How to tell if a production company is legit
Most problems show up in the first few emails, if you know what to look for. These are the checks anyone who has been doing this a while makes, and the signs that end the conversation right there.
First: does the company exist?
Before you talk about dates and money, find out who you are talking to. A real production company has a name, has published work, and has no trouble proving it.
- Ask for the company name and its CIF, the Spanish tax number. A company that invoices has both, and handing them to someone it is about to hire is routine.
- Look up their published work. A channel, a platform, a catalogue: something you can see for yourself, not a description of what they do.
- Look at who is writing to you. A name and a role, not a three-week-old profile with no history behind it.
- Search their name next to words like “scam” or “unpaid”. It takes a minute and sometimes saves you a month.
If you still cannot work out who the company is at this point, you already have your answer. There is nothing else to check.
Second: what contract are they offering?
A serious shoot comes with a written contract, signed before anything is filmed. That is not red tape: it is the only document that exists if you ever have to claim something.
The contract has to say, at the very least, what exactly is filmed, with whom, where, on what date, for how much and by what payment deadline. And it has to say which rights you are assigning: for what uses, in which territories and for how long.
Read it at home, with nobody standing over you and no rush. If something is unclear, ask in writing. A serious production company answers in writing, because a record suits it too.
A contract handed to you on the day of the shoot, on set, with everyone waiting, is not a scheduling slip. It is a method.
Third: how do they behave before the shoot?
The way they treat you before any commitment exists is the best information you will get about what the day of the shoot will be like.
- They ask for your original ID to check your age. That is a good sign, not a bad one.
- They tell you which STI tests they need, and they show you the ones from everyone else on the shoot.
- They give you the exact address, the time and the names of who will be there.
- They accept that you ask questions, take time to think, and say no to specific things.
- They do not change what was agreed at the last minute or add scenes “while we are at it”.
The signs that end the conversation
Some things are not a bad sign: they are a no. If any of these comes up, there is no negotiating and no misunderstanding to clear up.
- They ask you for money. For a casting, for a portfolio, for training, for “joining the agency”. Nobody serious charges you for giving you work.
- They do not want to see your ID.
- The address is a private home with no further explanation, or it changes on the day.
- They push you to decide today, or keep insisting after a no.
- There is no contract, or the fee exists only in conversation.
- They mix the shoot offer with escort work or private meetings.
- They ask for intimate photos “to assess your profile” before anything else.
Before you go, and while you are there
Tell someone you trust where you are going, who with and when you expect to be back. Share your location from your phone if that is a habit of yours. It is not distrust of that particular company: it is what you do every time.
Take your ID, your test results and the signed contract. Get there with time to spare. And be clear from the outset that you can leave: if the place is not the one they described, if there are people you were not expecting, if something is being filmed that you never agreed to, the answer is to stand up and walk out. Nothing you have signed obliges you to stay in a situation like that.
What an agency does with all this
These are the same checks we make before giving a production company access to the catalogue: who they are, what company stands behind them, what they have published, how they behave. A request that does not pass them does not get in, and the model never sees that offer at all.
That filter lowers the risk. It does not remove it, and telling you otherwise would be lying to you: we do not produce, we do not direct and we are not on set, so we cannot check on the ground what happens there. Care is still needed on every booking, and the decision on each offer stays yours.
What we can do is act. If something goes wrong on a shoot we sent you to, tell us: we cut that company's access, we warn the other models and we stay with you in whatever you decide to do.
Frequently asked questions
Is it normal to be asked for my ID?
Yes, and it is compulsory. Every production has to prove that the people appearing are adults, and the platforms where the content is published require it. The opposite is what should worry you.
Is it normal to pay for a casting or a portfolio?
No. Money goes from the production to the model, never the other way round. Charging for castings, portfolios or training is the most repeated scheme in this industry's scams.
Can I bring someone with me to the shoot?
Ask beforehand. Some productions allow it and others do not, for confidentiality, but the answer and the tone it comes in already tell you a lot. What you can always do is tell someone where you are.
What do I do if something goes wrong on a shoot?
Leave. Afterwards, keep everything you have in writing, messages, contract and transfers, and report it if a crime has been committed. If the booking came from IZZ, tell us: we withdraw that company's access and warn the other models.