Newcomers are often surprised to learn there is a busy season for modeling, commercials, TV and film in Florida.

Most are also surprised to discover that hundreds of New York, Canadian and European based companies (ie: Macys, La Senza Girl, Next, Vertbaudet, H&M Sweden, Vogue Bambini, etc.) all send crews to Florida to produce and advertising campaigns, catalogs, commercials, etc. instead of producing them in New York, Canada or in Europe.

So why is this and when exactly is the busy season?

September 1st marks the beginning of the busy season for models and talent in Florida and - while summer is the busiest time of the year in New York and many other major markets - by mid September the days are getting shorter, the quality of light in the northern hemisphere begins to deteriorate and cold weather starts to affect New York as well as England, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, etc.

So what do clothing retailers and manufacturers U.S. and worldwide do in September?

The same thing they have been doing since the early 1990’s.... They start flocking to Florida in droves.

So let’s take it season by season, month by month:

FALL: September is when everything starts to ramp up and production crews begin arriving from all points north. October is typically busier than September, November is usually busier than October and the first two weeks of December are extremely busy as everyone is trying to cram as much into those two weeks as possible because most will take a break during the last two weeks of December.

WINTER/SPRING: Everything comes roaring back to life in January and - although January, February, March and April are “peak season” - May can be a good month as well, especially if cold weather lingers for an extra couple of weeks up north.

SUMMER: June, July and August are the slowest months of the year but virtually all of the kids from out of state that were here during peak season have gone home and many of the top child models that live in Florida are in New York or elsewhere for the summer - so there is work in Florida in the summer especially with Florida based clothing and toy companies, Florida theme parks, Caribbean resorts, cruise lines, etc. (Haley, for example, had 3 big Walmart bookings last summer.)

Summer is also an important time of the year in Florida because summer is when the best Florida agencies are looking for new kids and during the summer is when they have the most free time to see them.