Scallywags Vs Baby Models?

[dadofgeorge]

Hi All,

My wife and I are looking to sign our 5 month old boy to a modellig agency, he is something special and thats without being biased.

I have applied to 5 agencies and got accepted by all but the 2 we have singled down to are Scallywags and baby models.

Scallywags seems to have more google reviews but otherwise I dont know how to choose between them, I can't find any bad reviews for either of these..

Does anyone here have experience on which can help us choose?

Many thanks
Mark

You’re all just jealous because your babies aren’t as good looking as OP’s!

You sound normal .

Bit of a leap to say that someone not agreeing with baby modelling is jealousy because their baby isn’t cute enough

I mean, arguably, people who think their babies are the most precious and wonderful beings on the planet would be LESS likely to do something like baby modelling. Which some people view as exploitation. If you don't care too much about your dcs' wellbeing you'd be all "who gives a fuck".

Not saying this is true of the op or anyone else who puts their baby forward for modelling btw, but just responding to the idea that people who are against it are just well jell hun babes .

My point above was to billywilliamv not to you Beatrice. I need to get to grips with copying posts!

Oh yes I know @itsashame. I was agreeing with you .

All 4 of my DCs did a range of modelling, theatre,tv and film work as children. We came from a performing family, my 2 siblings and myself had done the same and some of the early things the DCS did were as part of a family group.
DD had amazing hair which in itself got her a few jobs and DS3 was definitely helped along by his mop of golden curls! In addition all 3 boys had strong singing voices. At the end of the day I am sure that a lot of the jobs they did get were sheer luck ,having the right look or saying the right thing at audition. DS1 for example appeared in a war film at the auditions the boys were told that in one scene they would get very dirty, messy and wet whilst the others present looked a little horrified my child said wow that's awesome! He got the job! At another audition my daughter went to my son who was with us was offered a role even though he wasn't auditioning purely as he looked right.
Its also worth mentioning that with babies and toddlers there is usually more than one child available on set, if your child isn't behaving exactly as they want at a given moment they may well never actually get to be the filmed/photographed child. On one job my eldest son worked on for a couple of days the director scrapped the whole scene when the child playing his sister refused to co operate at the necessary moment.
There is a huge amount of waiting around too and it is not as glamorous as you may think though as adult models surely you and you wife know that already?
As my kids got older one by one they decided they didn't want to do it anymore and I respected that. DS 2 actually gave up a West End opportunity for his GCSEs.
Finally although my kids were successful I didn't pay a penny to sign them up to an agency or for professional photos. If an agency really thinks your child has what it takes they don't, they just take a commission on any jobs. I would be very wary of anyone wanting you to pay any up front costs.

Warned about the site OP, come on- just because people are pointing out the pitfalls? You should heed the warnings you are getting about baby modelling in equal measure then. Most are a scam that you will pay for so you may as well just pay for professional pictures. They make money hooking in the parents who need an ego boost and think their baby is 'special'.

If you don't need the money what really is the purpose of it? The 'kudos' of a 'brand' wanting to (very potentially) use your child? - it's not exactly the be all and end all and your child gets nothing out of it either. Imagine growing up and your parents harping on a put how you used to model- it's not great for ones self esteem surely.

As 'models' yourselves you'll know your child has a very limited shelf life. To imagine they will be a marketable working model all their lives as a result of combined exceptional genes is obviously nonsense, so again what is the purpose for the effort involved. Pretty babies (and there are a great deal of those) don't necessarily make pretty adults, let alone child models.

Perhaps go and try it out. If they are asking you to pay though, I would take that to mean the little one is not as objectively exceptionally special as you think (though I'm sure is gorgeous nonetheless). Maybe your baby might not enjoy it or have the temperament either? It's a brightly lit loud and dull environment for a child, having things waved and called at it to get it to perform- I'd prefer to take the baby to something they'd learn and develop from.

IME a genuine agency will not ask you to hand over any money. That aside, I personally wouldn’t be happy about images of my DC being out there in the public domain when they’re too young to consent to this, but then this is something I feel strongly about and realise others may not be bothered by it. Just be aware that your DC might resent it one day.

But we haven’t seen pictures of the OP’s kids yet. Just because yours are moose and you are jealous @billywilliamv doesn’t mean we all are.

Hi all,

Thank you for the genuine, non bitter or biased replies. Yes, I am fully aware that it can’t all be positive but my wife and I certainly wouldn’t put up with anything we felt harmful, as for consent, I really can’t see the issue here but maybe that’s a self confidence or prude thing. (No offence)

Anyway, I just wanted to up date this thread for anyone in a similar position. Do it! Apply to agencies local to you, check out the reviews, call the agencies and voice your concerns, even visit them..
long story short, we went with one of the 2 options, did not have to pay any fees, had a test shoot, 2 weeks later, 2 jobs!
1 for a bbc drama and the other for a furniture brand.
My wife and I arrived on set, both very different, welcomed in, allowed to get comfortable, when action was required we were never more than 10 feet away, when action was required, we were there to get G comfortable or pass to the Actress in shot
Who was also a parent and very nice. Once done, we got to breast feed G before our journey home.
So all very nice, a close drive to set, no more than 5 hours of our time taken (ex travel), free clothing, £540 (in his bank account), excitement for all our friends and family of seeing our boy in a TV drama and brochure/advert.
The only negative, poor cup of tea on the drama set.
So to all, thank you, the experience has been good and certainly better (nicer) than my own experience as I felt excited and proud for the experience and results of getting some lovely pictures for us to frame.
Nothing indecent or negative at all.

And no, not done for the money although what we received was more than I thought and certainly £540 more than he already had which I’m sure he will be grateful of one day. It was done for the excitement, fun and professional pictures in settings we wouldn’t have the chance of getting otherwise.

We have a 3rd job lined up!