- Report: #596858
Complaint Review: Gary Spatz The Playground Gary Spatz Acting TV And Film Conservatory - Internet Internet
Reported By:
Tabitha -
Hollywood, California, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Gary Spatz The Playground Gary Spatz Acting TV And Film Conservatory
1801 Ave. of the Stars Floor 6 Internet, Internet, United States of America
Phone:
(310) 286-6773
Web:
http://www.garyspatztheplayground.com/
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Gary Spatz The Playground Gary Spatz Acting TV And Film Conservatory Dora Castro Scam Dora Castro Spatz Ave of the Stars Century City Internet
I was at Universal Studios with my family on Saturday by a woman who had been following us around. She stopped us and asked if he was my son, and I said yes. She told me that he was a very good looking kid and that she worked for a "talent executive" and wanted my son to come in for an audition. She said that it was FREE and even wrote that on her card. The card also stated that this was not for photographs or to join a membership. (BUT...they will charge you for classes)
Now, my son actually HAS worked in Hollywood before and has been on NATIONAL TELEVISION so I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
The address on the card googles back to Gary Spatz office in Century City. The name on the card, "Dora Castro Talent Executive" is unsearchable. I sent an email directly to Gary and have not received a reply to the matter as of yet. The fact that they don't put an acutal business name on the card should be enough for anyone to run away.
I didn't look at this site until someone else on a feed mentioned it but I checked it out right now and bizparents.org has some great information. But I'll give you a few basics:
When starting out, NEVER pay more that a couple hundred a month for classes. Your community may even have free classes!
Headshots should never cost more that a couple hundred! There are many free photo students doing it for FREE on craigslist (make sure you don't leave your kid with strangers no matter how they need the shot, use your brain a bit)
You get a agent on your OWN by submitting their headshots and resumes. Nobody is going to do your dirty work.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Shawna
los Angelea,California,
U.S.A.
Gary Spatz The playground Scam Alert!
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, August 16, 2010
Approached in Target or at a kiosk in the mall?
SCAM! SCAM!
There is no such job description as a "talent scout" of any kind in Hollywood. Rather these are front men and mostly women of acting school scams and rip-offs. The first rule of thumb is to understand that in this industry is that more expensive doesn't equate to better. If someone could 'buy' success everyone would be a star. Sometimes the most expensive services actually provide the least benefit. These scams committed against children and their families are very common as they prey on our love and pride for our children. That is one consistent across all scams - they all say everything a parent would ever want to hear about how great, talented, beautiful, "star in the making" their child is. That is closely followed by playing on the guilt for a parent who might not be "allowing their child to follow their dreams".
So how does a parent spot a scam? One step is to really listen to your instincts. What seems too good to be true usually is.
RESEARCH. Researching every company you are going to work with is of paramount importance. Use Google and check the names of the businesses as well as the names of the people you meet and put the word scam after it. Ask other parents. Look for common red flags.
Some red flags of a scam or rip-off include: Being approached in a mall, family store or other public place
Name dropping such from shows LIKE The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana or the use of Disney and Nickelodeon logos (call the studio and let them know your experience with the scam school and how much they charge)
Promising work or access to talent agents through "show cases" or "agent auditions" Using several different names for their business on the internet to confuse people and load up the search engines so all the bad reviews won't show up first. (luckily it can't be done)
Putting pressure or time limits on the offer such as "we only bring back 10-20% of the kids we see, not everyone makes it", "we can only hold the spot for 3 days", etc. You can cancel if you don't like it.
Long term contracts that must be paid for in advance. Legitimate acting classes are offered for 6 weeks or less at a time, with professional level group acting classes costing around $45 per class. Anything longer, or costing more is a red flag.
Exceedingly nice sales people.Predators have to be nice. If they weren't, they wouldn't get their prey.
"But some people say it is OK...." Of course every story has 2 sides, and you may find a former client 'vouching' for a business because they *felt* successful or they had fun. Most of the the "great" reviews are posted and written on the company on their own "moderated" website review sites. And they remove any bad reviews.
Getting an agent can be accomplished for under $100 via picture submissions. Really. Just get a list of agents that handle children and send them a photo. That simple. Of course you will be told that having these expensive classes will almost guarantee a top agent.
LetsTalk
Los Angeles,California,
United States of America
Hi I'd love to help you resolve your issue.
#3UPDATE Employee
Wed, August 04, 2010
Hi -
I'm doing online customer service for Gary Spat'z The Playground and I'd love to help you with any problems you are having. (I'm sorry I'm a little late but I did not realize that people were posting this kind of information here - most of the ripoff report posts have been put up by our competitors!)
You mention in your original post that you sent an email directly to Gary but have not received a reply. I'd be happy to help you directly ([email protected]) or you can get in touch with Gary using the email address on the Playground's web-site. (please cc me and I'll be sure you get a response!)
It sounds to me like you haven't actually been in to visit our school or talk to Gary - instead you did some internet research and decided that we were not for you. Since there is no way to verify most of what you read on the internet (specially stuff that is posted on sited like this where everyone is anonymous and many of the negative comments are cooked up by competitors) I'd like to invite you to come in and observe a class in progress. You pick the weekend and I'll set it up - we have absolutely nothing to hide!
Yes, there have been some people calling us scammers and some people are uncomfortable with the fact that we recruit students in public. However, we have a great refund policy (full refund up to your first two lessons and a pro-rated refund after that). Yes, we are expensive, but Gary is the most experience child acting coach in the US (maybe even the world?) and if you went to a tennis camp run by John McEnroe you would expect to pay a little more wouldn't you?
I'd like to offer you (and other interested parents) some resources for finding more information about what actual clients or our business have to say about the school - here are links to public review sites that we have absolutely no control over - we routinely get 4 and 5 star ratings on all of them!
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=2017328528285780699&q=gary+spatz+90067&hl=en
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gary-spatzs-the-playground-los-angeles-2
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15240376882/gary-spatz-s-the-playground-los-angeles
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Gary.Spatzs.The.Playground..310-286-6773/review/list
http://local.yahoo.com/info-43655158-gary-spatz-s-the-playground-los-angeles?tab=reviews#reviews
This one is our "doing" but I think you'll see the honest opinions of our parents if you watch these videos...
http://vimeo.com/album/265573
I'd also like to address your mention of "bizparents.org" - I'm pretty sure that you are actually referring to http://www.bizparentz.org/ and I do encourage every parent of an aspiring actor to check it out. They are a great resource! BUT, if you search that site there aren't any mentions of Gary or The Playground. Certainly, they have nothing negative to say about us.
Finally, I'd like to thank you for the advice that you offered to young actors. You really shouldn't pay a lot for an acting class unless you are really committed to acting as a career (or if you can easily afford it). There ARE a lot of inexpensive acting classes available that can get you started. Just to be clear, we are a premiere acting school for young people and we go the extra mile for our students and our parents. We give talented students an opportunity to meet with agents from time to time but we are not agents, not do we offer headshots or charge for headshots (so I'm not sure why you bring it up).
I'm glad to hear that your child has had some success with acting and I hope you continue to support him. If you want to take me up on my offer of sitting in on a class please get in touch!
"Let's Talk"
