Expert: Kitty Kavey - 10/15/2008

Question
hi i am a well educated sixteen year old male and have always been curious about male modeling i have been told i have the look for it and would enjoy modeling as a career choice but i don't know what i need to do to get started and living where i do in (middle of nowhere) Draper, Utah i haven't been able to find an agency to get info close enough to where i live to be a possibility if you could help me that would be great. thank you.

(p.s. here is a brief description if it will help i am 5'7", dark brown eyes, brown hair medium length, weigh 136-140 varying, have a size 29 waist, and am well toned and muscular)

Answer
You're right - you are in the middle of nowhere.  So your choices are limited by your location.

There's a couple things you can consider doing.  One would be to move to a larger market.  Given your age, it may not be possible for you to do that at the moment, but certainly once you are of legal age you can move to NYC or another location to be closer to the agencies.

Another option would be, assuming you are still in school and/or living with your parent(s) - you could arrange to travel to a larger market during your summer vacation.  

I never recommend working without an agency - but unfortunately there just aren't any in your area.  I believe Las Vegas is the closest market to you, although my knowledge of geography is somewhat limited.

Still - you would need to be close enough to your agent so that you could attend go-sees, and be able to get to jobs in a timely (and not too expensive) manner.

While acting offers more home-town opportunities, and you can more easily start local acting troupes or study groups, modeling poses more of a challenge if you're outside of an area where work can more easily be found.

Think about waiting and moving to a larger market, or traveling (perhaps staying with a friend) for an extended vacation in a larger market.  If it works out, you can make the move a more permanent one.

If the Las Vegas market is one you can get to, I've enclosed a list of those agents.  You can also check the list of acting and modeling agents in other area on the Screen Actors Guild website (www.sag.org, under Member Services, Find an Agent.)  Use your favorite search engine to see if they have a website.  When they do, they usually have any agency criteria and submission instructions for new faces.

Good luck to you,
~Kitty

J Baskow & Associates
2948 E. RUSSELL RD. LAS VEGAS, NV 89120
702-733-7818

Best Agency
5565 SOUTH DECATUR BOULEVARD, LAS VEGAS, NV 89118
702-889-2900

Lenz Agency
1591 EAST DESERT INN ROAD LAS VEGAS, NV 89109
702-733-6888

Remington Agency
10120 S. EASTERN AVE., STE 242 HENDERSON, NV 89052
702-492-1216

eNVy Model & Talent Agency
101 CONVENTION CENTER DR., LAS VEGAS, NV 89109
702-878-7368