A Day in a Model Agency: What Agents Do Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes in a model agency.

Now I'll take you behind the scenes of a model agency. The most important departments in any model agency are scouting and booking. This means that the main task of model agencies is to have a good, high-profile network of photographers, magazines, model scouts, and clients, as well as constantly discovering new faces.

For me, every morning starts at a cafe or in the office. There's already a cappuccino on the table next to me. I check all email accounts and sort out information from the previous day and new inquiries. My job is model management. As a model agent, I communicate with clients, negotiate conditions and contracts, or plan travel for models.

After spending a long time in the industry, you get to know each model very well. I have spent a lot of time with many of them, accompanying them from their first casting to model coachings, initial test shoots, jobs, and their first campaigns. Seeing how models grow and surpass themselves with our help over months and years is what makes the job so fascinating to me.

Your model agency is the most valuable partner for you as a model right from the very first day. With their mix of personal, sometimes exclusive contacts, the high-profile network, and their own model selection, agencies are the intersection between advertising clients and models.

What does your model management do in daily business?

A day in the model agency.

A typical day in a model agency is diverse and requires a lot of organization and communication. You have to love your job if you're a model manager just like me. As always, if you enjoy your job, it doesn't feel like work. If you've ever wondered what happens in a model agency and what tasks are involved, here's a little insight.

Bookings, castings, projects from seven AM to nine PM.

Seven AM, starting the day.

For me, the day starts at seven o'clock, often at Starbucks or in the sun on a park bench, very relaxed. In the morning, I'm usually alone, so I can focus on planning all the teams and projects for the day and the upcoming week.

Eight AM, start for the model agency team.

The team at the agency starts at eight o'clock. The first step is to check the email inbox and sort the incoming messages from clients. Customer inquiries, new jobs, and ongoing projects are prioritized based on their schedule, location, budget, and other factors. The most urgent matters are dealt with first.

Nine AM, team meeting.

At nine o'clock, there's often a brief team meeting to discuss the day. Topics such as new applications from potential models, new faces, upcoming castings and projects, current locations of the models, especially if they're working internationally, e.g. in Milan, Paris, or Seoul for sixty days, jobs and user-generated content and influencer marketing, as well as general back office tasks like invoicing are discussed.

Ten AM, castings and bookings.

Booking starts at ten o'clock and often continues at a rapid pace until lunchtime. New job inquiries are reviewed, prioritized, and processed. This means selecting models, creating briefings, and sending proposals to clients. Sometimes, small e-castings are also conducted where models record videos and introduce themselves. In an international context, there may also be job inquiries from partner agencies in Paris, London, and other cities for models who are additionally placed abroad.

Twelve thirty PM, model applications and scouting.

Before lunchtime, the agency reviews the applications, which often come in large numbers, usually around one hundred per day. You spend about ten seconds on each model, checking their face, height, age, location, and additional pictures. Out of one hundred, usually two are interesting, and discussions begin. At the end of the month, maybe three or four new contracts are signed.

Why only three or four new model contracts? We want to know our models as a management. We don't want to be a model database with hundreds of faces, but rather a model management that knows you and can guide you individually because we know you well.

Two PM, castings and model bookings.

After lunch, around two o'clock, a flood of responses starts to come in. These are feedback from models, regular clients, new clients, and international partner agencies. Additionally, editorial work such as test shootings with photographers who are interested in the agency's new faces also comes up. The agency also proactively approaches photographers when there is a particularly promising new face. Content creator marketing and influencer marketing also play an increasingly important role.

Three PM, international Paris, New York, etc.

For the agency's international bookers, collaboration with other agencies is also part of their work. They present their new faces to them, and in return, the agency presents their own new faces. About forty percent of the agency's models come from cities like London, Paris, Milan, and Amsterdam rather than Germany. This is where the difference between international model management and a national agency becomes apparent. The work is very personal and global, extending to places like New York and Tokyo to advance careers.

Three PM. Applications, model go-sees.

The agency also holds go-see appointments where models audition, often accompanied by their parents. The job is explained to them, discussions are held about castings and collaboration, and what happens when they become successful internationally is explained, either via video call or live at the agency.

Five PM. Last calls.

Around five o'clock, the team usually starts to wrap up the day.

Six PM. The bigger picture.

I then go back to the cafe and continue working on the big picture, the grand scheme. This is where ideas like the Model Book, CM Couture made from one hundred percent recycled materials, CM Creator, or the Model Podcast on Apple, Spotify, etc. originate, or even the Model App on modelagency.one.

Nine PM. My workday ends.

Around nine o'clock, the workday usually ends, at least for most of the team. A day in a model agency is full of challenges and variety, and we love our job.

As a model, you also have to be professional. That means being quick when it comes to booking inquiries. If you don't respond, someone else will get the job.