8669612768

So here is the scoop. Always do the research. I was an actor for 20 years. I did not become famous but I did make some money throughout the years. I had a reputable agent named Lisa Kirk who owns Kirk talent in Vancouver. I started with her when she was just starting her agency. I was referred to her by a photographer who did my headshots.

You can look up her agency, she has built a damn good one with many talented people who make their living working as actors/models. Through the years I have been on many auditions, from the "xfiles" to "reindeer games", met many local celebrities and even a few genuine movie stars.

The biz is cut throat and not everyone is built for it. This Showcase is a huge scam. It is so obvious. Even looking at the postings there are a few people who say it is not but they are so incredibly vague it hurts my head. Working at top model agencies around the world huh? without even giving a name?. Seriously folks I have seen the real deal. Agents are not easy to get and the really reputable ones even harder. but it costs you nothing but for commitment to your craft and real talent. If you have these and you are driven then you will get the right agent. NEVER PAY A DIME TO ANYONE EVER for being your agent unless they get you work.

So here is the scoop. Always do the research. I was an actor for 20 years. I did not become famous but I did make some money throughout the years. I had a reputable agent named Lisa Kirk who owns Kirk talent in Vancouver. I started with her when she was just starting her agency. I was referred to her by a photographer who did my headshots.

You can look up her agency, she has built a damn good one with many talented people who make their living working as actors/models. Through the years I have been on many auditions, from the "xfiles" to "reindeer games", met many local celebrities and even a few genuine movie stars.

The biz is cut throat and not everyone is built for it. This Showcase is a huge scam. It is so obvious. Even looking at the postings there are a few people who say it is not but they are so incredibly vague it hurts my head. Working at top model agencies around the world huh? without even giving a name?. Seriously folks I have seen the real deal. Agents are not easy to get and the really reputable ones even harder. but it costs you nothing but for commitment to your craft and real talent. If you have these and you are driven then you will get the right agent. NEVER PAY A DIME TO ANYONE EVER for being your agent unless they get you work.

I got this same call from Francine this morning (around 7:50 am, my time - really??).  I am also quite curious where they managed to get my name and number.  Recently, at my campus (University of Victoria), there was some alarm about some people going around and getting you to sign some clipboard list about "Opportunities".  The campus soon realized that they were not involved in this, and that it might be a scam.  There are forms all over campus warning students against signing any of these sheets.  I didn't think that I signed it, but now I wonder if they are related.
Francine was quite vague in the voicemail, saying that there were going to be auditions in "your area".  Quite fishy.

They been trying to get me to audition for over a year now and they are a scam artist. They even are sending me emails. I wish they could shut the hell up because they are pissing me off. The blog (from it's a scam) is very well explained if you don't believe me.
DON'T BELIEVE IN THIER CRAP!

I received a call and an email today from Francine with Showcase Worldwide Inc.  I also was puzzled about how they would have "selected/invited" me, since I have never posted any pictures of myself or details about myself on any website (I'm very skeptical about that sort of thing, for this reason).  She gave me an audition time, plus asked if I had children.  I told her I had two childre, and their ages were 5 & 2, so I thought they were a little young, but then she signed them up!  (Fishy? I think so...)

I asked what the audution was for, and she said for everything.  Which makes no sense, because I'm not interested in anything except acting, and I prefer theatre over tv/movies.  I asked if I should prepare a monologue and she said "No, we'll give you a commercial script."  Right... of course you will.

I will definitely be skipping these "auditions".  BEWARE!  And please don't take your kids or give them pictures of your kids like they asked me to do.  Showcase World

This is a scam . This is not a real company . Do not beleive In there crap . So here's how  I know there a scam ... I have a real agent which gives me commercials and such so I asked my agent if she new anything about showcase worldwide and she said that she's never heard of it so she did her reseach and
she told me that they are proffesional scammers. So beware do not beleive them they just take money from innocent people. My agent also said real agencies never make u pay money the agencie pays u. Please do not beleive them. There big scammers so BEWARE

i dont think is a scam chillax

Well I got a call too, and was considering going, but I am working through different talent websites, they are actual agencies that recrute auditions for you. But the lady I spoke to was Fransene, and she worked my auditions out, which is supposed to be this Saturday. But now I am afraid it is a scam&Mikey these people are not stupid, we are all trying to make our dreams come true, sometimes you gotta go through the dirt to learn a lesson. If it's not legit not everyone will take your word for it. So calling people idiots repetedly isn't going to knock out the possible idea of making money from a passion....So don't you kind of seem like an idiot for that :l Moron... :)

I got a call from this Fransene and this in my email:


This email is to inform you that you have been selected for an Modeling / Acting, TV shows Commercials & Movie Extras or Singing / Dancing Auditions.  

Please call toll free 1866.961.2768 ask for Victoria Silva

Woodbridge, ON
Courtyard Marriott Hotel
150 Interchange Way
Saturday January 15th, 2011
3:00pm – 4:00pm – 5:00pm


For Directions please call 905.660.9938



Please call for your confirmation number and mention which time you would like to audition at!  This is your chance to be discovered

Nways, I've been talking to her, and she is really nice, and it seems legit, but now seeing all this I don't know any more... The number I call her back is toll free and the number is 1866 961 2768....Please lets all try calling and finding out the truth



                                                   

((We have followed up with a phone call so if you have been booked

in please disregard this email and we will see you at the audition))





Thanks,





Victoria Silva

dude i got in and now i see its a scam... payed 500... i will cancel before they get the rest of the money... can they get my $$$$ from my visa ???? i dont wana go now.....

did u pay ??? what happend ?? i got in and now wana cancel....

A crucial thing to keep in mind is that a talent scout is NOT an agency. Talent scouts are there to help you meet and get booked with agents; they are not agents themselves.
When researching talent scouts and agencies, the best defense against falling into scams is knowledge.  Therefore, the more research, the better. Also, research doesn't have to be just online; you could talk to someone who is in the industry, talk to local agencies, etc.
Avoid coming to any conclusions before acquiring knowledge about the industry!
I didn't receive a phone call from Showcase Worldwide, although I did get an e-mail from them. I called the local number, mostly out of sheer curiosity, and got as much information as I could about Showcase.  The person who I talked to on the phone was friendly and willing to answer questions.  After some research and time to think, I decided to book an audition. I made it through the first two auditions, have been given all of the appropriate forms for attendance to the convention, and I haven't paid Showcase a dime.
Furthermore, the lady for whom I auditioned was friendly, very knowledgeable about the industry, and very willing to answer any questions I had. She even mentioned that if I had any more questions, I can call her.  
It was also evident that not everyone who auditions for Showcase makes it; a contestant who auditioned right before me was not asked to come to the convention in Toronto.
P.s. I am NOT someone who works for / is a part of Showcase! I'm just your average consumer giving my honest opinion and personal experience.
P.p.s. Mike, Mikey, whoever you are, please don't be assuming and judgmental and call me an idiot.

"Samantha R"?  IF that's your REAL Name....WHY don't you give your FULL name so we can GOOGLE you and VERIFY and see what you've DONE???

PEOPLE - don't you think people smart enough and EVIL enough to PULL OFF a long term SCAM like this would be smart enough to know about these sites, get ON them and try and do some DAMAGE CONTROL to convince desparate dreamers that this is the 'easy' way to the top?

IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!

Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!

Showbiz is 2% TALENT 98% HARD WORK and PERSERVERANCE - and 100% LUCK.  YOU CAN"T BUY ANY of those things!  If you could, we'd have a million Pia Zadora's and Pauly Shores and No Meryl Streeps, or Johnny Deps!

"Samantha R"?  IF that's your REAL Name....WHY don't you give your FULL name so we can GOOGLE you and VERIFY and see what you've DONE???

PEOPLE - don't you think people smart enough and EVIL enough to PULL OFF a long term SCAM like this would be smart enough to know about these sites, get ON them and try and do some DAMAGE CONTROL to convince desparate dreamers that this is the 'easy' way to the top?

IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!

Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!

Showbiz is 2% TALENT 98% HARD WORK and PERSERVERANCE - and 100% LUCK.  YOU CAN"T BUY ANY of those things!  If you could, we'd have a million Pia Zadora's and Pauly Shores and No Meryl Streeps, or Johnny Deps!

I worked for lisa at kirk talent for many years in my youth she is ligit and good at what she dose.

The reason why we do these auditions is to weed out these "desperate dreamers" because the people with that mentality do not understand that it takes hard work in all areas of your life (School, work, family life and social life). If you are not able to balance these things and do well in these aspects, I will not allow you the opportunity to come to the show as I am very thorough with all my interviews. You would know this if you went to the audition instead of just expressing your opinion disregarding any information we provide.

Also, we have been doing a show like this yearly in the same location for longer than some of the employees at the hotel. The Sheraton hotel. Do you think we, as a company who has anything to hide, would do an event in the same hotel at an extremely high rate for an entire long weekend? As a company, we need to be credible especially to a hotel like the Sheraton in order to reserve it for more than two days. I have never responded to any of these silly blogs because they really deserve no time from me. I really don't like to defend me and our company from people who usually are not educated in the industry. Blogs don’t count as education. Instead of coming in to my office to ask me all these things you are wondering and confused about, you write YOUR OPINION behind your solitary desk. WE ARE NOT AN AGENCY, and we state that in the application you fill out BEFORE even stepping into my office.

This industry is extremely competitive and everyone is completely right when they say that GOOD agents are hard to book. That is why we don’t have 100 agencies that we fly to Toronto, because we do not want just ANYONE coming into our show. We choose our agencies very carefully and they are ones we have worked with for many years. We charge because as a Talent Scouting BUSINESS we actually have a huge overhead when we do these shows. No one gives us anything for free as much as we would like that. Not the airplane companies we fly in, the hotels we audition in, the cabs we take to travel etc. We deal with agencies in the U.S, Europe, Asia and Canada which means that I need to purchase INTERNATIONAL airplane tickets (return) from their location to Toronto. I also need to feed them just like any V.I.P you would be inviting to your event and accommodating them. Hotel expenses are huge because we also have bodyguards for these guests and we reserve ballrooms all over the lower level of the hotel. Those are my expenses. Also, us (the scouts) flying from province to province doing these individual interviews (two usually with each person). Again, these are our required expenses.

Why we charge. If you have your own PROFESSIONAL photos from photographers that shoot for agencies like Elite or Ford, then why would I charge you for them? It is all about presentation. This includes professional hair and make-up styling for each look (four). If you had this then we wouldn't charge you for them! You CANNOT expect these services to be free, especially without being an established actor/model/singer/dancer. Yes, an agency would NOT charge you, but you don't have one yet, which is why you have been contacted by us. So you can get a reputable one without having to travel locally or internationally for individual auditions. Plus, you would never get an individual performance with any of the agencies we deal with because they wouldn’t give you the time of day without good referrals.  That is why they trust US to bring in only talented people. If we bring in people who have no personality and no talent, we look bad in front of them. I rather give you all your money back because I prefer to have a great reputation with my contacts than your pocket change. I rather get commissions from them for the work you get than look bad and lose an agent. We do the dirty work for whoever we choose. We allow you to have the presentation you need to get work. If you don't look like a professional with a proper resume, photos, interview skills etc then no one will take you seriously. IN ANY INDUSTRY!

One more thing, if you think you will get work in one week, I first bring you back to earth then I turn you away and out of my office without a call back. That is something I state in the first interview especially with kids. I do not lie to these people because I would not want to be caught in a lie ever. Try me. Also, if Francine does not provide you with enough information then have her transfer you to me (Katie) so I can answer as many questions I can, without giving you an entire hour long interview over the phone.


"IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!"

--If you need to write a comment with six exclamation marks, you will most likely be one of the people that we do not choose. We need educated and talented people, this is why I stress education as my number one priority and anyone who has had an interview with me, will tell you that. Second auditions are given out because you need to be able to prepare for your performance (dance/song/commercial/walk) with feedback of what we expect from you. We believe first impressions are key, but if you are not prepared we allow you to get prepared. We withhold second auditions only to those we feel cannot bring the type of personality we need to our agents. One interview is not enough when I’m trying to find out as much as I can in that short amount of time. That is why a second interview for performances in needed for almost everyone.


"Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!"

--That is exactly my motto as well. This is why I put much emphasis on the fact that success will not just crawl into your hands. Like in any industry, it is all about what you put into it. If you put no effort into it, you will get the same back. Life isn't free (monetary or time wise) so don't expect this to be. Want to try to do what we do yourself. Go for it. We visit every province and have pickings over 300-400 people every time we audition. If it’s not you, it is someone else. I just suggest people to come in for an audition and inform yourself. Sometimes I think that you people who have to write a blog, subconsciously know you cannot do well in this industry therefore have to put an excuse in front of you to stand in your way. To those people, you will never know what we can provide for you or what jobs our agencies can acquire for you. I thank you for withholding your negative and/or lack of self confidence and self esteem and not bringing it  into our location.

-Katie

The reason why we do these auditions is to weed out these "desperate dreamers" because the people with that mentality do not understand that it takes hard work in all areas of your life (School, work, family life and social life). If you are not able to balance these things and do well in these aspects, I will not allow you the opportunity to come to the show as I am very thorough with all my interviews. You would know this if you went to the audition instead of just expressing your opinion disregarding any information we provide.

Also, we have been doing a show like this yearly in the same location for longer than some of the employees at the hotel. The Sheraton hotel. Do you think we, as a company who has anything to hide, would do an event in the same hotel at an extremely high rate for an entire long weekend? As a company, we need to be credible especially to a hotel like the Sheraton in order to reserve it for more than two days. I have never responded to any of these silly blogs because they really deserve no time from me. I really don't like to defend me and our company from people who usually are not educated in the industry. Blogs don’t count as education. Instead of coming in to my office to ask me all these things you are wondering and confused about, you write YOUR OPINION behind your solitary desk. WE ARE NOT AN AGENCY, and we state that in the application you fill out BEFORE even stepping into my office.

This industry is extremely competitive and everyone is completely right when they say that GOOD agents are hard to book. That is why we don’t have 100 agencies that we fly to Toronto, because we do not want just ANYONE coming into our show. We choose our agencies very carefully and they are ones we have worked with for many years. We charge because as a Talent Scouting BUSINESS we actually have a huge overhead when we do these shows. No one gives us anything for free as much as we would like that. Not the airplane companies we fly in, the hotels we audition in, the cabs we take to travel etc. We deal with agencies in the U.S, Europe, Asia and Canada which means that I need to purchase INTERNATIONAL airplane tickets (return) from their location to Toronto. I also need to feed them just like any V.I.P you would be inviting to your event and accommodating them. Hotel expenses are huge because we also have bodyguards for these guests and we reserve ballrooms all over the lower level of the hotel. Those are my expenses. Also, us (the scouts) flying from province to province doing these individual interviews (two usually with each person). Again, these are our required expenses.

Why we charge. If you have your own PROFESSIONAL photos from photographers that shoot for agencies like Elite or Ford, then why would I charge you for them? It is all about presentation. This includes professional hair and make-up styling for each look (four). If you had this then we wouldn't charge you for them! You CANNOT expect these services to be free, especially without being an established actor/model/singer/dancer. Yes, an agency would NOT charge you, but you don't have one yet, which is why you have been contacted by us. So you can get a reputable one without having to travel locally or internationally for individual auditions. Plus, you would never get an individual performance with any of the agencies we deal with because they wouldn’t give you the time of day without good referrals.  That is why they trust US to bring in only talented people. If we bring in people who have no personality and no talent, we look bad in front of them. I rather give you all your money back because I prefer to have a great reputation with my contacts than your pocket change. I rather get commissions from them for the work you get than look bad and lose an agent. We do the dirty work for whoever we choose. We allow you to have the presentation you need to get work. If you don't look like a professional with a proper resume, photos, interview skills etc then no one will take you seriously. IN ANY INDUSTRY!

One more thing, if you think you will get work in one week, I first bring you back to earth then I turn you away and out of my office without a call back. That is something I state in the first interview especially with kids. I do not lie to these people because I would not want to be caught in a lie ever. Try me. Also, if Francine does not provide you with enough information then have her transfer you to me (Katie) so I can answer as many questions I can, without giving you an entire hour long interview over the phone.


"IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!"

--If you need to write a comment with six exclamation marks, you will most likely be one of the people that we do not choose. We need educated and talented people, this is why I stress education as my number one priority and anyone who has had an interview with me, will tell you that. Second auditions are given out because you need to be able to prepare for your performance (dance/song/commercial/walk) with feedback of what we expect from you. We believe first impressions are key, but if you are not prepared we allow you to get prepared. We withhold second auditions only to those we feel cannot bring the type of personality we need to our agents. One interview is not enough when I’m trying to find out as much as I can in that short amount of time. That is why a second interview for performances in needed for almost everyone.


"Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!"

--That is exactly my motto as well. This is why I put much emphasis on the fact that success will not just crawl into your hands. Like in any industry, it is all about what you put into it. If you put no effort into it, you will get the same back. Life isn't free (monetary or time wise) so don't expect this to be. Want to try to do what we do yourself. Go for it. We visit every province and have pickings over 300-400 people every time we audition. If it’s not you, it is someone else. I just suggest people to come in for an audition and inform yourself. Sometimes I think that you people who have to write a blog, subconsciously know you cannot do well in this industry therefore have to put an excuse in front of you to stand in your way. To those people, you will never know what we can provide for you or what jobs our agencies can acquire for you. I thank you for withholding your negative and/or lack of self confidence and self esteem and not bringing it  into our location.

-Katie

The reason why we do these auditions is to weed out these "desperate dreamers" because the people with that mentality do not understand that it takes hard work in all areas of your life (School, work, family life and social life). If you are not able to balance these things and do well in these aspects, I will not allow you the opportunity to come to the show as I am very thorough with all my interviews. You would know this if you went to the audition instead of just expressing your opinion disregarding any information we provide.

Also, we have been doing a show like this yearly in the same location for longer than some of the employees at the hotel. The Sheraton hotel. Do you think we, as a company who has anything to hide, would do an event in the same hotel at an extremely high rate for an entire long weekend? As a company, we need to be credible especially to a hotel like the Sheraton in order to reserve it for more than two days. I have never responded to any of these silly blogs because they really deserve no time from me. I really don't like to defend me and our company from people who usually are not educated in the industry. Blogs don’t count as education. Instead of coming in to my office to ask me all these things you are wondering and confused about, you write YOUR OPINION behind your solitary desk. WE ARE NOT AN AGENCY, and we state that in the application you fill out BEFORE even stepping into my office.

This industry is extremely competitive and everyone is completely right when they say that GOOD agents are hard to book. That is why we don’t have 100 agencies that we fly to Toronto, because we do not want just ANYONE coming into our show. We choose our agencies very carefully and they are ones we have worked with for many years. We charge because as a Talent Scouting BUSINESS we actually have a huge overhead when we do these shows. No one gives us anything for free as much as we would like that. Not the airplane companies we fly in, the hotels we audition in, the cabs we take to travel etc. We deal with agencies in the U.S, Europe, Asia and Canada which means that I need to purchase INTERNATIONAL airplane tickets (return) from their location to Toronto. I also need to feed them just like any V.I.P you would be inviting to your event and accommodating them. Hotel expenses are huge because we also have bodyguards for these guests and we reserve ballrooms all over the lower level of the hotel. Those are my expenses. Also, us (the scouts) flying from province to province doing these individual interviews (two usually with each person). Again, these are our required expenses.

Why we charge. If you have your own PROFESSIONAL photos from photographers that shoot for agencies like Elite or Ford, then why would I charge you for them? It is all about presentation. This includes professional hair and make-up styling for each look (four). If you had this then we wouldn't charge you for them! You CANNOT expect these services to be free, especially without being an established actor/model/singer/dancer. Yes, an agency would NOT charge you, but you don't have one yet, which is why you have been contacted by us. So you can get a reputable one without having to travel locally or internationally for individual auditions. Plus, you would never get an individual performance with any of the agencies we deal with because they wouldn’t give you the time of day without good referrals.  That is why they trust US to bring in only talented people. If we bring in people who have no personality and no talent, we look bad in front of them. I rather give you all your money back because I prefer to have a great reputation with my contacts than your pocket change. I rather get commissions from them for the work you get than look bad and lose an agent. We do the dirty work for whoever we choose. We allow you to have the presentation you need to get work. If you don't look like a professional with a proper resume, photos, interview skills etc then no one will take you seriously. IN ANY INDUSTRY!

One more thing, if you think you will get work in one week, I first bring you back to earth then I turn you away and out of my office without a call back. That is something I state in the first interview especially with kids. I do not lie to these people because I would not want to be caught in a lie ever. Try me. Also, if Francine does not provide you with enough information then have her transfer you to me (Katie) so I can answer as many questions I can, without giving you an entire hour long interview over the phone.


"IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!"

--If you need to write a comment with six exclamation marks, you will most likely be one of the people that we do not choose. We need educated and talented people, this is why I stress education as my number one priority and anyone who has had an interview with me, will tell you that. Second auditions are given out because you need to be able to prepare for your performance (dance/song/commercial/walk) with feedback of what we expect from you. We believe first impressions are key, but if you are not prepared we allow you to get prepared. We withhold second auditions only to those we feel cannot bring the type of personality we need to our agents. One interview is not enough when I’m trying to find out as much as I can in that short amount of time. That is why a second interview for performances in needed for almost everyone.


"Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!"

--That is exactly my motto as well. This is why I put much emphasis on the fact that success will not just crawl into your hands. Like in any industry, it is all about what you put into it. If you put no effort into it, you will get the same back. Life isn't free (monetary or time wise) so don't expect this to be. Want to try to do what we do yourself. Go for it. We visit every province and have pickings over 300-400 people every time we audition. If it’s not you, it is someone else. I just suggest people to come in for an audition and inform yourself. Sometimes I think that you people who have to write a blog, subconsciously know you cannot do well in this industry therefore have to put an excuse in front of you to stand in your way. To those people, you will never know what we can provide for you or what jobs our agencies can acquire for you. I thank you for withholding your negative and/or lack of self confidence and self esteem and not bringing it  into our location.

-Katie

The reason why we do these auditions is to weed out these "desperate dreamers" because the people with that mentality do not understand that it takes hard work in all areas of your life (School, work, family life and social life). If you are not able to balance these things and do well in these aspects, I will not allow you the opportunity to come to the show as I am very thorough with all my interviews. You would know this if you went to the audition instead of just expressing your opinion disregarding any information we provide.

Also, we have been doing a show like this yearly in the same location for longer than some of the employees at the hotel. The Sheraton hotel. Do you think we, as a company who has anything to hide, would do an event in the same hotel at an extremely high rate for an entire long weekend? As a company, we need to be credible especially to a hotel like the Sheraton in order to reserve it for more than two days. I have never responded to any of these silly blogs because they really deserve no time from me. I really don't like to defend me and our company from people who usually are not educated in the industry. Blogs don’t count as education. Instead of coming in to my office to ask me all these things you are wondering and confused about, you write YOUR OPINION behind your solitary desk. WE ARE NOT AN AGENCY, and we state that in the application you fill out BEFORE even stepping into my office.

This industry is extremely competitive and everyone is completely right when they say that GOOD agents are hard to book. That is why we don’t have 100 agencies that we fly to Toronto, because we do not want just ANYONE coming into our show. We choose our agencies very carefully and they are ones we have worked with for many years. We charge because as a Talent Scouting BUSINESS we actually have a huge overhead when we do these shows. No one gives us anything for free as much as we would like that. Not the airplane companies we fly in, the hotels we audition in, the cabs we take to travel etc. We deal with agencies in the U.S, Europe, Asia and Canada which means that I need to purchase INTERNATIONAL airplane tickets (return) from their location to Toronto. I also need to feed them just like any V.I.P you would be inviting to your event and accommodating them. Hotel expenses are huge because we also have bodyguards for these guests and we reserve ballrooms all over the lower level of the hotel. Those are my expenses. Also, us (the scouts) flying from province to province doing these individual interviews (two usually with each person). Again, these are our required expenses.

Why we charge. If you have your own PROFESSIONAL photos from photographers that shoot for agencies like Elite or Ford, then why would I charge you for them? It is all about presentation. This includes professional hair and make-up styling for each look (four). If you had this then we wouldn't charge you for them! You CANNOT expect these services to be free, especially without being an established actor/model/singer/dancer. Yes, an agency would NOT charge you, but you don't have one yet, which is why you have been contacted by us. So you can get a reputable one without having to travel locally or internationally for individual auditions. Plus, you would never get an individual performance with any of the agencies we deal with because they wouldn’t give you the time of day without good referrals.  That is why they trust US to bring in only talented people. If we bring in people who have no personality and no talent, we look bad in front of them. I rather give you all your money back because I prefer to have a great reputation with my contacts than your pocket change. I rather get commissions from them for the work you get than look bad and lose an agent. We do the dirty work for whoever we choose. We allow you to have the presentation you need to get work. If you don't look like a professional with a proper resume, photos, interview skills etc then no one will take you seriously. IN ANY INDUSTRY!

One more thing, if you think you will get work in one week, I first bring you back to earth then I turn you away and out of my office without a call back. That is something I state in the first interview especially with kids. I do not lie to these people because I would not want to be caught in a lie ever. Try me. Also, if Francine does not provide you with enough information then have her transfer you to me (Katie) so I can answer as many questions I can, without giving you an entire hour long interview over the phone.


"IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!"

--If you need to write a comment with six exclamation marks, you will most likely be one of the people that we do not choose. We need educated and talented people, this is why I stress education as my number one priority and anyone who has had an interview with me, will tell you that. Second auditions are given out because you need to be able to prepare for your performance (dance/song/commercial/walk) with feedback of what we expect from you. We believe first impressions are key, but if you are not prepared we allow you to get prepared. We withhold second auditions only to those we feel cannot bring the type of personality we need to our agents. One interview is not enough when I’m trying to find out as much as I can in that short amount of time. That is why a second interview for performances in needed for almost everyone.


"Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!"

--That is exactly my motto as well. This is why I put much emphasis on the fact that success will not just crawl into your hands. Like in any industry, it is all about what you put into it. If you put no effort into it, you will get the same back. Life isn't free (monetary or time wise) so don't expect this to be. Want to try to do what we do yourself. Go for it. We visit every province and have pickings over 300-400 people every time we audition. If it’s not you, it is someone else. I just suggest people to come in for an audition and inform yourself. Sometimes I think that you people who have to write a blog, subconsciously know you cannot do well in this industry therefore have to put an excuse in front of you to stand in your way. To those people, you will never know what we can provide for you or what jobs our agencies can acquire for you. I thank you for withholding your negative and/or lack of self confidence and self esteem and not bringing it  into our location.

-Katie

The reason why we do these auditions is to weed out these "desperate dreamers" because the people with that mentality do not understand that it takes hard work in all areas of your life (School, work, family life and social life). If you are not able to balance these things and do well in these aspects, I will not allow you the opportunity to come to the show as I am very thorough with all my interviews. You would know this if you went to the audition instead of just expressing your opinion disregarding any information we provide.

Also, we have been doing a show like this yearly in the same location for longer than some of the employees at the hotel. The Sheraton hotel. Do you think we, as a company who has anything to hide, would do an event in the same hotel at an extremely high rate for an entire long weekend? As a company, we need to be credible especially to a hotel like the Sheraton in order to reserve it for more than two days. I have never responded to any of these silly blogs because they really deserve no time from me. I really don't like to defend me and our company from people who usually are not educated in the industry. Blogs don’t count as education. Instead of coming in to my office to ask me all these things you are wondering and confused about, you write YOUR OPINION behind your solitary desk. WE ARE NOT AN AGENCY, and we state that in the application you fill out BEFORE even stepping into my office.

This industry is extremely competitive and everyone is completely right when they say that GOOD agents are hard to book. That is why we don’t have 100 agencies that we fly to Toronto, because we do not want just ANYONE coming into our show. We choose our agencies very carefully and they are ones we have worked with for many years. We charge because as a Talent Scouting BUSINESS we actually have a huge overhead when we do these shows. No one gives us anything for free as much as we would like that. Not the airplane companies we fly in, the hotels we audition in, the cabs we take to travel etc. We deal with agencies in the U.S, Europe, Asia and Canada which means that I need to purchase INTERNATIONAL airplane tickets (return) from their location to Toronto. I also need to feed them just like any V.I.P you would be inviting to your event and accommodating them. Hotel expenses are huge because we also have bodyguards for these guests and we reserve ballrooms all over the lower level of the hotel. Those are my expenses. Also, us (the scouts) flying from province to province doing these individual interviews (two usually with each person). Again, these are our required expenses.

Why we charge. If you have your own PROFESSIONAL photos from photographers that shoot for agencies like Elite or Ford, then why would I charge you for them? It is all about presentation. This includes professional hair and make-up styling for each look (four). If you had this then we wouldn't charge you for them! You CANNOT expect these services to be free, especially without being an established actor/model/singer/dancer. Yes, an agency would NOT charge you, but you don't have one yet, which is why you have been contacted by us. So you can get a reputable one without having to travel locally or internationally for individual auditions. Plus, you would never get an individual performance with any of the agencies we deal with because they wouldn’t give you the time of day without good referrals.  That is why they trust US to bring in only talented people. If we bring in people who have no personality and no talent, we look bad in front of them. I rather give you all your money back because I prefer to have a great reputation with my contacts than your pocket change. I rather get commissions from them for the work you get than look bad and lose an agent. We do the dirty work for whoever we choose. We allow you to have the presentation you need to get work. If you don't look like a professional with a proper resume, photos, interview skills etc then no one will take you seriously. IN ANY INDUSTRY!

One more thing, if you think you will get work in one week, I first bring you back to earth then I turn you away and out of my office without a call back. That is something I state in the first interview especially with kids. I do not lie to these people because I would not want to be caught in a lie ever. Try me. Also, if Francine does not provide you with enough information then have her transfer you to me (Katie) so I can answer as many questions I can, without giving you an entire hour long interview over the phone.


"IT it LOOKS like a SCAM and SOUNDS like a SCAM and SMELLS like a SCAM - IT PROBABLY A SCAM!!!!!!"

--If you need to write a comment with six exclamation marks, you will most likely be one of the people that we do not choose. We need educated and talented people, this is why I stress education as my number one priority and anyone who has had an interview with me, will tell you that. Second auditions are given out because you need to be able to prepare for your performance (dance/song/commercial/walk) with feedback of what we expect from you. We believe first impressions are key, but if you are not prepared we allow you to get prepared. We withhold second auditions only to those we feel cannot bring the type of personality we need to our agents. One interview is not enough when I’m trying to find out as much as I can in that short amount of time. That is why a second interview for performances in needed for almost everyone.


"Anything TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IS!"

--That is exactly my motto as well. This is why I put much emphasis on the fact that success will not just crawl into your hands. Like in any industry, it is all about what you put into it. If you put no effort into it, you will get the same back. Life isn't free (monetary or time wise) so don't expect this to be. Want to try to do what we do yourself. Go for it. We visit every province and have pickings over 300-400 people every time we audition. If it’s not you, it is someone else. I just suggest people to come in for an audition and inform yourself. Sometimes I think that you people who have to write a blog, subconsciously know you cannot do well in this industry therefore have to put an excuse in front of you to stand in your way. To those people, you will never know what we can provide for you or what jobs our agencies can acquire for you. I thank you for withholding your negative and/or lack of self confidence and self esteem and not bringing it  into our location.

-Katie