Expert: Kitty Kavey - 9/19/2010

Question
Kitty,
My 6 month old son just received a 1 year non-exclusive modeling contract with American Mall Model productions and they are requesting that we order casting cards with his picture on them and give them 30 color and 30 black and white, but we are responsible for sending cards to jobs we find on their website casting board as they really provide no other service than to make the postings available to us after we have sent in the contract and the pictures/casting cards! Does this sound like a scam? They also referred us to a website called procardsprinting.com to print them and I'm not sure if the modeling agency and this card printing company may be in business together! We already paid the modeling agency $150 for headshots, which were a requirement to be in the mall fashion show and to be considered for a contract by them. We were not given printed headshots or a CD, we had to access the pictures on their website and download them to our computer! So far all we have gotten from them is a contract that we can only return with the photo casting cards they have requested and those cards will cost us at least $125 more dollars and they are not providing us any additional service! Does this sound like standard modeling agency protocol? Thank you for your advice!

Answer
Generally speaking, most models under the age of twelve years, do not use professional photos - at least not to be considered by agencies, and quite often the younger models/talent use snapshots to submit for work.

It's quite likely that the photos you are being asked to pay for now, won't resemble your son in another six months or so.  I suggest trying one of the licensed, legitimate model/talent agencies instead.

They should only ask for a snapshot or two from your son, and should not be asking for all kinds of fees.  A legit agency makes money by taking a percentage off of the monies models/talent earn through them (usually 10-20%).  If they don't book work for the people they represent, they don't make money.  If they earn money in another way, by selling website listings, photos, printing, etc., there's little incentive for them to get job opportunities for their models/talent.

There are a few agencies that specialize in children - such as World Of Kids in Miami, and some commercial print modeling agencies have divisions that consider children and babies.

You can use one of the modeling agency directories available in your local library, bookstore or online to find commercial print agencies who represent models of your son's age.

If you want to read more about the company you mention and ProCards, there are several entries on the following website:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/they-really-are-a-scam-c299086.html

Good luck to you and your son,
~Kitty