The Talent & Model Group

So if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…
So we get a call to have my young daughter come in to the agency. We get there and they have her 6 year old comp card. Oddly it has her birthdate on there so if she looked like that at 10, it would be odd. Nonetheless, we go in to an office which is located in Doral now by the way. Cramped but looks pseudo-​legit. I already had my doubts going in but for my daughter, I gave it a shot.
The lady tells us about the current gigs and that the «client» wanted to see more of my daughter. Sounds ok so far but then here comes the «but»…“Her pictures aren’t updated”. Yeah, no sweat, we’ve got some more we can get comp cards together. I was then told that the industry has changed and that comp cards aren’t in anymore. Instead… wait for it… THEY will take pics for the low low price of $ 395 and they can rush her portfolio for $ 195 more!
I’m just a dude but I know a thing or two. A legitimate agency would not ask you for money. I’ve offered to take her to another location to get photos done and the lady declined. Said they wouldn’t «work». Not sure why they wouldn’t «work» and it HAS to be TMG photos but whatever. Further, a talent agency is to help get you booked. Think about them as recruiters for jobs. If a company has a job that they hire recruiters to fill, the recruiter doesn’t ask you to pay so that they can fill out your resume and submit you for a job. Same thing with agencies. Because you have a look, a talent, etc., they’re going to represent you and they will get tasked by companies to provide them talent. If you’re represented by that agency, and you get the job, your earnings will be given to you minus an «agency fee».
What’s really sad is that places like this do make money or else they wouldn’t operate. They tell 100 parents that their kids are awesome and if you give them $ 400, then they will be considered for everything. Then, the parents never hear anything. Needless to say, once I declined on paying, they told me thanks for coming.
It’s South Florida. You’re bound to find something eventually I’d assume.
If you need help looking:
You can also search the licensing database in Florida which they seem to be good for until ⁵⁄₁₆.

I have been a Talent and Model Group Model for over 6 years and i am bothered by The comments on this Page. TMG has gotten me all types Of booking (wheaties comercial, Pepsi comercial, Ballers tv show, Step up 4, Nike to name a few). They are as legitimate as they come. It’s so sad to negativively speculate about a company who takes such pains to be reputable, Professional and offer all a great personal service. I just had to state The facts.

This may not be a scam modeling agency, but they are full of lies. I think they may have some small modeling jobs here and there for their models, but they make most of their money by selling you (the potential models) the comp card at $ 695.
When I met with Alex (the so called «director», which she made appointment calls while I was waiting to see her), she started talking how much money I can make and so on, and said most of them, I don’t have to go for auditions, just get booked for the jobs. Everywhere I read online, the modeling agency can only find you a job, but you have to go for audition, and if the company likes you, you will get a job. As a start-​up model, you will get a tons of rejections.
Then Alex focused on the Comp card, which is a card with a pic on the front and 3 at the back, the same pics they post on their website. The pics were not great, not even better than my own ones. All the models wear similar cloth with similar pose at the same location. She said I just need to comp card to get the job. When I asked about the jobs, she said they don’t post them online. She started talking the reasons for not posting and they don’t make sense. If you look at their facebook page, there are some modeling casting jobs posting… Everything Alex said was full of lies.
Overall, I think it’s a waste of time going there, and all they care is to make you pay for the comp card and make the $ 695.