Do I have to pay to be part of a model agency or a manager?

No. You should never have to pay a fee to be signed to a model agency or a manager.

How do mother agents work?

A mother agent acts as a manager. They guide and develop you in addition to using their connections to place you with model agencies in the markets that you fit in. Their job is to understand where you fit into modeling and then build your career around that. They oversee and manage the relationships between you and your agencies as well as your career.

How do mother agencies make money

Your agency and manager take a commission from the jobs you book. They should never charge you fees upfront to manage you. As an example, if they place you with a booking agency and the booking agency books a job of $1000 for you, the booking agency will generally take a commission of 20% out from your fee. The model will take $800 and the booking agency will take $200. The booking agency then pays half of their commission to the mother agency. In this case the booking agency gets $100 and the mother agency gets $100. The model still receives $800.

What is the difference between a mother agency and a modeling agency?

A model agency is an agency that promotes you and books you jobs. They send you to castings as well. A mother agent is more like a manager. and will tend to be a smaller “mom & pop” operation. The place you with agencies as well as oversee your career and the agencies that represent you. Both a mother agent and an agency can develop and guide you. It is also possible to have your modeling agency be your mother agent.

What are the benefits of a mother agency?

Agencies have become so overrun with models that they have less time to develop, guide and talk to you. Models report they are hearing less from their agencies. Recently there has been a rise in models choosing to be managed by an individual mother agent so they can have a more individualized and personal experience, someone who can guide and listen to them and help them make decisions.

What percentage of commission do model agencies and mother agents take?

You should speak to your agency and manager as it depends on the market but generally it is 20% commission for agencies in the United States and 10% for the managers or mother agents. The managers or mother agents take their 10% out of the 20% that your agencies take. It is NOT an extra 10%.

What is a mother agency agreement?

A mother agency will have you sign a management agreement to act as your manager. This is similar to an agency contract. It will define their relationship, roles of both parties as well the term of the time that they will manage you. The mother agency will also have an agreement with the booking or model agency that they place you with that will define them as your manager and that they shall receive a commission from the work that the model agency books. This is a separate agreement than what the model signs with the booking or model agency.

How long is a mother agency contract?

A mother agency contract will tend to be a 3 year contract with a 1 year rollover. This means that at the end of the 3 years if you don’t give notice to the mother agent to terminate it it rolls over for another year and continues. Sometimes it might be a 2 year contract with a 2 year rollover. I cannot advise you to sign a 4-5 year contract as this to me seems excessive, especially if the mother agent hasn’t proven themselves to you.

Can you leave your mother agency?

You can leave your agency in a similar way that you can leave your booking or model agency. In the agreement that you sign with them, it will detail the term or length of the agreement. In most cases the model will have to notify in writing to the agent that they wish to terminate the agreement 90 days pr longer before the agreement ends. If they do not do that then the agreement will roll over for another year. The time length of the term and the rollover period can vary but the standard tends to be a 3 year agreement with a 1 year rollover.

How do I become a mother agent?

Email me at info@themotheragents.com. I mentor mother agents and can tell you how to get started according to your vision. We will tak everything from refining your scouting eye to contracts to making international contacts to LLC’s.

Do I need to take classes or have a portfolio to be signed to an agency?

No. If an agency believes in you they will develop you themselves.