Modeling school's steep price

Chris Hansen Correspondent • Profile

For a lot of girls, it's the ultimate fantasy: to be discovered and make it big as a model or actress.

There are people who offer everything — from classes, to meetings with casting agents — to help make that dream come true.

Some parents are willing to pay thousands of dollars to help their daughters... but do they always get their money's worth?

For some, the dream takes hold with an advertisement.

George Burke, parent:  It all started when my daughter saw an ad in a paper we knew nothing about. 

George and Deborah Burke are the parents of twins Alexis and Alezea. Alexis started the ball rolling when she filled out an ad for a modeling and acting school. She found the ad in the back of a teen magazine.

It was for Barbizon, a 70-year-old company that started as a charm school. It now sells modeling and acting school franchises that are individually owned and operated.

George Burke: So everyday she was asking where the mail was. So one day she came back so she got accepted to go to this Barbizon thing. My wife said, "Well, you know, she took the incentive as a 9-year-old to go ahead and do this.  I mean, how can I tell my 9-year-old kid no?"

Joan Schrier and Anna Trombley also have children with big dreams and they too wanted to support their kids.

Anna Trombley, parent: I believed in her.  I believed she could do it. 

Joan Schrier, parent: I think both my kids do have the "it" factor. 

Joan Schrier's son is 9 years old, and her daughter is 14. 

Joan Schrier:  I think my daughter has a great personality. She has the height.  I think she could be good if she pursues this. 

And so, they let their girls try out for the Barbizon school and then they waited.

Alezea Burke, model hopeful: We had to tell them our age and turn around and walk. They said they'd call you back.

The next day, the phone rang...

Francesca Trombley, model hopeful: They called [me] and said [I was] accepted into Barbizon school.

All of them were accepted.

The girls showed us some of the moves they'd learned.

Anna Trombley: They told us she had "the look."

Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent: "The look"?

Anna Trombley: Yeah.  A look for television.  And with a little more training that she could go on to further herself with this business.

The training consists of twelve classes over four to six months.

Alezea Burke, model hopeful: It was okay. There was a lot of girls in there so we were crowded.

Alexis Burke, model hopeful: We had to take these classes, like how to do your make-up, how to eat, like where to put your fork and your knife and your plate... and how to model, how to walk, and pose... that kind of stuff.

But as you may have imagined, there was a catch: one with a lot of zeros behind it. A woman from Barbizon explained it to them.

George Burke: She told me it was $3,600.

Hansen: $3,600?

George Burke: That was just to go to Barbizon.

Joan Schrier: Between $1,200 and $1,500 for the Barbizon classes.

Anna Trombley: Basically the schooling for Barbizon cost us of over $3,000.

That's for a lifetime membership and once they'd completed the Barbizon classes, they were given a chance to take it to the next level and try out for a shot to be seen at the International Modeling and Talent Association convention, IMTA, in New York. Students from Barbizon and other modeling and acting schools must earn a spot to attend.

George Burke: One of my twins didn't make it.

George says he told Barbizon he wouldn't send just one of the girls.

George Burke: So they said, "Well, we can work with her." So they accepted my other child.

Hansen: So how did you feel when the folks at Barbizon said, "Hey, your daughter's been chosen to go to IMTA"?

Anna Trombley: I thought, "Terrific.  Wow.  My kid is gonna actually get something from this."

But guess what?  After passing this second audition, allowing the girls to go to the convention, there was yet another price tag... an even bigger one.

George Burke: It was $4,700 per child to come to New York for a week.  That's with a discount. I have to have this paid cash before the competition starts and then for my wife to go with my children it was an additional $2,800. 

Along with a chance to be seen by talent agents, George says the convention fee covers training sessions, a hotel room for a week in New York, a photo in the program and an awards dinner. So he handed over $12,200 cash for both girls and their mom to attend the convention.

For Anna, it was money she didn't have.

Anna Trombley: Well, I had to take a second job to help her go to the IMTA.

Is that the way it works in the glamour world? Pay as you go? Not according to the head of one of the most successful modeling agencies in the country.

Neal Hamil, Elite Model Management: All they really have to do is just on the Internet and send us your pictures. 

Neal Hamil is North American director of Elite Model Management, considered one of the top modeling agencies in the world. He says it doesn't cost a dime to get discovered.

Hamil: Go outside with a digital camera in the sunlight, pull their hair back, take their makeup off, take some photographs, download them and hit send.  And someone very qualified here will look at those.  And if they have potential, they'll hear from us.

So if models don't have to pay to be discovered, what exactly is going on at Barbizon?  And at that big convention. Just how easy is it to get discovered? What are they getting for they're thousands of dollars?

What better way to find out if this is really the way to be discovered than to audition ourselves?

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