Model Talk

ABDI OLOW

Modelling is a huge business, with top models like Gisele banking $33 million a year. GLOSS took the time recently to talk with one of Sutherland’s leading women’s agents, Brandon Hall, to discuss the industry, the model weight issue, and how much money girls are making in the modelling industry today.

International Girls of Modelling

GLOSS: What type of girls are clients looking for internationally?

Brandon Hall: Internationally, they’re still looking for a girl that is slender and [that] has really great bone structure, good personality. As far as what specific look, I think they’re still looking for that individual that will stand out, that is spectacular, that is different.

The Impact of Reality Television on Modeling

GLOSS: With the success of shows like America’s Next Top Model and Make Me a Supermodel, have you guys seen an influx of new individuals wanting to be models?

Brandon Hall: I think the industry in general, there are people that always want to model regardless of reality shows or not. I think reality shows provide more education about the reality of the industry. But have we noticed an influx of more models? No, because we’re an established agency ourselves, that sort of speaks for itself. But I think for the general viewer, it opens up the window for what the industry is really like.

Fashion’s Modelling Markets à la Paris, New York, Milan

GLOSS: There are many different modelling markets — New York, Paris, Milan. Can you give us some info on how they differ from each other?

Brandon Hall: Your aim markets would be New York, Paris, Milan when girls are doing shows. So girls would start off in New York, then they would go to Milan and do the whole European tour. Those aim markets are looking for very strong editorial girls. There [are] also high-end commercial girls as well. There are different levels. Canada has a great market itself — Toronto, Montreal. Girls that wish to continue on and go on to an international career obviously wouldn’t be staying in Toronto. They would be focusing on different markets in Europe and New York, obviously, and base themselves either in the States or Europe.

Bankable Markets: New York, Paris, or Milan?

GLOSS: Which market banks the most for high-end models?

Brandon Hall: It’s collectively girls working all markets. When a girl is placed in Europe and New York, and say she is living in Toronto for two months, she can be flown out to any market [at] any given time. Options are done across the ocean, and girls will fly to Paris [one] week and come back, and go to New York [the] next week, or shoot in Miami or South Africa. Because of the Internet, people are being promoted a lot easier. Bookings are done all over the world for girls; they don’t just necessarily have to stay in one market. Where a girl chooses to reside, then they will be travelling to and from that market. For example, I have a girl that lives in Toronto, but she will fly between Miami, Montreal, and New York on a weekly basis.

Scouting New Faces

GLOSS: What do you look for when scouting new girls?

Brandon Hall: With our agency in particular, we are truly a boutique agency, which means a very small roster of models per agents, and ideally, the young girls that we develop have to be able to be basically promoted on Polaroids, the digital shots. Those girls are the types of girls that will be travelling internationally. There [aren’t] a lot, and I don’t want to get this sort of comment confused: younger girls don’t tend to work as much in this type of market [as] a model that is in [her] mid-20s to 30. There is a supply and demand, and [with the] types of clients that are in Toronto, there are a lot more clients for the 25 to 35 [age group] than there are for a teenager.

Sutherland Girls

Brandon Hall: The type of girls we bring on is a type of girl that is absolutely phenomenal, that will do very well with advertising clients. We don’t want to take just another pretty face. There are a lot of young, pretty, beautiful girls in their teens, but we look for that spectacular girl that can travel instantly to New York or Europe, or [that] we can instantly get creative for her portfolio and then have successful careers. So instead of finding 20 pretty girls, we will concentrate on one or two phenomenal girls that do get exposure from clients, and then build successful careers internationally.

The Model Weight Issue

GLOSS: Recently there has been a lot of focus on weight in the media, especially the type of models that are promoted by magazines and modeling agencies. Do you think this issue has been blown out of promotion?

Brandon Hall: I think every industry, whether you’re going to be a dancer or whether you’re going to be a model, there has been a lot of talk about weight. And in our agency, we really make sure that the girls we do represent are healthy, and [we] recommend personal trainers and healthy eating habits. But it also comes down to basic family values and how girls are raised, and essentially, their self-esteem. What we tell our girls is if you’re eating healthy, focusing on a healthy diet, and exercising, [and] if your body is not going to get down to a certain weight in terms of measurement, then you’re going to have to accept the reality, and we have to come up with plan B, and possibly focus on a more commercial promotion with how we’re going to represent you, because it’s extremely competitive, and the girls that do travel and have to do shows are very thin.

Making Money

GLOSS: What pays more in modeling: high fashion or commercial?

Brandon Hall: Advertising pays well. Campaigns pay well. High fashion, editorial, you can look at getting a couple hundred dollars to a few hundred dollars a day to shoot a cover or an editorial in a magazine. If you do an advertising job, it can go up [from] hundreds to thousands of dollars. Cosmetic contracts and advertising — that’s were the money is.

Reality Check for New Models

GLOSS: What is the one thing new models don’t know about the industry?

Brandon Hall: There is not one thing; there are a few things. They have to take it seriously, that it is a business. It comes down to a certain level of professionalism, and trust and communication with your agent.

Success of Canadian Models

Brandon Hall: I think culturally we are [a] very respectable, easy going, laid back kind of country. I think the melting pot we have, with all the different ethnic backgrounds, different races, having children with different races, offers very unique features — that type of thing.

An Agent’s Life

Brandon Hall: What I like most about my job is the ability to start off a new girl and build a lot of hype and [get] her career started. That’s a lot of fun. The least favourite thing about my job is to deal with things that you can’t control because of an action your model has taken, and you have to be the middleman, and it can be sort of complicated at times, but it’s part of the job.

Brandon Hall’s All-time Favourite Models

Brandon Hall: I have had the pleasure of working with Linda, Monika, Lisa and Shalom. And in terms of the new crop of girls, we have Pamela, Simona and Cate.

On Rejection

Brandon Hall: Rejection is a huge part of the industry, and models have to accept that. Rejection is a huge part, and you’re not always going to get that job. We tell our models to be persistent and keep a positive attitude, and keep striving for what you want.