Complaint Review: ACT Or A.C.T. - Jimmy Villarreal - Urge - Atlanta Internet

Fortunately, I have not experienced what many of you have been writing about with these "audition Calls". However, I have heard alot about this kind of thing happening all over the country. I am the father of an 11 year old child actor who has been in the business for about three years. My son has done commercials, theatre, and is currently working on a new sitcom as a regular cast member. Although I am not an expert, I have seen alot in the short amount of time that we have been dealing with agents, managers, and casting directors and I would like to offer some advice.

First, if you see an advertisement on television for auditions for television shows, movies, etc., consider it a waste of time. Real casting directors or producers would NEVER advertise an audition that way. That is not the way the industry works. They work with professional actors and they know that the only way to find professional actors is to go through talent agencies. This is the process: Disney is looking for two kids to guest star on an episode of Hannah Montana. The director and producer discuss and decide what type of kids they need-they then pass that info on to the casting director-the casting director types up a casting sheet with all of the info(age, race, male, female, personality type that the character is going to be, etc.) and sends that out to talent agencies-the talent agents then go through their database and selects the clients they have that fit what the casting director is looking for-they submit a headshot and resume to the casting director-the casting director then selects what they think the director and producer wants from what they receive, and forwards that to them-the producer and director then selects who they want to see from what they get from the casting director-the casting director calls(or emails) the agencies of the kids that the director and producer want to see and sets up auditions.

This is the process. There is no American Idol cattle call for legitimate work. Here is what I would suggest. If your child is serious about wanting to act, find a place in your area where they can take some Acting for the Camera and Audition Technique classes. These classes don't cost thousands of dollars. We are from South Carolina and our son took these classes for $35 per week. Let them do some local theatre, school plays, etc. to gain some experience. When they are ready, get them on video doing a monologue, film/tv scene, or commercial. ( Some acting schools will do this automatically when your child is ready. If not, you can do it yourself) Next, you have to find an agent willing to represent them. I would suggest going to www.imdb.com to find an agency. IMDB stands for Internet Movie DataBase and is like the bible when it comes to the entertainment business. There are many reputable talent agencies listed with contact info(from LA and NY). To have access to this info, you will have to subscribe to IMBDPro on the website(I think it's like $12 per month). Get your child professional headshots( now this may cost a little...anywhere from $250 to $475) and put together their resume(someone at your acting school should be able to help with this). Choose a few agencies and contact them via email or telephone and tell them that you would like to submit your child for consideration for representation.

That's the best advice I can give about getting started. You just have to do the work. Research the industry and find out as much info as you can. It's your job as the parent to protect yourself and your child from scams like this. Hope this helps.

IF ANY OF YOU PARENTS WHO WERE SCAMMED would open your ears and pay attention when you make the original appointment, you might not be so confused and less likely to take your anger cause by ignorance, out on everyone else! You are auditioning for two different people and AGENT and a PRIVATE ACADEMY! Everyone is told this when they reserve a seat. The problem is no one listens to anything anymore and everyone wants a free hand-out! All you people who were asked to pay for classes.........THAT MEANS YOUR CHILD DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT AND THE ONLY OPTIONS LEFT IF TAKING CLASSES! ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS 'NO". So stop screaming SCAM, because it will get you NO WHERE!! If the AGENT is interested in you there is nothing to pay for....Congratulations on your new career! If the ACADEMY is interested in you then you will have the opportunity to review their programs. The AGENT has nothing to do with the PRIVATE ACADEMY and vise versa. THE AUDITION IS FREE that means NO COST, except maybe a few bucks for parking. As soon as you people hear the word 'school' or 'classes' you immediately assume the worst. YOU ARE WRONG! There are several WORKING ACTORS who have graduated from A.C.T.! You can view their site at: www.theact.tv!

Similar story, I was at the audition after one of my kids saw the advertisement on TV that she could audition to be on a Hanna Montana or similar show. Viewers were urged to call immediately, only 200 first would get auditioned. It was a unique opportunity, they would be in Atlanta only for a few days... We called and were so lucky to get an appointment for saturday morning. That saturday we found a performance hall on 7th street packed with parents and kids and witnessed the professional scam. The team had it all well timed and prepared, they were 5 or 6 men in dark business suits and a woman dressed in a black gown. Everyone got a glossy A.C.T brochure and some forms to fill-in and was ushered in the room. The auditorium was decorated with posters of kid actors and music was playing. They gave little presentations and roused the crowd by asking "do you want to be an actor? do you want to be on a show?". Of course all kids screamed in anticipation. This was the "bait" They then went on to the "switch" The asian lady presenter (Lindy Kwok, spelling?) compared being an actor with being a Doctor, you could not practice without going first to Medical School. And of course her and her friend Jimmy Villareal offered classes and each family would get to fill-in a personal questionnaire and then get a 1 minute interview and get to read a two line commercial on camera. No room for questions and remember "we will interview over 1,000 kids", so "only perhaps 5% will get the chance to have a follow-up interview" and "parents will have to have the check ready to pay for the classes" at a cost of $1,900-7,900 as outlined in the glossy brochure. The fish is not "biting". We of course called back the next day to check whether our kids were amongst the "chosen ones" and were delighted to hear they were! Then we asked questions anyone who is about to fork over several thousand dollars would. "When are the classes?" "How many classes do we get for $1,900 versus 7,900" "Can we see a class before we make up our mind" "Can we talk to other families who have had kids in the class" "Where will the classes be?" "What is the curriculum" "Do they get a professionally recognized certificate" etc... As soon as they realized we were not going to "bite" in their scheme without further info they became rude and said we were not committed and we would be scratched from the list and hang-up!!! These look like professional scam artists that probably repeat this routine in multiple cities in the US. Perhaps they even have classes but for sure their goal is to cash money quick from parents still in the "bait" phase. Are the classes worth the money? do they then get you to really access an audition? I very much doubt it and this appears to be a well-oiled scam that starts with false advertisement. If their TV ad had said "do you want to sign-up for an acting class?" they would probably not have seen much response.... These are predatory practices targeting a vulnerable population, our children, and spreading the word will hopefully warn parents to choose a legitimate acting school which does not need to use deceptive practices to enroll in its classes !!!

Hello in Acworth, It sounds like we were at the same audition. I also wrote my experience on this website two days ago (from Tucker, GA). I would like to encourage you to call your local news channels. We are going to do that too. If a few people are willing to talk it might help shed light on these disingenuous practices. We had a similar experience. I want to add however that when they called back to let us know the kids had both been "accepted" (lo and behold), the man who I spoke to was extremely pushy and rude. He said he was from the agent's office, not the school and wanted to know if their extra activities would get in the way of classes. I told him that I was hoping to get some more info on the classes and he snapped at me about how that was not his job and I had all the info I needed had I attended the audition. They present the agent and school as separate but I think it's all part of the smoke and mirrors of this scam operation. I said that any parent about to fork over such a large sum of money needed to be prepared and he got really snappy again and said that he was going to "drop our kids from the list"; he then hung up! Long and short of is, they make bucks fast when parents don't know what they are getting into. They discourage questioning because they know if we find out that they aren't who they lead us to believe we will go elsewhere. I've since talked with a number of legitimate agencies, and all have expressed great sympathy for those who got conned. My advice to all of you who have this experience is to speak up so that others don't get caught in this web of deciept. What is so pathetic is that they prey on kids and families with such big dreams. If anyone is willing to leave a contact address I would love to speak to you! Anna in Tucker