Almost two months after I send a batch of head shots out to agents, Gemma Regis called me, saying she represented the Shirley Wilson Talent Agency, and that Shirley would like me to come in for a reading. I was excited, of course, having received the "we're all full right now" message from any other agents who bothered to respond at all.
I drove to the audition site, a dinky little "theater" off of Sunset, and, having arrived early, caught a workshop in progress. After watching the "talent" Gemma was coaching, I should have immediately turned and walked away. (Almost all of) these children were horrible. But I stayed. And read for Shirley.
Gemma called me later in the week saying that Shirley wanted to sign me, but that I would need new head shots because my black and white ones were out of date (which is true). Gemma then told me that I could only go to the photographer she had in mind, and that Shirley wouldn't officially sign me until I had taken my new head shots and after I had taken some on-camera commercial workshops.
This set off some major alarm bells in my head. First of all, an agency can recommend a photographer, but cannot dictate where an actor can go, secondly, a real agency will sign you first and then send you out for head shots and workshops. You should NEVER have to open your wallet before being signed by an agent.
Don't listen to her BS about an agent wanting to test you out and send you out on auditions before signing you. No self-respecting, non-scamming agent would ever do that. Ever.
But, before I dismissed her, I decided to get an outside opinion from one of my actor friends. He came with me to a wardrobe meeting at Gemma's house. (She was late, working on a deal for a "side" business.) It was then she told me she was a talent manager, and would be my manager too, for 20% of my earnings, whether I wanted her or not (I do not want a manager).
She told me about all the people she was helping (out of an office in her garage). She kept coming back to this "fu*ing stupid" girl (her words) she kept sending out who had no talent and could hardly read, but was pretty, so casting agents kept calling her in. She never got any work, but Gemma kept her on and sent her through more of the workshops she runs.
After the meeting, my friend agreed that she was a scammer, so I called and left a message telling her that I didn't want to go through with it after all. (I didn't tell her why, just that I had a lot going on and that I wouldn't have a lot of time to do workshops and go out on calls.
The next day, I got four messages from her within a period of an hour and a half (yes four, from a "private" line), in which she screamed at me and told me that I'm ugly, a loser, will never get a job in LA, that she was my last chance at getting an agent because no one would ever pick up someone like me, and that I must have found those horrible, stupid, jealous people online who wrote nasty, false things about her. How stupid I must have been to listen to them, especially since she has so many people who do work with her.
I contacted the Shirley Wilson Talent Agency to make sure that it was actually Shirley that I met at the audition and it was. She said that, yes Gemma did work with her.
And apparently, she told Gemma that I called because the next day, Gemma called twice more (within an hour) to scream at me some more about how stupid I am.
I cannot tell you how glad I am that I found these reports online before handing that woman any money. Her reaction to my passing on her "offer" only confirmed my suspicions and what these other testimonies have reported.
Gemma Regis is a scammer and should not be trusted. If you even so much as hear her name, you should run in the other direction. And since Shirley Wilson seems to be okay with Gemma's behavior, I can only suggest that you avoid dealing with the Shirley Wilson Talent Agency as well.
0 comments