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Your Questions Answered Do you accept everyone who applies? At JMM we have to be extremely selective when accepting any child onto our books. We will only take on a child if we feel they will be an asset to our existing portfolio & show a strong potential to be successful. It would be totally non productive to fill our books full of models who have no chance of working. What happens if my child is declined?At Junior Model Management there will be times when an application is declined and this could be for the following reasons; we do not have a place available on our books, your child’s location is not suitable, or your child’s criteria is not in demand. If we are unable to offer a place to your child it may not necessarily mean that they are not suitable for another agency, as agencies do have different client demands to meet. When will I hear if my child has been successful?Due to the amount of applications we receive we may take up to 2 weeks of receiving your details to get back to you. We will normally send you an email either way so please be sure to check your email account. How do you assess my child’s suitability?At JMM we normally require our models to live within easy travelling distance of our clients as sometimes castings/auditions can be held at short notice. We also need to make sure that we do not have too many models with the same look as your child, it is always good to offer a selection of different children to a client of the same age and look, however it would limit the chances of your child securing work if we had 100 children all looking the same. In addition to this we would never accept a child onto our books if we are not receiving client queries for their criteria. On joining JMM can you guarantee my child work?No Model Agency can absolutely guarantee you work and any agency that tells you they can should be avoided. We do not know what particular assignment we will be given from one day to the next and it is the client that makes the decision as to what they are looking for and not the agency. What we do guarantee is the fact that we only take onto our books babies, children and teenagers we feel we can successfully place. How much work will my child get?No agency can or should guarantee the number of assignments your child will be selected for. We do not know from one day to the next what assignments will land on our desks. The agency only earns commission when a child is working, so we will always submit every child on our books for every assignment they are suited to. Some children may start working almost immediately after joining, whilst some may be slower to start. What are my obligations to an agency?In order for us to keep your child’s portfolio current we require parents of babies to update us with height, weight, clothes size, shoe size and activity level on a monthly basis. For all other ages we need height, clothes size and shoe size every four months. These details can be emailed to mandy@juniormm.com We regret that failure to provide up to date measurements and developments could result in your contract with the agency being terminated without further notice.PLEASE KEEP A REMINDER SOMEWHERE SAFE THAT WILL PROMPT YOU TO DO THIS. You must inform the agency of any periods where you child will be unavailable to attend castings/auditions/assignments. Under no circumstances should anyone under the age of 18 contact the agency. It is always the parent’s responsibility to communicate with the team. What are the agency’s obligations to me?We will only offer a child a place on our books if we feel we can secure work for your child. Our obligation to our models is to promote them adequately and professionally and ensure that our standards are maintained. How will I know when a client is interested in me?Due to the very nature of the business it would be difficult for us to let you know each time a client has expressed an interest in your child therefore we will only contact you when we have a definite booking. If your child has been to a casting/audition we will normally hear from the Casting Director within 2-5 days if your child has been chosen for the job. We will let you know if you have been picked as soon as we find out. However, if you do not hear from us it means that on this occasion your child was unsuccessful. This does not mean that your child was not pretty enough, or good enough, it just means that the Casting Director found in another child what he/she was looking for… it can be down to height and not anything to do with what your child did on the day What happens at an audition/casting?If your child gets called for an audition, it is likely that there will be other children from other agencies also attending. It doesn’t mean your child has got the job. The casting director may just want to meet your child for 5 minutes to see if they will be suitable or not for the job. At the audition it is very important that there is only one parent per child as normally there is not enough room to accommodate others. Parents must not approach or ask any questions of the Casting Director, or his team. It is your child they want to meet; they may ask him or her some questions or give them a line of dialogue to read. Sometimes parents are asked to wait outside whilst their child is seen, this is helpful as some children can become self-conscious with their parents present. Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately, they are clean and tidy, and no make up or jewellery, unless otherwise specified. Is there a fee to be represented by your agency?We earn the standard 25% agency commission on work models perform through our agency. While there are no fees to be represented by our agency, models are required to cover their own expenses such as photo session, and website fees. There is a large amount of work involved in setting a child up with the agency and that work is carried out by an independent company that charges for this service. The total set up fee is £170 and includes a photo shoot with our designated agency photographer and the setting up and creating of the child’s online portfolio on the agency’s fully searchable website database featuring three different photos per model. The agency reserves the right to charge an additional fee for larger publications such as catalogues, CD Roms and casting books should you wish to be included in any such future publications. Are there any other fees?All updates to your child’s website portfolio are carried out free of charge all year round. If you are sent a renewal letter offering for your child to stay with the agency for another year this will include a new photo shoot which will be organized for you at this time so we have new shots for your child’s portfolio. It is imperative that we have up to date pictures of your child for our clients and it is therefore necessary to have these taken each year, or sooner if their looks should change considerably. You will be assessed by the agency each year so we can make sure your child is still keen to be involved in performance related work and that you are still able to meet your obligations to the agency. It is also important for us to assess your child’s personality and development each year so that we can get to know you both personally when representing you to our clients and will save us sending you to auditions/castings or bookings that are not suitable. Children can change each year and those that were once outgoing and enthusiastic can become shy and quiet and vice versa so it is necessary for us to meet you again to assess them upon renewing their contract with us. The renewal fee of £170.00 will include a new photo shoot with the agency photographer, and a free 10 minute assessment at the photo shoot. Who will take the photographs for my on line folio?For inclusion on our books and website we insist that the standard of photography is exceptionally high. In most cases we cannot use photographs taken by relatives/friends unless they take photographs professionally. We are not a photographic company but we have made arrangements with a studio who arrange sittings for those registered with the agency and this is included in our set up fee. This is not compulsory and you are welcome to supply your own professional photographs to us. If you choose to supply your own pictures in this way the set up fee still remains at £170 I have my own website, can’t you just tell clients to see my child/children there?No. It would be extremely unprofessional of our agency and time-consuming for our clients to be directed to dozens of individual websites. In addition, our agency must maintain control over the quality of photos and the manner in which our models our represented. Are my child’s pictures viewed by everyone on the website when we join?No. Our site is securely locked and access is only granted to clients who are vetted by us as an agency. Once your child’s pictures are live on our website you will be provided with a password. In order to help protect your child and our other models we ask that you do not distribute this password. What happens once my child gets a booking?If your child is selected and booked the client will apply for a Licence for your child to perform. The Licence is to protect your child’s welfare and cover their time out of school for any performance related work. In order to make your application successful we need to hold the following documents on file, without these documents the application will be not be successful and we may not have time to ask you for the documents at the time of Licence application. Please ensure we have the following on file for your child if you have successfully joined the agency.
It takes your local borough 7 days to arrange a licence for your child, but often licences need to be arranged within less time. Please keep copies of everything at home and send originals into the office. **All documentation required must be provided within 14 days of successfully joining Junior Model Management How does my child get paid? A child will only be paid once the agency has been paid by the client. At JMM we issue our clients with an invoice payable within 30 days, as a matter of course, however, it should be remembered that some clients may take anything from 3-6 months to settle their account. This would be due to them waiting for payment themselves from the ‘ultimate client’, i.e. Pampers etc. Some clients are just very slow, or they may work to a 6 month accounting system. Whichever may be the case, if the child has not been paid then that would normally mean that the agency has not been paid either. |