FASHION : Kids Who Model Face Long Runway to Success : There’s lots of enthusiasm, but the rough road requires perseverance. And only a few will make it to the top.
In the black-and-white lobby of the John Robert Powers school of modeling and acting in Thousand Oaks, a circle of girls sits very straight on canvas directors’ chairs. They range from elementary through high school age, with some too small to reach the floor. Sandwiched in the crowd here and there--with a scrubbed look and a fresh haircut--is a boy.
At intervals, the youngsters lean over to speak in hushed tones; not to each other, but to accompanying adults.
Their names are called in turn by a woman who shows each candidate into the makeup room. As their chairs empty, another parent and child move from the sidewalk to fill the space.
The kids are here to be photographed for a modeling portfolio. Some are already enrolled in classes; others are considering the step. They will spend $15 for the photo session, which could be the entry into a modeling career.
“I’ve thought about modeling all my life,” said Kristin Combe, 13, of Thousand Oaks, “ever since I saw Miss America when I was about 6.
“I’ve always liked the glamour, having everything done for you, and being famous,” she added candidly.
Kristin, who has long, curly hair and braces, has emerged from the makeup and hairstyling stations, and is in the photography room, watching a boy of about 8 being coached to lean on one elbow and adjust his chin angle for the camera.
Kristin has much in common with the other candidates. Each one we meet has wanted to model either since age 6, or “. . . as long as I can remember.”
In front of the makeup mirror, Melissa Ulmer, 16, of Oxnard is getting concealer on her minimal facial shadows. Melissa says her modeling ambitions stem from a lifetime of reading fashion magazines.
“I like Cosmo and Glamour,” she said, and names print photography as her ideal career choice. For backup, she will study graphic design or architecture.
Heather Porbansky, 17, of Oxnard has finished her shoot and is off to her job as a hostess at Marie Callender’s. She has already had nine weeks of modeling classes and, like Melissa, hopes to get into fashion photography.
“Runway is second choice, but I’m too short,” she said.
What are the real chances of their breaking into modeling?
Well, better than they used to be, according to Suzanne Henry, director of the school.
“Agents are looking for so many different kinds of people,” she said. “In New York, you have to be 5-foot-9 to do runway fashion shows; in California, it’s not as sophisticated--it’s the California sunshine look.”
Not only does a model no longer need to look anorexic, she might work in the petite field, or the plus-size field, both of which have become more important in the industry.
Also, Henry said, “The ethnic look is very much in now. There’s room for everybody.”
The majority of students are enrolled in the school to gain poise and confidence, Henry says. Of those who are serious about getting jobs, the majority do get at least some paid work. This means finding an agent.
To give students experience at auditioning, the school brings in agents to meet them on the premises; a few have found their first jobs before graduation.
But making it to the top--where the pay scale peaks between $5,000 to $10,000 an hour, is--well, not as bad as lottery odds, but rare. More models earn second incomes in the trade than have primary careers.
A few find work in Ventura County.
At least one agency, Progressive Models in Camarillo, places men and women in local jobs in photographic work, fashion shows, cosmetic demonstrations and as movie extras.
Kathleen Lucas, co-director of the agency, says that if models are willing to start small, “it’s interesting how one job can lead to another; it spills over.”
To make a solid career in the industry, though, “you really need to go to L. A. on a regular basis,” she said. That’s where more dues come in.
“A lot of kids come here, starry-eyed, not realizing how much work it is,” she said. “They don’t realize it’s audition after audition. It almost takes a non-working parent to take (a youngster) to auditions. It’s a tough business.”
Still, her advice is: “If you really want it, just persevere, keep working at it. Do fashion shows; it’s good experience . . . the odds are better than they used to be.”
So, add endurance to the list of poise, attitude, makeup and movement to be mastered. Likely it won’t discourage Kristin Combe.
So far, Kristin is not yet enrolled in modeling school; but she feels that it’s in her destiny, and plans to persuade her parents of that. This, too, will take a measure of perseverance.
“I’ll get my mom,” she said of the enrollment prospect. “My dad will be sort of iffy on it.”
