561-338-7475

VMediaTV/Vision Media Television

561-338-7475
www.visionmediatelevision.com

11:55am PST - Seth Peters called and left a call back number and extension saying he was contacting me because I am an "expert in my field" and they are a national TV show that wants to put me on the air. Oh, and yes, I must pay for the video production but they will advertise it for free. They want to call the show "Heroes for Hope".

This is a telemarketer and a scam.

Someone called from 561-826-0072 and left a message asking me to call Linda Galligan at 561-338-7475  ext. 197 or email her at lg@edutvseries.com
Scam

I got a call from 561-826-0072 from someone named Jeff Slavin the assistant to tv producer Sam Stolnicher of Hope for the Planet with host Hugh Downs.  He wanted me to call Sam urgently at 561-338-7475 regarding the show "for a possible show on your organization."

Thanks for the heads up. I received a call today for a filming and I called back to get a voice mail at the above number.  They too wanted to use me because I am an expert in my field. I thought it was a little strange not to get a live person when I called back, so I began to research the company.

Thanks.

I got a call asking me to call back 561-338-7475 and ask for Cathy Proctor ext 308 in reguards to a PBS show titled Business Trends. Thanks to this site I wont waste my time.

Got a message from someone "representing" John Visayos, a producer for Public TV; they're interested in doing a prime time feature story on my organization (didn't identify the organization), program to be hosted by Hugh Downs.  I contacted a friend who works for public TV, and he said Hugh Downs has retired, and my friend has never heard of this producer.  Sounds scammy to me!

Kristin Sloan called from 561-338-7475saying she was from a Travel /Hotel/Spa TV Show and urgently needed to speak with me about putting my business on the show . She said she was the TV producer. I called her back never got a real person she used ext 212.  I could not even get an operator to come on.

we just received a call from Heros of Hope---which has a fancy website and talked to a producer who rushed me to sign an agreement all within 3 hours.  It would do all the things we need for promotion and fund raising. It looked to good to be true---it probably is.  
It would only cost us 3 to 5000 for their travel and $21,000 for production costs.  We were quite excited until we saw the speed of having to sign agreements etc.

We received a call from this number also about a show with Hugh Downs. Watch out .. what a fraud

Thanks everyone - I also got a voice mail from this number and my radar went up immediately so I did some checking on line and learned a) that the producer overstated her work and b) of this site and everyone's similar story.

Look like they are trying to scam people on the Heroes angle - I work in sport so they tried to sell the show as Heroes in Sport. Well, I had never heard of the show and couldn't find any reference to it in my research.

To those of you who posted already - thank you, and to those of you reading this for the first time and deciding what to do - be very careful. I work with TV production houses all the time, as well as the networks, and none of them will pressure you to sign something in a few hours.

Just got a call from Jeff Slavin of ecoplanettv.com and said that host Hugh Downs wanted to interview me regarding the work of my organization. Said that I needed to call Mr. Groeber of EcoPlanet TV at 561-338-7475 x240 and do it soon as the subject was "time-sensitive".

My organization received the same call and opportunity. I did bring this to my President's attention albeit a bit late.  We have already signed on and have sent in our prodution expense and organizational information.  I I also brought our concerns up to our Producer and she assures me everything is above ground.  We have a shoot scheduled next month. We are/were excited about this.  Im hoping for the best, and will keep you posted.

I'm curious - in your contracts, are you guaranteed placement / distribution of the show on television, and if so, on what network and in what time slot. My concern was that they get you on the hook for a production, which may very well be legit, but can't actually place the show anywhere on TV or place the show on a channel without good reach and/or in a poor time slot . I hope that's not true for your organization's sake.

Placement on the internet shouldn't be one of the choices, at least not at the fees suggested in one of the earlier posts.

Thanks to all of you for your input.  I received a call from "Business Trends" requesting that I return the call to Cathy Proctor at 561-826-0770 ext. 308. They indicated they wanted me to go on Public Television and be interviewed by Hugh himself.  Just like the rest of you smart folks, I went on line before returning the call. Let's continue to warn others.

RR

Yes we signed a contract,"Production Authorization", that stated all the commitments for both sides.  Placements are to be guaranteed and we will get post airing reports from all the airings we receive.  The networks are flexible to my understanding and everything is prime and peak time.  We had the same concern about a 6:00 am time slot and was assured, as the contract stated, everything is a prime or peak time slots.  We were most interested in the footage and e-mail format to get a message out.  The company has an A rating with BBB so we are keeping positive.  I have not heard or found any negative information regarding a organizations experience with the program as of yet.

hope this helps.

On Wikipedia on Hugh Downs' page it says, "As of the summer of 2008, Downs can also be seen in regional public service announcements in Arizona, where he currently lives, for that state's motor vehicles division, as well as in many Public TV short form programs as the Host of educational interstitials."

Looks like he is still working.

please keep updating us...I just did the preliminary: heros of hope with producer chris kelch, all the same numbers and information...

if this is a scam WE NEED TO KNOW NOW...
OUR PRODUCTIONS date is in mid april, for may roll out of our documentary in similar places..the contract says "distributed to" and doesnt guarentee being played by them but is available to them to be played at their discretion.. It says Hugh Downs is the Host...is he on contract with them to begin a documentary series on BBC??? please advise, we have given no money...we have only just signed the pre-production contract...I think this is a new production company who has organized to deliver hope in these areas, and may have a telemarketing company with phone staff to begin building up clients for filming?????? We are a very small non profit and CANNOT afford to loose money, OR reputation. Please keep posting! THANKS.

BEWARE : THIS IS A SCAM.  Vision Media or VT Media or National Education Report or Heroes of Healthcare/Sport/Etc... or whatever they may be calling themselves these days is your basic telemarketing fraud. I know... because I know someone who worked there briefly before she quit in disgust.

Here's the angle from the producer/telemarketer:
1) Come up with any kind of all-encompassing "story"
2) Look for "experts" by buying a list or creating one.
3) Read a script (these people are NOT television producers but telemarketers.) It will play to your ego and/or your passion in your work.
4) Pressure you into signing a production authorization in 3-4 days.

The key phrase in the production authorization (PA) is "DISTRIBUTED TO". Basically, they'll come out and shoot whatever story you want on poor quality film. Edit it with the same quality you'd find in high school video class. Then send it to individual Public Television stations around the country, which may or may not use them (probably not - and definitely not in the major markets -- call around and check for yourself). They'll also send it to CNBC, Fox, etc. where it is then up to the network to show it or not. That's why they offer POST airing reports, instead of showing you the media buy itself.

STEER CLEAR OF THESE PEOPLE. THEY ARE SCAMMERS. And don't, under any circumstances, send them money. Ignore their threats. They are scammers.

Some names to google: Bill Hough. Dr. Matt McMahon. Christian (Chris) Kelch. Michael Rawlinson.

If there is any doubt:

http://floridapayforplayexposed.blogspot.com/