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o, you want to be in pictures. If you live anywhere near Atlanta, booming right now with motion picture and television production, there’s no reason you can’t. According to the Georgia Economic Development Authority’s 2011 Annual Report, more than 327 feature films, TV series and commercials were made in Georgia last year alone, making an unprecedented $2.4 billion impact on the state’s economy, and leading film industry publication P3 to name it the number three place in the world to film. This blitz of production activity has proven to be a proverbial goldmine for aspiring actors and actresses hoping to get their big break. But it has also created a fertile environment for scam artists who masquerade as talent and casting agents and leave Hollywood hopefuls with little more than empty wallets and shattered dreams. So, we wondered: in a city and state that are bustling with Hollywood glitterati, and productions popping up at every turn calling for fresh, new talent, how do you know when you’re walking into the opportunity of a lifetime, or simply taking the bait that unscrupulous “agents” or “casting directors” are throwing out?
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OZ MAGAZINE www.ozmagazine.com
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PaY Up: the BiggesT Scam Going
Twenty-four year old Ashley Roberson and her twin sister, Mandy, have what it takes to be models. That’s what the Atlanta woman, who claimed to be a talent agent, told them after the sisters were selected for what was ostensibly a BET photo shoot and commercial. “We got a call saying we were finalists,” Ashley recalls. “This was major for us, since we didn’t have any prior modeling experiences and were just getting started.” But that excitement took a different turn when the sisters went to the agent’s office to fill out some paperwork. “We had to pay $80 for photos and to hold our spot,” Ashley says. “The agent stopped returning calls or answering her phone and never replied back to emails. We never got the pictures, portfolio, comp cards, or anything we paid for.” But while this scam artist’s antics were new to Ashley and Mandy, legitimate talent and casting agents say making promises and asking for money up front are tactics scam artists have used for years. “Agencies that tell you they’ll take your photos or teach you how to act are not legit,” says Sarah Carpenter, President of Atlanta Models and Talent, a 50 year old boutique agency that last year booked talent for hundreds of voice-overs, commercials,