I took my family to Six Flags late in July when I was approached by a "talent scout" from Industry Modeling and Talent Studios. I was told my children were exactly what their directors were looking for and how much they could make in modeling. I reluctantly signed up my eldest.
The next morning I recieved a call from a young man who said he was given my son's name and my number with a strong recommendation from his scout. I tried to set an appointment for the following weekend but the sales rep explained that they were in the middle of casting for back to school ads and that my son was perfect according to his scout. I reluctantly set up an appointment the next day.
We arrived that Sunday at what i could only describe as a renovated warehouse. Honestly i was some what impressed when I entered the office, they have pics of "clients" and several flat panel TVs running a looped tape of so called clients as well as many famous actors and models. The video leads one to believe that these people got their start through IMTS.
After about 2hrs of waiting I was called into an office with a young lady who immediatly started to tell me how handsome and photogenic my son is (I do agree that my son is very handsome but this lady laid it on pretty THICK). Speaking at a rapid pace she explained how many of their clients had appeared on shows like Law and Order and modeled for The Gap and various child toy companies.
Looking back I now see that she geared most of her "speech" toward my son and I dont know about you but telling my kids no (especially when they dangle fame infront of you) is the hardest thing in the world. I was shown 5 different photoshoot packages ranging from 550-5000 and fed the disclaimer that the 550 shoot was like a waste of money. Having been told that no money was needed I only had pocket cash on me. The young lady asked me if I had a checking account/debit card/credit card ect ect... But she only spoke to me when she reffered to money, everything else was directed at my 9yr old son.
After 10 minutes of badgering I decided to see if my son's grandmother could help cause my son was really into it (big mistake). I told the lady I wanted the 750 plan and was under the assumption that was what i signed up for (the contract was several pages filled with legal jargon and double talk, the lady marked off the signature lines but said they were needed because of my sons age). We were given an appointment for the photo shoot for the following week.
We arrived for the photo shoot and were made to wait for 3hrs. After what seemed like days of waiting we were called into the studio where my son saw a makeup artist and then went on for the photo shoot, which to my suprise went very well and very quickly. We were then given another appointment to "choose our photos".
Our next appointment was the following week and i was told it was only to choose pics not to pay another lump sum of cash. Again we were made to wait for ever apon our arrival. Finally after about 2hrs we were placed in what can only be described as a closet with a computer, so we could review my son's photos.
After that we met yet another director who began with a sales pitch about marketing tools and websites and I immediatly felt their hands in my pockets again. I explained to her I couldn't afford to pay another outragous fee. Again I was grilled about my finances, debit or credit card, check, cash... I think they would have taken jewels and precious stones if I would have offered them. The lady even asked if i wanted to give them premission to withdraw the money when my check from work cleared the following week.
Finally I had enough and had to leave. I truly felt like telling all the poor unaware families in the waiting area that this place was a total SCAM.
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