Rose Battle, President/Founder of Ultimate Model Management, Inc. (UMMI), has been in the modeling and entertainment industry for over 20 years and has achieved a reputation with numerous clients that are aiding the agency in gaining worldwide recognition.
Perception is everything in this industry, and UMMI guarantees the impression our team leaves is expressed with class.
UMMI will strive to see that the success of your event is achieved which will lead to repeat business and a respectable corporate relationship.
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This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from GWBC’s Open House. So excited to be talking to my next guest. Rose Battle with Ultimate Model and Talent Agency. Welcome.
Rose Battle: Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.
Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Ultimate Model and Talent Agency.
Rose Battle: Well, Ultimate Model and Talent Agency is a full service talent and modeling agency. We do a variety of things, including fashion show events. So we provide the models. But we are Sag-Aftra franchise agency. So we support casting for film and television.
Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work?
Rose Battle: I was modeling myself for many years, long before becoming an agent. And, um, it was really, um, a lot of my colleagues at Coca-Cola that saw the passion in me and they said, Rose, you should. You have such a passion for this. Why don’t you become an agent? And that was 19 years ago.
Lee Kantor: Wow. And then so did you start working for another agency or did you just.
Rose Battle: I was working with other agencies. I did pretty much all of them myself. I did, you know, film. I did, um, I worked for Macy’s. I did print advertisement for Coca-Cola and also mainly for Coca-Cola. I did a lot of their trade shows. And so I was working in consumer affairs for Coke, and that was why they saw that I had that passion and felt that I should become an agent, that that would be a good candidate for me to become an agent.
Lee Kantor: So now how has the, uh, talent and model agent business changed over the years with the advent of this film industry here in Atlanta?
Rose Battle: Oh, well, it’s changed quite a bit because, well, you know that Georgia is a right to work state. And then we have so many people that come from LA and other states to come to Georgia to work because of the tax breaks, and they bring projects here. So, um, it, it opens the doors, of course, for us and other to bring in other talent that want to work and get into the film industry here.
Lee Kantor: But your Sag-Aftra, Sag-Aftra. Can you explain the difference between being Sag-Aftra as opposed to since this is a right to work state so that.
Rose Battle: Yeah, well, as a Sag-Aftra because, you know, for many years I was nonunion, right. And because it is a right to work state, I was still able to book talent on those SAG commercials and, and SAG projects because they they still have the opportunity before they decide to join the union. Right. And then once they join the union, it just opens up so many other possibilities for them when they’re with with the union in terms of work.
Lee Kantor: So then how does it work for an actor to become a part of the union?
Rose Battle: They they have to go through a process. And there’s a fee that that’s associated with becoming a union. And they have to have at least three speaking roles before they.
Lee Kantor: So it’s speaking roles is the secret.
Rose Battle: Yeah, yeah. That’s the secret. That’s the secret. Getting those speaking roles and then going once they get that under their belt, then they go and they apply with SAG. Mhm.
Lee Kantor: And then are you finding more and more Georgians getting becoming part of the union.
Rose Battle: Yes. There are more and more Georgians, especially as the film, uh, projects come to Georgia.
Lee Kantor: Are you still seeing kind of that uh, a lot of projects here in Georgia being filmed?
Rose Battle: Yeah, absolutely.
Lee Kantor: So you’re pretty busy?
Rose Battle: Yeah, we’re pretty busy. And and we do, because we do the commercial part of it, too. I just booked someone yesterday for Georgia. The Georgia Lottery. So super excited about that.
Lee Kantor: So now what do you need more of? How can we help you?
Rose Battle: Well, I need more models because I do the film. I have no problem because we’re on some software that where we have several people that are looking for agents all the time, but the model industry part of it, because I’m a I’m a vendor for places like Americasmart that they have several. They have something called market five times out of the year where they bring models and buyers come from all over the world to purchase their gowns and their, their, um, bridal dresses and wedding gowns. And so I need models that are tall. Those are like five, 7 to 511. The ideal model is five eight. You know, five 8 to 511. Uh, and they’re hard to find for. Yeah, because the size two for your average model is not a size. It’s not a size two four. So yeah, to get those skinny models in that have great skin and great teeth and smiles because it’s the entire package.
Lee Kantor: So how do you go about finding them? Are you, like scouring Instagram or social media?
Rose Battle: Yeah, we scout sometimes. We have something called open call. Uh, we haven’t had one, uh, within the last couple of months, but we usually will have open call where, uh, everybody know once they look us up and see that we’re a legitimate agency, then they’ll come out and they’ll bring because we just we don’t just do the the models, but we have children. We have some kids that do Cartoon Network and, um, print for Oshkosh and Carter’s. Wow. Yeah. And so we, we, we always doing things to, for families, um, and people with disabilities and people that um, sometimes people that have, um, illnesses like cancer and diabetes. We have those kind of projects.
Lee Kantor: Right. So you’re, you want to meet everybody, right? Because you never know. Yeah.
Rose Battle: We want to we we want to meet them all.
Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you to become part of Gwdc?
Rose Battle: Uh, well, I was, um, I was in Coca-Cola’s mentoring program, and they had a they had a requirement that I needed to get certifications with one of the certifying agencies. And initially I had got certified with the Georgia minority Supplier Development Council. And then later I decided to go with the women with Gwdc because someone from Turner Broadcasting said, you know, there’s there’s some strength in in the numbers with women. And I found that to be an awesome thing, to be with someone like GWC because they it’s nothing like the, the womanhood and, and women owned businesses helping other women owned businesses.
Lee Kantor: And then have you found that to be so. Have you gained.
Rose Battle: It has turned out to be very, very, uh, profitable. Um, I’ve, I’ve, we just recently had a huge contract in California that came through Gwdc, and I just can’t, you know, tell you how much it has helped us not only in in resources, but also in the women that we’ve met that have been able to collaborate with each other and and help each other in business.
Lee Kantor: Yeah, the community impact is real.
Rose Battle: It is real. It is real.
Lee Kantor: Now, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?
Rose Battle: My website is Qmi agency.
Lee Kantor: Com and then they can find you on on all the socials. I’m sure we’re on the social media.
Rose Battle: Yeah we are on all the platforms.
Lee Kantor: Well thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.
Rose Battle: Oh, thank you so much for. It was a pleasure to be here.
Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few at CBC’s open House.