Questions to Ask a Modeling Agency
Questions to put to a modeling agency before you sign anything: licensing, commission, contract length, who pays for images, how bookings are refused, and when money actually reaches you. Written for new models and for parents sitting in on the meeting.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Are you a licensed talent agency where you operate, and can I see the license?
Why ask it
Many states and countries license talent agencies and cap what they can charge. An outfit that cannot produce a number, or that calls itself a management company specifically to sit outside those rules, has answered a bigger question than the one you asked.
Do I pay you anything before I earn anything?
Why ask it
The most useful question in the room. An agency on commission makes money when you do. Charges for classes, screen tests, portfolio packages, or registration make money whether you ever work or not.
What is your commission, and is it taken from the gross or after expenses?
Why ask it
The percentage matters less than the base it is applied to. Twenty percent of gross is a different deal from twenty percent of what is left after usage fees and costs come out.
Which of your models are working right now, and where can I see the work?
Why ask it
Named people and current campaigns can be checked in an afternoon. Agencies leaning on one booking from years ago tend to describe clients by category rather than by name.
What have you booked in the last six months?
Why ask it
Recent and specific. A list of famous brands with no dates attached usually describes an ambition rather than a working relationship.
Which board would I be on, and how many other people are on it?
Why ask it
Boards are how agencies sort a roster. A crowded board in your category means you are competing inside the agency before any client has seen you.
What kind of work do you see me for?
Why ask it
A real assessment sounds specific: commercial, fit, e-commerce, editorial, hands, hair. Compliments with no category attached usually mean they sign broadly and see what sticks.
What would I realistically earn in the first year?
Why ask it
Asks for a number rather than a story. Straight answers give a wide range and say plainly that most new faces earn very little at the start.
How long is the contract, and is it exclusive?
Why ask it
Term and exclusivity are the two clauses that cost people years. Look for automatic renewal, and for exclusivity written across every market rather than the one you live in.
What happens if I want to leave before the term ends?
Why ask it
Ask about notice, and about whether commission still follows you onto jobs booked after you go. That second part is often buried in a clause nobody reads out loud.
Who pays for test shoots, and who owns the images afterwards?
Why ask it
Two separate questions and both get expensive. If the agency owns the photographs, your book stays with them when you leave.
Do I have to use particular photographers or studios?
Why ask it
A mandatory list is the standard route for a kickback. Agencies acting in your interest recommend names and let you go elsewhere.
How do you handle a job I do not want to take?
Why ask it
Ask specifically about nudity, alcohol and gambling brands, travel, and shoots with no chaperone. You want to hear that refusal carries no penalty, and to hear it before you need it.
Who do I call from a set if something goes wrong?
Why ask it
Look for a named person reachable during shooting hours, plus a stated position on closed sets and on chaperones for anyone under eighteen. Silence here is the answer.
How and when do I get paid after a job?
Why ask it
Ask who invoices, how long clients usually take, and whether the agency pays you before the client pays them. Sixty and ninety day terms are common and rarely mentioned upfront.
Do you deduct anything from my earnings besides commission?
Why ask it
Courier charges, website fees, and administration costs add up quietly. Ask to see a sample statement for an existing model with the name removed.
What happens if a client does not pay?
Why ask it
Shows whether the agency chases the invoice or passes the loss to you. Some contracts put you out of pocket for work you already did.
Do you place models in other markets, and what does that involve?
Why ask it
Overseas placements bring apartment rent, visas, and advances charged against future earnings. Ask what the debt looks like if the season goes badly.
Can I speak to two models who have left the agency?
Why ask it
Current models have reasons to be positive. People who left will tell you how the money and the exit were handled, which is what you are trying to find out.
What would make you drop me?
Why ask it
Blunt and worth asking. Measurement clauses, social media requirements, and vague wording about attitude are all easier to discuss now than to discover later.
Are you a mother agency, a booking agency, or a management company?
Why ask it
A mother agency develops you and places you with agencies in other cities, taking a cut of what those agencies pay. A booking agency finds you work directly. Management companies often sit outside talent agency licensing rules entirely. The label changes the whole contract you are about to be offered.
Who would be my booker, and how many people do they look after?
Why ask it
You are hired by the agency and worked by one person. A booker carrying a hundred people cannot advocate for you. Ask to meet them rather than the person who scouted you, since those are usually different jobs with different incentives.
If you place me abroad, who takes commission and what is the total once everyone has taken a cut?
Why ask it
Mother agency plus local agency can stack to a much larger share than either quotes on its own. Ask for the combined figure on a hypothetical booking, and ask who advances the airfare and visa costs and how they are recovered.
How does model housing work, what does it cost, and is it optional?
Why ask it
Agency apartments are often charged at a rate well above market and deducted from earnings before you see them. Ask for the weekly figure, how many people share a room, and whether you may live elsewhere without affecting how you are booked.
Is there anything about my appearance you would want changed, and would it be a condition?
Why ask it
Requests about hair, weight or teeth do get made. Asking whether it is a condition rather than a suggestion forces clarity, and the answer belongs in the conversation before signing rather than three months in. Anything about weight deserves a great deal of thought and outside advice.
What is your policy on nudity, lingerie and content I can refuse?
Why ask it
Ask how refusals are recorded, whether they are on file with the agency, and what happens if a client asks on the day for something not agreed in advance. An agency that treats the answer as routine has handled it before. One that treats it as an obstacle has told you how it will handle you.
Before you sign
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the meeting
Check the agency exists on paper
Look for the company registration, the licensing body for talent agencies in your state or country, and any complaints filed against the name. Also check whether the trading name and the registered name match, since they often do not.
Bring someone with you
A second person hears what you miss and slows the meeting down. If you are under eighteen, a parent or guardian should be present for the whole conversation, not called in at the signing.
Take the contract away
Nobody legitimate needs a signature that day. Ask for a copy to read at home and have a lawyer look at the term, exclusivity, and termination clauses before you return it.
Warning signs in the answers
- Any fee payable before you have earned anything, whatever it is called.
- A required photographer, course, or studio, especially one at the same address.
- Praise with no category attached: real interest sounds like a specific market, not a compliment.
- A signing deadline, a discount that expires, or a place that is about to go to someone else.
- Refusal to name a current client, or to let you speak to any model who has left.
- A contract that renews itself unless you cancel in a narrow window.
Checks worth doing yourself
- 1Search the agency name with the words complaint and review, and read past the first page of results.
- 2Pick two models from their roster and check whether the work they claim appears in the credits.
- 3Call one brand or casting director they named and ask whether they work with the agency.
- 4Compare the commission against other agencies in the same city for the same category of work.
- 5Read the termination clause twice, then ask the agency to explain it back to you.