Hi everyone,

Since I work in a college I talk to lots of young people and one asked me today if I had heard of this agency. I have seen many discussions on here about various agencies, both good, and bad, so wondered if anyone had heard of them?

They are based in London and have said the girl will need to go down and have a photo shoot at Citi Studios because that is who their contract is with. She has paid a £25 deposit against the cost of the photos but the shoot itself is free...

Anyway I don't know either way, are they a decent good company, or not?

Cheers

£25........ deposit? To me, deposit means there will be more to pay on getting the photos.

Stop right there!

This has been discussed so many times and if the agency are genuine and have a realistic chance of getting her work, they won't charge her a penny, but take commission.

Have you done a search on line for them?

Obviously if they have asked for money up front and told her she has to pay for a photoshoot they're not a genuine agency, I would have thought that goes without saying.

Link: Studio for hire, Weston super Mare Nr Bristol - next studio day *** Cath Faza - Sat March 24th ***

This is a US story but have they got a UK branch ???????

http://www.ripoffreport.com/modeling-talent-agencies/promodel-management/promodel-management-barbizon-23537.htm

Link: Link

Yes that is exactly what I thought and have said that there is no idea what the cost of the photos will end up being.

I have advised her to consider the cost of the London trip, plus photos, against the chance of their 'guaranteed' jobs in the Yorkshire area actually working out.

Well gosh, she has been told the photoshoo will be free, but having to pay for photos from the photoshoot with no up front discussion of how much the cost will be, means the shoot cost is basically hidden in the cost of the photos.

Matt I have looked online and other than their website www.modelspro.co.uk and the site of citi studios http://www.citistudio.co.uk/ there doesn't seem to be much. There was one report on yahoo answers saying it was a 'scam type of thing' but not any real details that I can actually say to the girl that she should cancel it.

this is in a review site

fishy company for me, £30 deposit per person which they say you get back on the day you arrive, when you get there you dont get it back, forced to buy very expensive pictures, its really not worth it in my opinion, could get good bargins and backgrounds with your high street or local photo shop. no wine at this studio. just orange juice, apple juice tea and coffee, kept waiting an awful long time to see the pictures taken, the retouches were very poor. studio clean, toilet clean, just 1 photo room so clients can only go in for shoot one at a time. staff friendly but then again they have to be because they are going to be asking alot of money from you

from http://www.qype.co.uk/place/1548444-Citi-Studio-London-London

The key thing is the last sentence because they are going to be asking alot of money from you

Avoid like the plague. Write off the £25 she paid. There are loads of photographers in Yorkshire, some damn good ones too. She'd be better off paying one £150 for a day and getting a dozen cracking shots and no scam involved. Alternatively, if she is a great looking girl, TF might work just as well

Basically what I told her earlier today. I was hoping for her sake, one of the models would have answered and said yep they are great... never mind lol.

hello evening a few days ago i went to gumtree and saw an advertise from models pro so i sent an email with a photo and information models pro model management contacted me and ask for a 25 pounds deposit but this deposit is not for the models pro as far as i understood this is for the "city studio" fee.and i already paid it... means that if i dont show up there they gonna take from my account the 25 pounds... also they do told me that i need to do a book with this studio citi and that will cost me like 300 pounds, and i can pay it slowly but this is not up to them this is between me and city studio. well i guess that they dont get anything from this money 25 or 300 the only money they gonna earn is when i make a work as a model that they find to me and they will charge 20% of the total, they told me that already have a work for me alredy showed me the price and everything.....is that some kind of scam? should i trust in this agency? i already post it on facebook page but got no one telling me if they are or not...

Thank you

quoting post from PaulaCruz:

---

well i guess that they dont get anything from this money 25 or 300 the only money they gonna earn is when i make a work as a model that they find to me and they will charge 20% of the total, they told me that already have a work for me alredy showed me the price and everything.....is that some kind of scam?

---

Yes, it's a scam.

The studio will be part of the same business, so they do get the money from the shoot. They are only interested in selling a photo shoot for £300, that is how they make their money, not from finding models work.

How are they going to have already found you work, if you have no photos yet, for them to show clients?

Sorry, write off the deposit and run away, don't give them any more money.

Never heard of them, but any agency that asks for fees up front is (generally) a no no... unless its for a good excuse.

Agencys shouldnt ask for ANY money upfront. If they believe in you as a model they will take on on their books and invest their time in you, as any paid work you then getthrough the agency, they get a 20% cut from, from any future bookings (or around about this percentage).

I think the reviews speak for themselves.

Hope that helps!



http://www.starnow.co.uk/helendiaz