Answering a Reader Question #1,034

Katt O’Flaherty Wrote:

Hi dania! I know this post is kinda old and I’m commenting years later so you might not see this but IF you do that’s amazing. I recently got an email from EMG models to meet with them and she said she wanted to build my portfolio. She then scheduled me a shoot to build my portfolio next week with a whole team of MUAs and a photographer. There were no prices discussed and nothing brought up about paying. They didn’t offer me a contract YET, but want to help me build my portfolio first. I’m not sure if you ever heard of this situation? I don’t know whether to be happy that they want to help me and I don’t know if that means that they possibly really like me and possibly WILL offer me a contract once I do build my portfolio? If you could give me some comments and opinions that would be amazing! Much love xoxo Katt

Hi there, Katt!

It doesn't matter how old my posts are, I'm always available to respond to questions/comments as they get posted so thanks for taking a shot and leaving your question. :-)

For an agency to offer to build a portfolio for you before even offering a contract is a cause for pause for sure. My question is: did you ask them about applicable fees/payment or did it just not come up at all on their end? If you did inquire about it and they never gave you a direct answer, that is a red flag. However, if the subject in general didn't even come up to begin with, that's also something to address.

I would strongly recommend contacting the agency to get clarification about that before participating in the shoot. If it's in an email, that's even better to get their response in writing.

Sometimes it happens that an agency will do a portfolio shoot for a newly signed model and then take the costs related to that portfolio shoot out of the paid bookings the agency gets for the model over time...but there's usually a contract offered and signed first.

There are other times when an agency wants to do a type of "test run" beforehand to see if a model would be a good fit and could generate interest from clients before committing to a contract, which could very well be the case for you. BUT first thing's first: you've gotta find out if they're going to expect you to pay for the shoot or not.

If they do end up wanting you to pay before offering you a contract, that's a huge red flag. Oftentimes when that happens, the photographer is getting a kickback/payment from the agency that the model pays for the portfolio shoot and that's illegal. If you were to hire a photographer on your own and pay him/her and then submit the photos to an agency, that's different and totally fine. But it's not okay for an agency to charge you for a shoot and then give a cut to the photographer the agency selects.

So definitely find out what the deal is and go from there. If you need additional assistance or have more info to provide on your situation, feel free to email me directly: daniadenise@gmail.com. Fingers crossed for a favorable outcome for you!


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