TV Casting Shows for the Great Model Career – Really?!

Soon Germany’s Next Topmodel will start again. Heidi Klum is looking for the next “Topmodel” again in 2017 together with her casting jury. But is it worth it for models to participate in casting shows? We spoke to a casting agency. The majority of all well-known models get to the top via the classic route, through model agencies via photo shoots and jobs. Only a few individual contestants from casting shows have lasting success. If it is only a fraction, why are so many young models nevertheless convinced that the participation in a casting show promotes their career as a model?

Editorial photo © lassedesignen – fotolia.com

TV casting shows: trade privacy for some rum

Fast money does not exist

A little preface to the casting shows: Of course, there are many great models on the shows. If you want to try your hand at a casting show, do it. But it’s also worth briefly considering the pros and cons of TV shows. Every year, thousands of contestants and candidates come to live auditions to prove their talent. What many of them are looking for is the big stage as a self-promoter. What modeling agencies are looking for are models who take the job seriously. If you are a model in the context of a TV show, you have an everlasting stamp. Casting shows are a two-sided sword for young models. On one hand they promise you big success, on the other they put you in extreme situations for good visuals. The fast money doesn’t exist. Fast money always comes with trade-offs here: Loss of privacy, uncontrolled footage and extreme situations that are then aired abbreviated. Many see casting shows as a stepping stone. But they only bring you short-term success, if at all. In addition you get an eternal stamp as “the one from show XY”. Many customers will no longer book you.

In real life, you can’t bitch on the shoot set or argue with the other models. You can only do that on TV. Drama, drama, drama. As viewers, we then enjoy curious contestants. TV shows should not be your path. Who has long-term success? Three or four out of tens of thousands? TV shows are designed for a season, not a career.

Fast money always comes with sacrifices. Many see TV casting shows as a stepping stone. Yet they only bring you short-term success, if any at all: and yes, an eternal stamp in the industry. Many clients may not book you again. Every year, thousands of candidates and contestants come to live auditions to prove their talent. What many of them are looking for is the big stage as a self-promoter. What model agencies are looking for are models who take the job seriously. In real life you can’t bitch on the shooting set or argue with the other models. That’s only possible on TV, when that’s exactly your job: drama. As viewers, we are then happy to see curious candidates. TV shows should not be your path. Who has long-term success? Three or four out of tens of thousands? TV shows are designed for a season, not a career.

For model: Love your job, not the big stage

In the modeling industry, many “just want to be on the cover of VOGUE”. That modeling is really work, many do not understand at first. The cover of “VOGUE” is an absolutely beautiful goal. But at first it doesn’t have much to do with the everyday life of a model. Your everyday life consists of commercials, online shops and lookbooks. You stand on the set for eight or more hours and are the only person who has to smile all the time. Over and over again. Until your book is so good and your agency likes you so much that you get the chance to do your first magazine shootings. But it’s a long way to the cover.

Models who make it to Vogue love their job. Models love to work on showrooms, are happy to be on photo shoots and incidentally motivate the whole production team with their positive energy. They work hard on their careers for years without much attention. They often start small in their own country. After school they go abroad. They live in model shared flats with three, four or five strangers from different countries. Without constant conflicts, of course. This is the everyday life of a model.

The way is the goal – also for models

Models who lose sight of the path quickly fall by the wayside. If you want to make your first steps to work as a model, you must be able to honestly assess your own skills and talents. Only if you assess your own possibilities well, you can plan your way as a model well.