HELLO CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THEY THINK OF WILHELMINA FOR KIDS THANKS

Which Wilhemina? I think they are basically a scam but one of them is legit. Did they find you in a mall? Ask you to pay money?

Hi CSilvera,

Good to see you here (you see me more on Showfax board)!

I thought Wilhelmina was one of the biggest modeling agencies along with Ford and Elite. Where did I go wrong?? Or where did THEY go wrong??

Tammy

thanks for replying willy kids on park ave are they good to work for

Wihelmina (Willy Kids) is a highly respected and reputable agency. "Wilhelmina scouting" is another story. Suffice to say, for the purposes of this discussion, Willy Kids on Park Ave is a great agency. And, BTW, you do not work for an agency...you work WITH and agency and the agency works for you.

From The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121925091288656977.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
<I>"The committee identified Mr. Esch in its announcement as co-owner of Wilhelmina, a New York model agency. It didn't mention that he was once chairman of IBH Holdings AG, a big machinery manufacturer that went spectacularly bust in the 1980s. According to reports in this newspaper and others, Mr. Esch was convicted of fraud and breach of trust, and spent several years in German jails."</I>

quote:

Originally posted by Ray and Rita:
From The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121925091288656977.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
"The committee identified Mr. Esch in its announcement as co-owner of Wilhelmina, a New York model agency. It didn't mention that he was once chairman of IBH Holdings AG, a big machinery manufacturer that went spectacularly bust in the 1980s. According to reports in this newspaper and others, Mr. Esch was convicted of fraud and breach of trust, and spent several years in German jails."

Ray and Rita, you have pointed this out many many times. However, I have not seen anything that indicates Wilhelmina is less than legitimate. This is one sentence in the article about his involvement in Olympic Handball. The article has nothing to do with Mr. Esch and his business dealings. Can't believe you dug up a three month old thread for this.

quote:

Originally posted by kipmil:
Can't believe you dug up a three month old thread for this.

Because this press clip is NOT three months old but CURRENT. By-line is:

"By BARRY NEWMAN
August 21, 2008"

Also some people don't realize that the real Wilhelmina was involved in the big scam. I have a copy of a cease and desist letter sent by Wilhelmina's lawyers complaining that money had stopped coming in from the scam. I can bring it to the get together planned for Monday evening.

I have met people who were financially hurt by the scam involving the real Wilhelmina.

I just finished reading a very large book about Lou Pearlman - Transcontinental Talent Network - Wilhelmina Scouting Network and according to the book Mr. Esch's company made a deal to allow use of the Wilhelmina name to Pearlman for $25 million - and was to be paid $50,000 weekly back in 2003 for the use of the name. Like most scam operations, a name the invokes trust is valuable to them.

There was quite a conflict between Wilhelmina's long standing stance against model conventions and the scouting business model, and their actions related to partnering with Pearlman.

The deal didn't go well for long though.. in 2004 Pearlman stopped paying, and there were suits and countersuits.

Mr. Esch did have a prior criminal record before purchasing Wilhelmina that involved financial fraud, described as inaccurate accounting reporting.

I'm not sure what bearing, if any, that has on the reputation of Wilhelmina in the industry today, but it does show that for a price, they did compromise themselves in the past.

P

quote:

Originally posted by Ray and Rita:

quote:

Originally posted by kipmil:
Can't believe you dug up a three month old thread for this.

I said the THREAD was old, not the article. I am fully aware that the article is current. But the news is old...nothing new, no updates...just the same old stuff being brought up again, and I am sure that every single time Esch is mentioned in the media, this same old facts will be brought up.

quote:

Originally posted by kipmil:
I am sure that every single time Esch is mentioned in the media, this same old facts will be brought up.

Do you think that there will come a time when we can say that he has been rehabilitated?

To go back to the original posters question. I'm thinking you are talking about the NY agency. Wilhelmina in NY is a great modeling agency for kids. They are considered a mgr. when it comes to acting. If your child was represented by them they would go out through a number of agencies. I have heard great things about Terri (the person in charge of the children's division) If I were just starting out with my kids or decided my child needed a mgr I wouldn't think twice about giving them a call.

Back in my smaller days I was approached by Wilhelmina Scounting (scam which the guy told us he was not with Wilhelmina in NY and not to get the two confused, said he was out of Philidelphia, PA) and after I had my son I was interested in finding info on modeling for babies and kids and Wilhelmina came up and I did more research and learned that as a business move they loaned out part of their name for profit with the understanding that this company would be on the up and up.

To answer you question, Wilhelmina in NY is legit and from my understanding one of the top agencies for kids.