HWB – Handwritten Bios is where models write a note, a few words about how they feel before the shoot, and separately how they feel after the shoot.
They are a small differentiator for us from our competitors, and much loved by our customers as a way to get an insight both into how the model was feeling before and after the shoot, but also to see a different dimension of her personality. How she writes and draws provides new information about the model, and helps customers feel they know the model better.
Some Shoot Producers find HWB’s “silly” – and even make (or infer) that representation to models! This works against our cohesive team and is never appropriate. HWB’s are part of the product the Shoot Producer is paid to create, part of what we sell to customers.
There are some things models must not mention on HWB’s;
- Internal codes
- For example, using phrases like “IM” or GGT3″. These are not used in customer-facing environments (nor should they be for model-facing!)
- Models mentioning other models on set
- For example, if a model is on a DIM-SIM day, there’s likely to be several other models present. It’s not appropriate for her to mention other models in her SIM HWB, and it’s only appropriate to mention her shoot partner in her DIM HWB
- This is because the SIM and DIM shoots will be released weeks or even months of each other, and these shoots are released as their own
- Dates or events
- Shoots we make are not released in sequence, or near to the time they were produced. We get more value from a shoot for the 10+ years it’s on the site, than from the first month
- HWB’s should never “date” the shoot by specifying the date the shoot happened, mentioning current news / events, social movements, cultural touchstones (eg, Christmas)
- It’s ok to mention seasons and countries, however, or abstract events like a “family gathering”, “a music festival” or similar
- Other names they (or others on-set) use
- For example, their name on OnlyFans, reddit, Twitter or similar
- Surname initials
- Models are not required to identify themselves with site-surname initial (that is, a model with a sitename of “Hypolita R” can sign their HWB simply as “Hypolita”).
Shoot Producers must thoroughly check HWBs before the model leaves set for the day, and have models replace HWBs that do not meet requirements.
The specific requirements of a HWB are defined on this model-facing page.