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Acting Scams
To Avoid (Part 3) :
The Hidden fees
Send us your
headshot—along with $49.95 for internet fees
(by Charles Todd, AC Staff)
In Part 3 of our
series on Acting Scams, we explore your new “agent” and
their hidden fees. We must place the term “agent” in
quotation marks because the word “agent” can be used (and
abused) in many different ways. All agents do not operate
the same way. Reputable agents charge nothing up front,
make money only from commissions from their working
actors, and offer valuable career guidance and advice.
Then, you
have the other “agents” who will gladly represent you—for
the right price. Those prices come in different ways and
at different amounts. Some come in the form of an
expensive product or service. For example, an agent may
force an actor into taking mandatory in-house acting
classes prior to representation. Some agents accept actors
into an agency, only to charge them for expensive,
unnecessary photo sessions and portfolios. And then there
are the hidden fees….
Here’s the set-up. You submit your acting headshot and
resume to an agent. You perhaps have been passed over by
other local agents in the past and you hope that this time
you will finally achieve representation.
A few weeks
after submission, you receive a letter. You’ve been
accepted! This new “agent” agrees to represent you. The
agent then raises your hopes by claiming that many of
his/her actors have been working steadily, and you can
too! He just needs a small monetary investment from you in
order to get you started. He may, for example, ask for
$49.95 upfront to put your headshot on a website. With
that “investment” he claims, the agency will be able to
market you more effectively to casting directors in town.
The $49.95
seems a small investment for you, especially since you now
believe you have an agent. Believing you are on your way
to becoming a full-time working actor, you gladly pay the
small fee.
With money
in hand, you never hear from your “agent” again.
While the
$49.95 they scammed from you may not seem like much, just
imagine if 5,000 other hopeful actors were snookered the
same way.
Dead Giveaways
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Reputable agents almost never ask for money up front. A general
rule of thumb is that if any agent asks for money up
front, immediately turn them down until you’ve had a
chance to thoroughly investigate and ask other actors
who may have used the same service. There are many phony
talent agents who make money by using your insatiable
desire to become a working actor against you.
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Legitimate talent agents make money on commission, not bogus fees.
Any reputable agent will bend over backwards to promote
you, rather than bend over backwards to take money out
of your pockets.
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Any expense from an “agent” that is not directly tied to your
performance as an actor, is most likely a scam!
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