THE VALUE OF A SUPERMODEL

Before anything else, I would love to remind everyone that the primary concern of writing these horror stories is to shed light and share some of the things that the public know nothing about in this glamorous world I work in. Not everything is peachy and nice.

I am not also here to embarrass anyone or any group in particular, nor do I have vengeful motives despite the things done to me. This purging hopefully will correct shortcomings and mistakes done, and wishfully not be repeated in the future.

Now, what gives me the right to judge these as right or wrong? You.

The readers out there, the followers, friends and frenemies.

You all are free to comment in favor of what has transpired, or call me out if I have misjudges or misinterpreted the situation. If I made a mistake, I will accept the responsibility. But if I am right, I need to call it out so that we can correct and learn from it.

So, I will again be very careful of names. I will try to be polite. And I will try to be fair in narrating the events that follow. You in turn will comment, agree, disagree, say your 2 cents worth or keep playing the guessing game we all love. But always remember one very important thing,

at the end of the day, is night.

Now on with the story.

I suddenly got a call from a Supermodel friend whom I haven’t seen for a while. She wants to have dinner and catch up. Supermodel and I have a long history together. She can even just show up any time in my studio, in my house and still continue a conversation we had left even if it were a year ago.

We decided to go to the mall and have Vietnamese (that in it, is a clue if any of you saw me in the mall recently). She finally confessed that she wanted to vent and tell me her terrible ordeal.

On a fateful Saturday afternoon, Supermodel gets a call.

A certain publication wants her to be the cover for this month.

She was flattered of course and expressed her interest. She, always the professional, asked the whens, the wheres and the hows.

A mild meek voice on the other end of the line, presumably the Editorial Assistant, replied as such;

“Ah.. naku.. ah Ma’m..kasi shoot ho tayo this Thursday. Available ho ba kayo?”

“Thursday? As in 5 days from now? Bilis naman..” Supermodel exclaimed.

“Ah .. eh, oo nga Ma’m.. sorry eh biglaan kasi.” the mild voice of the Editorial Assistant replied.

“So what about the concept? Who is the stylist? Who is hair and make-up?” Supermodel inquired.

“Ma’m, wala hong budget for stylist. Pero yon concept natin edgy.. yon bahala na kayo… As for hair and make-up, in house poh tayo.” Editorial Assistant said.

Supermodel paused thinking twice, why not? It can be done.

“Cover pero walang stylist? Hmm.. naghihirap na ba kayo?

Anyway, I have a stylist friend who can help find clothes for us?

How many layouts ba or changes?” Supermodel asked.

“Ah Ma’m, puwede bang mag 10 changes tayo, para we can choose?” Editorial Assistant said.

Choosy pa kayo, walang nga kayong stylist, thought the Supermodel.

“O sige, I will have to clear my schedule on Thursday, kasi I have something there.. pero kaya naman. I will make sure my stylist can get 10 designer clothes for cover material by Tuesday or Wednesday, kasi we still have to fit… doable naman.” assures Supermodel.

“Hay naku, thank you poh, thank you poh.. Salamat Ma’m, so see you on Thursday na lang?” said the elated Editorial Assistant.

“Ok sure.. no worries.. sige bye now” Supermodel hangs up.

This Supermodel is a real pro. She did all the calls and made sure all requirements were completed the day before the shoot. However, that was not the way that Wednesday ended. Right after fitting and just as the stylist rode away in her car, Supermodel got a text from Editorial Assistant.

“Good pm poh Ma’m. Naku sorry poh, pero cancel tayo tomorrow sa shoot.”

it read.

Supermodel waited, there has to be another text explaining why.. She waited and waited, but it seems there was none coming. It felt like someone had just broken up with her thru text message…She decides to call Editorial Assistant this time.

“Wait. What happened? Why cancel day before the shoot?”

Supermodel was getting irritated.

“Eh,.. kasi.. Ma’m, the group found out that you had a previous cover with another magazine. They found this a conflict of interest… ” Editorial Assistant said.

“Conflict of interest?! I am not selling or endorsing anything in the cover. It’s a story about me and my new projects… And I didn’t ask to be in the cover. You called. Don’t you guys do your homework and research before planning?” galit na si Supermodel.

“Ma’m I understand why you are angry, but I didn’t make the decision… they just asked me to text you..” Editorial Assistant said.

“First of all, let us be clear on this. I am not angry, I am not mad. I am upset.

I am upset because in the first place, I didn’t ask for this.. you guys called out of nowhere..

Secondly, how dare you put the blame on me for having another cover, when you all well know that I am a model, that’s what I do, of course I will have other covers out there.. and that cover you are referring too, that was last month!

Thirdly, you guys didn’t prepare and I am the one taking the blunt of your actions? You should have researched first if I had a cover before or not. It is not my obligation to inform you of any..

Fourth, I should have seen this coming. Why would you have a last minute cover for this month? That only shows you were never prepared. Is this the first cover of the magazine? No. You guys have been in this business for years.. get your act together.

Fifth, now who is going to tell my stylist, whom we have gotten for free as a favor, who in turn has gathered 10 designer gowns, that the shoot is cancelled? How will we explain that to the designers too? Oh and don’t forget the effort of picking up the clothes and gasoline and time spent..

Sixth, I freaking rearranged my schedule because of the urgency of your deadlines to come out with a cover..

and what do I get?

Wait, that’s the Seventh. A text? A bloody text telling me that the shoot has been cancelled without an explanation? Were you even going to call me to explain why, or were you hoping that I wouldn’t reply at all?”

by this time the B.P. of Supermodel reached dangerous levels.

It took a while before Editorial Assistant was able to respond (English kasi).

“I don’t know what to say poh… pasensya poh.. Ma’m.”

she finally broke the silence.

“Bagets, it’s not your fault. You’re just a messenger. Apparently your company needs better management. I’m sorry for that.” Supermodel apologizes.

Well, that ended pretty much that way. Neither the EIC, or any of the senior editorial staff ever called to apologize or appease our Supermodel.

But like all good stories, a twist is about to present itself.

A week after the incident, Supermodel receives a text from another assistant, and guess from where? The same publication that cancelled her cover shoot. This time it was for a hosting gig for their event.

Again the Supermodel asked for details. How much is the talent fee? When? Where? And why? She received a reply, again thru text, that the event was for the launch of this month’s cover. This month? The same cover they bumped and cancelled her off? Hmm.. this should be interesting Supermodel thought.

And as for the talent fee, the assistant texted her that she will get PHP 15,000 worth of ex-deal. WTF! Ex-deal? How do you cover for make-up? Who pays for the gown for the event? Let’s not forget gasoline or Grab expense just to get to the venue…

Supermodel was left dumbfoundedly silent.

Is this for real?

She doesn’t need another set of lotions, sunblocks and make-up starter kits..

And a hosting gig this low????

This time it felt like they rubbed salt even deeper into the wound,

she decided to let her manager finally take care of business.

True to a manager’s responsibility, the manager replied to Supermodel quickly thru email. The publishing firm apologized for the misunderstanding of the talent fee.. ah now that feels better, thought the Supermodel. At least they will give me a higher, more deserving talent fee for hosting the event. As she read the email, it said, sorry for the misunderstanding and misinformation concerning the talent fee… what we meant to say was PHP 15,000 media value, not ex-deal, for hosting the night’s event.

What the hell is media value for a model?

She gets 5 free pages of herself in the magazine for what?

To sell herself? If she were a product or a corporation, that might work, but as a model??? Obviously she didn’t take the job.

So, Supermodel finally asks me, after she finishes the story,

Raymund, How can I use media value?

I said, are you ready to tell your story?

Yes, she said. I looked at her and we both understood.

And that ladies and gentleman is her media value.

When you read this, you just gave her, her media value.

She thanks you all.

*EPILOGUE

Supermodel is still lucky she got cancelled in a shoot.