Childsplay/Allsorts Agency?

[Seren:)]

Hi everyone, my mam sent an email to Childsplay agency last night with my information and a photograph and they emailed back that they do think I have the potential to be a good childs model and their sister company, Allsorts, wants me to have a test shoot to see how I react to the camera. The testshoot costs £25 and if I'm accepted I will need to pay aroud £60 for more professional photos and £170 to be on the books for a year. Is this a scam?

[pg]

I suppose it depends what you mean by a scam. I would suggest it's highly dodgy business practice, though not a scam in terms of taking the money and running. In my opinion you should avoid this sort of agency. It just smacks of ripping people off. It is much, much easier for the agency to make money by charging people to be on their books (however they try to dress it up as "production costs") than to get work for their clients. The likelihood of any one individual getting work might not be high but the likelihood of them raking in the money from registration fees, sorry, "production costs" is very high indeed.

You definitely shouldn't be paying money for a test shoot, that's ridiculous. If they want to see what you look like in a photo, you can send them one. If they want you to be on their books and want to see how you react in front of a camera, they should be interviewing you and trying it out at their expense. I would never join an agency that insisted that I use their photographer if I had to pay for it. Since children's photos are likely to have to be regularly updated it is not reasonable to insist that you pay for their photographer.

Just about anyone has the "potential" to be a model for photo shoots as companies often want "ordinary" looking people. The jobs can be really few and far between though. The likelihood of making back this "production cost" as they call it, is pretty slim I should think.

I can't see details of commission charged. It's obviously important to find that out too.

BTW there's more than one agency called Allsorts. This has cropped up before on NAPM. One of them seems fine, the other (the one associated with Childsplay?) certainly used to operate along the same lines as Childsplay (charging up front).

Production cost" ? How much does it cost to put digital photos on to a CD and circulate it? Isn't this what an agent should be doing for its clients anyway? How can they possibly justify a charge of over £200 (once you take photos into account) to put some photos on to a CD? That's absurd. These production costs are supposed to be "reasonable" and cover actual expenses incurred. If this is how much they pay to get it done, well, I want that job please...

They state:
"Every child model agency will work in a slightly different way and set their fee structures accordingly. Because no child model agency is able to guarantee work to any model on its books most will not offer to take their production fees out of any work gained and parents need to understand, when enrolling with an agent, the inherent risk that their child may not gain any work within their contract period."

It is entirely true that you may get no work through the agency - all the more reason not to part with any money to be represented by them!

Long answer, sorry.
Short answer: my advice would be to look elsewhere.

[Seren:)]

Thanks alot pg, great advice Allsorts emailed me saying 'We are happy to confirm that your recent application has been successful. If you could please read through the information carefully. The next stage would be to book an appointment to come in and register at our office. ' Does this mean that by a photo they can tell that they want me, and they want to register me straight away? This is in the FAQ's that emailed me too, 'Initially we charge £40.00 when you register – this covers set up fees to include creation of your own webpage holding up to 4 images statistics, skills etc . We then take a further £150.00 from your earnings – this is a yearly fee that is automatically deducted for the management of Website, e-promotion and Digital Model book.' So if I went to register it would be £40 up front Hmm, doesn't seem right.

[pleasingdance1]

Both my dd and ds were accepted by Allsorts and rather naively we handed over the fee ( £30 at the time ) Not one casting call, audition or even phone call came of it for either of them.
I have just signed them both up with a new agency and within a couple of weeks they have both attended numerous casting calls and prospects are looking good.

I would avoid Allsorts if I was you.

[pg]

We then take a further £150.00 from your earnings – this is a yearly fee that is automatically deducted for the management of Website, e-promotion and Digital Model book.' So if I went to register it would be £40 up front Hmm, doesn't seem right.

This tells its own story doesn't it?

You pay the agency £150 a year to do the job they should be doing?? Why should the people they represent pay for the expenses of running their business? Should you also be paying their rent and electricity bills? Running an agency is a business. It has risks. They can mitigate against these risks by only taking on clients they think will get work and then promoting them - or they can do away with the risks by getting YOU to pay their costs (and, at the rate they are charging, quite possibly their wages too) with no guarantee that you will ever get any work (because, as they truthfully state, no agency can guarantee that you will get work)
Presumably they then take commission on top of this? If you ever get a job that is.

By the way, just as an aside:
They state on their website:
"Childsplay Models does not put images or details of the children it represents on any web site, as we do not believe this is a safe way to promote children."
So, all those attractive, photogenic children shown on the site are presumably represented by someone else... (these are presumably "stock" photos available from photo sites).

[Seren:)]

Thanks again pg

Both my dd and ds were accepted by Allsorts and rather naively we handed over the fee ( £30 at the time ) Not one casting call, audition or even phone call came of it for either of them.
I have just signed them both up with a new agency and within a couple of weeks they have both attended numerous casting calls and prospects are looking good.

I would avoid Allsorts if I was you.

Sorry to hear that pleasingdance!

[Hannahtaylour]

What agency did u place them in?

[tassiebabe]

I have been recently accepted into Allsorts, however looking back at the comments left, I am thinking that it is maybe not as good as it makes its self out to be. Does anyone know any other agency's that are suitable for teenage actresses based around London? Thanks
Also as Allsorts is the only agency that my DD has been accepted into, do you think that it is a starting point and she can use it to work her way up to bigger and better agencies?

[pg]

Well, if your dd gets work through the agency then yes, it may well help her to be considered by other agencies in the future because she will have professional work on her CV. However, it may be that she won't get work through this agency. Is she looking for acting work or modelling work? Did the agent audition your dd?

By the way, there is more than one agency going by the name of Allsorts as I mentioned in the previous post. There is the Allsorts agency discussed here (with the crazy amounts of money being charged) and Allsorts Theatre School which also has an agency attached (which does not charge fees to join the agency, though I don't know whether it is only for people who attend the school).

Personally I would never, ever pay an upfront fee to an agency. If you have only paid recently you should be able to get your money back as there has to be a "cooling off period".

If you have a look at this thread http://www.notapushymum.com/phpbb/viewt ... =6&t=13206 I think this will give you a pretty good list to go at.

[Irishdancer]

Just to let u no there are 2 Allsorts agency this one is very good and gets there clints work http://allsortsdrama.com/agency/
this is the one who charge all the money do a lot of extra work http://www.allsortsagency.com/
thought I would post these links as dont want any one to get the agencys confused if I am wrong then some one please let me no and I will edit my post

[pg]

I had a look at Storm Models site (a high profile, well-established model agency). I thought it was interesting to note that you can go along to their offices without appointment or send your photos (not professional photos, please note!) for consideration.
http://www.stormmodels.com/become-model ... me-a-model

They also state quite categorically that you do NOT need a portfolio to be considered by a model agency:

Do not believe anyone who tells you that you need a professional portfolio to be considered by an agency. Natural shots without make-up are the best guides for us to decide as to your potential.

Many people have thrown away hundreds of pounds having useless pictures taken on false promises.

I would certainly never join an agency that has hundreds and hundreds on its books if looking for acting work. An agent needs to know about his/her clients in order to promote them properly. Any agent who will take you on without meeting you (except, perhaps for extra work - though some extras agencies do interview clients) should be avoided in my opinion.

[Irishdancer]

The trouble pg is Storm only take kids from 14-15 up wards most child model agencys charge a £25 not refundable just to see the kids, there are some who do not but most do. They take advantage of parents of young children wanting to see there children in print. Acting agencys are different dont have to pay a up front fee for them but then some one on here might tell me differnt.

[scampie1]

hi. both my daughters are with allsorts agency in south woodford. yes they do take £40 up front and then £150 from jobs annually. Anita who runs it is lovely. my 9 year old has had quite a bit of work, advert and tv. my eldest 12 years hasnt had too much but they are european looking so sometimes hard to place.
they are not any thing to do with childsplay though.
there are a few agency's called Allsorts.

my eldest was 9 when childsplay took her on at a special offer of £300 for 2 years.
We never heard anything from them at all. not even a courtsey phone call. i would avoid them at all costs, literally.

Good luck

[pg]

Hi there scampie1.

Do they take commission on top of this £150 annual charge? Do they make this charge whether or not you get work?

[scampie1]

Hi - yes commision also charged on jobs. annual fee 150.00 - but only taken if youhave worked