In August 06, we met w / the staff at Elens Kids and were impressed with their agency. They got us on the spot to sign a contract and pay $600 to contract w / them for 5 years.
I had researched the industry ahead of time online, but never identified that in NYS taking money from us in advance for their services was illegal. (It's not in NJ). I found out only days after the contracting w / them.
Like many others we were told that we would have a number of "go sees" per year. We started off the first 6 months w / a number of calls for "go sees", but nothing panned out. Then the calls dwindled. I, however received a job as a "mom" for a shoot at one point and was paid on time, etc. This was the only positive we received from them.
We haven't had a call for my daughter though in the past 10 months.
We were also origionally told that we should have our photos done through a local agency near them, but they were working on getting another photographer in upper NJ or even NY which we were counting on - vs. The 1 1/2 drive every six months to Cranford. This never happened.
I now have to go a local photographer and get a disk that costs $100 in order to send Elens Kids a new photo of my daughter.
I also met w / a NY agency in December of last year, who was shocked that we had to pay upfront for their services especially since they weren't even true agents. They would have loved to take my daughter on as a client, but we would have needed to get a professional portfolio done which would have cost us another $300. It might have been worth it, but to spend that kind of money on top of $600 was not an option for us.
So, to anyone considering this company - please be careful. Don't get ripped off! Go to NY and be represented directly by an agent which will save you $ and hopefully get you farther into the talent/modeling business.
Good luck!
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