A model’s story
After modeling in America for many years my goals brought me to the other side of the world and into the heart of Japan. Modeling has always been a passion of mine and so I joined the forces once again, and I was in for a great surprise on just how different modeling can be from country to country.
Keeping ourselves informed of the industry on a global level can help improve our business as a model and keep us safe from scams and other misinformation. Since I have only two countries to compare the business of modeling with, I can’t speak for others, but I’d love to hear your experiences as well. I’ve broken down the comparisons with no bias attachment to either side discussing only the pure logical facts of what I’ve experienced in the industry. It won’t cover all the information on the modeling world, but provide at least a little insight into what to expect.
America’s modeling industry
Model @socialt77
While in America, I had a mother agency that was small, but well ran. They took 15% percent of the pay I received from each job and provided the auditions for all of my work. There were direct bookings from the website and I was charged a yearly fee of around $75 to keep my picture on the main site and to register on another model listing site. I was told to keep a certain “predetermined look” and was told not to change. This included keeping my hair a certain style and color, eyebrows a specific shape, my body a “standard” model size, among other small details the agency chose for my look. I took on free jobs including mostly runway and print to gain experience and develop my portfolio along with paid work too. I did receive a handful of good jobs (about 3 -6 per year) while working for them for about 5 years. The auditions and jobs were pretty slim and most reoccurring yearly runway shows, a few online website look books, print, and commercials. The commercial jobs and runway shows started at about $1,000 per day and even higher for well known brands. Good thing about commercial jobs is almost all of them have a yearly usage fee so every year they use them you get paid again. Jobs ranged from $150 to $2,000 being my highest payment. Auditions, travel fees, and other expenses are never covered by the agency and rarely by the client. Although! Commercial jobs always paid for my hotel if the shooting took 2 days or more which was nice and of course traveling to the locations they shot at were also paid for. The agencies are picky about the test shoots they give you, sometimes they give you nothing at all, and other times you have to pay for professional ones, but not always, it depends on the agency. Starting out, my agency had a well known professional photographer who specialized in portfolio photos. My agency firmly advised I work with the photographer to boost my selling appearance when I first started. It was about $500 for my first set including hair, makeup, a set of 7 photos and wardrobe provided but not kept. I took the risk and actually it really did help and one of my jobs easily paid the setup costs of this. Do I recommend doing it? Actually, no. I think it was a bit overpriced for a model just starting out, but in no way was it a scam. The photos were indeed ultra professional and probably the strongest set I had. Side work as a freelance model is either strictly forbidden or highly discouraged by the agencies depending on the contract. This is to protect you from signing a contract that gives you no money and ruins your chance of getting other work, but in turn it also decreases your chances of making a consistent salary.
Japan’s modeling industry
Model @socialt77
While in Japan (and currently residing there) there are two types of agencies. Ones that only sign you on if you have another agency in your country or you have the proper visa for them (called Exclusive Models), and freelance agencies which are open to accepting just about any foreigner they can get. I’ve only done freelance agencies because of my visa limitations so I can’t speak for the other kind of agencies just yet. All agencies in Japan take more than a jaw dropping rip off of 50% of your pay but provide you with many auditions. There are about 5 photo submission auditions per a week and I’ve only had two main jobs for 2 years of being with a freelance agency. It’s super rare to have a direct booking from their websites and you’ll have to rely on the photo submission auditions they send to the clients. There are no restrictions on your looks and they pretty much accept anyone which means clients have a long list of possible candidates for their products. Unfortunately, this also means that most of the models have no experience so they take on the jobs for a low price or for free. There is usually no website fee, but sometimes they charge a membership fee of around $20 for one time. I’m not really sure where the money goes or why they do this, but Japan’s culture has a membership fee for practically everything you sign up for. If you’re just starting out you’ll need to provide portfolio photos for the website as they sometimes have test shoots, but they aren’t looking to boost your career as a model. Also, I went on a test shoot from my agency but never received the pictures. Still hunting for them as they ignore my emails. Hundreds of foreigners exist on their site so they don’t have time to focus on you directly. That’s another thing sometimes certain agencies ignore your messages if they don’t have a solution and others answer right away so you must be ready for failed communication and figuring out things independently. Other times they send out a manager to help you with auditions which is amazing and very helpful if you can’t speak Japanese. The assistance is never consistent.
In Japan, being youthful looking, almost child like puts some models to a greater advantage in getting accepted into the top agencies as they are the client’s most requested models. If you’re a bottom feeder like me, fret not, modeling is a business and life isn’t fair. Don’t worry about those models and focus on building your career instead of wasting time worrying about them. As a freelance you can also obtain work through your own means of using social media and running your business. Most commercial jobs and even high end brand names pay $200 per day or sometimes even less through a freelance agency. Almost all runway shows including fashion week in Tokyo is unpaid for freelance models. I’ve had offers from big companies offering a job for under $200 and a contract saying it’s a complete buyout and working for another company with a similar product is legally forbidden. Never sell your image for such a ridiculous price. These Japanese companies are taking advantage of naïve models and ruining their opportunities for better success. For Japan it’s best to try to enter the top agencies while working for a freelance agency and marketing yourself which is the key to faster exposure, success, and what every model wants. More jobs!
The take away
Deciding on which country’s modeling industry is better I would say both are about equal in their pros and cons. While America may seem like the better bet, I’ve had more jobs in Japan through my own business than in the states with an agency, but as far as agencies go America hands down was more professional and are focused on growing your career. They also have better access to getting you paid well from the higher level clients. It just depends on how you conduct your image as a business and of course lots of luck to get you noticed. Just beware of selling yourself short to companies looking to get rich and for you to remain underpaid. Modeling is a very slow business and mostly based on luck and then talent for being selected, but not impossible. If you truly love modeling you can keep doing it for as long as you want! Feel free to cross over into other subcategories such as acting, voiceovers, and entertainment. You might find another niche that you like as well!
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