Complaint Review: John Robert Powers

Be sure to ask them to sit in on a class before signing any contracts because you won't be able to get a refund if you decide after 72 hours that maybe this school isn't for you. I was led to believe that only those who had real potential can get into the school. It was my first audition ever.

I got the callback, but then again, everyone will get a callback because they want your money. I religiously attended my first 7 classes, only to realize that this is all a scam. Students that took the workshop before somehow ended up taking the workshop again, and they were terrible. One would think if they took the class before, they would be exceptionally better than a person that has no acting experience ever.

I looked up my acting teacher's info on imdb.com and saw that she mostly had extra roles under her name, but when I asked her about those 'uncredited roles', she lied and said they were not extra roles at all. Come on now, I'm not that stupid.

I got my headshots done at the school as well since the talent scout told me that it would be best if I did. They were not great at all. A headshot is supposed to look like you. This one wasn't even close to resembling me. When asked if I could do a re-shoot, I was told the executive director must approve it. She didn't approve it yet, but once I wrote a complaint letter, the director had the nerve to say that she insisted and demanded I get a re-shoot. Whatever lady.

Being that I'm only 5'4" and not fitting the weight requirements, a person on the staff calls to ask me to sign up for the runway class. Hello, anyone can tell you that models on the runway are tall and skinny, and that is not me.

I was naive when I first had thoughts of pursuing a career in the entertainment industry so I looked up schools in the area and enrolled without doing my research. If I was smarter to have done the research, I would have seen that this school is just a scam. Classes aren't even worth the money. So please do yourself and anyone you know a favor by getting the word out that JRP will not do much for you. The staff is s****.> My picture is posted on their website, but they didn't help me land that commercial. I got it by myself days after I just signed with the school. Since I signed some contract about them being able to use my picture, I guess they're allowed to, but they need to take it down because I do not want to be associated with their agency. I am quite embarrassed I ever went there.

Even though I paid over $5000 for classes for 2 years, I will never step foot back into that place. I only took one workshop, and they said I already took a good percentage of classes. I already filed a report with the Better Business Bureau, but I fear that my complaint may never show up under their business. I'm not taking any chances so I thought it best to file a report here as well. Not everyone that attends the school may agree with me, but hey, this is just my experience. I just don't want to see anyone else become a victim.

I'm not the only one out there that has something bad to say about JRP. Ask anyone in the industry next time you're on set, be it a director or producer, and they will all tell you that JRP is simply a scam. There are good self-help books out there on acting and way cheaper classes given by more established veteran actors that have actually done major work. Would you rather learn from a person that's actually made it or from someone who hasn't made a career for themselves and is now relying on teaching techniques that didn't work for them just for a paycheck?

Linda
Metairie, Louisiana
U.S.A.