Gonna Be, Be Productions, The Buzz PR Group Don't be a "talent scout" for them! They don't pay you! Torrance California

This company is an absolute joke. One summer I was broke, young, and needed money immediately so I responded to an ad on craigslist for "PR Talent Scouting". I called the number, and the outgoing message said to leave my name and number. A few minutes later a woman named "Melissa" called me back, and gave me information about the interview the following day.

I showed up to what looked like a cattle call audition of all women at what appeared to be some sort of casting office. We all were ushered into a room where we had to sit for hours, and listen to everyone else introduce themselves, and say "something" about themselves, while a sweaty guy named "Danny" watched us all as if he was interested and "Melissa" took notes on a legal pad.

Then after we all finish "introducing ourselves", Danny, (quite the charismatic con man) tells us what we they are looking for. "Scouts" to go out and find children everywhere, malls, wal-marts etc. and recruit them so they can "work in the business". We would get paid for gas, and each family we brought in. He then proceeded to tell us that he would notify us within a few hours if we were hired.

After I was hired, I thought I would be making "thousands of dollars, and not have to work another job". We sat through training, and Danny and Melissa broke down what to wear and not wear ("sunglasses on the head are great!! no jeans!! Bright colors!!) and how we would get paid. Some omnipotent accountant named "Vester Mapp" would be paying us all, and was really "anal" so we would not have to worry about getting paid the right amount. The main focus was to bring in as many families as possible (but no "Indians with turbins, they can't be used. Or Mexicans, because they are not marketable"). It looked as if I had one Saturday to bring in 10 families, and with each family I'd bring in my base pay would go up (not to mention the cost of gas because these people had us driving out to Laguna Beach, and all over the O.C.). They gave us "maps" of where "great places are" to find families, and great "times to go". Best of all, they set us up to meet a public locations like Jack in The Box and In and Out on Saturday mornings so we could meet and get the invitations to hand out to these unsuspecting parents.

We had a "script" that we had to follow and a few excerpted lines include: "Hi! My name is (insert name here). She is so cute! Is that your daughter?! I work in film and t.v. and we are always working shows like Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zac and Cody (meanwhile kid is jumping up and down) and she would be great! Please bring her to our casting tomorrow. It's free and fun and if you (point at kid) like it, you can work on your favorite shows all year round!!"

When it comes time to pay the "scouts" my check was WAY less than it should have been. And when I called "Vester Mapp" all I got was a machine. When i called Danny, I was told "a lot of my families were not chosen" but never given reasons why, or showed who wasnt accepted. I only made about $200 for 3 or 4 FULL weekends of work and gas I used!! I quit immediately. PARENTS DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO WORK WITH ANY "TALENT SCOUTS" that approach you in the mall with flyers! I am no talent scout at all, I am a law student! If it was a real scout/agent, they would hand you a business card and set a time for you to come to their office. People looking for work: DO NOT WORK FOR THESE SCAM ARTISTS. It is a well dressed Ponzi scheme that Melissa and Danny are spear-heading. You will never make the money that they claim and you look like a fool galavanting through their select "locations" like Target and Wal-Mart telling parents how cute their kids are and breaking out with their ridiculous script.

Trisha
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.