To Good To Be True

I had circled this particular job in The Stage and called the telephone number given to find out more details. The guy sounded young and talked fast. He said id need to come and do a test shoot and then hopefully he would get me some work. He mentioned magazines such as FHM and all the usual laddie mags so of course I jumped at the chance to get my foot in the door to do something so prestigious.

I got the tube up to Warwick Avenue one Sunday afternoon. The guy had asked me to call from the station and he’d walk round the corner to meet me. Sure enough there he was. A young British Asian guy. He looked smart and his conversation sounded professional. We talked on the way back to the studio which turned out to be just a basement flat. I was used to being met by the producer or photographer so I was surprised to find out the photographer was a guy called John and he was already at the location. His girlfriend was also there sunbathing but I was told to ignore her as she was hung over and grouchy. I wasn’t sure then exactly what or who this Asian guy was. Was he an agent? An assistant?

I walked out of the hot summer sun and down to the dark flat which was nicely decorated but reminded me abit of the old beatniks. The photographer went through my capsule wardrobe that id bought with me. A load of brand new PVC and skimpy outfits from my latest recycling stint at Top Shop. He chose an outfit and I went to get dressed. He was an old white haired guy. You could tell he used to be a hippy or something but he’d turned trendy now. He wasn’t that personable but not scary. I took a breath and left the bathroom where Id changed and we started shooting.

Afterwards John played back his images through the TV to show me how they had turned out. They were lovely. Far nicer than any of the other pictures id modelled for, almost arty with nice angles that made me look amazing. No gratuitous poses with my legs behind my head here. Just simple and beautiful images of me posing seductively. Some were black and white and very sophisticated looking. I signed a model release form that the Asian guy handed me and thought with images like that they couldn’t fail to get me more work.

The young Asian guy walked me back to the tube. Id only been there and hour or so but I felt it went well. I was on a high knowing that id just shot the nicest pictures of my career so far. I never knew I could look so good. When we got to the tube he told me he’d be in touch if any of their contacts wanted to do a paid shoot with me.

It was a strange shoot. I really didn’t know what to make of it.
Was this an agency or was I shooting for the photographer to book me for a magazine and why had I signed a model release form if this was only a test shoot?

I went home reassured that id be hearing back from them soon with those wonderful images to represent me.

Time passed by and I got more work elsewhere to occupy my mind but after a few weeks I started to ponder as to why I hadn’t heard back from the guy at Warwick Avenue. At first I made excuses and imagined he was just busy. Then I rationalised that maybe I wasn’t what his clients were looking for. Eventually I decided to give them a call. There was no law saying I couldn’t and then if he had forgotten about me, my call would remind him he was supposed to be getting me some work.

The phone just rang and rang and rang when I plucked up the courage to dial his number.
Not even the opportunity to leave a message. That didn’t sound very professional. Sounded more like someone who didn’t want to be contacted.

I lay in bed thinking about this strange situation all the while my gut getting tighter and tighter with the feeling that something wasn’t right. I fell asleep eventually thinking that at worst, if they didn’t think I was pretty enough or busty enough to book other shoots that I could ask if they wouldn’t mind me having some copies of those gorgeous images from my portfolio that I was slowly trying to build.

In those days things were abit more traditional. Glamour girls still had books and didn’t rely on online portfolio pages or fan sites. I still love my book. I can look back at that in years to come and see some beautiful erotic pictures I’ve posed for. In amongst some smuttier ones that is.

Eventually I gave up hope of hearing from these people with any work but I became upset that I wouldn’t even have the chance to ask for copies of the images either. I could get over the lack of work if I could be pacified with images instead. At least that way I might book some other work on the merit of those pictures.

That was the first time I was lulled into doing a shoot or a “test shoot” for someone looking to make a fast buck and cut me out of the equation. Id signed a model release and that should have been a dead giveaway that they intended to sell those pictures for a profit. They told me it was a casting or test shoot so they wouldn’t have to pay me. They preyed on my eagerness to succeed and took advantage. Luckily that’s all they took advantage of and I came out of the whole affair unscathed and just disappointed but on an upbeat note id learned a valuable lesson the very easy way.

One day id realise that some people had the nerve to try this stunt requesting hardcore test shoots of girls.

Paper Work

Whenever anyone asks me if I’ve ever had any bad experiences in my career I tend to only speak of one minor incident in my early days. It was more a case of being gullible which resulted in being ripped off on a small scale.

I found alot of my early work in the back of The Stage news paper. The people advertising in there were usually the agents or the people you were really better off staying well away from. My first ever top shelf style shoot was found in there and because I found the agents who in turn put me out to alot of other potential employers it took me a while to work out The Stage was abit of a hit and miss resource.

Every week id rush in to WH Smiths for the latest copy. Most of the time it was the same old adverts but occasionally a new one popped up. Sometimes the ad would run for a few weeks and other times just for one single week.

But as per usual, since id had what I considered an easy and loving entry into the business I liked to think the best of everyone until I had good reason to think otherwise. I was about to learn the hard way.

As id effectively had my induction into the biz with the pro clique I’ve learned all about signing paperwork and my supposed “rights” as a model. All professional shoots required me to sign a model release form. No, that wasn’t so I’d be released from captivity after the trauma of shooting a porno. It simply implied that the material we had just produced belonged to the producer or production studio and they maintained all rights of the footage or images and how it would be used.

It’s pretty damn obvious if you ask me that if I’m having sex with someone with a film crew recording the action and then I get paid that I’m doing it for a purpose but from what I’d heard it was very common for girls to have serious regrets soon after and beg and threaten producers and companies not to release the footage or even to go as far as retracting it.

Can you imagine Hollywood stars pulling this stunt? Tom Cruise saying no I don’t want to be associated with this movie any more, it only got 2 stars in Rolling Stone. Re film it with another star in my place.

OK, OK...I do sympathise with the girls. It’s not nice to find you can’t get a serious job again because your face and vagina are all over HMVs adult section, but you knew what you were doing when you filmed it. If you really hadn’t thought about the consequences you shouldn’t be there. The sad fact is that most porn stars don’t fully understand the consequences. No one can. Human beings aren’t born with hindsight.

Producers often say that no model would ever get very far in court a) because you’d find it hard to find a lawyer willing to take this kind of case on and b) because even if you did manage a) the law on porn is so grey even the authorities can’t tell you what’s what. It would cost someone an arm and a leg to take it to court and chances of you winning would be slim. Plus it risks placing your shady past all over the papers which is what you’re trying to avoid in the first place.

Producers don’t believe in the power of model releases yet they still collect them just in case!