In this instructional video, Aaron Marcus warns actors and commercial models about the hidden financial and career risks of doing stock photography. He first distinguishes commercial modeling from fashion modeling, explaining that commercial work includes a wide range of ages, looks, and body types and often requires believable expressions for use in magazines, billboards, and product packaging. He then outlines four specific ways stock photography can cost actors money or damage their careers: (1) Model‑release contracts for stock shots are usually non‑negotiable, allowing photographers to use the image anywhere, which can deprive the actor of higher‑paying licensing fees (e.g., TV commercials) and result in only a modest hourly payment. (2) Uncontrolled image placement can associate the actor with objectionable or unwanted brands, harming mental health and future employability. (3) Brand conflicts arise when a stock image appears in a campaign for a competitor (e.g., a fast‑food chain), potentially disqualifying the actor from future work with that sector. (4) Legal complications occur when a stock image is later discovered in a context (e.g., pharmaceutical advertising) that the actor is unaware of, leading to contract breaches or liability. Throughout, Marcus emphasizes the importance of long‑term career strategy over short‑term cash, encourages viewers to modify model‑release forms when possible, and promotes his website howtoactandmodel.com, a free mailing list, and a bonus video about two life‑changing words. He concludes with a call to subscribe, like, and share personal stock‑photography experiences.
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Warning! Hey, in this video, I'm going to be sharing with you 4 ways actors can lose money by doing stock photography. Hey, and if you watch this to the end, I've got a great bonus video for you. These 2 words changed my life for the better. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. There are a lot of actors who do stock photography, and this is a kind of division of commercial modeling. Let me just make sure you're familiar with this because a lot of people aren't. So there are 2 major types of modeling. There's fashion modeling— very tall, thin men, women who walk the runways, and they are promoting high-end designer clothes. You have to have very specific statistics, ages, in order to do this, to do this kind of work, and, and a very specific look. There's commercial modeling, which is something I love doing. I've done hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of commercial modeling jobs over the years, and it's, it's filled with actors and models who are sometimes just drop-dead gorgeous, men who are incredibly handsome. And, and for people like me as well, just regular looking people, your next-door neighbor. And the thing that I love about commercial modeling is that they need everybody from infants, people in their 80s, everybody in between, all heights, all looks, all sizes, all body types. And the trick is you really want to be able to show believable expressions. Because these are still shots that are used in magazines, brochures, billboards, sides of buses, on products, and things like that. Now, within commercial modeling, there's something called stock photography, and there are stock photographers. And what they do is they will hire an actor or a model and do these tests. Essentially, they're almost like test shots. They are generic photos that they will upload into stock photography websites, and they hope that companies will rent or sometimes just buy out those images. Now, lots of people do them. I don't. And the reason why I don't is because I just know that you can lose money doing stock photography. So let me just give you an example of a stock shot. Maybe it's somebody sitting at a table, Um, there the plate looks really greasy. The person has this horrible stomachache. They feel miserable. That could be a— matter of fact, I've seen those. Those are powerful stock photography shots. Now, one of the ways that you could lose money by doing stock photography work is this. Now, you will get paid, um, and, and those fees vary. It could be $50, $75 an hour, $100 an hour, $125 an hour. It will vary quite a bit. It's all negotiable. Um, but here's the deal. When you do a commercial modeling ad, there is something called a model release form. Model release form is giving— once you sign it, it gives the photographer permission to use your image, which you have to sign. Now, personally, I always make some changes in there to make sure they can only use it in the way that we had agreed to ahead of time, you know, for newspaper only, magazine only, etc. That's a whole other, uh, quick tip video just dealing with model release forms. But I do make changes. For a stock shot, you will sign a release form that you cannot change. The photographer needs to be able to use your image anywhere because the photographer doesn't— it doesn't matter to the photographer where it's used. And I can tell you, I have seen— matter of fact, one of them was that shot where somebody felt miserable, they had a bad stomachache, and it was on a brochure. I saw it in a doctor's office, and I was watching a TV show And all of a sudden I see that image— it was a still shot— as part of the commercial. And it had nothing to do with pharmaceutical stuff. It was, it was something like protect your identity, you know, you're going to feel miserable. And so because that person did a stock shot, they got paid their small amount of money for the print aspect of it, but they got nothing for the TV commercial. Which— this was a national spot. This should have been a lot of money for the actor, but they made nothing because you have to sign that release form as is. Before I get to the second way that you can lose money doing stock photography, I just want to make sure you know I've got a new website, howtoactandmodel.com. You should go there. There are lots— there's lots of great information, but you can sign up to be on my free mailing list And you will even get a great bonus video. It's 6 secrets to learning how to create great home auditions. You get that free. So go to howtoactamodel.com, sign up to be on my list, get this great video. Another way that you can lose money— actually, this one I wouldn't say you're necessarily going to lose money, but it's going to be bad for your mental health. It's going to be bad for your life. Look, when you do the stock shot, once again, you have no idea where it's being used. And I have heard of situations where people have done shots that ended up promoting companies, organizations that they don't want to be involved with. Like, for instance, and I'm going to have to kind of disguise this a little bit, but attractive woman, did a nice, just a smiley, kind of almost like a headshot kind of thing. And her image was used for a, an online service for men to contact them. And her image was connected with this organization, with this company. And I know that this woman felt horrible About that, you sign a release giving them permission to use it anywhere. So, and it is possible you could lose money from that because maybe some other organization, I don't know, working with children might not want to use that person whose image is being used for this particular kind of company. So that is the second way that you could feel horrible and potentially lose money. And by the way, before I forget, if you ever experience something either positive or negative. Look, there are some positive things about doing stock photography. You will get a really great shot that you can use online for your portfolio. You will get paid something. There are dangers though when you do it. But if you've done any stock photography, whether it's positive or negative, please share it here with us so we can learn from you. Third way, there is something called conflicts. So if you do a shot and it ends up, you know, being, I don't know, part of McDonald's ad campaign, now that's going to potentially cut you out of any competitors for fast food restaurants, whether it's print or TV. So that could be a really damaging kind of shot for you. You do get that initial fee, And it's not that much, but it could cost you in the long run. One other thing I forgot to mention, uh, if you haven't subscribed to this channel yet, don't forget, click the, uh, subscribe button, click the notification bell so you always know when I upload a new video. If you like it, give it a thumbs up because that's actually very, very helpful. 4th way. Now this also has to do with conflicts, but here's the deal. Once again, once you do the shot, you have no idea where it's going to end up. The photographer doesn't contact the model and say, hey, by the way, just wanted to let you know this ad just got used for, I don't know, blood thinning medications. It's a new pill. You have— you really have no idea. So if you did the stock shot, did a stock shot, and then all of a sudden you get a contact and a possibility to audition for TV commercial or maybe even a print ad for a pharmaceutical, and they're probably going to ask you, do you have any shots done, or have you ever worked for blood thinning medication organization, company, pharmaceutical company? You're going to say, no, I haven't, because you don't know where that stock shot ended up. And let's say you get cast, let's say you do the job. And all of a sudden they find out, the company finds out that your image is actually being used. It was a stock shot for a competitor. There are all kinds of legal ramifications, all kinds of legal issues that could pop up. You could be owing people a lot of money for that. So look, I never tell people what to do. It's not my place to do that. I'm just telling you, I don't do stock photography. These are the reasons why I don't do stock photography. And it's your call. And like I said, there are plenty of— lots of people who do it, and there are some benefits. But you want to— when you're running your acting and/or modeling business, you want to think long-term. You want to think big business, not just for right now. And you want to do things that aren't going to potentially hurt you in the future. So I wanted to make sure you know about that really quickly. I did mention I was going to share a bonus video. You'll see it right up here, and it's 2 words: that completely changed my life for the better. Hope you enjoy it. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. See ya.
