Modeling Agency News: American Modeling Industry Headlines

"A state attorney general's investigation into one of Lou Pearlman's business interests might create problems for the music impresario when he goes before the City Council on Monday in hopes of winning millions of dollars in incentives to redevelop downtown's Church Street Station. The state is investigating whether Trans Continental Talent Inc. duped hundreds of wannabe models and actors into paying as much as $1,500 for a spot on the company's Web site. Clients have complained that they were led to believe the company would help them find work rather than simply post their pictures online."¹

1. Jon Steinman, "State probe may stall plans for Church Street," Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 15, 2003.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-locpearlman15021503feb15.story

Council member questions Pearlman's dealings

"Here's how Trans Continental Talent works: The company sends out independent contractors to look for potential customers for its modeling and acting database services. Potential customers are invited to an open call and to visit the company's local office, then another appointment is made to seal the deal. "They are being made to feel like they were selected and if they don't do it now they won't have an opportunity to do it again for another year," Judy Pepper, a spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau.... Meanwhile, dissatisfied customers have filed more than 350 complaints with the Florida Attorney General's Office. Specific complaints include violations of the customer's right in Florida to cancel the contract within three days, misrepresentations, deceptive advertising, and unfair and deceptive trade practices, says Jackie Dowd, assistant attorney general of the Orlando economic crimes division."¹

1. Jill Krueger, "Council member questions Pearlman's dealings," Orlando Business Journal, Feb. 14, 2003.

I Am Not A Model

"TCT has a rating system where they rate someone on a photogenic scale," explains Brandon, 25. He was just scouted by TCT and dreams of being an actor/model. "They rated me as being a 9 out of 10. Almost perfect!" A few days later, Shana, a TCT talent executive, calls me. "The purpose of this phone call today is to conduct a phone interview," she says, like she's reading from a script. "We do about 1,500 phone interviews a day, and we only take in a small percentage of those people, depending on how marketable we feel they are," she adds, making me feel like acceptance as a TCT model is right up there with being the first female member of Augusta National Golf Club.... "I'm going to take your profile to the directors so they can do a final evaluation," Shana says and puts me on hold. I imagine her stepping out for a cigarette. "Congratulations! The directors thought you were very photogenic," Shana gushes when she gets back on the line. "We scored you in the top 10 percent in your category in your region. How did you want to take care of the initial investment?" Shana suddenly asks."

5 Investigates: Recruiting Model Wannabes

"But what about his scouts? Do they really have a trained eye for talent? A 5 Investigates producer applied for a job to find out. Despite not having a resume as required, she was hired the very next day. After a few hours in the classroom, her training moves to the street, where veterans show the novices how to scout. In our case, the veteran was San Francisco Office Director Mark Pfeiler, and our hidden camera caught him working the streets. "My name is Mark," he told one recruit. "I'm looking for models and actors. Have you ever thought of doing anything in the industry?" Our camera caught another scout who had been on the job for a week. "There's a good chance of getting work right now," the scout said. "I had one that signed on; three days later, he was interviewing to go to Singapore. There's 283 agencies here in the city so there's a lot going on here, too." News of those 283 agencies was new to the labor board, which licenses talent agencies in San Francisco. The board says there are actually only 17."¹

1. Barbara Rodgers, "5 Investigates: Recruiting Model Wannabes," KPIX/KCBS-San Francisco, Feb. 14, 2003.

http://beta.kpix.com/news/local/2003/02/14/5_Investigates:_Recruiting_Model_Wannabes.html

5 Investigates: Modeling Agency or Scam?

"For people who want to be a model, being discovered is the stuff that dreams are made of. For Katherine Johnson, it happened while shopping. She was approached by a scout for Transcontinental Talent, who said they were looking for all ages, and invited her to an open call. "I was like, 'Great, someone discovered me,'" she said. Johnson went to an open call, and so did we, along with our hidden cameras. We're told the chances of getting work are good. "Eighty six percent of our models have actually received jobs, or have been signed by agencies," San Francisco office directors Mark Pfeiler told us. And the pay is great. "They said anywhere between $300 to $500 an hour," Pfeiler said. "For runway, anywhere from $500 to $700 an hour."¹

1. Barbara Rodgers, "5 Investigates: Modeling Agency or Scam?," KPIX/KCBS-San Francisco, Feb. 13, 2003.

Beware pitches from talent/model agencies

"Tammy says about 60 people attended the meeting at Options Talent's offices at the Chinese Cultural Center in Tempe. Tammy says the scout also said the appointment wouldn't cost any money. It didn't, at least not until Tammy got a call back after the first meeting. She was told her daughter was one of only three callbacks. Tammy was told she had just a few hours to decide whether to move ahead by paying Options Talent $595 for the opportunity to put her daughter's photos on its Web site. Tammy and her husband talked it over. What if this was their daughter's chance to be discovered? They agreed the non-refundable $595 would be an investment in their daughter's future. Then came the next upsell. Tammy says she was told the pictures of her daughter that she supplied weren't good enough. Options could set her up for a shoot with its own photographer, for a non-refundable $425. At that point, Tammy says, she put her guard up. She had been told her photos were usable."¹

"Options Talent's agreement with customers clearly states it does not find jobs for customers nor can it guarantee that customers will ever find a job. . . . "We're not an agency, we're an advertising service," says Elizabeth Neff, spokeswoman for Transcontinental. "All we offer is exposure. You can't get discovered if you can't get seen."²

1. Brahm Resnik, "Beware pitches from talent/model agencies," Money Minute, 12 News, KPNX-TV, May 20, 2003.
2. Ibid.

Talented or Taken?

"Melanie scouted for E-Model which changed its name to Options Talent and again to TransContinental Talent all within a year. Based in Orlando, Florida, TransContinental touts itself as the largest model scouting company in the world.... We went undercover to learn what happens inside. Our 5-i team producer applied for a job as a scout with no experience in the fashion industry. TCT immediately hired him."¹

Latest News | 44 | 43 | 42 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Modeling Agency Complaints