History: Modeling Agency, 1948, United States

Modeling agencies use booking departments to keep track of which clients hire which models. The agency has a phone that is manned. These agents also send out reminders for fresh comp cards. They advertise, do lunches, do cold calls and turn over stones to find available modeling gigs.
• Contractual agreements
Most agencies sign their top talent to exclusive contracts in each market, which vary in length based on the model's industry status and experience. However, because a good agency finds their models work and negotiates top price for their talent, they earn a management commission (between 10% to 20%) from every job they book on a model's behalf. In addition, an agency usually bills a client an additional 20% service charge for booking the model, so a typical agency will make between 10-40% on each booking of which no more than 20% comes out of the model's pocket. This varies outside the US due to each country's law and taxes. Other contracts offered by modeling agencies are the mother agency contract and a non-exclusive contract. A mother agency tries to sign you with larger agencies, while non-exclusive agencies allow you to sign with other agencies (usually outside a certain city radius). Contracts typically last from a year to three years. A mother agency agreement can range from five to ten years.