International Modeling and Talent
Association (IMTA)
To Whom It May Concern:
My five-year-old daughter just auditioned with the Elizabeth
Savage Talent Agency in Phoenix, Arizona, to attend the
IMTA convention in California.
We were told that many actresses, including Katie Holmes
and Jessica Biel (I confirmed their attendance), have
been discovered at this convention.
We haven't heard yet if she will be chosen to attend
this convention, but I'm already very leery about the
whole thing.
I've read that many parents paid over $5,000 just to
get their kids in!
While common sense tells me that this is a scam, I'm
confused by the fact that two respectable actresses have
been discovered at this convention.
I've also read that any legit talent agency will not
charge any fees for acting classes or head shots, and
should always be licensed.
Although the Elizabeth Savage Talent Agency did charge
us $340 for acting classes, they are licensed according
the BBB, and have a satisfactory record with them.
At this point I don't know what to believe. Is there
a chance that the Elizabeth Talent Agency is legit and
my daughter could be "discovered" at the IMTA
convention?
Please give me your advice.
Thanks!
J.R.
J.,
I'm familiar with IMTA, but not so much with acting.
Although many modeling agencies are also talent agencies,
the focus of the Modeling Scams website is exclusively
modeling.
Apparently the two actresses you mentioned were found
at IMTA. IMTA may have more value for acting than modeling.
IMTA has been criticised for not screening models BEFORE
parents pay using photos and charging wicked prices,
running the most expensive conventions in America.
If your daughter is "selected" by Savage but
IMTA does not screen your daughter by sending a video
of her acting to top agents who are supposed to attend
the convention BEFORE you pay, you will have good reason
to be very skeptical.
Savage may recommend her to attend IMTA. That is nice.
But if she is not one of the top agents who are going
to be at IMTA, what is their opinion worth? Don't you
think you need the professional opinion of someone who
could sign her FIRST?
If they charge $5,000 and have thousands of people attending
their conventions, sooner or later they are going to
find someone like J. Biel or K. Holmes.
That proves they are not a total scam. But it does not
prove they are not a scam.
The basic issue is success rate. If they cannot tell
you their success rate, why would you trust them?
The success rate is the percentage of people who have
attended and been signed (by reputable agencies).
You have to wonder even before you ask them to tell
you their success rate if there were only a very small
percentage of people who were actually discovered.
If it was so high, they would have already told you,
right? If it was so high, they would have a money-back
guarantee? Or if it was so high, they would not charge
anyone until they were signed!?
Unfortunately, the BBB
record for IMTA does not provide full
disclosure about their success rate. I have a problem
with that. There are similar searches and conventions
like Model Search America (MSA) and NYC Fame, which,
even if they do not have high success rates, at least
disclose their success rate.
Besides the success rate of IMTA, you would want to
ask the success rate for five year olds. It is all well
and good that Biel and Holmes were discovered, but they
weren't five years old when they were discovered, were
they? How many five year olds were discovered at IMTA?
The fact is there is not a lot of work for five year
olds, as far as I know. Spending $5,000 for a five-year-old
to be discovered is aggressive parenting, in my opinion.
At her age would it make more sense to audition for
a specific part in response to a casting call, as opposed
to showing up for an IMTA event, which is not a casting
call for a specific part?
In any case, see if you can get some input from a talent
agency which is not affilated with, or biased towards,
IMTA, or one which can tell you both sides.
IMTA sounds like the most expensive option. You may
want to shop around. I usually recommend starting with
the cheapest solid options and working towards the most
expensive opportunities.
Good luck!
|
