Watch Out For Acting Scams!

Beware of Acting Scams

Unfortunately, there are many acting scams, many dishonest people out there, who just want to take your money and not only in this field or in this business, but also in others. I wanted to tell you about a couple of things that happened to me in the hopes that it will simply make you more aware. If you are not sure about something or if it seems strange, or if you think you are the butt of an acting scam, follow your instinct, it will probably be right.

Here’s an excerpt from my book Acting Career Start-Up: Four Key Factors For Success about two acting scams I peronally experienced,

Here are two stories that I hope you never experience yourself one day.

Is That Normal Practice?

The first of two stories about acting scams is about an agent I encountered and had met from a mailing I did. He called me one day and said he had seen my head shot and asked me to come in and meet with him. Of course I said yes, although I started to detect a bit of sarcasm and surliness in his voice.

When I arrived in his office, he was very hurried and not very polite. He asked me for my headshots. I was ready to satisfy his request but wondered why he didn’t have the one I sent him. He looked at them and told me point blank... Read the rest of the story

Foul Audition

The second of the two acting scams I actually came face to face with is about a little episode that has to do with an audition I was invited to one Saturday afternoon. I had worked on a film as an extra one day in late June. In all the downtime, I was sitting there talking to Karen when someone touched me on the shoulder. He told me he was a producer/director who was here that day with his wife and daughter, who were doing extra work. He said he thought my look would be good for a future project he was working on and that he was holding auditions that Saturday.

When he asked if I would like to come and audition, I said yes and thought that this is one of the reasons I wanted to do extra work right now, because of the possible contacts. However, I wondered how legit this guy was. He had told me that the audition announcement was in that week’s Backstage. I checked and it was. I was excited that someone had actually asked me to come and audition personally because of who I was and what I transmitted to him.

When I arrived at Ripley Greer Studios on 8th Avenue that Saturday afternoon, I saw a young woman who seemed to be coming from the same audition I was going to. I asked her if she had been to the audition and she said that she had. I then asked her how it went. She told me that she didn’t stay to audition. When I asked her why not, she told me that... Read the rest of the story

Backstage.com has a whole section on acting scams www.backstage.com/bso/community/resources/index.jsp#1, types, where to get help, etc. If you’ve been victimized by acting scams, I encourage you to write me and let me know about it, so we can make other actors aware of the dangers to avoid, but to also report it so that maybe you will save other actors from having to go through the same thing.

Scam Stories Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in. First Name* First Name* E-mail Address* E-mail Address* City* City* Tell us about any scams you have seen or that you have been victim of. Please enter the word that you see below.

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I would like to thank you for helping me with the monologue question I asked in October 2007. I went to the auditions for a Drama course and I am happy to say that I have been accepted as a first-year student at the Tshwane University of Technology. Please keep on sending me those newsletters and let me know where I can find books that will help me in my acting career. Thank you once more. Have a blessed day.
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Dear Anthony,
Just wanted to thank you for bringing me in to [audition for the video], meet you and chat this Saturday. I was really excited to hear about your working on actingcareerstartup.com and even took a look at it today - it's awesome! You are very well-spoken, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and it shows through the work that you do! I hope our paths in the industry will cross again and really enjoyed meeting you. Thanks, again and best wishes with your very important work!
Warmly,
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