Ford Management in Boston

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm 15 and I've always been interested in acting, and I just recently have been thinking about modeling, and exploring it locally.

I live in Boston, which is near enough to New York City to visit on weekends, or for short trips, but not close enough to commute to every day to see agencies.

I know that Ford Models in New York is a very reputable agency, but do you know anything about Ford Management in Boston?

It doesn't have a website and I can't figure out if it's at all related to Ford Models, but I'm guessing not.

Is Ford Management just using Ford's good name to trick people into thinking they're a good agency?

Thanks for you help.

R.

R.,

Apparently the company changed its name from Ford Management to Candy Ford Group and its website is located at CandyFord.com.

I don't know if they were using the name to make other people think they were reputable. The name of the person running the company is Candy Ford, so there is some justification for using the name Ford in the company name.

Still, Ford Models in New York, started by Jerry and Eileen Ford, is so well known nationally and internationally, and it has been around since the 1940s, it is easy to see why you would wonder.

Ford in Boston did use disclaimers, included in web directories, saying there were not Ford Models, and were not affiliated with Ford Models, but that was obviously not good enough, and so they changed the name of the company.

Again, I don't know if Ford Management in Boston used the name commercially to boost its reputation, but I do know that another company used their name commercially to boost its reputation. They were tricking people into thinking it was the NY modeling agency.

Ford in NY said they received regular phone calls from people asking if their company used the website of this other business which claimed it did. The BBB record said the business based in Florida misrepresented which models used their service. They said Ford used it, but it was not Ford in NY; it was Ford in Boston. They said Elite used it, but it was not Elite in NY; it was Elite in Singapore!

So it is certainly possible Candy Ford chose to change the name of the company because this other business was manipulating them and her business was caught in the middle.

In any case, Ford Management in Boston, or Candy Ford Group, as it is now known, does promotional staffing. They do events.

For example, their website says they do beverage industry events, campus events, sporting events, mall tours, product sampling, concerts venues, special events, trade shows, and name acquisition.

Promotional "modeling" typically pays about $15/hr. It's at the bottom end of modeling (some don't call it modeling). $15/hr may sound good, but it's not $15/hr for 40 hours a week. It could be a one-time event for an hour or two on the weekend.

Candy Ford's models, according to its website, do different types of modeling, but the work related to the company in Florida which they promoted (by a statement on its website) is, according to a published news report, promotions:

Ford Model Management hasn't signed any Options talent to contracts, but owner Candy Ford says they've used "hundreds" for promotional work, like handing out items at trade shows.

So it could be mostly promotions. If you want to hand things out, like at trade shows, CFG may be OK.