I called 8.10.09 and the audition was 8.15.09:
I was listening to a local radio station, (that I listen to every day) and the announcer said that the Casting Director for New Moon (Twilight movie) was going to be holding auditions for the next Twilight film and the next 100 callers would recieve an audition.
"Does your child have what it takes?" etc, etc. "Don't let this chance pass you by!"
I thought, "Wow, a huge casting director in Dallas Texas? I've got to call for my kids!" So I called the number, thinking there was NO WAY I would be one of those lucky callers - but by forces unknown to me - I was! I told the woman I spoke with that I have 2 sons, 13 years and 6 years old, and she was saying, "That's great! We are looking for children between the ages of 4-18, this is the casting director for the Twilight movies that your children will be auditioning for."
And "You are so lucky to be one of our 100 callers, your children will have an appointment with our agents." Then she went on to say that I would have to arrive at 3pm, the process would take 2 hours at the most and to bring 2 head shots of each child. I asked her how long it would take to find out how the audition went and she said I would be told immediately if my kids made it or not. NO MENTION OF THE "SCHOOL" OR ANYTHING!!! She gave me the driving directions and said we needed to be well-dressed and that she would send me an email with all of the information.
I checked my email and this is what I recieved:
*
Directions to the Audition
Monday, August 10 8:02 PM
From:
"[email protected]" Add sender to Contacts
To:
deleted for my privacy
Message contains attachments
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This email has been automatically generated - do not respond.
Your audition is scheduled for Saturday, August 15 at 3:00: 00 PM.
Your Audition is located at the:
Sheraton Dallas Hotel inside the Austin Ballroom
400 North Olive Street
Dallas, Texas 75201
From the North
Head southwest on US-75 S
Take exit 284C to merge onto Live Oak
Turn right at Olive St
Destination will be on the right
From the South
Head northeast on I-35E N
Take exit 428A to merge onto I-30 E/US-67 N/US-80 E
Take exit 46 for US-75 toward Sherman
Follow signs for Elm St and merge onto Elm St
Turn right at Olive St
Destination will be on the right
From the East
Head west on I-30 W 1.5 mi
Take exit 47B for US-75 toward Sherman
Follow signs for Elm St and merge onto Elm St
Turn right at Olive St
Destination will be on the right
From the West
Head east on I-30 E
Take exit 46 for US-75 toward Sherman
Follow signs for Elm St and merge onto Elm St
Turn right at Olive St
Destination will be on the right
Screen Test Commercials
4-12 year old boys and girls
Corn pops
so, i overslept. I want my kellogg's corn pops! Like sweet popcorn, you always want more. Kellogg's corn pops, i've just got to have my pops!
13-17 year old male and female
Gap
you know, the best thing about jeans is that they never go out of style. Jeans can go anywhere. What are you waiting for? Gap jeans. They're the best!
18 years and older male and female
Toyota
there's nothing like the toyota 4 runner to expand your playing field. Where you go is your concern. Getting you back is toyota's, the new toyota 4 runner will take me anywhere and... It's given me a bigger back yard to play in.
Bring two pictures that we can keep. A medium shot showing head and shoulders is preferable. The dress is upscale, no jeans or sneakers. Dress like your going to a nice dinner.
See you at the Audition and Good Luck!
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So I had my sons practice all week so they would do a great job. They knew their lines word for word. They were very excited, I was nervous and excited and so ready to find out how it would all go. I didn't think they stood a chance!
On Friday I recieved 2 calls confirming my appointments. I asked the guy that called if this was basically a cattle-call and would there be a ton of people there, lined up and waiting all day. He said "NO, THIS IS ONLY FOR A FEW PEOPLE AND IT IS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY."
My husband called me that day and said he was on his way home and that he was going with us. I was on cloud 9, very excited and my kids were bouncing off the walls! We drove over 2 hours to get to the hotel. We went to the Austin Ballroom to sign in, and there was a long line. Not too long, perhaps 40 people, so we got in line at 2:15. And waited. And waited. And waited. More people arrived and signed in. Then more people showed up. And more. The line was 5x longer than when we arrived. We over-heard people talking about their appointment times, some weren't until after 5pm. (How long they waited in line was their problem!)
Only 2 hours, huh? Yeah right! We were finally 'herded' (proper term) into the ballroom, with well over 300 people. Only the first 100 callers? Sure. Mmm-hmmm. Well, we were given an 'application' to fill out, along with another sheet that had camera direction and other crap on it. The papers were of poor quality, with the big John Robert Powers emblazoned across the top. At this point in time we were still not given the specific name of the company, just the most basic information.
The 'application' was basic info, including mom & dad occupations, on a scale of 1-10 how much do you want to do this, hobbies, etc. On the back it said describe in 100 words why you should be chosen. I filled out both of them for my 2 sons while High School Musical silently played on a projection screen and loud teen music blared through the speakers set up at the front of the room. On the front right of the room was a camera and a blue screen against the wall, and a LONG line of kids against the wall, each one waiting to 'audition' in front of the camera, about 40 or so.
After an hour or so, (we were sitting in the 5th row from the front) the SHOW began! This guy said who he was, (supposedly a model/talent agent) and he talked about how they would decide who was chosen, who their claim-to-fame actors/actresses were (big posters of Zac Effron and Vanessa Hudges we standing up front) what it takes to be a model/actor, etc. Then he went on about the movies that cast their kids in them (Transformers, Pirates of the Carribean, Hannah Montana, etc.)
He was getting everyone riled up by having us shout "Yes!" and "YEAH!" every few minutes. I really thought it was legit. Then a few other no-names spoke about modeling, commercials, tv, movies and print ads. This large group mainly consisted of 15-18 year old girls, the whole hook for them was the Twilight bit.
Then Joseph Middleton was announced, the Casting Director for New Moon. He came in the room and talked about how he was from a small town in Georgia, not to let closed doors stand in the way of your dreams, etc. Then he talked about what movies he had cast, including: American Pie, Old School, Mr & Mrs Smith, Legally Blonde 2, etc. He talked for all of 10 minutes and then left. Hmmmmmm... I was told my kids would be doing their commerical auditions for him...
Then the model/talent agent announced some young guy with curly blonde hair, he was supposedly in High School Musical 3, and he talked about how wonderful John Robert Powers was for him, etc. I have never seen him or heard of him...
The model/talent agent got back on the microphone and said to fill out the applications and if anyone had put less than an 8 on their sheet for how much they wanted to do this they wouldn't even be considered. Then he said we would line up, turn our applications and photos in and then do the commercial audition.
They turned the music back on and everyone filled out their applications and talked while we waited. My oldest son decided not to do it, (he is very small for his age) and so I told him that was fine, and Dad said he would take him outside until we were done. I sat with my 6 year old son and he practiced his lines and was so full of energy and excited, and finally we were herded with everyone in our row (20) to line up.
There were 4 folding tables set up, and each family stood and waited until an 'agent' was free. Finally after waiting forever, we spoke with DOMENICA. She asked my son his name, age, was he excited, etc. Then she gave me a hot-pink slip of paper that said:
YOU MUST COME BACK TOMORROW FOR YOUR CALLBACK RESULTS
Report to the "City View Room 4" 4th Floor
Please arrive promptly at the time designated below by your talent scout. (Scout?)
Callback Time:% (written in was 10:15)
Talent Scout: DOMENICA
Parent (s) must be present with the contestant at this time. NO EXCEPTIONS!
The last sentence is VERY important and you'll find out why.
She also gave us a booklet that said "John Robert Powers" on the front, consisted of 4 pages, and on the 3rd page she circled the 'prices', (too bad I wasn't informed of this beforehand!) $1,950 - Acting or Modeling (5 Workshops plus Industry Showcase Prep, $2900 - Acting and Modeling (10 Workshops plus ISP), $5900 - Career Development (20 Workshops plus ISP and Career Development with a Major Television Star). WTF? She then said that payment would be due in full the next day if he was chosen, would I have a problem with that? No, it was fine. Not a big deal. No clue this was a school - I was lead to believe that it was an audition for a Casting Director.
So we walked over to the line for the 'auditions' and waited. When my sons turn was up, some guy and the blonde curly haired guy were sitting behind a tiny video camera. (I had no idea if it was even on because of the angle they were sitting.) My son was kind of freaked out by the loud music (he is only 6!) but he said all of his lines and made the 2 guys laugh because of the faces he was making.
They gave him high-fives and said he did a great job. Then we left, it was well after 6, probably around 6:30 or so. Only 2 hours for 100 kids, by appointment only??? Wtf? I started feeling suspicious about all of this.
We drove home, 2 hours away and I read the 'booklet'. The Modeling Curriculum consists of 5 Workshops, each one with 4-5 items like confidence, illusion, make-up, models wardrobe, backstage etiquette, review turns, reivew movement, runway technique, etc. Ok. I am a little angry, but wanted to save my questions for the next day. I figured it would be best for my son just to do the modeling because I'll say it again - he is 6 years old and can read, but he is not a teen! He doesn't understand what the hell any of this is!!!
Anyway, this morning we were up and ready at 7 am to leave so we could get there early. Our oldest son stayed with my parents (he wasn't interested in going back) and my mother-in-law decided to go with us. We got back to the "City View Room 4" to sign in at 9:45 am (30 minutes early) and waited. More people arrived. And waited. More people arrived. The sign in sheet wasn't very long, but it took forever. Some of the kids waiting were really cute, some were not. And I mean, "Sorry but your kid is not cute at all!"
While we were waiting we talked to some of the other parents. Their kids were excited and nervous, everyone was waiting for THE FINAL ANSWER (LoL). Domenica, aka Talent Scout was taking people, one family at a time, into a conference room. Some didn't stay in there long, some came out mad and some were in there a loooong time, a most of them she escorted to another room down the hall. Finally at 12 Domenica noticed we had been there a long time and got our sons name and took us into her office, saying she was sorry it was taking so long, blah blah blah.
She sat down and asked our son if he had fun yesterday, what was his favorite part, etc. He was more interested in taking pictures with Daddys phone than what she was saying. (Again, he is 6 years old and hasn't even started 1st grade yet!) She smiled and said that out of 1500 kids, only 150 would be chosen to be enrolled at the school. Today was the 'no' day and it tended to get ugly, she says. "Congratulations, you are one of the select few to become a student!" I just thought, ok, he's 6 years old.
Domenica said that she recommended the Acting & Modeling ($2,900) for our son. She said that he had the personality of an actor and she said it would be WONDERFUL for him to do. Finally I couldn't hold it in. I asked her, "He is 6 years old, how will he understand all of this and not run around and play with the other kids?" She said, and I quote, "Our teachers are use to teaching children and can teach them without them running around." Hmmm... Sounds like BS to me. I can't even get him to sit still at the dinner table without him doing something like knocking over his drink or pouting or playing with EVERYTHING. How is some stranger going to keep him chilled out?
What about the older kids? If these workshops are 3 hours long and the younger kids are running around like maniacs playing, how the hell are the older kids going to learn anything in 4 weeks (weekends only, 10 workshops total) at 3 hours? Come on!
At this point I was feeling pissed off and was ready to read her the riot act, my husband said the $2,900 would be fine, etc. My mother in law got up and went in to the waiting room. When we were following Domenica to the other room, I asked my mother in law what she was doing - she was talking to the other parents about the cost and everything. Apparently the other parents were upset about the cost and didn't understand why we were being pressured and one mom said that she knew for a fact that a year of acting lessons at a Dallas school didn't cost that much and you didn't have to pay it as a lump sum.
So we followed her to the other room (keep us separated from the other group so we wouldn't discuss it I suppose) where all of our info was being taken and checks written, etc. Most, if not all, of the kids that were in the waiting room were in there. Strange. I thought it was "NO" day... And there were 3 other 'scouts' with the same (?) amount of kids to say yes or no to, and the day wasn't over yet???
After we sat down, my mother in law got up and walked into the hall and I told my husband to go talk to her. I had a funny feeling about the whole thing but Daddy was oblivious (like most men lol). We ganged up on him and told him that something wasn't right about the situation and I said that I could do it on my own and get him into a local school (the whole time no one said that this was an out-of-state travelling company).
We left and came home. So, all of the money we spent going and coming back for 2 days was over $100 (parking was $10.75 each day). One family had driven from Utah... At least we were smart enough to say no. We got off easy compared to some, one mom had to call her husband about it and she was gone quite a while, then she finally reappeared with her checkbook in tow and a deer in the headlights look on her face.
Ok, let me make a few points clear. I'm not a bitter stage mom with expectations of my son becoming the next Brad Pitt. Our son is very handsome and I'm not saying that because he is my son - he is going to be a heartbreaker one day! I just wanted him to have this chance, even if he didn't get it. I'm not mad about the money (I could have written that check without thinking about it).
I'm really angry about the misleading information, fraudulent claims and shady business practices. I checked online for the blonde guy from High School Musical 3, (imdb.com) and couldn't find him. I checked for Joseph Middleton (no picture, not sure if it was him) and read his info all it says is Georgia for his biography. The website that I recieved the email from (look up there and check it out for yourself) is basically an empty domain with modeling/acting links, not a legit site. The booklet has JRP in a circle written on the back, and Rise to Fame Inc underneath that. Can't find anything about them either.
Something is not right with this 'company' and something needs to be done to stop them from ripping off all of these people who are mislead to think that their kids will be the next Miley Cyrus or Zac Effron. Some of these people looked like they didn't have the money and they were practically cutting off their arms and legs to pay for it.
I'm calling the radio station that had the advertisement on it and I'm letting them know what happened and to research the companies buying airtime before they are made to look like fools. I am also calling Fox 4 news in Dallas and letting them know about it. I cannot believe that this company is getting away with it, and I intend to do something about it!!!
I will update when I find out more information.
I don't care if you want to defend this company, I don't know if the JRP headquarters is aware of this but I will call them too.
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