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Volume 2-2012

 

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IN THIS EDITION

RARWRITER BLOGGERS

Learning from Jimmy Iovine

Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine was featured in a recent piece in Rolling Stone, and it was one of those rare celebrity interviews that actually yield insight and useful information for people interested in music production and engineering. READ MORE...

On Selling Songs Through TAXI

Occasionally, as an amateur songwriter, I will open the account I have with TAXI, the Web-based Artists & Repertoire service, check out the listings, usually for those calling for Film & TV soundtrack music, and if I have something that seems like a possible match I will upload an MP3 mix and submit it for consideration. I never get anywhere with this past-time... READ MORE...

 

RARADIO

(Click here)

New Releases on RARadio: "Last Call" by Jay; "Darkness" by Leonard Cohen; "Sweetbread" by Simian Mobile Disco and "Keep You" from Actress off the Chronicle movie soundtrack; "Goodbye to Love" from October Dawn; Trouble in Mind 2011 label sampler; Black Box Revelation Live on Minnesota Public Radio; Apteka "Striking Violet"; Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get Along"; Dana deChaby's progressive rock

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MUSIC LINKS

"The Musical Meccas of the World"
LOS ANGELES
SAN FRANCISCO
NEW YORK CITY
NASHVILLE
CHICAGO
AUSTIN
DENVER-BOULDER
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INTERNATIONAL LINKS

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EUROPE
JAPAN
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Original Musical Compositions and Select Covers

Fiction and Non-Fiction

Special Projects

Essays

 

 

RENEE' LAUREN  

 

In this edition of RARWRITER we do something a little different and take a peak into the world of big time fashion modeling. Our spotlight is on  RENEE' LAUREN, former model and, for the last ten years Agency Director of Click Model's Philadelphia office.  Renee' was introduced to us by another Links associate, Art Director Carol Oliveto, who we came to know through Links rocker Nikki Ferrari. So it is with Links. You meet the most interesting people.

Renee' has a fantastic website, "Models-Fashion-Advice.com" (click here), where she provides a wealth of information on an extraordinary array of facets of the business of modeling.  Much of this comes from her own experience, which is extensive and crosses markets. She devotes whole sections of her ever growing site to the niche markets - child, teen and plus-sized models. (See the sub-menu provided at the bottom of this page, with direct links to the referenced pages at Models Fashion Advice.) But she also offers a window into the high end world of fashion modeling, which is the level at which she works. Click Model Management, the company Renee' represents, is a family-owned enterprise that has evolved, from its founding in 1980, into one of the big names in the business. They have offices in New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Boston. Their famous clients have included Isabella Rossellini, Uma Thurman, Whitney Houston, Elle MacPherson and Grace Jones. Affiliated with the television commercial agency  Flick East West Talents and the theatrical management and production company Framework Entertainment, Click Models is a mainline injection into the most coveted slots in the advertising, commercial and entertainment  worlds. Click even has its own Hair/Makeup and Styling division, Illusions.

 

 

RENEE' LAUREN

 

 

by RAR

Hi Renee. First off, I love your website. It has a really fresh and appealing look, welcoming. You are an agent for Click Models and if I were looking into going into the fashion industry I would find your site inviting and reassuring. It strikes me as highly professional marketing. Does Click have anything to do with that? Or do you act as an independent agent? How do you work in your association with Click Modeling? 

Thank you so much Rick. Yes I have been an agent for Click Model for just over ten years. Click Model Management is a great top level family owned agency. We have offices throughout the world. Although my site encompasses of all my years in the industry, it is my personal project. I still work as a modeling agent for Click Models. I run the Philadelphia office. I meet many potential models through my site so there is the chance that I will meet someone who is right for our Click offices and recommend them to our agents.

What is your family background? You are married. Do you have children? 

My parents raised us in California but we no longer live there. I live in Pennsylvania. Yes I am married. I got married in Jamaica a few years ago and have two children, a boy and girl, one of each. :)

Your are listed as “Keeka”on your MySpace site. Is Keeka a stage name? Were you, or are you, a model? 

Yes, I started in the business as a model and then started my own agency, but Keeka is not my stage name. Keeka is a nickname for my daughter. When my little boy was a baby he could not pronounce her name, Krista, so he called her "Keeka" and it stuck. Now everyone calls her Keeka.

Your site is all about providing solid advice to people of all kinds interested in getting into modeling, but you have a book focused on child and teenaged model aspirants. I might think they would represent the core of the industry. What approach do you take in guiding these young people in what must be a tough business? 

Yes I have always had a special interest in the teens market, known as the junior markets. I book with a lot of clients who book teens - Urban Outfitters, Deb Shoppes, Seventeen Magazine. Many any of our models are A & F models (Abercrombie & Fitch). I also like to work with young people. Me and my sister, who has an events production company, do a lot of teen events from fashion shows to charity benefits.

Do you see your book as filling an un-met need in the industry? Tell me about that. 

I do, I wrote the book because I get so many calls from parents who don't know how to get their child into the industry and there is an awful lot of misinformation out there to confuse people. So, I created the book to fill that void and help potential models not get caught up in the modeling traps.

My wife once worked in the modeling industry. She worked for an agency where the approach was that they were selling “modeling training,” and she was uncomfortable selling “training” to girls whom she perceived as having no probability of a future in modeling. The rationale was that the training was rather like that provided by a “finishing school,” and that the trainee would benefit from developing poise and comportment, make-up and fashion skills, regardless of what line of work they ended up going into. Does this reasoning make sense to you? Do you work on this level, or is your focus exclusively on people with professional modeling potential? Is there an audition followed by “cuts? (dismissals, people who don’t make the team, etc.). 

No, I have never worked in a school like setting in any way. I have always worked as an agent for a modeling agency management company- the difference is that we get paid thru bookings/work that we secure for the models with our clients. Clients pay our rates for models then we get a commission on bookings. It's a funny thing being that we manage the careers of our models so in effect we work for them.

A friend of mine had a beautiful child whom she took to a modeling agency. She was told the child had appealing looks, but lacked a sort of extra something – personality, responsiveness, a certain spark. What do you look for in a child model candidate that says this child is right for the job? 

There is definitely that certain spark that a child possesses. It does not necessarily have to be a thing of beauty that is the spark, something in the sparkle of the eyes, a sneeky smile, a laugh that you can remember for days; something, but it is just not tangible to put your finger on what exactly it is.

Speaking of what makes a child right for modeling, this is apparently a pursuit you feel comfortable guiding young people into. Any reservations? What survival skills does a young person need going into modeling? 

Honestly the biggest reservation I have is when a child does not want to be a model and it is more of the mother or father's dream for the child. In these cases I will not represent the child and ask the parent to reconsider their child's modeling career. My best advice is to know and study all that you can about the modeling industry, know what the expectations are and if you can handle it.

What attracted and still attracts you to the modeling industry? 

The energy, the excitement of seeing a model on a tv show, or in a big fashion week show, turning the pages of Vogue and seeing our girls there. Recently one of my favorite models, Alana De La Garza, was cast in a lead part in Law and Order and it is so great to see her living her dream.

Going back to your site for a moment, it is huge fun to surf through because, not unlike RARWRITER.com, you provide profiles of “hot acts” from various parts of the world. Your site is rather like an on line fashion magazine, in that sense, with advice sections. In that way it is much more than a “business site,” but also an entertainment. Do you have a business plan for that site? Are you developing a Glamour for the Internet? 

The site seems to evolve each day so I just watch and see where it is going next. Much has to do with the amazing photographers we work with, or models we have new ideas for, or new ways for girls and guys looking to get into the industry to meet those on the inside and connect with each other. 

We are really looking forward to content 2.0 for the site that will be the next stage where models can add their own pages and thoughts to our pages and make it their own.

As I am looking through your site, I notice that your model profiles often include their measurements. Clearly modeling is all about the “objectification” of handsome people, which is particularly powerful when it is applied to young women because we have gone through this long period of “women’s liberation,” which cast a critical eye on objectifying women’s bodies, etc. And yet it seems to me that images have grown ever more provocative over the years. Do you have qualms about presenting or viewing people in an objective way? 

It never really struck me as objectification, more like these are the requirements. Otherwise it will make getting into the industry on a real fashion level difficult. I don't want anyone to get let down by not knowing exactly what it is that is required, and that does change from time to time but for the most part height and size are part of the biz. 

Yes, I agree it has become more provocative. Advertisers are pushing the envelope more and more to the edge and sometimes over it. For me, I have always thought that real sexiness comes with mystery and shadows of light. So in my eyes less is not more, and sooner or later the overexposure will loose it's effect.

You have a “Model Search Winner” on one of the blogs on your MySpace site. I’m not sure who sponsored that search. Can you tell me about that? How will the winner benefit? 

We have many different sponsors who participate in the Model Search, from cosmetic companies to designers to photo shoots and then the girl has the opportunity to work with Click Models. Our last winner is a great girl, Dasha. She has been in the states a few years from the Ukrain and she is studying here in the states.

The image and idea of this thing we call the “Super Model” has become common to us all. I have always assumed these special few are defined by their earning power. That would indicate that they have something special that others don’t. Are you able to describe the differentiators? What have these super beings that the rest of us do not?

It is just something that there is just no rhyme or reason to. Again, it does not even have to be the most beautiful girl, just something that sets her apart, something that others gravitate towards. Some girls, it could be their walk, or how they are captured on film.

For some girls and guys it is a simplistic as being in the right moment in time the right time, the right place, being in the room with the one person who will make all the difference to a model's career.

Super model earning power aside, how much can the average working model expect to make? And where would most of their work come from? 

It all depends on the model. Some girls can make a good living at one thousand to twenty five hundred dollars a day, and that is not to say a girl will work everyday. The girl has to put much effort into her career, as well. The models must be available for castings, photo shoots, call backs.

Can you identify trends in the modeling industry? Are we seeing greater opportunities for older models? Larger-sized models? 

There are many new trends going on in the industry right now. Large size or plus size models are surely coming into their own. Maketers are taking notice of the customer demands. There are several campaigns running right now that are very strong in promoting older women and their association with "beauty."

What are the issues for you these days in the fashion industry? Are there things that bug? Fascinate? Inspire? 

My biggest issue is the merging of all the department stores it has caused a big ripple in the modeling world. 

The issue of girls being underweight concerns me, not only for the model herself but for the young audience looking up to her on the runway. 

The Photographers always inspire me. I love looking at new images. The Art and Creativity itself inspire and fascinate me!

Is there anything you have been dying to say about the modeling industry but were looking for the right forum? If so, what is it? 

For young girls who look up to models and want to emulate them, that most of the photograph that is before you is an illusion - created by a talented group of artists who make up the modeling world and make the "picture" come to life.

MODELING ADVICE LINKS:

For insights into the modeling business, check out these links to Lauren's site at Models Fashion Advice:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renee' Lauren has written a book, available through her site, about the business of child modeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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©Rick Alan Rice (RAR), May, 2012