Click Model Management Complaint Letters
To Whom It May Concern:
Can you tell me if Click Model Management in New York is a respected agency in the business?
They have called me in for an interview, and I want to make sure it is not a scam.
Thank you,
I.S.
Hi I.,
Modeling Scams has received no complaints about Click Model Management.
Click Model Management seems to be one of the better agencies. It is probably safe to say they are a "respected agency."
CMM was founded more than 20 years ago —it's not one of those new ones —in 1980.
They sound like an internet modeling agency (Click), but the leading word was chosen because the founders had a background in fashion photography.
Frances Grill, the founder, was an agent for fashion photographers and then, when the agency was started, she became an agent for models. So there was clearly relevant fashion/modeling management industry experience before starting. (A good sign.)
Today CMM has offices in different cities and different countries. This is usually a good sign.
In the US they are in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston. Outside the US, Click Model has offices in Paris and Brazil.
They represent over 600 models. Another good sign. A number of the models they have represented are big names (Uma Thurman, Whitney Houston, Elle MacPherson).
See this page for more info:
http://www.clickmodel.com/about_us.html
The flagship website has several dead links and an under construction page.
There was no reference to magazines in which the models they represent appeared on their website, but there are tear sheets in the models' portfolios.
On their site they said: "Click Models presently represent over 600 models."
They say they represent 600 models, but there aren't 600 models on their website. The women's section for the New York Models currently has only 18 models.
You may want to ask for more information on this subject. Where are all the other models?
Is the website just not developed?
Someone said they are a big New York modeling agency. But only 18 female models for NYC, the modeling capital of America, would not exactly make them "big," would it?
The links to all the other cities in America where they say they have models are dead. So there is no way of checking online if they represent 600 models.
Overall, there are no obvious red flags... nothing over which to cancel a scheduled interview.
Good luck,
To Whom It May Concern:
I am a model who is currently with Click Model Management in New York City.
My agency is now using Model Wire as an online portfolio system. My agency is charging each model $600 a year for this online system.
I am a little confused about why it is so costly. How can an internet site really cost literally thousands of dollars to run?
I'm not sure how many models Click represents, but I know it's a lot. With each model paying this ridiculous amount for a website messenger service, I know someone is making a pretty penny! I think this has to be some kind of scam!!!
I just want to know why this is so much. Should this really cost this much? What other kind of online portfolio system is cheaper that I could go through on my own?
And why don't other models not care about the price? I know it is really a small bit of money considering the business, but it's my money, and I don't think it's a smart business decision on my part.
Of course Click thinks it is, but they have nothing to lose! I DO!
Thank you,
N.Y., New York Model
P.S. The websites are www.modelwire.com and www.clickmodel.com
N.,
Webhosting at $600/year is extremely expensive. You could get an internet address (www.yourname.com) for $10/year, and one year of webhosting for $10/year. Total: $20/year.
You said: "I'm not sure how many models Click represents, but I know it's a lot." Click represents models in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Brazil, and Paris.
If Click Model Management represents 1,000 models, and each model pays $600/year, there is $600,000 of cash moving through the system. EVERY YEAR!
Now the question is, does Click Model Management take home any of the online portfolio money? Or does it all go to Model Wire?
If Click is making money off the Model Wire online portfolio system, you could tell them you think the price is very exorbitant, not competitive, and try to get a lower rate at a reasonable price.
If Click is making no money off the Model Wire online portfolio system, you could question the wisdom of their business decision in forming a partnership with Model Wire. Is $600/year/model the best they could negotiate?
How does Model Wire set up its contracts? Are they paid by model, or a fixed amount per year, or a one-time fee? They provide software. Did Click buy their software? Or does Model Wire charge like royalties for photos? By the number of times the photo is used? Or by the size of audience?
The most fair payment system for online advertising is by performance. The model only pays after the system works. Just like the commissions for modeling work. The agency makes no money until after you work. Online it is now payment by commission; it used to be pay per click. When online advertising is by commission the model cannot get screwed.
To Whom It May Concern:
I can help to clarify the situation with the Click Models and ModelWire relationship, as someone previously associated with one of these companies.
ModelWire is not a website service, it is a software provider of both booking and imaging software products. The imaging software uses the Internet as a delivery method of distributing portfolios securely to clients of the agency.
Each agency is given specific scanning, image editing and automatic uploading software when signing with ModelWire. Bookers can very easily and automatically send "packages" of model portfolios to clients using the system.
However, the $600 bill that the model received is troubling to me as well as her.
ModelWire charges a set amount per model, per month to the agency.
Typically, this amount has been in the $30 range ($30/month/model), but because ModelWire has been experiencing tremendous financial difficulty, it worked out a deal with Click for $10/month/model.
This deal was worked out by Joey Hunter at ModelWire. Unfortunately, this billing procedure has presented many problems.
First, ModelWire cannot charge different amounts to different agencies; other agencies that are being charged more per model are being ripped off.
Second, Click is now charging $600 a year for this service, which is a $480 per year profit PER MODEL for Click ($600/yr - 12mos@$10/month).
I know that ModelWire is aware of this profit margin, and has thus decided to change from concentrating on the professional model market, and deal primarily with aspiring models, because they see a much larger profit potential here.
But when this occurs, the agencies will assuredly not be pleased with ModelWire.
In regards to this specific model's complaint, the $600 per year charge could be validated if you see a congruent decline in your portfolio distribution fees. Have your FedEx bills gone down? Has your modeling revenue increased?
I agree with the editor's comments that the system should be based on performance. The $10 per month charged by ModelWire is actually a fair price, and it seems that you, as a model, should take up this issue directly with your agency.
Other agencies such as Elite and Karin have used the software extremely effectively and have charged their models appropriately.
If you see results, then you should have no complaints. But I know that the agreement between ModelWire and Click, in particular, was made to make each company a quick buck.
I.I.
I.,
It was immediately suspicious that ModelWire does not include their price on their website. It is always suspicious on modeling company websites when the pricing is not given, because it is a basic question which many people want answered.
By not providing this information publicly, ModelWire are obviously in a position to charge two companies different prices, one more, the other less, basically as much as they feel the company will pay.
The business ethics of two different prices for the same service for two different companies may not be inherently bad, but it is obviously going to be a problem if the company paying more finds out.
This type of situation was reported earlier by people who attended modeling conventions. Apparently some parents were charged more —even much more —than other parents. No explanation was provided for the disparity.
Some of these modeling firms actually are so bold or tacky as to include a questionaire with the initial forms of prospective models, asking the parents if they are rich. Then of course they aggressively market products and services to the wealthy parents.
The irony here with Click and ModelWire is ModelWire, according to you, was the company is dire financial straits, while Click was presumably doing fine, but ModelWire ended up having to offer Click a discount to win the account, yet it was Click which then turned around and jacked up the price to make a huge profit.
ModelWire could be understandably upset or annoyed by this, because it is their software, they did the work, but Click did no work and makes the lion's share of the money, what, about $500,000?
How many models does Click represent? How much money are they making off this? And why is ModelWire "experiencing tremendous financial difficulty"?
It is a bad situation for a Click model, because they are trapped, presumably, and cannot refuse to pay for this ModelWire service, right?
Click would obviously get a huge guaranteed income, violating the modeling industry standard of income only from commissions.
Click Model Management Letters Index
