Complaint Review: Marvel Models

May 26,2004

Last Monday I was at the Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island, shopping at the Abercrombie and Fitch store. I was approached by a woman asking if i'd ever modeled before. She gave me her card, told me where the headquarters was and had me set up an appointment for Saturday the 22nd. She walked around the store and left.

I was apprehensive about the whole thing from the start because i am 5'3", not exactly model material. The name on the card that the woman gave me was Adriana Jo Val. I brought the card home to my parents, and my mother called the Better Business Bureau to check out the place. She said it seemed fine and that she would come with me to the meeting. We drove to Needham, MA and tried to find the headquarters to Marvel Models. We finally found it. It was a plain brick building with no signs or business information.

We went into the building, and there was no receptionist or name plates saying anything about where Marvel Models was. We finally found the spot. Marvel Models' headquarters consists of 4 or 5 plain white rooms. They have "Maxim" magazine covers and other magazine covers on the wall. Nowhere on the pictures so I see anything that says Marvel Models on it.

When i got there, i found the supposed Adriana Jo Val- the Vp of New faces. She had me sit in the waiting room. I then got measured by two girls, one looking like she could have been a model, the other, just an assistant. I was then sent to a presentation room. Edward Farazi, the President of Marvel Models was then sent in. He told us about the company, and that Maloof brothers owned it. He showed us the website, and did a model search. He searched a Blonde haired, Blue eyed female, 5'8-5'10 18-25 years old. 31 different models came up. A model came up that had looked familiar, being in Abercrombie and Fitch ads and on the cover of Modern Bride.

I was then sent individually to his office where i was inspected. I showed him the pictures I brought. He told me that i was photogenic, but i needed to meet with a personal trainer to tone. He then told me that I was going to have a second meeting, scheduled for Monday the 24th.

My mother and myself were both feeling apprehensive about this by Monday, so she called looking for Adriana. She was not there so Edward picked up the phone. Her intention was to cancel the interview, but he talked her out of it saying that there were a lot of summer jobs coming about and that he had a New York talent agent from the New York headquarters of Marvel Models there especially for me. We went to the meeting because we thought I had a chance of getting picked.

At the first meeting i was handed a packet telling us about the company and about the different steps to becoming a model. The packet looked like it was hastily typed up. There was no Marvel Models 'crest' at the top. On one of the pages in the packet, it said that for my second meeting i should wear something tight to show off my figure.

Monday arrived and I traveled the 45 minutes with my mother to Marvel Model Headquarters. I went in and filled out a 5 or 6 page question sheet asking questions about my interests, favorite school subjects, my GPA, and some personal questions like whether my parents approved of the modeling idea and whether i had a boyfriend and what he said about it. After i filled out the sheet i met the New York agent and was sent into Edwards office. We talked about what i wrote on the question sheets and why i would want to model. He asked whether i would be professional at all times and whether i would be a dilligent and punctual worker. He told me he was unsure about whether he should sign me or not, and he said he had to make a call to the New York headquarters and ask them whether they should sign me.

I did not think that made much sense considering the supposed New York agent was sitting right next to me. The new york agent sat there and had no questions and basically said nothing the entire time. At one point i looked over at him and he looked like he was ready to fall asleep. He had his eyes closed and looked totally uninterested the entire time. When Edward went into the other room to make a phone call to New York (there was a phone in his office by the way) i could hear the entire conversation, so it seemed that he was projecting his voice quite a bit.

He came in the room and told me i had the job. He then started to tell us that we had to pay $595 upfront for headshots and for him to set up a digital comp card. He also told us that we had to pay $19.95 a month to keep the comp card open.

My mother and myself felt uncomfortable paying all that money but he assured us that i would be making $100-200 an hour so i could pay my mother back for the early expenses easily. We went over the contracts ( which looked unprofessional as well) and we were rushed through the whole process. Edward took two pictures of me. Headshots he called them. They were taken against his gray wall with a digital camera. He said that these would go up on the website. I felt like these were mug shots when i was taking them. When i was leaving i was excited at first thinking that i would be in magazines and everything, but after a while i thought about how he never told us how much of a percentage he would be taking out of my paycheck. He never mentioned if i were going to take professional headshots. My mother and myself felt very uneasy about the entire thing.

The next day my mom called and canceled the contract. She spent the entire night worrying about this. She usually has bad feeling when things are sketchy and going wrong, and Monday the 24th, she was not going with her intuition. Edward had called my cell phone earlier before my mom cancelled saying that he emailed my username and password so i could access my pictures on the marvel models website. I never got that email. When my mom called Adriana Jo Val's number, no one answered.

For a suposedly famous modeling place, there was a lot wrong. There were no professional looking headers on any of the documents i was given. The overall look of the building was drabby. Edward Farazi looked like he was dressed in imposter designer clothing for someone at such a high stature. Adriana Jo Val did not look like someone who would work at a modeling place. The website has almost every link blocked off saying you need to register and get a username and password. The whole situation is sketchy and suspicious and I am so glad that i got out of it.

I wrote this piece so that other girls will know not to sign up for this and get scammed. My mom and me are not gullible people, and i feel so incompetent and used for falling for this scam. Please listen to what i wrote.

Lauren Thorpe
Lakeville, Massachusetts
U.S.A.