emodel.com, Options Talent Group
To Whom It May Concern:
I'd like to take a few minutes this morning to talk
about Options Talent.
I'm a big con game buff, so I decided to follow this
one through to the pitch, and see what I noticed about
it. (And if it was legit, Lord only knows I could use
the work.)
I'll take Lewis Carroll's advice and begin at the beginning.
I was in my local college after class, heading back
home, when an attractive young lady grabbed my arm, and
asked me if I had a couple of minutes to spare.
She took me over to a table, and explained the basic
idea of what she was offering as simply: "A talent
agency, finding work for models and actors."
She gave me a time to come in to an open call that Saturday,
and I was on my way.
Saturday morning rolls around, and I head off to the
address. It's in a very nice office building in one of
the commercial districts near my home.
Everyone waits in line for a while, then does the following
steps when it's their turn:
1) Fills out a very basic sheet, with name, age, measurements,
and height, along with contact info.
2) Has two snapshots, (one smiling, one not), taken
with a digital camera. They hand you the 1.44-MB diskette
your pictures are on, and tell you to hold on to it.
3) Goes into a room to have their measurements checked.
(By the way, the girl who was measuring me gave me an
arm length of 42, because she kept measuring from the
opposite shoulder instead of the middle of the back.)
Then everyone goes into a large room with a ton of chairs,
and waits.
I was distracted by the large metal "Options" emblem
on the wall that was slowly in the process of falling
off, skewed at about a 45-degree angle. By the time the
lady came in, it had fallen off completely.
Now, we had a video with our "introduction" to
the industry, citing just about every large agency one
could think of as clients.
This is the first place we hear mention of the fact
that all composite cards and headshots are done online.
Then, we went back into the other room, still holding
our disks, and wait for our "individual interviews," which
are going to be used to determine how well we present
ourselves in person, and get a better idea of our personality.
Mine went something like this:
1) I walked in and handed over the disk, which has still
not been looked at by anyone.
2) I shook the guy's hand, and he told me to smile.
3) Then, he asked me to show him my bottom teeth. After
that, he told me to:
4) Turn right.
5) Turn left.
6) Turn around.
After this, he smiles, hands me a packet and a card
saying I'll be called at 11 pm Tuesday, (my choice, as
I have class for the rest of the day), tells me he "likes
my look," and sends me on my way.
Now, he's read my little sheet, and tells me that most
likely, with my acting experience, I'd be getting used
for acting gigs. And I take off.
NOTE: Yes, Options said that they turn away the people
that aren't right for the job. Everyone I saw leaving
had a packet and call card, though. (I have a feeling
it's one of those "other people don't make it" kinds
of situations.)
Skip to Tuesday MORNING, 10:40 am.
My phone rings, and it's Options, telling me I've got
to do my final interview.
Now, they've said I need two forms of I.D. for this
phone conversation. And, after reading the packet, I've
found the first mention of payment, halfway through in
the FAQ section.
(I've also noticed that there are only three or four
success stories, and they've been repeated in all the
material.)
I talk to the rep, a fellow we'll call Mr. Speed Talker,
for a few minutes, and have him "explain" Options
to me.
This, as far as I can tell, involves him paraphrasing
the sections of the packet, but speaking as quickly as
he's able.
After he mentions the $595 fee, I ask him what that
covers. (By the way, he's pitching this from a modeling
standpoint, though the first guy had told me acting.)
He says that it covers all aspects of my initial composite
card.
I ask him if that covers photography as well.
He stutters for a second, and explains that since "all
pictures are scanned in, it makes no difference if they're
amateur or professional."
(Which, in my not-so-professional-but-still-not-entirely-oblivious
opinion is a total crock, to put it mildly. Digital,
like anything else, follows the GIGO principle. Garbage
In, Garbage Out.)
He also explains that they have "a photo shop" which
I assume means Adobe Photoshop, and I get to play dumb
while he explains that they use Photoshop to fix up your
picture.
The example he gives me is that if I had tattoos running
up and down my arm, Photoshop would hide it. If I'm mistaken,
correct me, but that seems as if this would be false
advertising to clients.
When he gets to payment, I explain that I'm a poor college
student. At which point, he recommends I put it on my
credit card or get a loan from my family, as I can only
be interviewed once a year.
(I haven't had a chance to peruse your site at length
yet, but I'd like to point out to your viewers to watch
out for upfront offers when you have a limited time to
act. That's pressure, plain and simple. First rule of
the game.)
I have little trouble convincing him that I'd need time
to get the money together, and he says that he'll keep
my file handy, should I get the money in the future,
and gives me his contact info.
(I'd hoped to find out where he was calling from through
the area code, but it was an 888 number.)
Anyhow, I've got some materials here. The contact info
for Mr. Speed Talker, the packet Options gave me, both
of which you're more than welcome to use. All I'd need
is a snail mail address to forward them to, and I'd even
be willing to pick up the postage.
This is a good thing you're doing, and I figure it might
be of some help. Also, if you happen to know of any agencies
in the Chicagoland area with a good reputation, I'd appreciate
it if you could forward me their name.
(I'm still as broke as when I started, but at least
I haven't lost anything...)
A couple of last points I forgot to mention earlier:
1) EVERYONE has a title. Nobody's just a scout, they're
all VP or Assistant Head of some department or other.
There were about 15 people in the place, and I must have
heard at least six departments.
2) In the packet, there's a list of names on their "advisory
board," including Don Johnson and Martin Landau,
among many others. Are they aware that their names are
being used in this information?
When you look at all of this, I have to say that not
only is Options a scam, but it's a poorly executed scam.
Thanks for your time. If you have any more questions,
I can be reached at this address.
Also, if any sort of investigation has started with
this company, could you let me know? I'd love to be involved.
Sincerely,
M.L.
M.,
First off, thanks for sending a long and detailed account
of your personal experience with Options Talent.
Well, that was bogus, wasn't it?
The Options Talent model scout told you Options Talent
is: "A talent agency, finding work for models and
actors."
The website of Options Talent said the exact opposite: "Options
is not an agency."
So that looks like false advertising, no?
The trick is saying one thing in writing and another
in conversation. The writing is recorded, the talking
is not. So you cannot "prove" they were lying
or misleading (unless it is recorded). This is where
undercover investigations make all the difference.
I had already guessed Options Talent would say something
different from what they wrote.
After a while some people and some companies become so
predictable it's not funny.
There was a recent
letter from a woman, also a student,
I believe, who was exposed to Options Talent, and
she was under the impression they are an agency: "I
am interested in finding out about an agency called Options
Talent."
Can't blame her, really, after all, the name says "Talent." Do
you think the leaders of Options Talent choose the name
deliberately to be deceptive, to make people think they
are a talent agency?
Do you think the situation with the Options emblem falling
off the wall was a sign to you that Options Talent is
off the wall?
- I was distracted by the large metal "Options" emblem
on the wall that was slowly in the process of falling
off, skewed at about a 45-degree angle. By the time
the lady came in, it had fallen off completely.
You made a good point about Photoshop. Any editing (tattoos,
etc.) would be misleading to potential clients, and therefore
it would be false advertising to use doctored images.
Oh, there's that phrase again, false advertising.
Also on the topic of photos, you are exactly right.
They said: "All pictures are scanned in; it makes
no difference if they're amateur or professional." That
is not only wrong, it is totally absurd.
Earlier complaints said the same thing about emodel/Options:
they paid little attention to image quality, as if they
could not care less. If you never get a second chance
to make a first impression, why would they be so flippant
about image quality?
I liked what you said about job titles. It sounds like
a lame effort to hype the business when you consider
the lack of training and qualifications they require
to be model scouts and talent executives. The definitions
are so loose it's unbelievable.
You mentioned Don Johnson and Martin Landau, and asked, "Are
they aware that their names are being used in this information?" I
had the exact same question when the site first went
up.
Somebody needs to contact their agents and get them
in the know.
Finally, you asked about an agency in Chicago. Try calling
the big agencies in New York for recs. See the contact
info on this
page. They should know who's hot and who's
not.
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