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childmodelling May 08

444 replies

dancerdeb · 01/05/2008 12:10

Mummyeme, went ahead and started it
Welcome everyone to our new May thread, and May lots happen, excuse the pun!!

OP posts:
dizzydori · 24/06/2008 04:46

Bogie, congrats on the EU shoot, it sounds great fun . My dp agrees with what you said about kk. Who were Inspired Kids?!!

Chocolatepeanut (he's a cutie) the model agencies I was advised to apply to were Bruce & Brown, Mot, Kids London, Urban Angels (I think they're looking for children from the north of the country now) Elisabeth Smith, Scallywags. I'm sure someone else will come along with more advice as most of the ones I've listed are London based. Also look on the ALBA model website for reputable modelling agencies in your area. I hope that helps and good luck

bogie · 24/06/2008 07:14

Inspired Kids did a dissapering act when they had signed loads of kids and had them pay admin fees.
Also there was the whole thing with fine-kids heres the news page about that......

The Sunday Times December 24, 2006

Parents tricked into submitting child photos
Daniel Foggo

POLICE are investigating a couple who obtained thousands of photographs of young children by posing as the owners of a fictitious child-modelling agency.

Isabel Portaro Rubinsteinn and her boyfriend, Matthew Burns, set up a bogus agency and invited dozens of parents to send in pictures of their children, many of them babies, to sign up for modelling shoots.

The assignments never materialised, however, and it has now been established that Portaro Rubinsteinn has used aliases to pose as a variety of people with a view to obtaining pictures of children.

The couple?s reason for using subterfuge to acquire the vast collection of pictures is unclear, although parents fear they may have been passed to child pornographers who can superimpose faces onto existing hardcore images in order to resell them to paedophiles over the internet.

On websites last week, dozens of mothers denounced Portaro Rubinsteinn, who until October lived in Farnborough, Hampshire, after realising she was one of the owners of the ?agency? Fine-Kids.com.

One mother, Rachael Perry, said: ?I am really worried because she?s got pictures of my children. She has actually been targeting my daughter, asking for more and more pictures of her. It is very upsetting.?

Another mother called Sarah, who declined to give her surname, said: ?We are all so scared now. She got mothers to give her so many pictures. We all thought Fine-Kids was a legitimate modelling agency.?

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, a government office set up to deal with internet-based crime against children, has been investigating for the past two weeks. Last week it handed the case to the Metropolitan police?s Project Sapphire unit, which specialises in cases of rape and sexual assault.

Portaro Rubinsteinn began using deception to garner her collection of child pictures in March, when a company calling itself AMP Design contacted genuine child modelling agencies claiming to represent a ?nannying website? which wanted to shoot pictures of suitable children for its site.

The agencies were asked to send sample pictures of children on their books possibly matching the brief for the assignment.

Portaro Rubinsteinn, a 24-year-old Brazilian, has two young children by Burns, a South African IT technician. Both are understood to have arrived in Britain in 2004, when Portaro Rubinsteinn registered a firm at Companies House under a false address.

Later Portaro Rubinsteinn, using the name Brook, expressed an interest in taking child models abroad for assignments and gathered hundreds of pictures. She gave a false address for her company and later cancelled the shoot.

A short while later, while using her real identity, Portaro Rubinsteinn set up a website, childmodelling.net, with a message board for interested mothers. She offered advice on child modelling and falsely claimed to have secured work for her son and daughter.

Mothers were encouraged to send pictures of their children and post messages on the site.

Last month a new agency, Fine-Kids.com, appeared on the internet, given credibility to Portaro Rubinsteinn?s claims that she had signed up her own children with it. Thousands of pictures were e-mailed to it by mothers wishing to register their children, but no real ?assignments? materialised.

Portaro Rubinsteinn and Burns live in an apartment in a middle-class district of Sao Paulo, where last week they denied any connection to Fine-Kids or any involvement in child pornography.

Portaro Rubinsteinn said: ?If I did something wrong I?ll fix it. No one?s perfect but we have nothing to do with child porn.?

tinkerbellchelle · 24/06/2008 08:04

Is anyone's LO with ES?

brooke77 · 24/06/2008 08:04

Gosh luce ! my dd certainly didnt get "grumpy" !!! she was a wonderful little star as were all the lovely children there in the morning. Especially as she'd been up since 6am, gone through regular nap time and lunch and we'd had to wait around quite a long time before going on set.. what more can we expect from the little ones??.. she's not even 2 years old yet ! your lad is very lovely by the way..

Dear all.. i am reading with interest everyones comments on kk which i take with an open mind and yes i totally see where you all are coming from. Just want to say.. I hope those who are sceptical are not right for obvious reasons (!) and will keep you updated as to our progress with them.

They work a completely different way to how I believe Inspired Kids managed to trick so many.. before my time on this forum tho'

Luce2006 · 24/06/2008 09:12

brooke77: I apology for the 'grumpy".Re-reading my post it sounds a bit bad but it wasn't meant in a bad way!!!Mine got grumpy as well at the end and they just couldn't keep him in inside anymore so we left.The asian little girl who was a bit shy at first then started to really interact. By the way, I loved the way your dd says' Running' and starts running around a room

Tinkerbel6 · 24/06/2008 09:49

brooke people are just giving you a friendly bit of advice and its entirely up to you what you want to do, it might work out for you and you might get work from it, but sometimes when its obvious and starring you in the face you still want to give someone or something the benefit of the doubt. Your child's safety is paramount that is why many of us have done research on agencies before we signed our children up, bogie has explained it all in her above paste, the agency had a few members on here fooled as she befriended them over a period of time and held a photo shoot to get pics of their children with promises of copies of the pics which never materialised, thats why people tare suspicious of agencies that appear from no-where, maybe give ALBA a call.

brooke77 · 24/06/2008 10:33

luce.. thanks, thats perfectly ok !! have a fab holiday

tinkerbel6.. must say i'm not quite sure what you are on about ! firstly, i wasnt actually looking for advice.. i was offering my own thoughts to those who are considering kk. i have now met them, been to their organised photoshoot and felt 100% happy to sign my ds with them... i am sticking my neck out here with this discussion about them.. i have nothing to gain from it !!

they have not appeared forom nowhere.. they are been around for 3 years now and from MY very extensive research seem to be quite well known in the industry already.. when signing models they appear to work in a completely professional way..

yes there are some mums on here who have neither heard of them nor seen children on their books at castings.. but there are 100's of other mums and children in this industry !!

my son was successfully with SW for many years and we used to see children from 3/4 standard agencies at the castings.. certainly not all agencies were represented.

I have only been trying to offer my own thoughts on kk which as i said previously may or may not be helpful for others.
as you say it is my own choice (as with everyone) who i sign with and i can assure you the safety and well being of MY children is always foremost in my mind !!

i have been dealing with modelling agencies for many years, my brother was a very successful model with ES and i have a background in fashion and pr so i do know my stuff a little bit !

i do wonder what everyones views were on UA and KL when they started up not so many years ago !!!

Tinkerbel6 · 24/06/2008 11:58

brooke if you want to be rude about it, its not just me but others who are suspicious of the bigging up of an unknown agency, ALBA have never heard of them, nor have other agencies, nor have other modelling mums who have been in the business for a few years, M&S apparently don't use them and they take on everyone who applies!! If an agency has been around for 3 years then people would have heard of them if not seen them at job and castings, maybe your fashion and pr career is clouding your judgement, have you still not contacted ALBA ??????

dizzydori · 24/06/2008 12:12

Tinkerbellchell, I'm popping in to see ES next week if that helps

tinkerbellchelle · 24/06/2008 12:39

dizzy - hello..cool we had an email from them yesterday along with offering DS a place there was the measurement forms, details on joining etc. Are you joining them or just going in for a general chat?

from looking around it seems that they have a very good reputation so pleased they offered DS a place

Good luck with meeting them would be great to know how you get along

brooke77 · 24/06/2008 12:45

Tinkerbel6.. i'm certainly not being rude.. bit confused as to why you seem to feel your opinion is so correct though and why u seem so keen to put down kk.. have u ever spoken or met them or looked at their website? not sure what you mean by bigging up.. i'm not doing that.. i'm a mum like everyone else chatting on this forum.. i have NO other agenda i can assure you !!!!!

i dont feel the need to contact alba.. like i said, i'm happy with my decision and i definitely dont feel my judgement is clouded by any of my experience in this industry .. why would it be????

i'm going to put this to bed from my side.. was just trying to be helpful to others and it seems to have sparked up something (not sure why)

anyway, good luck to all for your decisions !

Tinkerbel6 · 24/06/2008 12:59

brooke opinions are what people go by as you have expressed yours everyone is entitled to theirs, don't need to speak to them as research speaks volume to me and yes have been on their website, im sure it will work out and i'm sure you know best, all agencies have to start from scratch but would have though that one that had been going for 3 years would have an established name by now.

goodluck dissy and chelle with ES, dd was with them for a while, they do get some good jobs.

dizzydori · 24/06/2008 13:03

Hi Tinkerbellchelle,

Well done to your ds. They only accept 5% of applicants so I hear.

Still waiting to hear back from KL and BB so haven't fully decided. ES are supposed to be well respected so I'm happy dd was accepted and have the forms etc. They look pretty lengthy! My dp is all for ES and they're his favourite so far. I'll let you know how everything goes. I just wanted to get a feel for the agency. Will let you know what happens.

dizzydori · 24/06/2008 13:06

Thanks Tinkerbel6

mummyeme · 24/06/2008 14:06

Just to add fuel to fire, have seen kk at a casting only 6 wks ago!!!!!! (no I don't work for them) kids on their website are gorgeous and will get work as soon as the agency name spreads around the industry. On the point of agencies being known u/a hadn't even heard of NCA (been going 40 years!!!!!!) I'll just put that down to u/a not being very aware of the competition.
EU shoot was amazing!!!!!! dd had the time of her life glad everyones dcs are enjoying it too.

hf128219 · 24/06/2008 14:09

Is it fair on children to make them model? Not being harsh - just honest.

Everyone keeps telling me how lovely my dd is. Have been tempted!

brooke77 · 24/06/2008 14:39

thank u, mummyeme !

bogie · 24/06/2008 14:41

Not fair to MAKE them model but try it and if they enjoy it which most do as they get treated very well.

My ds loves doing shoots but if at any time he seemed like he didn't want to be there I would stop taking him.

dizzydori · 24/06/2008 15:20

Off to the EU shoot tomorrow and Friday. Can hardly wait, I've heard such good things on here

CJMommy · 24/06/2008 16:15

Honest opinions please....if you had the choice between Rascals and Bizzykidz, who would you opt for (DS 5 months). I only ask as Rascals want money up front wheras Rascals have invited us for assessment. Would appreciate all your thoughts. Thanks

CJMommy · 24/06/2008 16:16

Sorry, that should be BK want money up front, not Rascals

totallyfloaty35 · 24/06/2008 19:00

i think rascals have high start up costs too,but they are a well established agency,bk have mixed reviews on this site,but i find them pretty good,my dd had loads of castings with them and appeared in a movie.

christabel · 24/06/2008 19:59

Hi notice UA are coming up north. Does anyone know where they are opening the new office or are they just looking for new models in north. DD is 8 and currently with Manchester Agency and has had 1 job in 8 months (no castings and no communication). First 6 months with agency DD had loads of work and castings. They are supposed to be top Manchester agency but never hear from them and the kids had photos redone for website and don't like them - not sure whether I can ask if they can do photos again.

tinkerbellchelle · 24/06/2008 20:10

I just wanna say I dont wanna argue with anyone and there opinions, but have had an email from M & S and they firstly sent a list of agencies and KK weren't on there and then I replied asking about KK and they replied saying " they do not have this agency listed as one previously used by Marks and Spencers "

CJMOMMY - good luck with whatever decision you make x

tinkerbellchelle · 24/06/2008 20:14

Dizzy, will be great to hear how you get on xx