I was approached by the President of the company, Susan Lunetta, at the mall and she told me my son had a great "look" she passed along her card and after thinking about it for a while I said "well, he can make some money for college" so it began.
We met with Sonita in the Boston office and she looked at Joe and kept one of the pictures I brought in to send and see if he was accepted.
I got a callback a week or so later saying he was accepted. Next meeting was again with Sonita and it was to go over the photographs we would need for his "portfolio" as they called it. Having never done this before that was all I knew. They said they had a guy that would do 2 looks and a head shot for $500 and if I looked anywhere else I wouldn't get such a great price, wouldn't get to own the CD etc... (I found out later that at reputable agencies they don't charge as much and give you two Cd's, and they use a FASHION Photographer) Exxcel used a portrait photographer. The shots are terrible. I asked if they printed them as well and they said yes. I thought this was covered in the $500 that I spent so that we could wait around all day with a 7 year old to take pictures (6 hours, there were a million people there).
They never listed out the pricing, it was all verbal. Then they had us go to a meeting for 5 hours. For almost 2 of those hours Susan, the president talked about what these CHILDREN and very thin models shouldn't eat. She named just about everything there was to eat. I felt like I was at a cult meeting. Way to make thin girls get sick Susan. Then she told us that if we didn't have the right kind of prints (the ones that only they did) that any casting person would just throw them away. She also held up a cheap plastic binder that she said was $100 and that if we did not use this binder then we would look foolish to the clients. (more money).
A few weeks later I got an email from Susan with Joeys comp card pictures. She wanted to know if I approved. I said yes and then someone named Sharon called and after thinking I lived in Buffalo for 20 minutes and trying to pressure me to pay for Joe to go to all sorts of Buffalo groups this woman realized I was in Boston. Very unorganized place. So then she went over the cost of the prints and other things if I wanted my son to model, none of which was discussed until now, 3 months after starting this debacle. I told her I didnt have that kind of money.
It came to another $500 for comp cards, head shots, template fees, casting network, website fees and taxes, and dont forget the $100 binder and then they want to print larger pics and God only knows what they charge for those. Of these never before discussed fee's almost $300 is a yearly fee. I was beside myself. I wanted to know why this wasn't disclosed beforehand.
They claimed it was, but all I have is info, no pricing. I never got pricing because they don't give it out, its all verbal. They are liars and they sell, its a photomill. That's how they get you. Then you feel stuck.
I asked a friend who worked in the business for years and she called her old Agency for me (one of the top 2 in Boston). They told her, w/out knowing me or my son, that they never see Exxcel on any casting sheets, etc.
I finally went to another agency and they said the pictures were taken by a portrait photographer and the way they can tell is b/c there isn't a box in the eye. I am disgusted with this place and people deserve to know.
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