I heard an an ad on the radio advertising for the IPOP auditions. I have always wanted to get into acting so I called the number to set up an "AUDITION". They set up my audition, and emailed me a script that I was supposed to memorize. They even called to remind of me of it the day before. Which doesn't happen in the real world of acting. If you don't show up, you do not get the job. So I went to the audition at a hotel. When I got there a girl, who happened to be the main manager, was very rude to me. When the time came for the meeting to start. They played a video talking about all of these agents that I have never heard of. After the video this woman gave a long speech about how we are supposed to look and our make-up shouldnt be overdone...blah , blah, blah.....At the end of her speech this guys tells everyone that they are only going to pick about 25% of the people to come back the next day, basically "call backs", so NO HARD FEELINGS!!! Basically BAIT AND SWITCH. They had four tables set up in the front of the room and they called each person one by one. When I got to the table I talked to a woman named Karen. She asked me if I wanted to get into acting. Then she started asking questions about my parents. Like, "Do they support you?", and "Do they support your acting career?". She was just seeking information about my income and my parents income. I NEVER EVEN READ A SCRIPT. She told me to talk to my parents and make sure they were supportive and she would call me that night. So I left. Around 5:30 she called me. She told me she really liked me and I was talented. I'm not sure how she knew that considering I never even auditioned. Then she asked me if I had time to review the pamphlet that she had given me. It stated that I had to pay 2 thousand dollars for the acting program. I told her yes. Then she asked me if I had a major credit card that I could put the full balance on. I said yes. Then I started asking questions about what the money was for and what it was getting me. Her entire attitude immediately changed . She started saying that she was on the fence about me and I had to come back for a second audition and she would decide if they would accept me or not. And if they didn't accept me, NO HARD FEELINGS OK. AGAIN, BAIT AND SWITCH. She said the money was for classes I had to take in order to get READY for th agents. She ended the call by setting up a time for me to come back to the hotel the following day.
I got online that night and researched the company. They are owned by a company in Arizona, they failed to mention that. On the pamplet that they give out, it states that they are a tradeshow, NOT A SCHOOL OR AN AGENCY. So why are they telling me I need to pay two-thousand dollars for classes. They also claim to have found Ryan Lee, and Jared Gilmore from Once Upon a time. And a few more actors. If you google all the actors they claim to have discoverd, they were not discovered by Ipop. I figured out that Ipop was a scam so I emailed Tiffany Rochel and asked her for a list of credentials from the teachers that were teaching these expensive classes, and a list of their names and the names of the agents. She emailed me back very offended that I would even ask for this information. And she told me she did not wish to do business with me. I told her that if IPOP was a reputable company that she should be able to produce the information. She sent me back a name of a company. She REFUSED to provide me with any information. I told her that was fine, I would add to the list of complaints online and I thanked her for letting me know I made the right decision. The next day I got a phone call from Karen, she told me that Tiffany wanted to offer me a scholarship. So instead of paying two-thousand dollars for classes, I would only have to pay five-hundred dollars. So let me get this straight. I need to pay five-hundred dollars for acting classes that I am taking at a HOTEL!!!! LOL REALLY!!!!! I told Karen that I wanted to attend one of the classes for free to see if they were even worth paying for. She said that if I attended a class for free that it would take away the opportunity from somone else attending the class. I tried not to laugh at this. Then I told her that I read online that after the classes were over, that IPOP was going to ask me for five-thousand dollars. And her response was, "Well are you lazy"?.......excuse me, am I lazy??? What does that have to do with anything????? She told me the five-thousand dollars was to go to Regionals and that I would get in front of all the BIG Agents........ And she told me I could get sponsors, if I wasn't lazy. I then proceded to tell her that I would check my finances and get back to her. Then she said, "Well, I have another girl that wants your spot, and today is the last day you can get in, call me back in an hour." AGAIN, BAIT AND SWITCH!!!! I did not call her back. This company is a huge scam and I posted this so they do not take advantage of anyone else. DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY ANY OF YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. ALL YOU ARE DOING IS MAKING SOME DUDE IN ARIZONA RICH!!!!! YOUR KIDS WILL NOT GET JOBS OR GET FAMOUS!!!!!!! If you want to get in the entertainent business, move to L.A. and hire an agent........