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" \nYou hear about models being discovered while they&amp;#039;re walking down the street, and trust me, it happens. I know because I&amp;#039;m a guy whose job it is to pluck people from obscurity and turn them into stars. Everyone thinks modeling is a glamorous business...and it is. But things can get crazy. In the six years I&amp;#039;ve been a model agent, I&amp;#039;ve seen it all \u2014 backstabbing, diva demands, drug problems, and more. Since I can&amp;#039;t damage my models&amp;#039; reps by talking publicly about them, I have to get it all off my chest by telling these anonymous tales.  Getting Started When I was in my early 20s, I quit my job as a fashion illustrator in New York City, moved to Miami, and soon became a model agent. Basically, an agent&amp;#039;s job is to discover and groom models. I guess I had a knack for it, because after two years, I was hired to work at one of the top agencies in town. We represent about 100 girls and 30 guys (stars and up-and-comers), and of the 200 or so pictures I receive each day from aspiring models around the world, I call about two a month. If I truly believe the guy or girl could be the next big thing, the agency will fly them in and arrange a professional photo shoot. But I&amp;#039;ve discovered some of the best models when I wasn&amp;#039;t even looking. Once I was eating at an outdoor restaurant and spotted this tall, beautiful 13-year-old girl walk by with her parents and some friends. I pulled the girl and her mom aside and explained that she had the potential to be a great model, and they could come in to the agency and talk to us (I say us so people don&amp;#039;t think I&amp;#039;m some random creep) if they were interested. Another time, I was at the beach and noticed that a male lifeguard was gorgeous. Both of those finds are going to be successful \u2014 I just know it.  Babysitting the Babes The majority of the models I represent are between 14 and 25 years old. Some of the really young girls stay in their hometowns and travel to castings or shoots. The ones who are 18 or older usually move down here, and we put them up in &amp;quot;model apartments,&amp;quot; which are typically nice two-bedroom units that we rent for four or five models to share. You can imagine the catfights that erupt in those close quarters. Since I&amp;#039;m under 30, the girls can relate to me, so they end up calling me to complain, and then I have to mediate. I&amp;#039;m astounded by the lengths they&amp;#039;ll go to to get a leg up on the next girl. One tactic: sleeping with each other&amp;#039;s boyfriends. It&amp;#039;s like You may have gotten that magazine cover over me, but I got your man. The weirdest complaint I&amp;#039;ve received was from a girl accusing another girl of stealing her underwear. And I&amp;#039;ve gotten that more than once. My biggest problem, though, is reining in my models when it comes to partying. All of us get invited to the hottest clubs and parties in South Beach every night. But some of them get caught up in the scene and develop drug and alcohol problems. The other day, I had a girl show up to a shoot two hours late after being out all night. I heard that she was still drunk and drugged out and she stunk of booze. Then she had the nerve to tell the client that she was late because we never gave her a call sheet (a detailed itinerary), which was a lie. Usually I cover for my models, but once, I just lost it on a guy. I had booked him to do a prestigious jeans campaign, and they were flying him to Greece to shoot it. At 6 a.m. on the morning of the shoot, I got a call from the client asking where the hell my model was. I heard he was out drinking the night before, so I drove to his house and literally kicked down his bedroom door. He was asleep, and I was so mad, I picked up his portfolio and threw it on the floor.  Diva Demands Even though models like to party, most of them are professionals and work incredibly hard. But some of them turn into divas once they get a taste of fame and fortune. Recently, I booked this girl on a $75,000 ad campaign, and she told me she didn&amp;#039;t feel like doing it because she wanted to go on vacation. I was pissed! I said, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve worked so hard to develop your career and get you to a point where I can demand these rates for you. How dare you not get on that plane!&amp;quot; A year ago, she would have given her right arm to have gotten any job\u2014let alone one that big. They also think they can get away with murder just because their faces are plastered across a few magazines. Perfect example: We were all out one night, when one of my models started dancing on the table and spilling everyone&amp;#039;s drinks. People told her to get down, and she got so self-righteous that she kicked someone in the face! She was shocked when security threw her out.  The Skinny on Eating Disorders The notion that all models have eating disorders is exaggerated, though it happens, and I believe it&amp;#039;s my responsibility to help when I see girls starving themselves. I have a model now who has a huge fashion campaign. I was inspired by her wholesome &amp;#039;80s-supermodel beauty, but our clients thought she was overweight (she was 5 feet10 inches with 38-inch hips). So she started eating very little and developed an eating disorder. One day, she broke down crying to me and said, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m just not built this way. I can&amp;#039;t do this.&amp;quot; I helped get her on a nutritious eating plan and now she&amp;#039;s what I call healthy thin. Sadly, eating disorders ruin some girls&amp;#039; careers. I had one model from Nova Scotia who seemed never to eat, but she kept gaining weight. Finally, her roommate confessed to me that she was bingeing on cookies and ice cream in the middle of the night. She ended up leaving the company.  Rolling in the Dough I grew up in working-class Brooklyn, and now I&amp;#039;m one of the highest-paid agents in Miami, so I know what it&amp;#039;s like to come from nothing and suddenly have money. Maybe that&amp;#039;s why I get so upset when I see models spending recklessly. I had one guy make $35,000 doing a fashion campaign and then drop that fat check on a watch. Then he came to me crying poor! And get this: Some models don&amp;#039;t know they have to file tax returns! I&amp;#039;ve seen girls not pay them for a few years and get hit with $40,000 or $50,000 IRS bills. So many models get audited. But despite these annoyances, there are some very rewarding aspects to my job. I love when I can guide someone into making smart business decisions that can help them or their families. Recently, I was able to book a girl from the Czech Republic on her first job. She made enough money to buy her mom a washer and dryer, and her mom called me crying to thank me. I&amp;#039;m in this business to make money for myself, but it also feels good to be able to make it for people who really value it.  How to Break into Modeling  These six facts will safeguard you from getting scammed.   You don&amp;#039;t need a fancy portfolio. If an agency takes you on, it will create one for you.   To get a good agent, email three snapshots of yourself (one smiling head shot, one nonsmiling head shot, and a full-length bathing-suit shot), plus your measurements, to well-known agencies.   The top firms are in New York City: Ford, IMG, DNA, One, Women, Click, and Elite. There are dozens of legit smaller agencies that book big jobs, but just do your research to make sure they&amp;#039;re reputable.   Modeling schools are not necessary; most won&amp;#039;t help you get your foot in the door.   A good personality goes a long way. Nice models often get hired over more beautiful girls who aren&amp;#039;t as pleasant.   You need to be at least 5 feet 8 inches, slim (ideal measurements are 34-24-34), and preferably under 20.   Source: Christian Alexander, President of Front Management "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/news/a1618/confessions-of-a-model-booker/>