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Modeling:
The Right Card.
By Actor, commercial print and fashion model Bryan
Kent
And
of course pictures, your "business" card, the zed or comp
as they are called. Since establishing myself in 94, I have
printed more than 6000, or appox 1200/year. There are many
opinions from people as to what makes a good photograph.
That which I found to be the most useful was my own. I like
the flexibility of a laser card, which you can change around
as often as you like, with100 order a min. There are still
some vestiges of snobbery where a photo-comp is the only
"thing". I have found the photo to always be more expensive,
and complicated to change. Their minimum orders are larger
and therefore the ability to stay flexible with your looks
is more constrained. The right laser shop can give you a
professional finish to satisfy most bookers and buyers today.
And
then the problem of which different looks to put on your
card. What kind of format. The size. Are you trying to sell
fashion, commercials, lifestyle, editorial, personality,
product, or concept? There are as many recommendations as
there are agencies. But agencies change as well as the people
who run them. And with them comes the new management with
new tastes and yet another format and emphasis of look.
I give them as much variety as I can put in front of them
in the smallest amount of space.
OOOOOOOHHH,
but they the get confused. What do you really look like!
Blah! Blah! If that's the case, they shouldn't be in charge
of the hiring or casting of models. We are, for all intensive
purposes, actors. Talents asked to look and feel, to seem
a certain way at a certain time to create a certain feeling.
We are asked to stretch and shape-shift, mood swing, change
this n that, show fun, show sexy, show interest, show complexity,
be alone, with a partner, in a family or a group. Inside,
outside, upside-down. Sun, wind, rain, cold heat and snow.
Walk, run, jump, stand still. The more variety you can show,
the better chance of fitting a look that the buyer needs.
My own
card now contains 13 shots on a four-sided card. Flip cards
(two sides only) seem to be all the rage. One big picture
on the front. Four on the back. Ultimately, if you want
to make the agency you depend upon happy, give them what
they want.
My career
is the sum of both agency and direct bookings. My card has
no agency logos printed on it, only a blank space for stickers
right above my website address.
Web
address?
Home
Bryan
Kent bkent1@gte.net
Actor, commercial print and fashion model and performing
talent Bryan Kent has been cast in television episodic and
longform dramatic programming, starred in televison commercials
for national network tv and cast in motion pictures. His
commercial print and fashion magazine work has made its
way to covers of national and international magazines, newspapers
and billboards. Visit his website at: http://home1.gte.net/bkent1/index.htm.
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