Our 'Queensland Modeling Industry Exposed' Facebook Page is now available.

We are here to help and make you aware of the traps and dangers some modeling agencies put you in.

Please leave us posts and feedback as every bit of information could help our modeling industry and protect our new models from making horrible lifechanging and career destroying mistakes.

FACTS :

"Modeling schools" are another option, but they are also misnamed; they should be called finishing schools. They can't guarantee you will become a model and they won't turn anyone down because you pay a fee. For example, they will accept a girl who is 5' 1" who will probably only be able to do petites. If you want to learn poise, how to apply makeup, or walk on a runway, then modeling schools are a good option. But just know what you are getting." --Cindy Crawford, Supermodel

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"Modeling schools are notorious for preying on the dreams of young women and others who want so badly to be the virtually impossible ideal on magazine covers."
--- Liz Brown

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("Learn to be a Model... or just waste your money,"Willamette Week, March 15, 2000)
"It is never necessary to take a modeling course to become a model. Reputable agencies will train you themselves for free. However, if you have extra money to spend and want to learn about makeup and walking, etc. then go ahead and sign up for modeling classes. Otherwise, makeup counters like Lancome, MAC and Esteé Lauder will often give free makeup lessons."
--Professional Model

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"I think they can just take a roll of snap-shots with a disposable camera, nothing fancy… just send it to the agency attention New Faces, with their phone number… and their cost is just a roll of film and a stamp… "

Do you need to go to school to become a model? Absolutely not."
---Corey Singer, Model Scout, Next Model Management

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"We discourage models from taking 'modeling classes' - they are not required and often are counter-productive."
--- R&L Model and Talent Management, Inc.

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Aspiring models have been confused in the past, assuming a school was an agency. Even though the school may not call itself an agency, those who are unfamiliar with the modeling industry have made the mistake of assuming some modeling schools were modeling agencies.

Just as some potential models have made a mistake without coercion, others have been led to believe a school was an agency, because the school acted as if it was an agency, behaving similarly to agencies by using "model scouts," open calls, and telling the young people they had been "selected."

Is it true? Are modeling schools really finishing schools? Are they misnamed on purpose to deceive aspiring models and lead them to sign up and pay for something they don't need?

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I always thought there was something very wrong about the way Dally's or other agencies do it, because its not hard to see that its just a big scam.
Maria

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Dallys Models Brisbane, June Dally Watkins Brisbane, Dallys Models Facebook is not a registered training organisation for their short courses, this has been confirmed by the June dally Watkins staff.
June Dally Watkins in Brisbane charge up to $ 950.00, for you to do there courses even though they are not a registered training organisation ..

Rachel from June Dally Watkins, Dallys Models Brisbane commented to our investigators that "the courses are legiate ".

The international model agencies advise models to be aware of these agencies , with many international agencies saying that they are not an agency but a finishing school ..
Joel Wilkenfield president of one of the worlds leading chains said "you cannot train to become a model you either are or you aren't."

98% of Queensland agencies run modelling courses, grooming and deportment courses..
Viviens and Boss Models are the only 2 modelling agencies in Brisbane that do not do any courses.

Tamblyns also source models for there courses through there " young model discovery " which they run yearly throughout various shopping centres , you must pay and fill out a form to enter the young model discovery , they then get your details to contact you about your child or yourself enrolling in there courses.

Many hundreds, even thousands of models that have done these courses, have never heard from these agencies again, is all they receive is a diploma, certificate from the agency which is worthless.

No professional agency will make you do any grooming and deportment courses, if you are 5'8 and over they might ask you to undertake runway workshops so they can book you for runway and fashion shows.

Professional model agencies do not run these courses or workshops and they are usually totally independent from the modelling agency.

All of the worlds leading modelling agencies do not run modelling courses , grooming and deportment courses ..

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There are agencies out there that run competitions , and young model discoveries through various shopping centres , they charge you to enter these model discoveries and build a big data base to have telemarketers email or phone you to do there courses .

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANY MODELING COURSES OR GROOMING COURSES OR DEPORTMENT COURSES TO JOIN THE INDUSTRY " .

NO SUPERMODELS have ever done any courses , and NONE of the WORLDS TOP Modeling Agencies run courses.

You cannot train to be a model , you either are a model or you aren't
---Joel Wilkenfield, President, Next Management Worldwide.

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UP FRONT FEES?

Up-front fees. These could be signing fees, new account fees, evaluation fees, etc. If an agency has to charge money at the front end it means that there is not enough money at the back end. It also means that the agency probably does not have enough modeling work to be able to survive on commissions, and therefore, not enough work for a model to survive on either.

Why do modeling firms say they are not modeling schools? Because modeling schools have bad reputations and the modeling school concept has a bad reputation.
Experts say you should not pay upfront fees. Modeling schools require upfront fees.
The fact is you do not need to attend a modeling school to get modeling jobs. Cindy Crawford and other supermodels never attended a modeling school. How could they get signed with an agency without attending a modeling school? How could thousands of models get signed without attending or even graduating from a modeling school?
Simply because most aspiring models have enough self-confidence to model, the agencies do not require a certificate for representation, and the agencies teach their models the little they need to learn after they have been signed.

Unfortunately particularly in queensland there are agencies that use there model agency as a front to attract new models wanting to join the industry to become models , the inexperienced model is then convinced that they must do a modeling course,  or to become a professional model and join the industry must be educated , any professional ethical agency will mentor all there new inexperienced models and will never charge any fees or money to educate them about the industry .

June Dally Watkins Brisbane , Dallys Models Brisbane has been the equivocal leader in luring new models into doing there courses , Tamblyns Models , Katz Models also run modeling courses.

Jo Sheils whom has been a model with Dallys Models Brisbane and now has started up Hunter Models claims that she has 20 years industry experience, then if she has these years of experience then why is she selling modelling courses under the June Dally Watkins banner knowing full well that the industry professionals / international / top ethical australian agencies / clients frown upon such agencies that have or use a modelling agency to sell there modelling courses, telling models that they must do a course to become a model or be represented.

To ALL models wanting to join the industry either by scout days / model searches / competitions " You DO NOT ever need to do any grooming and deportment courses, male model courses, female model courses, or any other course to become a model or join the industry, please do your own research before becoming a victim of these agencies, as once they have your money and you realise that you have not heard anything from them, and have nothing to show for your investment except a certificate that is worthless they will make it difficult for you to get your money back .

Models have taken agencies before to small claims over such scams , through QCAT and have succeeded, but we would rather educate you before you realise that you have made a big mistake, however if you just want to do a course and it has nothing to do with you becoming a model and being represented and obtaining paid work , then there are many agencies around that only do courses and are NOT a model agency like June Dally Watkins NSW whom is not a model agency but only a model school.

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A VICTIMS STORY;

Submitted to us in April of 2013

• Hi there! I don't want my identity to be revealed, but I wasted all of my savings and months of my time on a Diploma of Modelling at an academy that SEEMED to have a great reputation and affiliations with reputable agencies. I learnt nothing, the course was poorly organized, I was treated badly, there were hidden costs that I as a 17 year old living alone in a big city on $10 an hour at the local butchery could not afford. I regret having ever applied and I should have gone straight to an agency. Now that I am attempting to find agency representation, most that have approached require me to do ANOTHER modelling course through their agency, which again will cost me me money I don't have. 

I was offended after going to Dallys in Brisbane as an experinced model they still tried to push me into doing a modeling course. I refused and joined a much more reputable agency

S.J

I am also another victim of Dallys. I went and saw them and they convinced me that i had to do a course. Once i paid and completed the course i never heard from them again. Wasnt a good introduction into the industry at all it actually turned me off the industry

A H

from the news alert

Hi David

I am witting this e-mail to express my wishes to become part of your team at 'Boss Models Australasia' due to your higher level of proffesionalism.

I was previously working for 'June Dally Watkins' up untill the age of 17. I left the company because I was not receiving enough work and it was not worth the money I had to pay them to stay on their books. 2 years later I was at a job (freelancing) when I was told by a well known photographer and close associate that Dally's still had me on their website. He also informed me that other companies had specifically requested myself, yet the booking agent - Thomas, told them that he had better models for the job. The photographer was aware of this information as he shot the campaign for the company, and the company was dissapointed as they did not recieve the model (myself) that they were after.

I look forward to working with you soon, as I believe you can offer a greater opportunity within the industry.

Yours Sincerley
Emma

Hello,
About June Dally Watkins i was really really disappointed. I paid nearly one thousand dollars to do a course "professional model", which i thought i was going to get something out of it but to my disappointment it was not worth paying that much money for doing the course. In the course they were teaching us etiquette, i thought was a load of crap. Thinking to myself why do we really need to learn this, etiquette had nothing to do with being a model. Same with hair and make up, i really didn't understand why we had to learn about how we put make on or how we do our hair. It would been alright if we wanted to be make up artist or hair stylist but still had nothing to do about professional modelling. After i done the course i was thinking to myself what does this prove having a fancy paper saying diploma of professional modelling. When u go over seas and show them the piece of paper they would be looking at you thinking, what are you going on about? what course and whats all about? which proves nothing about modelling.. I thought doing the course at June Dally's they would show you how to take professional photographs and having a portfolio. I think its not wright paying a shit load of money to do the course, which is a load of crap and not worth doing.

Regards,
NP

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Hi
Breeanne has only done a very small deportment course about 6 months ago, and I have to say that I rang up and booked her in just as a teenage thing to do over a couple days of her holidays, but I must admit there was no pressure put on her to do any more, they did encourage all the girls to go into that discovery thing. We weren't in the thinking then of any real modeling as such, that has only happened in the last couple of months, and that is why your website is great by giving the honest opinion by email rather than wasting everyone's time by leading them up the garden path. As you can gather the one thing we have in common is that we are both realist.

So I can't say we were ripped off in any way by them. with saying that I would never allow Breeanne to ever put her name down with them because they are the worst run company of any business I have ever dealt with, and I have run my own business and have done for most of my working life, Just trying to get the two minute images that were taken of her developed and handed over took in excess of 2 months and there studio is like a dog box in compassion to yours.

But I do applaud you for trying to clean up the industry, and judging by our meeting on Friday with the energy you have you will be just the person to do it. I have to tell you before I flicked over to you the couple of images of Bree, I had done a lot of homework on the internet as I didn't want to get Breeanne into anything that was only going to build her hopes up and then get let down like a lot of other girls out there, and you would be happy to know that I had goggled you and your company and could not pull up any dirt regarding you or your company, unlike other agencies in Brisbane.

Look forward to working with you
Cheers
C & B

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Hi

Thanks for the chat earlier, feeling a lot better now that I know its not just me being fussy about Tamblyn so, here is what happened with Tamblyn Models, Brisbane; (sorry this kind of turned into a novel)

I sent them some pictures, then Lauren Gordon emailed me thanking me for sending the pictures and they would be happy to arrange an interview with me, to bring my portfolio and a bikini.

I went to the interview, we sat down and she flipped through my portfolio, then inevitably told me I was too short for runway (which I am so that was ok!) and said I would be better for the commercial side of things. She then put a piece of paper in front of me which was a Commercial and Modeling Workshop and since I didn't have any experience in the industry it would be a great thing for me to do and they only run the coarse once every 4 months and I was lucky because there was one being held that Saturday.. conveniently!!

She then dropped another piece of paper in front of me, for getting a picture in a their book would cost $350 or thereabouts, this did not include management fees. She didn't even ask if I had brought my bikini, guess she forgot about asking me about that..

So I decided, not knowing much about the industry that I would do the coarse, mainly to learn posing, facial expressions and about shooting.
It cost me $370 for this course.

I arrived on the day, we had a morning session involving how casting calls work which was promised in the outline of the course. The next section was a half an hour for lunch then an hour of teaching about facial expressions, posing, shot sizes etc which I why I actually wanted to do the coarse in the first place. Before they went into this, Lauren came into the room , apologised to the 11 girls that were there (one had flown all the way from Sydney just to be there for that day) and announce that unfortunately the Makeup Artist and Hairdresser had cancelled due to a family emergency and would not be there to help out with the photo shoot, so we all had to decide weather to stay and do our own hair and makeup ourselves. Since it was good experience to get in front of the camera and a promise that Tamblyn would reschedule the rest of the Certificate coarse for another date, we all agreed. So we did our photo shoot and left.

Lauren then sent me an email saying that the rest of the class had been rescheduled to the 9th of October, so we all showed up again (including the girl who had again had to fly from Sydney), to which I walked in on a crazy mess of girls changing and nobody knew what was going on. I expected that we would be doing the second part of the coarse with posing, facial expressions etc but they failed to deliver this and we went straight into getting ready for another photo shoot. Everyone was in a mad rush because not on ly this time were there the girls from my course, but a whole other set of about 8-10 girls shooting as well, with only one lady to do makeup and hair for everyone.

So before I started getting ready for my shoot, I started helping out with Makeup as I have a cert III in Makeup Artistry and knew there was no way one lady could get everyone done in time. So After I was ready, I did my shoot which literally took 3 minutes and dressed back into my regular clothes.

I began talking to the others about how they found the coars e and they were all disappointed that they did deliver the second part, the modeling side, of the coarse. So as I was already signed with Boss, I went to reception and asked for a copy of the schedule laid out for what we were supposed to have done. I went to speak to Lauren and listed all the things that we had not done that was promised to us. She told me that she was unaware that we had not done these parts and that I would have to come back in 4 months for the next coarse and that is when I will also receive my Certificate. Even though at the initial interview I as told that she would be running it. I asked about the other girls as they were also disappointed and she said we will just have to reschedule. She wasn't pleasant about it either, no apology, just very blunt. I still have not heard from Lauren about a reschedule date and I would rather get my money back then complete the course and get my certificate.

Anyway, that's my horror story on Tamblyn Models, feel free to share with whoever you like, no one deserves to be ripped off this way and hopefully it will prevent anyone else from going through the same thing.

Thank God for Boss Models, thats all I can say!

Kind Regards,
A Mc :)

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A Mc ended up taking Tamblyn Models to QCAT , and got her money back .

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There is a whole industry that has developed to take advantage of those who would like to become models. They are far removed from the world of actual professional modeling. This modeling scam and rip-off industry makes its money by alluding to or promising great careers in modeling, but first you have to pay them up front. Of course your modeling career never comes about and your money is long gone. These enterprises prey upon your hopes and dreams of becoming a star and they are betting on your lack of knowledge about how the modeling industry really works. This leach industry seems to be getting bigger everyday.

DON'T BECOME A VICTIM