Casting Couch / Complains / Grievances

Fraudulent Modeling Agencies

Fraudulent Casting Agencies

Fake Auditions / Castings

Talent Scout Scams

LEARN HOW CROOKS WILL CHEAT YOU - Modeling / Acting Scams Exposed

Modeling / Acting Scams Exposed / Fake Auditions / Casting Couch / Fraudulent Modeling Agencies / Casting Agencies Exposed

Be informed before you become a victim.

Models / Actors - Duped / Cheated - Find it to yourself how it was done before it happens to you.

Help & Save Yourself From Being Cheated / Scammed.

We will explain you how scammers will take your money & leave you with nothing more than broken dreams & false hopes. You must read it before you spend your precious time & money on your modeling / acting career.

Many young teenagers will plead with their parents for thousands or lakhs of rupees they have been told is necessary to start a career in modeling / acting. If not all, most of that money will likely end up in the pockets of conmen who have spent years for perfecting this art.

Be cautious / careful of Advertisements that seeks Models / Actors / Kids for Movie / TV Serial / TV Commercial / Print Advertisement etc. through internet, television, radio, flyer, newspaper & email.

They say that they have created more stars than any other company & that their clients are well known Film Makers & Production Houses. Hoping to become a movie star you will call the advertiser besides mailing your details & photos in response to the advertisement.

Also, you can be approached by a talent scout from nowhere who states that you have the looks that could get you work as a model or actor. He will give you his card or flyer & will ask you to call him later. Most of the times the card will not have any address & the promotional brochure will read that we are looking for fresh faces. The hunt is on for new faces. One of the largest talent management & scouting company in the country require new faces. With offices in all major cities we have everything you need to enter the entertainment & glamour industry.

The visions of glamour & money flash before your eyes, so you go to meet him at the venue filled with lots of other aspiring model & actor like you.

Advertiser will ask you for a fee in hundreds or thousands for screen test / audition / artist card to determine whether you / your child will be one of the selected few likely to obtain paid work as an actor or model.

The screen test / audition consist of few minutes session taped with a video camera, conducted at a temporary venue most of the times. They encourage you to buy a copy of the screen test / audition for additional fees.

Usually casting directors have no professional experience or basis for talent evaluation. Even if an artist bore a startling resemblance to a pot-belly pig & does not know the basics of acting or modeling they will appreciate his/her talent.

The casting director, who claims to have many years of professional experience in talent evaluation, fills out a form printed on letterhead of their so called Talent Management Company, showing that you / your child has passed the audition / screen test & can begin to earn money right away.

Then he will ask you to spend few more thousands or lakhs analyzing your financial strength for the portfolio/ photographs you / your child might need to interest other casting agencies or casting directors or film makers besides joining their grooming program.

The Casting Director informs you that he will definitely recommend you but that a committee of industry experts will make the final selection. He will also inform you that, as a prerequisite for agency representation, you must take modeling & acting grooming program from them. He states that their modeling & acting workshops have a limited enrollment & that only 5% of artists / models auditioned are accepted. He will also ask you to pay a deposit for the workshop which is fully refundable if you are not accepted by the selection committee. He can even guarantee few acting or modeling assignments for you, if selected.

The casting director will claim that the aspiring talents who buy & complete their grooming program have a high rate of success.

To verify their claims they can show their photographs with celebrities, Association memberships and even previous assignments done. He will tell himself to be an independent, charitable, educational organization formed to protect you / your child from unethical business practices in the entertainment / glamour industry. They can also encourage you to check out their credentials through various links provided by them.

Being excited about your future career in acting / modeling, you agree to purchase the expensive service package sold by their agency.

After you buy the portfolio / grooming program, they will groom you besides getting your portfolio done & providing you with addresses of few modeling agencies & film makers.

Now if you complain to them or ask for a refund, they will refuse. They claim you waived the right to a refund when you signed the papers that state they have fully explained the portfolio / grooming program, that you understood the program, & that you agreed that no refunds were available.

Hence, it turns out that the screen test / audition was not a reliable evaluation of whether you / your child will obtain work as an actor or model. Actually it was a marketing ploy designed solely to induce the purchase of portfolio / grooming program to cheat you of your money.

In fact, their talent management companies are not selective in screening & reviewing consumers for marketability as models or actors. Their principal source of income is not client-paid commissions but fees paid by aspiring actors / models for their modeling & acting grooming program / portfoilo. It is almost impossible for you ever to obtain paid employment as a model or actor through them.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

Frankly speaking, no agency or individual can guarantee you assignments as actor / model in entertainment / glamour industry & if someone claims it that then is a Big lie. Modeling agencies / Casting agencies are not employers; hence there is no way a legitimate agency can guarantee you work. They can just guarantee of promoting you among the film makers, modeling / casting agencies, production houses besides updating you about the latest auditions & castings.

Acting & Modeling Schools claim to provide grooming for a fee, in Acting, Singing, Dancing, Dubbing, Editing, Animation, Sound Recording, Mass Communication, Media, Journalism, Camera & Digital Photography, Radio & Films Arts, Poise, Posture, Diction, Skin Care, Make-Up, The Proper Walk, etc. but do not necessarily find work / job for you. After finishing their classes, you may be on your own.

Be careful of any newspaper classified or internet display ad looking for any kind of model or talent etc. Established Modeling agencies have plenty of aspiring talents coming to them through reference so they do not have to advertise their requirement most of the times.

You should conduct a background check of the company conducting auditions.

To avoid being cheated, aspiring talents should attend audition / casting calls at reputable modeling / casting agencies. Well-known agencies usually conduct auditions monthly.

Do not respond to subway, bus or classified ads that promise modeling & acting jobs to aspiring talents with no experience, or of all ages & sizes, besides without detailed job specifications. Come on, they are not Supreme.

If an agency charges money for auditions, it usually means that they do not have enough modeling work for either the agency or the aspiring talent to survive on.

In Acting & Modeling career, you will not have the flexibility to choose your own hours, so beware of the claim that you will be able to work full or part time as per your preference.

Be sure to get all verbal promises in writing.

Beware of companies that only accept payment in cash or personal bank account. Take it as a b signal that the company is more interested in your money than your career.

Often, what you thought was a genuine audition / casting turns out to be an intelligently planned sales pitch for modeling or acting classes or photo shoots that can range in price from several thousand to lakhs.

Any Acting & Modeling agency, professional casting director, agent or manager has an office & regular office hours. There is no reason to discuss employment opportunities late at night or in an apartment.

Your hard work, sincerity, persistence, patience & finally talent can only guarantee you of making Big name in the entertainment / glamour industry.

Register your complains / grievances now.

Are you the victim of a casting couch?

Are you being exploited by a coordinator / film maker / production company?

Are you being cheated by an artist / technician / crew etc?

Have you been cheated by a coordinator / film maker / production company?

Are you facing credit problems with your coordinator / film maker / production company?

Is your coordinator / film maker / production company harassing you?

Has a coordinator / film maker / production company made a fool of you?

Has any service provider / supplier made a fool of you?

If your answer is “YES” to any of the above questions, then do not be quiet and let them get away with it so easily.

your complains / grievances and let the world know how you have been fooled and harassed and suffered for these peoples faults. Also the others will learn from your experiences which will help them in facing any such situation.

This section is meant to help and improve the quality of services being taken / provided by a coordinator / film maker / production company and an artist / technician / crew etc. You can express your displeasure and let other people know the issues with a coordinator / film maker / production company and an artist / technician / crew etc.

Here you can share the experiences and can submit your complaints / grievances. You can also discuss the various posts by posting and reading comments. The concerned coordinator / film maker / production company and an artist / technician / crew etc. can also look up the problems being faced by others and thus can address the issues

Issued in public interest by www.BollywoodHunts.com

What is Casting Couch

Casting couch originated in the entertainment / glamour industry, with specific reference to couches in the offices of casting agents that could be used for sexual activity between the agents and aspiring talents. Careers which are most desirable and difficult to break into, have been the subject of casting couch. Such trading of favors is an abuse of power, and can become a sex scandal. The casting couch is a term which involves the trading of sexual favors by an aspiring talent, or beginner to a film maker or casting director, in return for entry into movie, television show, short film, music album, pageant, or for other career advancement within an organization

Allegations from "casting couch" candidates *

Ø In her 1991 book You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, Oscar-winning producer Julia Phillips attempted to expose many of the underground Hollywood institutions, and confirmed that "casting couch" mentality was alive and well in Hollywood.

Ø In a 1995 article, journalist Peter Keough described Hollywood as "a town where everyone is selling body and soul for fame and fortune, and all--especially women--are considered commodities".

Ø In a 1996 interview, actor Woody Harrelson declared "every [acting] business I ever entered into in New York seemed to have a casting couch....I've seen so many people sleep with people they loathe in order to further their ambition.

Ø In a 1997 interview, actress Jenny McCarthy stated "I was the only girl in my clique who wasn't sleeping with someone to get a job

At a 2005 class reunion, producer Chris Hanley told his former classmates that "almost every leading actress in all of [his] 24 films has slept with a director or producer or a leading actor to get the part that launched her career". Notable actresses to have had lead roles in films produced by Hanley include Kim Cattrall, Reese Witherspoon, Gina Gershon, Heather Graham, Christina Ricci, Natasha Lyonne, Dominique Swain, Summer Phoenix , Tara Reid, Selma Blair, Portia de Rossi, Kirsten Dunst, Chloë Sevigny, Mila Kunis, Lindy Booth, Brittany Murphy, Mena Suvari, Rosario Dawson, Franka Potente, Judy Greer, Kate Beckinsale, Patricia Arquette, Asia Argento, Denise Richards and Julia Stiles.

ØIn 2009 Megan Fox stated that leading film directors made sexual propositions while casting for film roles.

Ø A typical “casting couch” case occurred in India in 2004, when a female actress Ms. Preeti Jain filed a police complaint alleging that film director Mr. Madhur Bhandarkar had sexually exploited her for many years and made false promises of casting her in a lead role in his next film. She stated that she was never given any role in any of his films. According to her, Bhandarkar repeatedly had sex with Jain from 1999 to 2004 at Natraj Apartment at Yari Road, Hotel Seaside at Juhu and at Bhandarkar's friend's (Akbar) flat at Mount Mary road, Bandra.

Ø In 2005 India TV's India's Most Wanted, an investigative TV show, caught Indian Idol host Aman Verma and longtime Bollywood actor Shakti Kapoor in a "sting" operation, and accused them of abusing their positions to force women to have sex with them. They even produced video evidence of Kapoor making advances on a planted girl, in which Kapoor tells the girl that superstars Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta slept with people such as Subash Ghai, Yash Chopra and Yash Johar to get where they were. Verma, Kapoor and most of the Bollywood industry have defended themselves, calling India TV's claims unfounded and sensational, and claim that the video footage of Kapoor is misleading.

Ø In 2006 Zhang Yu, a Chinese actress, released 20 graphic sex videos that she made herself to document her allegations that she won many of her roles through the casting couch. The videos were released on You Tube but have been subsequently removed.

Ø In 2009 Indian actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi reported an incident in her blog where she narrowly escaped sexual advances from a producer while casting for a film role.

Ø In 2009 Korean actress Jang Ja-yeon, star of Boys Over Flowers, committed suicide and left a suicide note claiming to have been beaten by her agent and to have been forced to have sex with media executives, directors, program directors, and CEOs.

* Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casting_couch