Answering a Reader Question #441

Anonymous Wrote:


Hi! My son is interested in modeling. He is 14 and 6' We want to get started, and are in the process of making comp cards. He is too tall for children's, but is seen as too young for adult open calls. I know the Industry loves young girls on the runway, but what are the chances for a young boy?

Hi, Anonymous!

Wow, that's incredible height for being so young! Unfortunately, I think what you're going to have to do (unless you find an agency willing to take him on for runway) is wait until he is at least 16. It mainly depends on how he looks physically. If he still has a bit of the boyish/baby faced look, it's not likely to work for him doing runway.

Young girls are more viable for runway work compared to young boys. In a majority of cases, agencies prefer that their male models (even with the right height) be a bit older in order to use them for runway work. I'm sure there are younger male runway models out there but I personally have not come across any such examples that I can name. Boys/men in general in modeling are more valuable/usable the older they are, not younger like their female counterparts.

You don't need to make comp cards for your son or get professional photos taken in order to submit to agencies, btw. For new models, agencies 9 times out of 10 will state on their websites that they want non professional, digital snapshots. If you're submitting to agencies, it is best to follow whatever submission instructions they have and only give them exactly what they ask for.

Worst case scenario, your son will have to wait a few more years before he can seriously be considered by agencies for runway but for now it doesn't hurt to submit to as many as you can and see what happens. Hopefully there will be an agency willing to take him on for runway, even at his age.

I've also included reference photos for male snapshots that agencies prefer...I believe you'll get better results with snapshots as opposed to comp cards (once signed, agencies typically don't end up using existing comp cards models have put together and will make models redo them so the snapshots are more practical because they're easy to put together and, of course, free to do):

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