Paloma Model & Talent

Unilocal, negative stars please!
My kids are half Asian and were immediately denied, in a ludicrous way.
I submitted both of my kids through the website. Paloma e-​mailed back quickly to request pics via e-​mail as the web submission did not go through. I emailed pics of my ½ Asian daughter. Immediate denial.
Later, Paloma e-​mailed to request pics of my son. I spent some time getting settled instead of responding right away. She denied him as well. After I took cute pics, I e-​mailed them to Paloma. Her response, it’s been too long. I asked why there was a deadline. She told me I could always resubmit. I resubmitted through the website. She denied him not 10 seconds later.
Thanks for the power trip Paloma. This agency does not pass the reasonability check.

I can’t say it how much I love Paloma and their team. They’re the best. My first daughter is 4 yrs old and she’s been with Paloma since she was 10 months old and my second daughter is 9 months old. It’s been very good so far with Paloma. They’re always up and up about everything, no hidden fees, or hidden messages. Very straightforward. This kind of industry is vey hard so sometimes you have to have thicker skin. As long as you follow the procedure and all, Paloma will get you the best jobs ever. Thanks Paloma,
Alyssa, Melinda, and Elizabeth!

My daughter began working with PMT through a referral from a friend who saw they were looking for babies for a TV show. More than three years later, my daughter is still a client, and I’m still very happy with PMT. Paloma and her team know their stuff and they work hard – I’ve gotten emails or texts about things late at night and even on weekends. Their clients definitely get work, and in my experience, PMT seems to have «first-​look» relationships with more than a few casting directors and brands.
I also love the amount of time, attention, and «touch» Paloma and the other agents give their clients. I’ve heard that at some other agencies, you don’t actually get to communicate directly with your agent. That’s not the case with PMT. It’s also not unusual for them to participate in threads in PMT’s Facebook groups or make posts to share information and insight to help us know more about the industry or better prepare our kids. And the communities they’ve created for us parents on Facebook are a nice touch too.
As for the length and/​or tone of communications with Paloma and the other agents, yes, they are usually brief and to the point. I’ll admit that it caught me off guard at first, but then I got over it because I realized: 1) It’s not personal. They frequently say very clearly, thoroughly (and humbly) how much they love and appreciate and are grateful for the kids and us parents. 2) They are super busy; they have many clients and are working on many projects at once – they can’t do that if they’re carrying on long conversations with every parent about every photo approval, audition notice, booking confirmation.
From what I’ve seen over the past three-​plus years, there are three situations that seem to lead some parents to be unhappy with PMT:
1. They are (understandably) excited about their child being selected by the agency or getting a lot of auditions and/​or bookings and mistakenly take that to mean their child is somehow «special» to the agency. When they see that the level and type of contact, communication, relationship doesn’t change to match their perception, they get annoyed and leave.
2. They don’t understand the commitment and/​or expectations required, or they don’t bother to read the info they’re given about all of that when their child joins PMT. It’s simple: Keep your child’s stats and photos updated, and have your child available when you say they are. Period. PMT has no problem dropping kids whose parents don’t keep up their end of the bargain.
3. They blame PMT for things that are just the nature of the industry. You got a notice today for an audition tomorrow… in Santa Monica… during your child’s naptime… and they have to wear winter clothes for it… and audition against 100 other kids? That’s the industry, not PMT submitting for crappy jobs. Your toddler hasn’t had an audition since they were a baby? That’s the industry being honest about toddlers being unpredictable and difficult to work with, not PMT not submitting your child. Your child didn’t get an audition for a project you think they’d be great for? The casting director or the company whose project it is didn’t feel the same way, not PMT.
If you avoid these three pitfalls, PMT can be a great agency to be part of. I love it and have happily recommended it to others many times over the years, and will continue to do so.

PMT is one of the best kids agencies nationwide. It is a huge agency yet the amount of attention they give each individual child is pretty amazing. I have been a photographer in the business for 10 years now, and rarely see agents give so much attention to the photos (including taking their time to review the photos of the wardrobe prior to the shoot, really making sure the photographer knows what type of photos they want) — all so their kids end up with great usable photos. When I do castings, PMT is the first agency to submit the kids to the casting call. It seems, they never sleep:) And they have families of their own:) Having met Paloma in person, she is truly wonderful and super nice! You may not think that because her emails ARE very short and super to the point, so if you are a new parent, you just need to not take it personally. She probably has over 300 emails I day, I can bet. The agency is demanding of their represented talent, so if you are not serious about the business and do not want to devote too much time — better not sign and save yourself a lot of stress:) Because you will be expected to go to auditions, and update photos, your casting profile, and do everything you got to do:) Overall, I commend them on their amazing dedication and care, and always happy to refer new parents to them:)

If I could give less stars I would. If you have small babies and toddlers, as I do, you will be dealing with Paloma. She is beyond obnoxious and her emails are curt, rude, and rarely make any sense. She is very ugly, both inside and out, and it seems that she obtains a sense of joy and satisfaction by being rude to her talent. She frequently posts rude things on the PMT FB page complaining about emails she has received from moms or «stupid» questions she feels that they ask. It’s pretty obvious that she has been an outcast her entire life and she now feels important and likes to try to make other people feel small.
The only reason this company has positive reviews is because Paloma posts on FB requesting that moms leave positive feedback. Everyone on the FB sucks up to Paloma so much that it’s actually nauseating, I guess they think that it will help their kids book jobs. Maybe it does, I don’t know because I refused to play that game. The only place to get honest feedback about how much everyone hates Paloma is at the auditions, everyone there is offended by her emails and rude FB posts.
My kids booked jobs for Carters and Target so you know they are adorable, yet PMT wasn’t able to even get them future auditions. Save your sanity and submit your kids somewhere else.

Paloma Model & Talent is awesome! My son and I signed with them about a month ago under their new Adult & Teen division and fortunately we’ve been going to many great auditions around LA. In fact, my son just booked a major PSA commercial audition that they found for him this week. Yay! We are so very thankful for their amazing support, professionalism, and warm family-​like atmosphere as a talent agency. They have treated us very well and for that we thank them greatly. Regina Lines heads up their Adult & Teen division and she is truly the epitome of a professional talent agent. I expect her to do many great things as an agent come 2016. We’ve had agents in LA, Miami, Amsterdam, and Tokyo and so far she’s our favorite. We also love the rest of the ladies at Paloma too. They’re all very nice and sweet. Such a fantastic talent agency. We are very blessed. Thank you again Paloma Model & Talent for helping our quest to make our lifelong dreams come true.

By far the worst agency, not even worth a star. The staff is completely unprofessional and rude. They feel you are at their mercy, but no not desperate. Have a blessed day :)

If your kid is Asian… He or she won’t be accepted. I’ve had many friends apply (and their kids have past experience in modeling). They seem to only accept Caucasian or American races.
Update: why are people so upset with my opinion? Unilocal is a place where you are free to write what you want. Seems like Paloma makes either fake profiles or pays people to review on top of the negative comments so they can get more star ratings. Sorry but you’re not going to play that card with me lol. And to everyone else mind your own business I have my own opinions just like all of you… No need to get hurt over perspective and experience

Let me start by saying that this isn’t my first rodeo. When my 18-​year-​old was an infant, she was sent out on a ton of auditions, which she booked a lot of work. We were treated with respect by that agency. (Her agents were osbrink, who represents talent as big as Dakota Fanning as well as her other agent, Ford Models) So I thought, hey why not get my twins an agent? This could be fun. I did a lot of homework and I had a friend that referred me to Paloma. The only reason we chose Paloma was because my friend had such rave reviews, but then again, her kids were booking a lot of work.
I love that they didn’t make you drive down to the office, didn’t want to make you sign a contract, it seemed easy in a life of mine that’s already quite busy,
They pride themselves on being working moms and seem to understand how life is so busy for mothers. I thought to myself this is great, from one mother to another, they get it. And if you’re a working, busy mom, you know what I’m talking about.
Well, we ended up meeting with Alyssa, about eight months ago. My 18-​year-​old decided that she wanted to get back into the business and Alyssa wanted to meet with her. She also met my twins for the first time.
Fast forward eight months, I got a phone call tonight from Alyssa asking us to confirm an audition for tomorrow. She stated that she needed to meet my kids, clearly not remembering even who they were, having met them eight months prior. When I tried to refresh her memory, she backpedaled and tried to act as if she remembered who they were. I was quite insulted and told her that I was really shocked that she didn’t even seem to remember who my children were and maybe we should reevaluate our relationship.
She back peddled even further and then tried to throw it on me, that my twins haven’t booked any work in eight months and in the middle of my sentence told me she didn’t need to have a five-​minute conversation with me.
I’m quite appalled that someone that is representing my children would dare speak to a parent that way and be so unprofessional. It’s pretty clear that unless you’re booking tons of jobs, you’re a small fish in a big sea.
Let me tell you, I’m not a disgruntled mom. I know my kids are beautiful and this is just the nature of this business, but to be treated by rude and unprofessional agents is not acceptable.
Look into your options.

I enjoyed our time with PMT. Sure they have high expectations, but they are very clear about that from the get go. I found Alyssa and Paloma to be professionals. I only left due to my own inability to meet audition expectations as far as being able to go last minute, etc. I couldn’t keep up with what they expected and outlined so I graciously bowed out. I couldn’t hold that against them!

This agency is awesome! My daughter has been on a whirlwind of auditions and callbacks in just over a month since she signed up with PMT. The quality of the jobs they send their talent on is fantastic. The agents and their staff are very professional and responsive — answering emails at all hours of the day and night.
They are very clear and upfront about their expectations — they will work hard for you, but you need to do your part. At the end of the day, your agent only makes 10−20%, so that means you need to be doing the other 80−90%. If you aren’t ready to do that — meaning showing up to all auditions, keeping your photos and profile up to date and investing in your kid’s career then you may want to rethink whether or not this business is a fit for you.

My son was with Paloma Model and Talent. During our time there we were given a lot of guidance and advice from Alyssa which was very helpful. She had great suggestions for acting classes, photographers etc. Thery were always very supportive and were quick to answer emails and calls. He went on a lot of auditions and got a lot of experience.
We had a great experience with them.

We had the opportunity to represented by PMT for 2 years. In that time we grew and learned so much about the business. The agents were always available via email ²⁴⁄₇. They also have a community of parents that support one another and help each other out, beyond business duties. This is an excellent agency for babies and children up to teenage years. They know what they are doing and have excellent print and commercial connections. Theatrical they expanding as well. I would highly recommend this agency to parents just starting out in this crazy business!!! We are a huge fan of PMT

Been with PMT since they started. Very professional. I’ve been with other agencies before (for myself and my oldest child) and never had such an amazing experience. We have gotten so much personalized guidance, including: evaluations, feedback, fantastic communication through their online group that lets us know of additional opportunities for experience, etc. They are passionate about what they do and really go the extra mile (or 10) for their talent.

My daughter recently joined the Paloma Model and Talent family. We are all thrilled that they liked her and that she has the opportunity to be working with such a powerful agency in this very competitive line of work. I did a lot of research and talked to others in the industry comparing the many different children casting agencies and heard a lot of good things about this agency. I have also been told that they are in LA’s Top 5 children’s casting agencies and it shows by the amount of work their kids get with many big name household companies.
As long as they continue their high standards and keep working hard for my daughter, we will stick with them as long as they will have us! :)
#74 /​100
Unilocal 100 Review Challenge

I left a message to call back. A lady calls back. Very rude.
I want to cast my baby not to make money but for the experience. I can tell the experience will be terrible and I don’t want my son to go thru that.
No go for me.

My son has been with Paloma since the Jet Set days. Its disappointing to read several of the negative reviews about her demeanor and the parents that are giving this agency a negative review because of their lack of understanding about this industry. You will not get a week or a month’s notice to go to an audition because the industry doesn’t work that way. It’s expected that you will get a notification the day or even the night before. I work full time and live in San Diego, yes there are long days to drive to LA for a 5 minute audition but if you can’t swing it don’t blame that on PMT.
The best part about this agency is the family that has been created amongst the members. We are supportive of all of our children’s success and I have formed strong friendships as well. We are all eager to supply one another with questions anyone has with this business from what to wear on auditions and how to file tax returns!
Bottom line like most others’ have said you can’t expect to have your hand held in this industry. Paloma and Alysa (along with all staff) literally work day and night to run this business. If our children aren’t successful, they aren’t successful, so they fight for our kids nonstop. I couldn’t ask for better agents!

Seriously, anyone who gave negative reviews for PMT were either hurt because their kid was rejected or are overly sensitive. Two major things you cannot be in this business.
Sadly, I had to take my son out of PMT because I now have a full time job & no one else can take my baby to auditions and bookings. I miss them dearly. Paloma, Alyssa & team were very professional. As long as you keep your kid’s pictures & stats current you will get casting calls for big names like Target, Carter’s, Gymboree, Huggies, H&M, and many many more. My son booked several jobs during our stay with PMT.
I highly recommend this agency!

My friend recommended them because he got a few print /​commercial gigs for his son while he was a toddler.
I think you go into this thinking that yes this would be a great idea, the kid is cute and if they can make money while they are young and build up some kind of college fund… why not?
When I went to his first shoot, he was only 7 – 8 months, I noticed the mom’s were neurotic about making sure their babies would perform. These are babies. They will do what they do and a good photographer is going to know how to work with the talent. Personally, I got turned off by this. It reeked of Toddlers and Tiara’s parent child dynamic. Not all parents who do choose this path with their child behave like freaks. More important, I didn’t realize enrolling in this type of business would create additional layers family complexity and stress. I would get a string of calls late at night from PMT with a new super important casting call and I needed to drop everything I was doing and be there early am next morning. If I was in a business meeting and couldn’t call back, I would be expected to provide an explanation of why I didn’t answer my phone and be yelled at if I couldn’t attend.
I have also had the experience of canceling all my meetings to drive a total of 7 hours for a «meeting». Basically, it’s to check out your kid for 1 – 2 mins max and then maybe they will call you. You have to have a very flexible job or have no job or have a full time nanny and one parent doing this to make it really work. The amount of success you will have in this business solely depends on the parents desire and commitment and tolerance for this business.
PMT does a good job hustling, organizing, and most of all pushing parents and children to get out in front of as many opportunities as possible. Despite us ending the relationship with the PMT, I’m really glad I had the opportunity to experience it.

I am an actor and my 2 sons are with PMT. They get my sons in the door all the time. The negative reviews here are from people who don’t understand how agencies work here in LA. If you want your hand held and long conversations, get a manager. Agents have a lot of actors on the books so conversations have to be brief. All agencies have streamlined rules… you must follow them. This is a great agency for kids and it is respected amongst casting agents.
UPDATE Jun 2014
I have to address the negative review from the guy whose sons were with PMT for 6 years but then writes a 1 star review. Make your own mind up but for someone who wasn’t happy 6 years is a long time to stay somewhere… like saying you hate BK but ate there for 6 years but always preferred McDonalds. Sour grapes are everywhere in this business.