MODELING, ACTING SCAMS COST A PRETTY PENNY
MODELING, ACTING SCAMS COST A PRETTY PENNY
How you become a target for a scam
Whether your friends tell you you ought to be a model or in the movies because you’re tall, shapely, handsome, funny, etc., or whether your appearance is less than that of an Adonis or Aphrodite and you’ve never acted in anything more impressive than your high school play, you don’t have to look far for confirmation that modeling or acting might be for you. “Children wanted! Print, TV commercials, runway and modeling. Parents get your children started now!” reads one company’s newspaper ad. “Teens and adults: we always need new faces for print, commercial and television opportunities” and “Start your child this month in a new and exciting career in TV and modeling,” says another’s flyer. Another seeks “Asian hair models.” Still another wants “**movie extras** . . . Casting Feature Films. Need real people 18-80. Short/tall/fat/thin. No experience necessary. Work with the Stars for fun/extra money. Work is guaranteed.”
A ready supply of respondents to ads like these exists, and for good reason: The work seems glamorous, and the pay equally glamorous. Whether the ad promises “$100 per hour” or “$500 per day,” or something similarly attractive, or whether it doesn’t, we know without being told again that models and actors are highly paid. Even if you’re willing to admit to physical shortcomings you may have, parents’ assessment of their children’s good looks and talent makes them even easier targets.
How legitimate talent agencies work
What you may not know is that there are legitimate modeling and casting agencies, and there are scams, and unless you know how to tell the difference, it may cost you to find out which is which.
Legitimate modeling or talent agencies secure employment for experienced models and actors. They are licensed by the State, as is explained below.
Legitimate modeling and acting schools offer instruction, for a fee, in poise, posture, diction, skin care, make-up application, etc., but they do not necessarily act as agents or find work for you after you take their classes. You should understand this before you sign up.
How the scams operate
Some of the sadder-but-wiser would-be models and actors (and actresses) who have answered ads like the ones above report being “selected” by the agency and asked to sign a contract. Indeed, some scam artists approach prospects in shopping malls, telling them they’ve got the “look” they’re looking for, and handing out business cards.
Problems with contracts
But from the experience of those who sign these kinds of contract, it’s clear that the contract may not obligate the agency at all, but it will likely obligate you. That is, it may specify that the company is entitled to a percentage of your earnings while it makes no promises about employment. Nevertheless, the agency may give you a build-up that yours (or your child’s) is just the look they need while they put the contract in front of you and hand you a pen. One mother signed quickly because she was told her daughter had been chosen for a commercial and needed classes. After she’d paid more than $3,000, the company wanted still more for head shots. One person who responded to the “Asian hair models” ad was convinced by company representatives that she could become not just a hair model, but a print and commercial model, earning an average of $2,000 per job. All she had to do was put out $400 for photos and just under $400 more for publicity cards.
These classes, photos, and workshops to teach you how to model or how to conduct yourself during an audition, and the like, are a large part of how the talent scams make money. The agency may, for example, refer you to a photographer or insist that you use its own, which reaps either full profit or at least some commission for the agency. (California law does not allow such referrals if the agency has a financial interest in them. Nevertheless, if you’re dealing with a scam operator, that law won’t stop them from making the referral.)
The role of licensing in determining legitimacy
The greatest part of determining whether the agency is legitimate or not has to do with licensing. It’s important to know that talent agencies (this includes, generally, anyone who secures employment or engagements for actors and models) are required to be licensed by the State and bonded. They are not allowed to charge a registration fee or any other fee, whatever they may call it, for registering or listing you for entertainment employment or for photographs, video tapes, or similar services. Furthermore, a licensed talent agency must, in all its advertisements, include its licensed name and address, its license number, and the words “talent agency.” Look for this information if you’re considering answering an ad.
An agency that is not licensed cannot legally advertise that it will help you get employment as a model. In the case of a scam, though, it’s to their advantage not to be licensed. Many that are not simply refer to themselves as “model management” companies and avoid the licensing requirement by refraining from making promises of securing employment. That is, they may deny that they’re offering to find you employment (although their ad may clearly promise it), but claim instead that they’re only giving information about you to directors and others who would have an interest in new talent.
The contract, by the way, should you go so far as to consider signing one, is required to contain these words, in prominent type, on its face: “This talent agency is licensed by the Labor Commissioner of the State of California.” If you are told, even orally, that the agency is going to seek employment for you, look for this statement.
Advance-fee talent services
Some talent “services”, which may or may not also offer to find you employment, charge an advance fee for related services they offer, such as managing or directing your artisitic career, career counseling or aptitude testing, etc., or costumes, auditions, or lessons or other training, or similar services. While not required to be licensed unless they promise employment, they are required to obtain a bond, and they are operating illegally if they do not.
Some legal protections
Recent legislation gives you some added protection if you are dealing with an advance-fee talent service. You have the right to cancel your contract, for any reason, within 10 days after the date on the contract. There is a prescribed procedure for cancellation that you must follow if you want to cancel. It is simple, and it is also required to be clearly stated in your contract.
You are also entitled to a refund of any fees you have paid if you do not receive services you were promised or that you were led to believe would be performed. Your refund must be made to you within 48 hours of your request for it, or the company will have to pay you double. Again, this information is required to be included in your contract.
How to avoid losing money to a scam
It will help you to realize that there are, of course, successful, highly-paid models and actors, and there are successful, highly-paid “real people” types. Nevertheless, the average person’s chance of becoming one is slim.
The hard facts are that legitimate agents work on a commission and get paid when you do. However, legitimate agents do not, as a rule, advertise at all. They’re far more likely to have acting and modeling hopefuls beating down their doors.
If you’re seriously interested in answering an ad, here are some tips to help you avoid losing money to a modeling or talent scam:
* Don’t succumb to pressure to sign a contract immediately. Even though you have 10 days to change your mind and cancel your contract, you are better off to read it thoroughly and make sure you understand it before you sign.
* Get verbal promises in writing. Much of the misrepresentations made in casting and modeling agency scams come from oral representations that aren’t in the contract. In fact, your contract is required by law to be put in writing and to describe the services to be performed and when they will be performed, and how much you will be charged and when your fees are due.
* Get a reliability report on the company from the Better Business Bureau.
* If the agency is licensed, or if it states or implies that it can help you obtain work, verify its license with the California Department of Industrial Relations by calling (415) 703-4846.
* Ask for names and addresses of models or actors who work through the agency and clients who use the agency. Then contact both to verify what you’ve been told.
* Don’t be careless with any of these steps just because the agency may offer a money-back guarantee.
Finally, don’t forget to ask yourself (and answer yourself honestly) a most important question: Was I chosen by this agency because they believe I can make money for them, or because I can pay money to them?
Your legal remedies
If an advance-fee talent service willfully violates any of the provisions relating to such services (if, for example, they ask you to waive your rights relating to their services), or if they breach their contract, and either the violation, or their breach results in injury to you, you may sue them. If appropriate, the court may issue a restraining order. You may also ask for money damages, and you may be awarded up to three times the amount of your damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs.
Remember, though, that it may be difficult to collect a judgment. The Better Business Bureau recommends using caution and taking the steps necessary to prevent loss to a talent or modeling scam.
