This company is a complete sham! They advertise on local radio stations with the lure of asking if your child would be love to be in a Hanna Montana show and what kid with the acting bug would turn this down?
We went the to seminar dressed in our best as requested numerous times during phone calls from the company. I am sure this is to weed out any "riff raff" or people who may not have any money. We sat through a 30 minute lecture saying they only take the best and your kid could be one of the lucky ones. They used names like Danny Devito, Roseanne and more to even further your enthusiasm. The National Director named Mimi even told how she paid her way through university with one national commercial which I am sure made every parent even more anxious to have their child become one of the chosen few. Another carrot dangled was that we were told a big Hollywood Casting Agent would be seeing the lucky ones the following day as well.
After this they had us line up and wait to have a 10 second video done. Then we had to line up and wait for our 30 second "interview" where we had to ensure we are really serious and that our child wants this. Then we got told we would have to come back at 6:15 the next day to find out if our child was chosen. Of course, our child was not going to miss that meeting! The process this day took us 2 1/2 hours for about a minute's worth of an interview.
The next day we attend our confirmed appointment only to find out we have to wait again as there are 7 people ahead of us. We go to the waiting room which is packed with dozens of parents and kids all waiting to find out if they are going to be chosen.
We sat in this room for over an hour and a half before being called into the meeting. We were told right away that they had only choosen 10% of the kids and ours was one of the lucky ones! Congratulations!! They said because of her good grades (which they never even asked us if she had good grades) and her blonde hair and blue eyes she was a shoe in. Of course our daughter was delighted! Then came the bombshell -- for only $2900 she could take lessons once a week for 6 weeks (almost $500 a lesson) and then the big casting director would be seeing her. We said we would think about it and were told they needed to know right then and there and wanted the money right then and there. What a scam!! I asked what guarantees there were and was told none.
We declined the offer of course and were told to come back in 6 months when they hold the auditions again if we wanted to pay the money.
Our child was sooooo disappointed and dejected. Of course she wanted to know why we didn't want her to succeed as she was chosen and she wanted to act so bad. We had to explain that this company was just a team of rip off artists with one goal in mind - our money!
How dare they prey on our young children's dreams and hopes of becoming an actor? Do they not realize what they are doing to these children and their parents? All that time wasted when our weekend could have been spent doing something fun. Thank goodness we were smart enough to not be taken in, but how many were not that lucky?
They had 800 families attend this past weekend and I bet practically every child was "chosen". Out of those, you can imagine how many bought this scheme and paid the money. What a lucrative scam of a business!
You should be ashamed of yourselves, each and every employee and representative of this company!
Be careful do your research and don't waste your time.
Debbie
London, Ontario
Canada
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