Heard An Ad For Models On The Radio? Were You Scouted At The Mall?

Were you handed a card at the mall by a “Scout” who thinks your child is perfect for the Baby Gap campaign? Heard a radio ad that “advertisers are looking for talent in your area for tv commercials”? 

You probably wondered if it’s too good to be true, and I hate to break your reality bubble but yes, you’re probably about to get scammed.

Do you know the difference between a Casting Agent and a Model Scout? If the answer is “No” then you’re putting your child’s safety (and your wallet) at risk. 

Talent Scouts are nothing more than middle men who, in turn, pitch the talent they find to Casting Directors. Talent Scouts are recruiters; they need to move volume in order to bank commissions.

Casting Agents work on behalf of real clients to find appropriate talent options for a specific job. They may “cast” 500 kids to find the perfect one, but all 500 of those kids did, in fact, have a chance at an actual job.

This isn’t to say that Talent Scouts don’t occasionally place a model with a top agency… But the odds are not in your favor.

So I pose this question:

If you were looking for a job would you apply directly to a company’s Human Resource Department or would you go to a Job Fair, pay a Recruiter to post your resume on their website and nervously await feedback?

You probably just answered your own question. Business is business, even when it’s the business of modeling. You’re applying for a job. It should feel professional and be free of charge.

And by the way, I posted the Fall 2013 Baby GAP casting in my Facebook feed and a FB friend’s son booked the ENTIRE campaign. Casting directors use their trusted social network to find new talent. So, don’t be shy… Connect with me on FB!

 

Are you sure you want to model for a living? Read my article on the changing fashion industry and how it’s affecting model work.

Other discussions coming soon:
Casting Director vs Casting Agent
Submitting Directly To Agencies
Online Agencies And Casting Websites

what am i, a Ponzi magnet?

I don't even know where to start.
Was i really sitting in the middle of two ponzi schemes completely oblivious to what was going on around me? 

read the original apartment fire / ponzi con artist entries here Frown

So this brings some of the OMG puzzle together… Maywood Capital was the landlord for my Harlem apartment building that was 'arsoned'.
Gee, wonder why?

And the further irony here is that this scheme was going on at the same time as the Alexis Quinlin scheme (you can catch up with the rest of us by reading earlier entries here), and the same reporter at the NY Post has reported the stories.

Here's my question:

Doesn't anyone believe in earning their money thru an honest day's work anymore?!!! 

JERSEY POL IN N.Y. PONZI BUST
By LAURA ITALIANO

November 8, 2007 — A city council president from Bergen County was hauled in handcuffs before a Manhattan Supreme Court justice last night – as one of three New Jersey lawyers charged in a $40 million real-estate Ponzi scheme. 

… Keep Reading »

MC2 Models Be-Aware

THE owners of MC2 Models are denying industry speculation that massage maven
Jeffrey Epstein is a secret financial backer of the agency being run by
scandal-scarred Jean-Luc Brunel, who was once accused of taking
advantage of underage models. 

    read more in the NY Post, Page Six 

Anand Jon – more charges

what is this business coming to??! 
tho i suppose it's good this is all coming to light…

oh, right. there's that presumption of innocence on all 99 counts Undecided

Fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander, a Parsons School of Design grad, has been indicted on 59 counts of sexual assault in a move aimed at keeping his accusers from having to testify at a preliminary hearing, prosecutors announced yesterday.

He had previously pleaded not guilty to more than 40 counts, including rape and committing a lewd act on a child, involving 18 victims aged 15 to 27.

The indictment added two more victims and said Alexander, 33, met them all on the Web between November 2002 and March 2007.

from the Associated Press

anand_jon_400
  Michelle Rodriguez, Anand Jon and a blonde chick. 
  Photo: Chris Ford/PatrickMcMullan.com

karma, are you serious?!

HEY KARMA – what did i do to deserve this *%!#?!

So, ask my why i havent been updating. Go ahead, ask me.

1. my apartment building burned down

2. my father passed away

3. i was conned

…in no particular order of trauma.

so i find out that this guy who has been pretending to be a very famous photographer and friend of mine for almost THREE YEARS is a fraud. Yes kids, i was conned.
But he got others… for… ahem… 4 million dollar$$$$$.
Thanks to gut instinct, he only took me for a lunch and a dinner.

So, where do we start?
Let's start with the newspaper article coming out on Monday in the New York Post.
here's the first article

i'm minding my own biz, riding the train home, and i flip the page to see my friend's pic on a full page… scam what huh?
no, i'm not the model-victim they speak about. but i could have been. not only did this man scam people, he took their life savings.
sick, huh?

i felt compelled to come forward with all of the 50 bazillion emails this Alexis character sent me, telling me he was hanging with all these super-famous people…
telling me he was someone else. trying to get my money!
and that's what you'll be reading monday in the paper. i gave permission to use my name and evidence because it was the right thing to do.

so monday, may 22nd 2006, the day my daddy is laid to rest, so will the matter of Alexis Quinlin be.

this is the UK versionof the article i contributed to

here is the DA's indictment

and here, folks, is the final verdict! Tongue out  karma's a b!tch man, and don't your forget it!

moving on to the apartment fire…

yup, Fire.

luckily, this is not a picture of my apt, it's the one below me that started the fire. mine? not much better.

ARSON. yup. thx for almost killing me mr. arsonist

so, 5am on a saturday morning i wake up choking on smoke, dreaming of BBQ.
no joke. can't see even 3 feet in front of me.

5 foot tall wall of smoke, no air at the ground b/c its comin from below me.
im like ok, time to get out. via my 4th story window… cuz there's no escape, no fire escape, nada.
and the nice firemen that show up below me don't see me.
curtain wrapped around my head, trying to breathe, trying to get their attention before i passed out…

–> interject a couple things here…

first, leaning out your window isn't gonna help in this situation b/c the smoke bellows up, therefore no one can see you when you lean out.
second, models take note: my portfolio was on the other end of my apartment, in the living room… nowhere near where i could reach it.
as was my wallet, passport, etc… careless. i had nothing and i had no escape.

nice planning P!
well, obviously, they found me. when that flashlight beam hit me and i heard "there's someone up there" as the windows on the floor below me blew out, glass flying to the street… well, i thought i was dead just before i knew i was saved.

HALLA-FRIGGIN-LOOYA!
…didnt wait for mr fireman to come up, as soon as they had that ladder at my window i was climbin down!
to be honest, i dont remember climbing onto the ladder. i just remember aaaaaaaair. boy O2 is good!
i will never abuse my lungs. recreational smoke will never enter my body.

i'm alive, i'm breathin' and i'm cherishing life.