Been approached by bettina but new at this and very unsure.... pls help!!! [Archive]

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Leah82

23-08-2006, 22:44

Well,

I feel like I'm in completely over my head with this whole baby modelling thing :).

I got gorgeous photos of my lil man and sent them into bettina and after only a couple of hours got a call from them asking for an interview.

What kind of experiences have people had with agencies - and which agencies... also, did your lil one actually get work from them?

I have no idea what is out there and am completely new at this.

Any advice would be muchly appreciated...

Thankyou

jessgray

24-08-2006, 09:37

hi i am also new to all this as well :) congrats on your little man being offered a spot with bettina. my little man got offered a spot with tinlids and we are finalising all the paperwork on monday afternoon next week.

from what the letter i have from tinlids says, it basically tells you not to expect to get work because it is a competitive industry etc.

someone told me ages ago when i started looking into agencies that babies in sz0 and children in size 3 or 4 get more work then other young children i dont know if this is true though. anyone know if this is fact?

Leah82

24-08-2006, 14:34

Well.... he now has a couple of appointments - with bettina and bubblegum.. feel like I need to shop around before jumping into something.
From reading other people's comments tho I seem to like the idea of tinlids so I spoke to them today and they're getting back to me.

So many different agencies makes this such a harder decision :)

jessgray

24-08-2006, 16:48

i had a look at a few agencies too. I was told by bambini that their books were full and to try again in a few months. i will let you know how we go with tinlinds on monday :) caroline seems really nice.:)

tink62

28-08-2006, 06:57

Munchkin's? We have been with them for quite sometime now and find them to be quite good! I dont have a baby, but a 7 yo dd who seems to get a job per month on average. Her latest can be seen in Target at Glen Waverley "the heart girl" near the card stand. Or Spotlight front page last week.

I have friends who are also with them and her dd gets lots of work as well. Not sure about babies but I do know they limit the amount of babies/kids they have on the books so they get the most of the ones who are there.

ETA: just wanted to say, be wary of agencies who advertise a lot in a big way. Bettina and Bambini both advertise in lots of mags, online places and many other media products. It must cost them a fortune for all this advertising. If they can afford that, you have to wonder how much money they are making out of this business!

cake

30-08-2006, 13:23

Hi there
My daughter was invited to join Bettina. We paid just under $500 to sign her up with them for a year, with them assuring us she'd get work (even with the woman saying "we don't say this to everyone but your daughter is gorgeous yada yada yada"- we got sucked in) but she was with them for a year and we never heard a single thing from them, not even an audition.

So I shopped around and found a smaller agency that does acting work more than modelling (so not photoshoots for magazines etc, more work on tv shows and commercials), and paid $80 for the year. Bailey had one audition a month for the first four months, then got her fourth job- in an RACV commercial (its still on tv now almost a year later).

Although sometimes we think we might miss jobs because she doesn't get the auditions for junk mail stuff etc, in one way it doesn't matter because we only paid $80 for the year- which wasn't even renewable when the year was up.

The other great agency in Melbourne is Bambini- they have a great reputation. To be honest, I've heard WAY too many stories of people being signed up by Bettina and then never hearing a single thing from them all year. It seems they just keep using the same kids for work and don't mix it around.

Good luck with getting your kids involved in this! It can be a hassle to get to auditions etc, but its fun when they see themselves on tv!

x Kate

Leah82

01-09-2006, 01:08

Thank you so much for the replies,

jessgray

01-09-2006, 05:02

if bettina arent listed for legal reasons why are they aloud to advertise :confused: you would think they wouldnt be aloud to

tink62

01-09-2006, 16:48

It's not a legal thing for any agent to be listed. It's an association that was put together by a group mother's of children in the industry who have got together with a few agents to devise a set of 'rules' to protect the children's rights.

Agents are given the opportunity to join if they choose so (I have no idea why they said it's a legal issue for them to join??? Maybe they did something they shouldnt have?) it's always best to go with an agent who is a part of this association because you know that your child is protected. I guess it's a bit like a union at work.

Dadof5

02-09-2006, 14:29

This is my first thread so hopefully I have done it right, this message is for Kate in this thread, I would be interested to know which agency you went to. My 6 year old son is interest in TV commercials more than cataloge. We went to his first audition which we heard about in the paper and was selected over everyone there and scored a talking scene in mini series for saturday disney. Airs 16 Sept. We have no agent and no idea what to do next !!

Breezy

15-09-2006, 12:03

For any parents wanting to enroll their kids in a modeling agency, make sure you do your homework. Without mentioning specific names of companies, one, if not many in particular, will accept anyone for their agency. Even the uggliest kid you've ever seen. You pay them up to or above $500 and most likely you'll never hear from them again until it's time to pay your annual membership fee. This is how the company makes money. Not from commission off modeling jobs, but from poor mums and dads who naturally think their kid is 'the cutest and everyone tells them so'.

There are a limited number of repituble companies and they are listed on the VCAA website. Any of the fair dinkum companies only charge $60 - $200 to be on their books. Don't get sucked in by the "Oh you're kid is very cute, i'm sure they'll get work".

I find it interesting that one company is currently advertising on TV that they are looking for models, yet someone on this thread was told that their books are full???

Lilipod

15-09-2006, 20:30

My little boy was also invited to Bettina Management, paid a heap of money an basically never heard from them again. They really make out that you are the one blah blah blah........... I wasn't very happy with the photos that where taken either, with the money you pay I think the photography would have been of better quality, the photos of my son didn't even show his true colouring, he has really blue eyes and in the photos they are grey. So this is what the so called clients look at so if the photography is bad what chance do you have. Over all quite disappointed with the whole deal.
I think you are best keeping an eye out on big companies like huggies and bonds who do there own casting. But it may work for other people and i quess some people get work.
Also they expect you to call them every couple of weeks WHY!!!! I think they keep to many on their books how else do they make so much money.
Waste of money, take kids on a weekend away for a farm stay or to the coast the whole family would get more out of that.

Leah82

18-09-2006, 01:30

Thankyou so much for all of your replies....

I have since not gone with bettina - they are not listed with VCAA and I have found another agency that seems so totaly reputable! Just getting paperwork organised so no news as for castings yet but I feel confident with them!

I would never have thought of this for my son but he loves the camera and if I can get a few bucks in his bank account then I'm happy!

If he doesn't like it tho - then I'll pull him out straight away - not one to push him if he doesn't want it! Altough with how much he loves attention - I feel like he's made for it!

Thankyou all again for replies!

website! http://www.babysites.com/sites/jordantate/

I made this site so he's family can keep up to date - there are so many of them I don't have the time to email individually so made a site!!! Family luvs it!

tink62

19-09-2006, 07:22

Going in with someone who is in the VCAA I think makes all the difference.

Good luck with who you went with.

motherbee

04-09-2009, 13:03

BabelFish

08-09-2009, 21:12

I wouldn't go to Bettina. They are scammers, really. They say the same thing to everyone, they tell people they only have 10-15 kids per age group on their books but when they called us about our DD they were in a freakin' call centre! I could hear heaps of them on the phone to other Mums, too.

Plus, many stories I'd read on here about their tactics steered me clear of them.

I used to work for a modelling agency pretty similar to the way they run, so we gave them a huge miss.

naomie

19-09-2009, 22:38

Hi i am wanting to get my DD doing something like this but not sure where to go or who to contact, i would really appreciate if someone can help me out with some info as the only agency i have heard of is Bettina but from what i have been reading from you ladies i wont be going there.

Thanks heaps :)

insomniac

24-09-2009, 07:04

I'm glad i read this thread! My boys were signed up for an interview with Bettina for next week. Out of all the agencies, they sounded like the most reputable but apparently not. :no:

I give up on the idea of my boys modelling now even though they are encouraged to do so. We live in geelong & when they are three i'm signing them up for dance & acting classes at Geelong talent & event management.

At least you get something for your dollar & my kids will be learning skills to equip them for life. I will be calling Bettina today & tell them to go jump.

leah77

01-10-2009, 15:42

Hi - has anyone signed up to bettina and got given the rewards card? Apparently discounts off things like groceries and petrol so you can get your fee back? Has anyone had expereince with this?

Danstar

19-03-2010, 09:05

Hi - has anyone signed up to bettina and got given the rewards card? Apparently discounts off things like groceries and petrol so you can get your fee back? Has anyone had expereince with this?
I know this reply is 6 months later and you proabably wont read this, but it may be helpful to others. Like many on here, we got approached in the shops to go for an 'interview'. Which he obviously passed and we paid up membership and told we would get this so called rewards card. Which is the reason we joined thinking we could save a few bucks and justify spending all that money to join our son anyway. But 6 months late still have not received any 'rewards' card. I have tried calling them numerous times to resolve the issue and same thing keeps on happening. THey say there is problems with the supplier of the cards, they say our address may have changed. Keep on tringing every couple of weeks and they say we will tell them to send you a new one. So 6 months late, either some random person has received a whole lot of rewards cards or they are just lazy, lying, manipulative people at Bettina who just want your money then flick you away. I think the latter is more likely.

P.S. Wrote them another email today asking for a refund cos it is a little ridiculous how long it has taken them to do anything.

mummymack

15-04-2010, 17:56

What does the VCAA mean?
I am looking for an agency for my son in Perth...

NicolaA

15-04-2010, 19:03

Hi MummyMack

VCAA stands for the Victorian Children Agents Association so it's only relevant for Melbournites :)

Kind regards

Nicola

Mum2Jas

16-05-2010, 21:46

Hi, just wanted to say in regards to Bettina. We enquired with them and our little girl was offered a spot in their agency. They were very professional and very helpful with all the questions that we had. We decided not to accept as we are 2 hours south of Brisbane and we were happy to drive to any jobs that our little girl might have but we were unaware at the time that we would be required to go to castings with clients to be picked for the job and you may not be selected so we would have driven 4 hours for no result. If it was not for this then we would have signed up with them. I am a little dissapointed that we didn't because how lovely would it be to see your child on an advertisment or catalogue or baby product. Any way if we change our mind they said they would be happy to accept us. Maybe after bub no 2 is born!!!
Best of luck with your little one hope that you get lots of opportunities for jobs.