Hey All! Its been a long time since I actually created a blog post! Ive been so busy with work, and life in general! I wanted to share my experience at the 2015 Cynthia Bailey Model search that I went to in Atlanta, GA back in August 2015. I want to walk all the aspiring models through the process that I went through, and to express my feeling about whether it was worth it or not.
The Research
So, I first thought about registering when I continued to see Cynthia Bailey post about it on her Instagra, since I am one of her followers. I figured I would try it out. So I went to the regestration website (which looked different than the photo above, at the time), and searched for more information about the actual model search. At the time, they did not have seperated categores (such as plus, kids, teens, and adults). The regestration fee is $25. They feel you should "invest in your future". I am very knowledgabe on when to and when not to pay for a casting call. Casting calls should ALWAYS be free. You should not have to pay for someone that needs and wants to see you and cast you...HOWEVER, I decided to go ahead and pay it. Im not sure why, I just felt like I could have a real shot at winning.
I did more research before I actually paid, though. I searched for reviews, other models videos from the previous castings, official rules, anything that would help aid me on what to wear, what they are looking for, who would be the judges, who many girls would they choose, would there be men auditioning as well, would the female wear swimsuits....? Most of this information I had a really hard time finding. Not many people explained what the process was like, but this is what I did find out from the past model search (2011-2014):
- They paid no expenses. You must fund your own trip to Atlanta including hotel stay
- Your $25 registration fee was non-refundable
- You did not have to live in Atlanta to participate
- Any age ranges could audition
- Parents could come with you and stay all day for the experience
- There would be a full runway set up fancy spotlights and effects
- There would be "celebrity appearances" and performances..entertainment
- There would be 50 models selected out of all submission that came in
- Included males and females
- Previous winners were between 13 and 17
- The 50 would walk a LONG the runway in front of the judges
- The 50 was broken down into 20 finalists
- The finalists would walk-One jean and white tank outfit, and one swimwear (yes guys too)
- 1 winner would be selected and announced BY Cynthia herself, and they would win the photo shoot and $2,500 prize and other prizes
- All of this occurred in 2 days
Here are some videos I found to help put together this information.
2013 Audition and Winner Announcement
The 2012 Winner, Nisaa Pouncey
2014 Winner Selena Hairston
2013 Open call Itinerary
Open Casting Call Itinerary:
Saturday, August 24, 2013
8:00am – 9:30am: Registration / Sign in
10:00am – 12:00pm: Panel Discussion
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Lunch Break
1:00pm – 3:00pm: Models Walk Runway for Judges
3:00pm – 3:30pm: Break and Judges Deliberate
3:30pm – 3:45pm: Models eliminated
3:45pm – 5:00pm: Models lineup for process of elimination
5:00pm – 5:30pm: Break and Judges Deliberate
5:30pm – 5:45pm: Top 20 Finalist Selected
6:00pm – 9:00pm: Head Shot Photo Shoot for Finalist
NEXT DAY
Sunday, August 25, 2013
12:00pm – 12:10pm: Top 20 Finalist arrive at GICC
12:10pm – 2:00pm: Hair and Make-up
2:00pm -3:00pm: Run of show
3:00pm – 4:00pm: Break
4:00pm – 5:00pm: Hair and Makeup touchups
5:00pm – 6:00pm: Doors open
6:00pm – 7:00pm: Top 20 Finalist Fashion Show
7:00pm – 7:10pm: Judges Deliberate
7:10pm – 7:30pm: Winner announced
7:30pm – 9:30pm: After Show Mixer
My Registration Process
I had already had this photos from a previous casting. So I was good to go. I received an email confirming my payment and application. Then I waited....for weeks. Praying I would receive a response from someone about whether or not I made the casting. I replied to the confirmation email when I did hear anything about the casting for weeks. That person had no information and advised to contact the modeling school directly. I contacted the school and asked could family stay for the casting and a timeline of events. All I got back was that that information was soon to come, if you were chosen.
I got picked!
Soo....I finally hear back. I got an email saying Congratulations, I had been chosen to participate!
The email I received
I was so excited and felt so blessed to get this opportunity! I told my husband and close friends and family. Everyone supported me and wished me luck. I created a crowd funding campaign to help fund my trip to Atlanta (about a 4 hour drive) and hotel expenses. Family and friends donated and I raised about $300 in 2 weeks through Fundrazr site (really great site and you can choose to get paid 2 days after you receive payment, and the fees are low, but fluctuate depending on the amount you receive..you get $91 from a $100 donation, or $8 from a $10 donation). I also created my 2 snapshots...a headshot and full body shot along with my measurements, as the email told me to do.
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| My Polaroids and Info for the casting (I hated that I had no where else to take the body shot but in front of my door) |
The day of the Model Search..goes downhill from here
We arrived and you could see cars lined up along the streets, dropping models off. All models wearing white tanks, jeans and black heels/shoes. My husband dropped me off and went to go park with my daughter. I went inside and did not immediately see signs on where to go. I saw other models sitting in a waiting area, so I waited. My husband and daughter soon joined me. We sat for at least 15 minutes before I started seeing models going downstairs. I got up and found a small sign that I had walked by and did not see at first, so I gather my family and we went down stairs. When I came around the corner, I was amazed. I saw a HUGE LONG LINE of people. I mean, it completely filled the room! It was overwhelming! I was asking my self "I know these aren't all models"..it couldn't be. These had to be family members...but when I saw that 95% of the everyone wearing the "model attire". We wasted about 15 minutes just trying to find the end of the line and where to stand. It was a giant zigzag of people in this one room! There was loud talking and people fussing and getting loud because no one would tell them were the line started at. I finally forced my way into the line. Once I got to the registration booth, I had to sign a form with my name, age, address, etc and hand the ladies my 2 snapshots, then they handed me a number. I was number 186.
Once I got my number, we had to go into one of the largest ballroom I had ever seen. It was huge and beautiful...but I noticed one thing...there was something totally different in comparison to all the videos I had saw of previous castings and what I thought would happen and what I thought it would look like:
- No fancy runway
- No fancy lights
- No music
- No special guest were there
- No entertainment
- No long runway...it only a few steps long
- Cynthia Bailey was no where to be found
- A room full of about 400...yes, about 400 "models" for the casting
Did you just say 400?? YES. Once we went into the ballroom, everyone including the people that were registered on time, had to wait until EVERY SINGLE model registered. It felt like forever me and my family were waiting. The ballroom filled up to capacity. There were people standing on the walls!! It was so packed, it was madness. Once we saw girls with the number 300 and above, I was just in shock. How could they choose one winner out of all these men and women??!! Once someone finally got on the microphone, we finally got some details about what was going on (because most everyone was so confused. A guy got on the mic and started to explain the changes that happened with this years casting call versus the other years. He didn't really explain why these changes happened though. He began to say that he knows we are wondering what was going on and how this year they wanted to give more people an opportunity to be seen. He explained who the judges were..they were people from big modeling agencies from New York (CLICK and some other ones-a mix of men and women). He explained that Cynthia Bailey was not here "yet" but once she got here, all she could do is take photos with us, and she would have to leave for another event. Really? I started to feel like this was a joke. The models ranged from teens to adults and all different shapes, sizes, heights and colors. I am not a mean person but most of those people looked nothing like models. I only say this because I know what these top agencies in NY want (tall, skinny, young) and most of the female models that were there did not fit this description, and almost all of the males were short, so why did they get chosen? Why drag these people from all around the US and make them spend their money when you KNOW the judges wont choose them? They had already got their money ($25) registration fee, whether they got chosen as a finalist or not, so why do this? Just because 400 people showed up, didnt mean they got more money. I was confused, but I was still feeling like I have it in the bag, but one small thing lingering in the back of my mind...the age of the previous winners. Although I have a fresh, young looking face, the truth is, I am 27. That is old for the modeling world. But I stayed positive.
The Runway Auditions
Once we got through the agonizing waiting period (some people had to correct their registration forms because they forgot to simply put their name on it!!), they began to call models up. Not one at a time, oh no. Theres no way they could with almost 400 models. They grouped them by number...like calling 70-80 models up at one time!! The models wrapped around one of the ballroom walls, were it was already overflowing with standing people. At this time, I was thinking, this was the most unorganized casting I had ever been too, and that it was almost a waste of my time and day off and gas. About 4 groups went up before my group was called. Let me tell you...this was one of the funniest casting calls ever! I am like, why am I here?! LOL! I had to laugh to keep from getting upset. I could tell my husband was a little disappointed to, but did not want to show it and wanted to make the best of it while we were there. These people were parading on that runway like it was some kind of joke! Do they not know what a natural runway walk is? The girls (AND guys with a little sugar in their tanks!) was twisting, rolling their hips, stomping, turning, doing choreography, and everything else that is NOT something you do in the high fashion runway world! And hunny, they were getting all the praise from the crowd! The crowd was telling them to "go head with they bad self" and cheering with they went over and beyond with their walk, but the judges were looking sooo unimpressed, and were laughing like "do they really expect us to pick them, acting like that?". Now, the girls that went up there and walked simple, how they were supposed to, the crowd was silent. When I got closer to the TINY runway, I got super nervous. I had studied my walk and runway videos for weeks. Once I got my turn, I walked up a few steps to get to the stage. My heart was pounding as I looked out onto the massive crowd and the judges below me.
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| Me about to walk on the short stage. Why its long on the sides, IDK because we did not use that area. |
Of course, I felt like I was the one who gave the judges what they wanted. A slow, simple walk..one foot in front of the other and did my turns smoothly, although there were some raised areas of the stage that you could trip on. I walked up, back, up again, did a turn, and exited the runway by stairs in the front, while keeping my eyes on the judges. I did not get any cheers from the crowd because I was not "extra" enough for them and didnt do crazy twirls, flipping my hair and choreography. After they finally got through all of the models, we were told that we had about a 2 hour period for the judges to decide the winner. ...out of EVERYONE, they only had 2 hours!!! My family and I decided to walk the streets of downtown Atlanta and find something to eat. My sister knew of all the hots spots, luckly. A lot of other families did the same.
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| My sister, brother, and daughter (mom, other sister and husband not pictured) The Decision and Winner |
As you can see, I was not one of them. I was sad but still thought this meant I could be the winner. So I sat there with my chest beating as Cynthia brought up the large $2500 check and got the mic to announce the winner. That one thing was lingering in the back of my head....my age. She announced the winner to be:
NATARYIA BROCK
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| 2015 Cythia Bailey Model Search Winner, Nataryia Brock |
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| Nataryia's Senior Photo |
She is a young teen, who had no experience in the modeling world and never in a million years would think she would have ever won. I was very sad and felt like my time had been wasted. Because of how many people they selected, I really feel that it was unfair to those who had potential, because they had been forgotten behind all the prancing and parading around by the others who had no chance. If there would have been an elimination process from 50 to 20 like previous years, they would have seen more potential in me. If they wouldn't have been so lazy, they could have sorted through the thousands of submissions they KNEW they were going to get, to locate the ones who had real potential. I just felt like it wasn't fair. Well we left, and I heard everyone talking about how unorganized and unfair it was, so I was not the only one who felt this way. I am happy for the girl that won. I hope she has much success, whoever it doesn't look like she has done much in terms of meeting with Cythia Bailey or doing the photo shoot. Maybe it will take more time.
While we were leaving out, it was annouced that Cythia Bailey would stop and take photos with the contestants. I made sure I stopped to get my photo so I could have some since of accomplishment. My sister wispered something to the person that was directing the LONG LINE of models waiting to take a picture with her, and he let me cut in front of them all. It made me feel a little bad but hey, I was ready to go! Ms. Bailey looked at me twice and said "wow, you are beautiful". I dont know if it was scripted and she told that to everyone or not, but it made me feel a little good :) My sister snapped this shot.
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| Cythia Bailey and I at the 2015 Cythia Bailey Model Search |
DO YOU REGRET IT?
Yes, in most ways I do. The only thing I felt like I got out of it was to meet Cynthia but that was literally for about 30 seconds. They definitly need to revamp this process or go back to the old way and take time to choose the models carefully. They wasted people's time and got so many people's hope up because they were "selected", when they were getting excited over nothing. Also, they only choose teenagers. This is why I feel like I did not have a chance. I was too old to JUST start out modeling. 27 is old in the modeling world. They need young ones that don't have full time jobs and kids to mold into a model, and I cant say I blame them. I would not try out for this search again. Its just too much of a gamble, even if I were younger and they took it back to the old process. I will try my luck elsewhere. I hope who ever read this got the information they needed/wanted. God Bless :)
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