Mark Niemi, Creative Images And Model Management ripoff RIPOFF SEX OFFENDER, SEXUAL DEVIANT, LIAR, HORNY, CREEPY, AGGRESSIVE, SHADY, OVERWEIGHT CREEP TRIED TO MOLEST ME DURING MY PHOTOSHOOT. NEW LENOX, CHICAGO Illinois
I Was contacted by MARK NIEMI from CREATIVE IMAGES AND MODEL MANAGEMENT through One Model Place. He emailed me saying he was interested in having me come by his studio (Studio 306 - 2215 S Union Street, Chicago IL 60616) so that he can talk to me about several jobs he could get for me.
I emailed him back requesting more information about the potential jobs and he said he would rather give me the details in person. He said he needed me to come in as soon as possible because the jobs were in the next few days and he had to get some snapshots of me to see how photogenic I was.
Trusting him (What a horribe decision) I went in for the test shoot and evaluation. He told me to wear very tight clothes to the shoot because he needed to "get a good look at my figure". When I arrived at theis very very shady and creepy building which Mark said was his studio I began to get real nervous.
Mark Also said that there would be a make up artist and a hairstylist present but when i got there they were not around. MArk Said they called and were "Sick" and that "not to worry" becuase he knows how to do that too. He then began to rub my hair and brush my face saying you have beautiful hair and such perfect skin.
At this point I was very nervouse because we were the only people in this "warehouse" and he was already touching me within 5 minutes of being there. At this point I told him maybe this isn't going to work out and that I was going to leave. He then started saying that he had a few jobs for Maxim Magazine, Soak Magazine and Possibly Playboy and that if I left I would never have an opportunity like this again.
He also kept saying "trust me" "Trust me". I explaind that because I was only 17 I could't do Playboy anyway. He then said that he could take the pictures now and that he wouldn't send them to Playboy until I was 18 which is like 10 months away. I was shocked. He then told me to walk back and forth and to turn in a circle in front of him so he could evaluate me.
He said that he has seen thousands of models and he had an "eye" for talent. He then asked me to put on a bikini because he needed to see if I was "Maxim Material". I showed him the bikini I brought and he said it was too 'Not sexy". He then pulled out a thong bikini for me to put on. He also joked "if you need help putting it on to let him know".
That's when I decided that this wasn't going to go any further. I told him I was going to leave and I wasn't interested in working with a creep like him. He then started threatening me saying he will blacklist me and that a I would never model because he knows all these people. I didn;t care and if I am then oh well. Nothing is worth being touched and possible raped by this overweight scam artist that only wants one thing.
If you are contacted by Mark Niemi from Creative Images and Model Management i recommend you run as fast as you can and call the police. He is a Liar and a Molester. STAY AWAY FROM MARK NIEMI AND CREATIVE IMAGES AND MODEL MANAGEMENT - DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU...
Jennifer
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Mark
Chicago,Illinois,
U.S.A.
Photographer/Owner
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, May 19, 2009
It's time to reply to this ridiculous posting
I saw this posting shortly after it was up. I contacted my lawyers and there were two things I could do. 1.) Spend $10,000 - $15,000 in legal fees to try to get it removed or 2.) ignore it. I didn't have the lawyer's fees so guess which option I took. They told me at the time to not even give this posting a response. Go here to see the lawsuits against the Rip Off Report and it's owner: http://www.ezripofflawsuit.com/
The posting is totally untrue. Please read on
There was a modeling agency that I started to shoot for. They were called Marvel Models. They had several locations around the country and their Chicago office in Oak Brook Terrace, IL. Dan was the Chicago area manager, along with Krystal and a host of other clowns.
If any of you reading this signed up with them, I am sorry you were scammed by them. BE IT KNOWN I was NOT an employee of them. I was an Independent Contractor paid by them to do model shoots. They charged a fee upwards of $300 to join then a monthly website maintenance fee. I did one test shoot of a model they sent me to see if they liked my work. They did. So, within another 60 days we were setting up a Saturday at my studio to shoot approx. 8 models that they signed and were sending to me for their portfolio shoot. I knew something was up when a model arrived and said to me, hey, you aren't a bald black man!.
Marvel had sent out a picture of a photographer to the models of a black photographer from NYC. We all started talking as a group at my studio and others found out what each had paid to join. Some were as little as $300 and some were as high as $1,500. The models started to quiz me and I assured them I was NOT an employee of Marvel. I tried calling Dan's cell phone, no answer.
Instead of just sending all the models home, I did the shoot. Successfully. Then when I contacted Dan to get payment, he said mail the cd's and we will mail a check to you for the shoots. I told him no and started asking questions. It became very obvious that he was taking an offense with me and trying to intimidate me and to just send him the cd's. I didn't fall for it and could clearly see something was not right. So our negotiations continued for a week with Dan getting very rude and almost threatening tones to his conversation. That next Monday I went to his office in Oak Brook Terrace and they were gone. The building management told me they came in late Sunday night and totally cleared out their office suite.
A day went by and Dan calls me. I questioned what was going on. He said they were moving to a new office on Chicago's near west Loop. I told him I would meet him there and give him the cd's and I would only accept cash for payment because I didn't trust anything that was going on. This infuriated him and he hung up.
I went to the Chicago address he gave me. He said the office was being painted and ready to move in within a week. There was no Marvel Models office in that building and I talked to the building management and they told me they had never heard of any company called Marvel Models.
Dan calls me back within the next few days. He was swearing at me and threatened me with a lawsuit if I didn't mail the cd's. I told him no. The next day his cell number was disconnected. That same day, this posting showed up. By the way, there was another photographer in Chicago that told some of his models to stay away from Marvel after he had talked to Dan in regards to shooting for him as well low and behold, there was another posting about that photographer on Rip Off Report - written in the same way. When you read that posting and re-read it, it really does sound like a middle aged guy trying to write a report coming from a teenaged girl's point of view.
Sometimes I am embarrassed to be part of this industry because of all the unscrupulous people without any ethics. I am happy to be able to say that I have nothing but excellent references and have hundreds of models that I have work with attest to this.
I did contact the owner of the website to have it removed. He would not. He even said take me to court if you want because there is a loop-hole in the law in regards to internet postings. The sad truth is that ANYONE can go onto Rip Off Report and write ANYTHING about ANYONE and no one can do a thing about it. The information posted does not have to be signed, address given or anything.
This site and its owner have been sued many times. Google the owners name and you'll see.
All I care to say now is that if you believe this post, then it's best that we do not ever work together. Also for my own protection, I am one of the few photographers that suggest that an escort comes to the shoot with the model. If they don't, I always will have an assistant or make-up artist present. I NEVER shoot new models with no one else around and a model under 18 MUST have a parent or guardian present at the shoot.
Mark Niemi
Photographer/Manager
By the way Marvel Models still owes me about $2,500