How to book models for a shoot: a practical guide for clients

Most enquiries we receive are missing the same three pieces of information, and they are the three that decide the price. Here is how a booking actually works from the other side of the desk.

Send one enquiry, not five

Name everyone you are interested in and ask about them together. We can then tell you who is free on your date in one reply, rather than you discovering one at a time that your first three choices are booked.

The three things people leave out

1. Where the images will be used

Website only, or print as well? Social? Outdoor? In-store? This is the single largest factor in the fee. A model shooting for your website for six months and the same model shooting for a national outdoor campaign for two years are completely different bookings, on the same day, for the same hours.

2. How long you need those rights for

Six months, one year, three years, perpetual. “Perpetual, worldwide, all media” is the most expensive thing you can ask for, and most brands who ask for it do not need it. If you only run a campaign for a season, licence it for a season.

3. The actual hours

“A day” is not a unit. Tell us the call time and the expected wrap. If there is any chance of overrunning, say so now and we will quote the overtime rate up front rather than negotiating it at 8pm when everyone is tired.

What a quote is made of

• The model’s fee for the hours booked.
• The usage licence — media, territory, duration.
• The agency fee.
• Travel, if the model is coming from another city, plus accommodation and a travel day where relevant.
• Overtime, at an agreed rate.

The hourly rate on a profile covers the first item only. It is there so you can judge whether someone is in your range, not so you can add it up yourself.

Book earlier than feels necessary

Two weeks is comfortable. A week is workable. Two days is possible in Mumbai and difficult everywhere else. The models in most demand are booked furthest ahead, so a short notice period does not just add stress — it quietly removes your first choices from the list.

Ask for current digitals

Before you confirm, ask us for recent digitals — plain, unretouched photographs taken in the last few weeks. A portfolio shows what someone can look like. Digitals show what they look like now. Any agency that will not send them is telling you something.

Read the contract, particularly the usage clause

Nobody is booked until a contract is signed. It sets out the date, the hours, the fee, the usage rights, the cancellation terms and what the model has agreed to do. Using images beyond the agreed licence is the most common dispute in this industry, and it is almost always an honest mistake by someone who did not read the clause. Read the clause.

On the day

Have a call sheet. Tell the model where to go, who to ask for and what to bring. Provide somewhere private to change and somewhere to sit. Feed people. None of this is in the contract and all of it decides whether the agency recommends you next time.