This outfit is now in our area, and I know two people who have been scouted. This evening I went to the preliminary meeting with one of them. I am deeply suspicious, and I have the impression that they are doing something illegal. You know, anyone can come to the open call... You don't even need an appointment like they say.
To nail them, you are going to have to refute the claims they make to prospective clients, which will be really hard to do since they won't let you record anything and make you sign a paper to that effect. Chiefly the advantages of their web site are lies and misrepresentations. They claim that getting your own comp card made up and continually mailing it to agencies "can cost up to" much more than the $795 up-front $20/month that they charge if you go with some of the other ripoff companies. SAG-approved companies do not charge these up front but use their percentage to the mutual benefit of the model/actor and the agent. The weasel words here are obvious, but the issue is this: TC Talent is not an agency, but they make you think they are. Don't you think that the percentage that most agencies receive would be a greater incentive to get you more work?
It tells us nothing to say "I paid them all that money and didn't get any gigs"; that's because they deceive you about their agency role. They never clearly explain that they are not an agency and don't get you work directly. So do they really does their web site really get you on file with the agencies for a reasonable fee or not? Hard figures are needed here, not anecdotes. They lie about their statistics; like 87% of the models and actors on their site are getting work. What a crock. They use examples like all the extra roles from "the Bachelor" but fail to tell you that no one got paid. And all those ugly women had to provide their own wardrobe. I'll bet the union screamed about that!
And just what did Lou Pearlman have to do with "discovering" Britney Spear? I thought she did "Star Search?" Did he really invent NSync or the Backyard Boys? Didn't he rip them off? Wasn't there a whole big court case over this? The facts are what we need here. At least this website exists to bring them out... You sure won't get them from TC Talent!!!
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