Driving my car on I-90 E towards South Boston, it occurrs to me that while it’s just a normal average day for many people – Black Friday, the morning after Thanksgiving – it’s not at all a normal average day for me.
Today is the day of my first ever photo shoot as a model.
Now, modeling’s never really been too spectacularly high on my list of interests, so perhaps I should backtrack a bit and explain how I got myself into it.
***
About a week ago, I got cut off from an important source of free food. I suppose it really wasn’t supposed to be free in the first place, but that’s one of those pesky little things they call a technicality. The important thing is, I got cut off, and as a result I found myself thrown into that state of productive anxiety that I love so much.
That night, I went to bed thinking, shit, how am I gonna pay for food now?
Here’s the brilliant thing about sleep. If you meditate on a problem right before you go to bed, often you’ll manage to come up with a solution with your eyes closed, and you’ll wake up with this epiphany solution knocking on your brain, letting you know it’s there.
All this in addition to the solidification of the day’s memories, the reparation and rebuilding of muscle fibers and tissue if you worked out that day, the restoration of energy, the release of important hormones such as growth hormone, and more.
Why so many people cheat themselves out of this miracle activity is beyond me. It’s bloody brilliant, and you don’t even have to do anything but get in bed! (barring some sort of sleep disorder…correcting those are horribly difficult, but that’s another story for another time…)
Anyway, I woke up the next morning with an interesting memory. I remembered that I’d once been approached in a mall to pose for some photos that would eventually be used to create one of those picture-perfect-family photo-inserts. You know, the kind that they put in there when they sell you a picture frame to show you just how good that picture frame will make you and your relatives look.
Well, I immediately thought, maybe I can be a model. I’m definitely tall for an Asian, and there’s got to be a market demand for tall Asians.
Now here’s the thing about ridiculous ideas. Everybody gets them. Most people dismiss them immediately, and perhaps wisely so. What I like to do, however, is to give them a chance. In my head I think,
This is the stupidest idea I’ve ever come across. Hmmm. Maybe I can make it work.
I’m always skeptical when people say things are impossible before they even try it out. Sometimes I even get angry. It’s stupider to be an ignorant defeatist than any stupid idea ever could be.
So true to myself, that morning I did some research into the Boston modeling scene. I punched into the Google search box “Boston modeling” and found that there were pretty much 3 legit modeling agencies in Boston – Dynasty Models, Tonn Model Management, and Model Club, Inc. (sorry if I’ve offended a possible 4th, 5th, or nth legit modeling agency, I didn’t really do extensive research)
By chance, Model Club, Inc. was having an open call that very morning at their Boston office, at 10:30 AM. I detest waiting. So I scribbled down their address.
To make a longer story shorter, my initial hunch was right. I drove to Boston, managed to find street parking (cheap), and walked into Model Club, Inc. Julie, manager of the “New Faces Division,” gave me her card and told me to call her that afternoon after I sent them some photos by email, since I didn’t have any sort of portfolio. Apparently there was a definite void in the Boston area that I would be a “perfect fit for.” Before I left, she even interrupted a meeting of important people because she thought they should meet with me, but apparently it really was an important meeting. (another thing I’m skeptical about is the importance of most meetings)
So I drove back feeling pretty good about this new lead. I got my friend Steve to take some photos of me, emailed them to Julie, and called back later in the day. She told me the people liked the photos, and that she’d email me back the next day with a price quote for an initial shoot.
Well the next day came and went, and I didn’t get any email.
I really do detest waiting, and I detest even more when people don’t keep agreements, especially professional ones. In my mind I ran through a few mental loops. Oh, they just said they like you because they say that to everyone. They were just hedging their bets. Are you kidding yourself? You? A model? What a dumb idea.
Remember how I like to give dumb ideas a chance? Well, I like to give them second chances too.
A few days later, after still not receiving an email from Julie (and after emailing her a reminder), I went back online and discovered that Dynasty Models was having an open call one afternoon.
Again, I drove over, managed to find free street parking with the help of some Berklee College of Music students, and walked into Dynasty Models and Talent, Inc. The line of models at the open call – there were actors too – started on the second floor where their office was and extended down the winding staircase and onto the first floor. There were some very attractive people standing in that line. Some of them looked professional and were carrying laminated portfolios. All of them were better dressed than myself. I admit, I was a little intimidated.
Eventually we were all ushered into a room with several rows of folding chairs in front of a big executive desk. A very well dressed man introduced himself as Joe, owner/manager of Dynasty Models. He told us about his background, about how competitive the modeling industry was, and how sweet Dynasty Models was. He told us the secret formula for success as a model (40% is being consistently photogenic, 60% is hard work). Then he told us about the fun part.
We were all going to give an impromptu sales call – sell yourself. Why would you make for a good model? Why should they choose you for a callback? Name, age, height, go!
Fortunately, I didn’t have to go first. A bunch of beautiful people got up in front of the room and started selling themselves in turn. I was immediately surprised to find out that some of these tall leggy women who looked and dressed like professional models were only fifteen years old!
After each person spoke, Joe gave feedback about what he heard that was good. I could tell he was careful not to criticize in the slightest, so as to maintain the relaxed atmosphere and maintain his own reputation. He really was the consummate salesman himself.
People who go later really have an unfair advantage. After I’d already formulated in my head a cloudy version of what I was going to say, I would hear his critiques and adjust and add to my sales pitch. At a certain point, I decided it was impossible – and probably not effective – to actually memorize a statement, so I decided I was just going to make sure I knew what the first sentence was going to be, then let my wits work for me and freestyle the rest.
I’m not at all a fan of public speaking – I’m definitely a doer, not a talker. But necessity can force out some pretty unexpectedly spectacular things.
Like a cold wooden instrument before it is warmed up by its musician, my voice at first was shaky and unsettled, and my confidence low. But at a certain point I hit my stride. I made fun of myself for looking like a science nerd with my glasses on (self-deprecation can be great in limited doses). I bullshat about how dropping out of school meant I was unwilling to confine myself, and willing to push boundaries (I really meant it, but it must have sounded like bullshit). I said every positive thing I truthfully could say about myself.
And it worked.
The people in the room loved it. One model gave me a double-thumbs-up and started doing a little hip-hop dance in her chair. A guy behind me (he must have been a parent) later told me that I should patent the words that came out of my mouth. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. Before we all left, when Joe went through all of our faces to try to remember our names, he knew me right away, and even remembered where I was from. Dave from Jersey.
I knew I’d made an impression, and a good one too. Now it was just a matter of waiting over the weekend until Monday, when he’d contact those of us who were getting callbacks. How could I not get one?
I didn’t get one.
But I did get an email from Julie from Model Club, Inc with Ms. Carol Evans’ number (the photographer), and a list of things to bring for my first photo shoot.
Are you starting to notice a pattern?
You can’t know what’s going to happen. You can’t predict which leads turn out to be solid and which ones fall through. So just keep at it.
***
Note: To read about how the photo shoot went, read the continuation post!
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
No comments:
Post a Comment