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teenage girls during the agency’s weekly
open casting call. Before I get the chance to
sit down Cathy’s colleague and fellow agent,
Jillian Gilogley greets me with a wide grin
and an unexpected hug. Her infectiously
bubbly nature overwhelms me and, before I
know it, I am seated with my jacket hung up
and a cup of coffee in front of me.
Despite its UK-wide reputation, The
Model Team is comprised of just four key
members of staff including Cathy and Jillian.
Director of the company and successful
entrepreneur,Michael O’Brien,provides the
driving force behindThe Model Team with a
wealth of industry knowledge and contacts
from his work styling on international film
sets. In addition to the team of three, an
intern also helped with the workload when
required.
From the moment I arrive, the phone
rings continuously. Most calls go the same
way: the phone rings, either Cathy or Jillian
answers and, within a matter of seconds,
is the same repeated response: “I am very
sorry but, due to high demand, we only
take children’s applications in December.”
As a mother herself, Cathy sympathises
with those parents who call. However,
there is no doubt that the constant calls
are irritating. After almost two hours I am
ready to make a pre-recorded voicemail
specifically for children’s enquiries. Cathy
jokes, “Every parent thinks their child is
the most beautiful. We only open casting
to children in December because there
is not enough demand for children’s
bookings. Children change and develop so
quickly, which can be difficult. If we opened
children’s bookings for the whole year we
would probably get around 50 enquiries
per day.”
With constant phone calls, it is hard to
imagine how Cathy and Jillian stick to any
sort of routine. However,
it seems that for most days
there is a general agenda
to be followed. Firstly, the
Twitter or Facebook page
is updated. Cathy and
Jillian both emphasise the
importance of the agency’s
social media in creating
an approachable face for
The Model Team. Next,
Cathy checks the accounts
and, following that, she
and Jillian both answer all
emails and enquiries before
looking through tests shots
and considering which
models they can propose
to overseas and London
agencies. “In addition,”
Cathy states, “we usually
have a big project to focus
on in amongst our day-to-day work of
facilitating the bookings, developing the
models and answering emails. At the
moment we have two projects on the
go. The first is a photo series that we
produced with Ian McInnes in December
but at the moment I am trying to decide
whether that will be exhibited at a party
or event or on our Facebook page and the
second is preparing show-packs for our
models for London FashionWeek.”
Watching Cathy work is like watching
a Ferris Wheel go round and round
continuously without ever stopping, it
seems that there is always something
needed done. When I ask Cathy what
exactly the job of an operations manager
entails she laughs,“I hate to say everything
but it does really involve dipping into
every area of the business. In Scotland
there is less of a need for large modelling
agencies, businesses are smaller and every
job is hands-on. An operations manager in
a London agency would maybe oversee
all the bookers, whereas here we have
one booker and an intern who comes in
and does booking and test shoots on a
Wednesday. I ultimately decide on who we
take on and who we do not.”
Being based in Scotland also accounts
for other differences between agencies
like The Model Team and those based in
London, such as Elite and Storm. Cathy
explains the importance of considering
the Scottish market when casting new
faces, “We are very conscious that we
have two areas of the business, one area is
focused on our clients and staple work in
Scotland, which tends to differ from that of
international placements.When a classically
beautiful girl comes in at 5ft 7 and a half, we
have to explain to her that she is not going
to get picked up internationally as a fashion
model but that she has a look that will be
popular with our clients in Scotland for
commercial work.When someone comes
in we assess what client base they are
going to appeal to. Internationally what we
are looking for is a something that could
be unique or different, a beauty that could
be debatable.”
Each Friday from 2pm to 4pm, The
Model Team office becomes accessible to
aspiring models for open call. This time is
one of the most important of the whole
week; it is when Cathy and Jillian could
possibly find the next face of Scotland.
bite
real
life