Model Behavior
Reality TV has its villain on 'The Agency' but agents say kinder, gentler works here
The reality-TV world welcomed a new villain into its cadre this year. Her name is Becky Southwick , and the booking agent's cutting assessments of wannabe models have helped make "The Agency" a guilty pleasure. The half-hour show on VH-1 reveals the inner workings of the Wilhelmina Models agency in New York.
Last week's episode hinted that Southwick's wayward attitude and the friction it caused in the workplace would come to a head tonight in the season finale. Readers of the New York Post and The
In Boston, agents who watch the show view Southwick's potential ouster as a welcome change. Many say that while Southwick makes good television, her tendency to call even rail-thin models "cows" if their hips measure wider than 37 inches, her negative attitude toward her co-workers, and her fondness for letting liquor interfere with her job inaccurately represent those who work at agencies.
"I don't think we would ever treat people the way that she has treated people or potential models that come into the agency," says Ashleigh Hommel , a 20-year-old booking assistant at Click Models of Boston on Newbury Street and a sociology student at Boston University. "But TV can be manipulated really well. She's a character in the show. She's obviously very harsh, but you have to take it with a grain of salt."
In fact, although locals find some identifying aspects of their business within "The Agency," they say the world detailed in the show only partially reflects the local modeling scene. Here, modeling is more commercially oriented, focusing on advertisements for department stores or businesses rather than the high-end women's and men's modeling that's the subject of "The Agency." Local agents also tend to be more genteel with their comments.
"Boston is probably a little bit more sophisticated when it comes to interacting with people," says Tonn Cao , 30, owner of Tonn Model Management on Clarendon Street, who goes by his first name. "It is a small town, so we don't step on toes. Here we're a little more gentle with models and with colleagues that we work with."
Adds Hommel, "If we don't think a girl is good at all, we'll just be like, 'You're cute, but you're not right for us.' Whereas in New York at agencies such as Wilhelmina and the high- fashion divisions, they will tell you to your face everything that's wrong with you. They'll say, 'You're too fat, you're too ugly, you're very short.' We would never say that."
Caroline Hackman , a booking agent for the past six years at Dynasty Models & Talent , works in the baby and promotional modeling divisions, the latter of which provides models for events at clubs or malls. While she acknowledges that Boston has a different temperament than New York, like Hommel, Hackman finds the dramatic dynamics on the show suspicious.
"The Agency" is a savvy example of marketing. Its seven episodes were produced by Wilhelmina, as the show's final credits emphatically attest. It's not lost on any of the industry viewers that the show offers a great opportunity for Wilhelmina in its search for new faces.
"Good for them, you know," says Hackman. "That is huge exposure, not that they really need it."
But Hackman wonders what effects the show will have on perceptions about the business. "The drama that they're creating on the show is definitely bringing in the viewers, but I'm not quite sure if that's making a negative portrayal on the agency or the industry in general," she says . "We certainly don't want people looking down on the modeling agency industry because that's our livelihood."
Reality television has had a mild love affair with the fashion world for a while. Bravo's successful "Project Runway" tackles the industry from the designer angle. Shows that explore the lives of models have more mixed results. "America's Next Top Model" recently began its eighth season, but MTV's "8th & Ocean" didn't last long last year. "The Agency" is the only reality show that examines the inner workings of a modeling agency.
One thing viewers discover is how models are found and the assessment that goes into deciding whether a man or woman will make a good one. In "The Agency," the agents visit a water park and attend or orchestrate competitions to find new faces.
While that may work for Wilhelmina, Dynasty doesn't scout for models, says Hackman. "The models come to us. It's a lot more legit that way, and to be honest with you, we want to represent people who want to be in the modeling industry."
Tonn, a native of Vietnam, did scout when he first started his agency about a year and a half ago. He modeled for Elite models in Hong Kong as a college student and took up modeling again when he moved to Boston for school. He put aside his pursuit of a doctorate in sociology at Northeastern University to pursue his love of fashion.
"I thought the town needed something edgier," says Tonn, who has a Boston division that focuses on the conservative-looking girl or boy next door and a New York division for more unique-looking, size 2 models who are between 5 foot 9 and 5 foot 11 and can work in New York.
Tonn ultimately stopped scouting for his various divisions because he found it didn't pay off.
"People have this preconceived notion of what modeling is," Tonn says. "I give them my card, I tell them what it's like, and they completely lose interest."
His experiences show how ephemeral this world can be once models realize the job includes going out to casting calls where they may be rejected. Last year he held a modeling competition for men at Club Café in the South End. The top 12 men became represented by the agency, but that number dwindled to two as interest waned.
A women's version of the competition will launch April 15. Twelve contestants will take photos in his studio over a series of weeks, with the public voting for the winner online at the agency's website, tonnmodel.com. The top prize will include a fashion layout with STOMP Magazine, an ad for James Joseph Salon , and a contract with Tonn.
Although Southwick was able to hang on for the entire season, if she'd worked for Tonn she would have had an entirely different experience.
"I would have fired her a long time ago," says Tonn. "So much negative energy. She's an agent -- they're not irreplaceable."
Apparently viewers may have that mindset as well. Southwick's impending exit most likely won't keep fans away from the show if it returns for another season. Hommel, at least, already plans to watch.
"Oh definitely," says Hommel. "I just think it's interesting because there's not other shows like it really. . . . It's a half hour once a week for, like, a little bit of entertainment." 