Complaint Review: Emerald City Model And Talent - Edmonds, Washington

I was just at Emerald City Talent and everything that happened and was reported by this mom never happend to me.  I answered an add on craigslist for talent and Emeral city Talent Responded.  Yes they did ask for money, but nothing that any other reasonable talent agency wouldn't ask for.  $100 up font to take their head shots and prep a profile for you on their website, then the other $200 from out of the pay from work they send you to. 

This seems resonable to me.  Modeling and Acting is a personal business and one must make investments to grow that business. I was not forced to stay and buy anything.  Matter of fact they let me leave and reschedule when I get paid and have the $100.  Their books show a long track record as well as pay record.  

Like any other business one needs to do their own research prior to giving money away.  That is how I ended up here. 

I was just wondering why no one complained to where it matters most? https://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/photography-sales/emerald-city-model-talent-in-edmonds-wa-503338

Or where these Bad practices investigated and found to be false? (I have never been to this business yet, I have been contacted by them though)  

In reference to John Harb's Emerald City Model and Talent, his charge for photos and the so called "bait and switch tactic" - this is my rebottle-

First, in comparison to John's cost for photos, I've found his rates comparable to any other professional photographer, but second and more importantly, John has taken my best head shots thus far.

John Harb, owner of Emerald City Model and Talent, has been my agent for more than four years.  John has arranged countless auditions for me with clients such as Subaru, Microsoft, Blue Plate, TCM and with casting directors Jodi Rothfield and Oliver Tuthill, just to name a few.  Of course, I wasn't cast for all submissionsthis is show business, and John can only do so muchthe rest is up to me.

 In my experience, show business is the business of rejection; I accept that and keep showing up to all auditions with a positive attitude, always putting my best foot forward.

 I'm writing this review to inform all up-and-coming talent that Emerald City Model and Talent has been my best agency since I started acting 20 years ago. John has been an ally in my acting endeavors and continues to submit me for auditions even though I'm not chosen for most roles.

John is a professional, decent individual with a positive attitude who submits me for auditions on a regular basis.  He returns my calls and e-mails and has been my acting coach since I signed with his
agency in 2008.

John invited me personally to his casting network holiday party this December 20, 2012; he wanted me to talk with casting director Oliver Tuthill concerning Oliver's new motion picture.  I sat and talked with Oliver about a role in his new film.  If you don't know of Oliver Tuthill, I encourage you to
Google him.  Without John, I would have never had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Thank you, John and Emerald City Model and Talent, for your continuing support.

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Really? They held you captive? Isn't that just a little bit of an exaggeration? I model for Emerald City, I've never had any problems with them. Calling this company a bait and switch scam is actually slander.

Unless you can provide proof that this really happened, stop trying to destroy a good business's reputation.

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The applicant must contact us for an interview. The way our company works is: We schedule an interview. At the end of the interview, we let the applicant know if we can work with them(meaning, if we have too many people of the same look in our inventory, we sometimes have to turn them down). We do NOT take just anyone that walks through the door. At the end of the interview, the applicant (if accepted) is asked where THEY would like to go from there. In other words, the individual is ALWAYS in control. This person came in for the interview, agreed to do the photoshoot, and after she went home and was told by someone, "not to do that", she decided that she didn't want the photos or to be with our company anymore. You wouldn't go to get your car serviced at Jiffy Lube, and then half-way through the oil change, tell them you're not going to pay for it. The applicant must agree to go forward with us before any photos are taken. We do not need to beg people to join, because we have a great talent bank.

This is run by John Harb and his brother Harvey. Harb says he does stand ins for Stallone, which is probably true, or at least once ones, since there are pictures of them standing next to each other posted across the walls in a tacky and almost bragging manner. He has you look at books of adds and jobs other models have done along side a copy of the checks
written to them with decent to large amounts from many well known companies.

After getting you glittery eyed with the fantasy and dreams of being a famous model or actor, he then brings up how they are going to get you started with your portfolio by taking the photos for you.....after you pay a $300 or more fee. Or at least a large down payment. After i got to this point i was put up on the website along side all the other children and adults with the same dreams as me. Within a week a get a phone call for my first job, i was so excited! i was going to be working
promotional work for the Hannah Montana concert coming to town. Not but 3 hours later did i get a call saying that the concert all of a sudden got canceled. After that, i never got another call again for work. I waited 4 years and watched my face stay up there as someone they offered as a model, yet never heard from the talent company again. I sent an email requesting my face to be removed if they had no intention of actually contacting me or any of the other models posted on there site and that i didn't want anything to do with how they convinced girls to throw money at them without any type of return. My profile was removed without any response back and i haven't heard from them since. So it seems if you catch on and at least just ask to be removed, they seem to politely do so, which i guess i can at least appreciate that. =/

Ive seen some bad reviews about John Harb, his brother Harvey and Emerald City Model and Talent; for the record, Id like to give a few facts from my experience with the agency. Ive read John charges anywhere from $400.00 to $800.00 for photos. John charged me $300.00, I paid a $150 deposit, and he collected the remainder from my first acting job. A year later, he took updated photos and charged me nothing. Ive heard John and Harvey are gangsters. Ive known gangsters; theyre not gangsters. While taking my updated photos last year, I had coffee with Harvey and thought of him a quality person. He talked about the talent business, how it was in the past and what its like now. He gave me advice on how to present myself, what I could expect from production companies and what to look out for when signing contracts. During the past two and a half years, Emerald City has been good to me. Im no one special; theyve sent me out on numerous auditions, 90% of which I was not chosen for the part. In my experience, the acting and modeling business is a tough business; theres rejection at every corner, and its not for the weak minded. John can only do so much for me; Im not the only person hes sending out for auditions, so I market myself every day. John helped me create my resume, and that resume has helped me get my foot in the door for countless auditions. If you looked at my resume, youd see Ive had success, but if you compared it with my auditions, youd see Ive had to work hard and consistently. Johns been in business for 25 years, is a positive person and has yet to say anything negative concerning his competition or critics. This fact speaks volumes about John and reminds me; I wont get far badmouthing people. The Seattle acting community is a very small community, and word travels fast.