition
of the lines. after that, i was asked if i would be interested in
taking up part time modelling and introduced to their portfolio of
works. all of these information captivated me greatly until the costing
issues surfaced during the interview.
i was informed that i had to attend a 10-week course every saturday on
grooming and things like how to strike a pose etc etc. while the course
would amount to $1400, i only had to pay $200 for it if i signed an
agreement with them (apparently it would be sponsored). next, i was
required to do a photo shoot which would amount to $299. these photos
would be sent to clients for evaluation and model picking purposes.
along the duration of the whole interview, i felt that my ego was been
stroked as they repeatedly used words or phrases such as "I think you
have potential", "I like your look. I think you should give it a shot".
sorry for the really long and boring post, but i just want to present
to everyone a really objective view on this agency and their approach.
i'm not saying this is a hoax or anything, and in fact, i had actually
contemplated about this offer (and i actually still am). dear all, i
hope to obtain a valuable and objective feedback and this would be
better if it could be from someone with previous modeling experience.
the previous posts were definitely useful, but i hope to gather more
information regarding this. on one hand, i don't wish for this to be a
lost opportunity for me but on the other, i don't want to be cheated of
my time and money (especially money since i am just a student).
thank you to those who bothered to actually read this and reply to it.
once u need to fork out money for ur portfolio and being pushed into forced hard selling tactics, turn away...
if signed liao, within the legal protection of 7 days cooling down period, lodge a report at www.case.org.sg
if u need to pay money upfront, it's a scam.
and they say the same thing to everyone
fishy, i smell a scam
not trusted.
i know of this company and someone who was "scammed".
They will take pictures for you, and thats about it.
actually this is real. u pay for ur portfolio ur photo all, if there are advertisers who wants u to be in their advertisements, they choose u, thats where it starts. but most probably this kind of business is earn through people who pay for their portfolio. the chance of u getting a advertisement is near 0.
i had also been approached before..
ask me to try..blah blah
but deep down ...i know that i am not cut up to be a model...
only 1.75m tall,models now adays standard very high,need at least 1.8m
all those used in those gucci,prada fashion show are at least 1.85m and above
Was the guy who interviewed you named Felix?
With regards to payment for the professional shoot, I wouldn't exactly call it a scam. Ask yourself this, are you an experienced model or do you have previous modelling experience? If you do not, then you can't expect others to fork out money for your first. There's no free lunch in the world.
However, if you paid for the photoshoot and all but yet do not get job castings or maybe hear from them once or twice in a month, then I guess you can call it a scam.
Few more things. Do you intend to go into this line full time? Do you have the height, body and face for it? Can you post a picture of yourself for us (kidding about this one)?
Full time local models get very little chances in this industry. If you're lucky, you'll get 2 castings in a day. And by casting, I don't mean assignments. You'll still have to go through the client's selection. Think about those guys whom you've seen over there. Do you think that you're better than them? Besides, they're just a handful of the many guys out in the industry. If you cannot even beat them, then do not expect to survive far.
Let's not even talk about modelling as a part time job. Unless you're damn good looking, skip the idea. It probably isn't worth your time and effort.
Alternatively, you could look at it this way. If you do not get assignments after the photoshoot, at least you'll get to keep the photos of yourself. Keep it as a reminder of how good-looking you are as compared to the 40 - 50 year old you. I'm sure the photos would be professionally done, at the very least.
As for the modelling courses, it really does help in one way or another. They train you to carry yourself well, your basic grooming and basically just boost your self-confidence. In a way, you are paying $200 to improve yourself as a person. Does not sound like a scam to me.
To sum things up, if you're not good looking, then don't consider modelling as an option for you. You'll be eaten up by the competition eventually.