As mamas, I’m sure we all have heard, “OMG, your baby is so beautiful/handsome/cute/gorgeous/stunning, you should get him/her into modeling!”
Well, Courtney(remember her from her guest blog entry, “Courtney’s Experience”?) did just that! Meet her son, Timmy, Sophia’s future husband and America’s next top baby! 🙂
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| Timmy! |
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After my son Timmy was born last February, Tim and I decided it would be best for me to stay home with him and not return back to the “work scene” for a while.
I was THRILLED that I wouldn’t have to worry about leaving him and just as excited that I didn’t have to go back to work!
Once Timmy arrived and the months started to fly by, I decided I would go out on a whim and try to get him into modeling. I was getting bored with my daily routine!
My cousin’s friend is an agent at MMG (Model Management Group) and I figured I’d reach-out to her to see if this group represented babies. I mean, hey, why not?! Don’t we all think our babies are the most beautiful creatures to walk (or crawl, or simply just breathe) on this Earth?! Of course!!
She wrote me back saying her agency supported mostly older kids – adults and represented some babies but it was very hard to get work because there were so many agencies who solely represent babies.
She set up a website for him to get noticed by her clients and needless to say, months went by and we heard nothing! Who knew it would be this hard?!
I decided I would try and look up more agencies that focus strictly on babies. At this point Timmy was about 4 months. A friend of mine’s son is on the baby modeling scene and is represented by Generation Model Management which focuses on children 3 months – 17 years old.
I submitted pictures to this agency via e-mail and didn’t hear back from them within the “weekly time frame” they give you if they want to represent your child.
I was upset! How could they not want to represent my handsome little dude?!
Well, I am VERY persistent and submitted pictures about five more times without hearing back before giving up. I was getting discouraged but realized there are MANY more agencies out there.
I did some more research and discovered an agency called Product Model Management. I read reviews, pulled up its website and saw that you can submit pictures via mail or the website but for a $10 fee. I submitted online (paying the stupid $10) only to get an e-mail saying, “We are not interested in representing your child at this time. Please resubmit in a few months to be reconsidered.”
My initial thought was to throw this whole idea out the window and they could take their $10 and shove it!
Well persistent (annoying at times) me, submitted his pictures again at 6 months old and we got an e-mail back saying they wanted Timmy to come in for an open-call!
WOOHOO!
My hard work may have finally paid off! We took the trip to NYC and there were about 30 babies there from Timmy’s age up to about 2 years old.
We sat through a brief description of the agency; how they started, who they work with, etc. All in all, we took this trip from Hopewell Junction to be in a room with all of these people and babies for about 5 minutes. Awesome.
Anyways, within two days we heard back from Amanda who said they wanted to represent Timmy and to start sending-in photos to send to clients!!
YAY!! That meant me sitting around all day with a camera in my hand waiting for Timmy to crack a smile.
Next step was to apply for his “working permit” which can take a month to get.
Really?!
A baby needs a working permit?! Come on!
Dariana is Timmy’s agent and after we got everything all setup, she sent him on his first gig to model halloween costumes for Rubie’s Costumes. R.C. are sold to EVERY costume store you can imagine, Babies-R-Us, Target, etc.
Timmy dressed up as: a police officer, soldier, astronaut, doctor, fireman and he loved every moment of it. He was SO into it!
While we were at this gig, we got a call from Dariana asking if we were available for the next day to shoot with American Baby Magazine.
I was so excited that my little guy’s career was taking off and he was loving it!
It can be a lot of rushing back and forth at times to the city on such short notice but Timmy is honestly the easiest baby and just goes with the flow. Photo shoots pay anywhere from $50-$125/hr and babies can only work a maximum of 2 hours a day and 10 hours a week.
The agency takes a 20% fee and it can take up to 90 days to get paid, which means Timmy just saw his first check last week from November! It can be a pain but he actually enjoys putting on a show for the photographers and I love seeing him in action!
Another annoying thing is that if the photographers aren’t willing to send you pictures from the shoot, you have to look for them! I haven’t seen his photos from the Rubie’s shoot- I have to wait until Halloween costumes come out to see them. Crazy me has been checking their website since December for Halloween Costumes that probably don’t come out until August!
At his last photo shoot he had an amazing husband & wife team taking his photos and they sent me tons of professional, edited photos. They told me they loved working with Timmy and hope to work with him again. I love their work and highly recommend Michael Kormos Photography (based in NYC).
My advice is to NEVER give up!!! Clearly, I didn’t and it paid off. I’d have to say if your not flexible and able to change all your plans at the drop of a hat, this isn’t for you. Also, not every baby likes flashes in their face nonstop for a few hours! Timmy must have been used to it being my first baby and having my iPhone flash in his face ever since he was about 2 seconds old!
I hope this encourages anyone thinking of getting their baby into modeling to do so, and not to give up.
If anyone has questions feel free to ask and I have to say I highly recommend Timmy’s agency, Product Model Management. They are great and everyone there is very personable!
Above is a video of Timmy demonstrating how to be a good boy while being buckled into a carseat.
Photos by Michael Kormos Photography
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Glad to hear that you had a positive experience with Product. We used them when my daughter was a baby. They were wonderful and the work was steady. Best of luck to you and Timmy. He is adorable!