I do not work with models or performers under 25.

That includes non-explicit work. It is not a flexible preference, an opening offer, or a rule I reconsider when someone attractive appears in my inbox.

The law draws one line. I draw another.

Every model and performer in a Belmont Figgis production must be at least 25 years old. A boundary that collapses the moment it becomes inconvenient is not a boundary. It is a decorative suggestion.

Why 25?

Because the performers I have worked with who are 25 or older tend to communicate their boundaries more clearly. They tend to arrive prepared. They tend to understand what they want from the finished work and where that work may follow them.

Tend to. Those two words matter.

Nobody wakes up on their twenty-fifth birthday with a fully assembled prefrontal cortex and a certificate of good judgment tucked under the pillow. If that happened, social media would look very different.

The National Institute of Mental Health says brain development continues into the mid-to-late twenties. The prefrontal cortex, which helps with planning, prioritizing, and decision-making, is among the last areas to mature.

That does not mean a switch flips at midnight. Younger adults can make informed decisions. Older adults can make spectacularly stupid ones. Age has never cured humanity of bad judgment.

I do not treat 25 as a diagnosis or a certificate of wisdom. I use it as a clear production standard.

I would rather maintain one firm minimum than read a few messages and pretend I can measure a stranger’s readiness through DMs. That is not discernment. It is guesswork with better branding.

I want a clear no

A good collaboration begins before anyone steps in front of the camera.

I want people who can tell me what they want, ask direct questions, define their limits, and say no without attaching an apology. They can reject a pose, change the wardrobe, challenge the concept, or stop when something no longer feels right.

“No lace.” “Do not post this on X.” “That angle makes my knee hate me.” Excellent. Now I know how to do my job.

None of that makes someone difficult. It makes the production easier because nobody has to treat consent like a scavenger hunt.

Agreement is not collaboration. Silence is not enthusiasm. A vague answer forces everyone else to interpret it, and a set is a terrible place to test an interpretation.

Performers who are 25 or older tend to enter these conversations with a stronger sense of their limits and a greater willingness to state them. The pattern is not universal. I have encountered it often enough to let it shape how I work.

Preparation is part of consent

Preparation means more than arriving on time with the right wardrobe, although both would be lovely.

It means reading the concept, understanding how the material may be used, asking questions before the camera comes out, and knowing what the work should accomplish. It means having enough information and enough time to make a deliberate choice.

The middle of a shoot is a bad time to discover that “tasteful implied” meant something different to everyone in the room.

Consent matters on set. It also matters throughout the planning that leads to the set. A rushed decision can still produce a signature. A signature only proves that paperwork happened.

I do not want anyone to reach the middle of a production before asking whether the production belongs in their life.

Professionalism is not cold. It is how collaborators respect one another’s time, boundaries, work, and reputation.

The image needs a job

No performer needs to arrive with a five-year business plan and a color-coded spreadsheet. They should know why they want to make the work.

Are they building a portfolio? Creating material for a specific audience? Testing a new visual style? Developing a performer brand? Looking for images their current work does not provide?

“Make me look hot” is a valid desire. It is not a complete creative brief.

Hot how? Soft? Dangerous? Expensive? Like you know where the body is buried?

Those answers change the wardrobe, lighting, framing, location, editing, and distribution. Without a goal, a production falls back on the empty promise that everything will somehow look good when it is finished.

A performer with a defined goal can recognize the difference between an idea that expands their work and one that drags it away from what they want to build. They become a creative partner, not a subject waiting for instructions.

This is a boundary, not a verdict

Adults under 25 have agency. Many younger models understand their work, approach it with care, and conduct themselves with skill. Other producers may choose to work with them and maintain responsible practices.

I have chosen a different boundary for my productions.

That boundary says more about my responsibility than it says about anyone else’s ability. Respecting an adult’s right to make a choice does not require me to participate in that choice.

The rule also prevents convenient exceptions. I do not have to decide whether a 22-year-old seems mature for their age. I do not have to decide whether 24 is close enough. Twenty-four is close to 25. It is also not 25.

The answer does not change because someone is attractive, experienced, talented, or already working with other producers. The boundary remains where I put it.

Twenty-five is only the first question

Being 25 does not make someone an automatic fit. A birthday is not a reference check. It does not make anyone punctual, prepared, communicative, or pleasant to have in a room for six hours.

I still look for clear communication, reliability, creative curiosity, preparation, and compatible goals. I want people who give the work the attention it requires without making the set feel like a courtroom.

What I want is simple to describe and hard to fake: informed, deliberate participation.

I am not looking for someone who agrees with everything I suggest. I want someone who knows when to say yes, when to say no, and when they have a better idea.

That is collaboration.

For Belmont Figgis, it begins at 25.

If you are 25 or older and this sounds like the way you want to work, visit the Belmont Figgis collaboration page.