emodel.com, Options Talent Group

Dear Modeling Scams,

I'd like to take a few minutes this morning to talk about Options Talent.

I'm a big con game buff, so I decided to follow this one through to the pitch, and see what I noticed about it. (And if it was legit, Lord only knows I could use the work.)

I'll take Lewis Carroll's advice and begin at the beginning.

I was in my local college after class, heading back home, when an attractive young lady grabbed my arm, and asked me if I had a couple of minutes to spare.

She took me over to a table, and explained the basic idea of what she was offering as simply: "A talent agency, finding work for models and actors."

She gave me a time to come in to an open call that Saturday, and I was on my way.

Saturday morning rolls around, and I head off to the address. It's in a very nice office building in one of the commercial districts near my home.

Everyone waits in line for a while, then does the following steps when it's their turn:

1) Fills out a very basic sheet, with name, age, measurements, and height, along with contact info.

2) Has two snapshots, (one smiling, one not), taken with a digital camera. They hand you the 1.44-MB diskette your pictures are on, and tell you to hold on to it.

3) Goes into a room to have their measurements checked. (By the way, the girl who was measuring me gave me an arm length of 42, because she kept measuring from the opposite shoulder instead of the middle of the back.)

Then everyone goes into a large room with a ton of chairs, and waits.

I was distracted by the large metal "Options" emblem on the wall that was slowly in the process of falling off, skewed at about a 45-degree angle. By the time the lady came in, it had fallen off completely.

Now, we had a video with our "introduction" to the industry, citing just about every large agency one could think of as clients.

This is the first place we hear mention of the fact that all composite cards and headshots are done online.

Then, we went back into the other room, still holding our disks, and wait for our "individual interviews," which are going to be used to determine how well we present ourselves in person, and get a better idea of our personality.

Mine went something like this:

1) I walked in and handed over the disk, which has still not been looked at by anyone.

2) I shook the guy's hand, and he told me to smile.

3) Then, he asked me to show him my bottom teeth. After that, he told me to:

4) Turn right.

5) Turn left.

6) Turn around.

After this, he smiles, hands me a packet and a card saying I'll be called at 11 pm Tuesday, (my choice, as I have class for the rest of the day), tells me he "likes my look," and sends me on my way.

Now, he's read my little sheet, and tells me that most likely, with my acting experience, I'd be getting used for acting gigs. And I take off.

NOTE: Yes, Options said that they turn away the people that aren't right for the job. Everyone I saw leaving had a packet and call card, though. (I have a feeling it's one of those "other people don't make it" kinds of situations.)

Skip to Tuesday MORNING, 10:40 am.

My phone rings, and it's Options, telling me I've got to do my final interview.

Now, they've said I need two forms of I.D. for this phone conversation. And, after reading the packet, I've found the first mention of payment, halfway through in the FAQ section.

(I've also noticed that there are only three or four success stories, and they've been repeated in all the material.)

I talk to the rep, a fellow we'll call Mr. Speed Talker, for a few minutes, and have him "explain" Options to me.

This, as far as I can tell, involves him paraphrasing the sections of the packet, but speaking as quickly as he's able.

After he mentions the $595 fee, I ask him what that covers. (By the way, he's pitching this from a modeling standpoint, though the first guy had told me acting.)

He says that it covers all aspects of my initial composite card.

I ask him if that covers photography as well.

He stutters for a second, and explains that since "all pictures are scanned in, it makes no difference if they're amateur or professional."

(Which, in my not-so-professional-but-still-not-entirely-oblivious opinion is a total crock, to put it mildly. Digital, like anything else, follows the GIGO principle. Garbage In, Garbage Out.)

He also explains that they have "a photo shop" which I assume means Adobe Photoshop, and I get to play dumb while he explains that they use Photoshop to fix up your picture.

The example he gives me is that if I had tattoos running up and down my arm, Photoshop would hide it. If I'm mistaken, correct me, but that seems as if this would be false advertising to clients.

When he gets to payment, I explain that I'm a poor college student. At which point, he recommends I put it on my credit card or get a loan from my family, as I can only be interviewed once a year.

(I haven't had a chance to peruse your site at length yet, but I'd like to point out to your viewers to watch out for upfront offers when you have a limited time to act. That's pressure, plain and simple. First rule of the game.)

I have little trouble convincing him that I'd need time to get the money together, and he says that he'll keep my file handy, should I get the money in the future, and gives me his contact info.

(I'd hoped to find out where he was calling from through the area code, but it was an 888 number.)

Anyhow, I've got some materials here. The contact info for Mr. Speed Talker, the packet Options gave me, both of which you're more than welcome to use. All I'd need is a snail mail address to forward them to, and I'd even be willing to pick up the postage.

This is a good thing you're doing, and I figure it might be of some help. Also, if you happen to know of any agencies in the Chicagoland area with a good reputation, I'd appreciate it if you could forward me their name.

(I'm still as broke as when I started, but at least I haven't lost anything...)

A couple of last points I forgot to mention earlier:

1) EVERYONE has a title. Nobody's just a scout, they're all VP or Assistant Head of some department or other. There were about 15 people in the place, and I must have heard at least six departments.

2) In the packet, there's a list of names on their "advisory board," including Don Johnson and Martin Landau, among many others. Are they aware that their names are being used in this information?

When you look at all of this, I have to say that not only is Options a scam, but it's a poorly executed scam.

Thanks for your time. If you have any more questions, I can be reached at this address.

Also, if any sort of investigation has started with this company, could you let me know? I'd love to be involved.

Sincerely,

M.L.

M.,

First off, thanks for sending a long and detailed account of your personal experience with Options Talent.

Well, that was bogus, wasn't it?

The Options Talent model scout told you Options Talent is: "A talent agency, finding work for models and actors."

The website of Options Talent said the exact opposite: "Options is not an agency."

So that looks like false advertising, no?

The trick is saying one thing in writing and another in conversation. The writing is recorded, the talking is not. So you cannot "prove" they were lying or misleading (unless it is recorded). This is where undercover investigations make all the difference.

I had already guessed Options Talent would say something different from what they wrote. After a while some people and some companies become so predictable it's not funny.

There was a recent letter from a woman, also a student, I believe, who was exposed to Options Talent, and she was under the impression they are an agency: "I am interested in finding out about an agency called Options Talent."

Can't blame her, really, after all, the name says "Talent." Do you think the leaders of Options Talent choose the name deliberately to be deceptive, to make people think they are a talent agency?

Do you think the situation with the Options emblem falling off the wall was a sign to you that Options Talent is off the wall?

I was distracted by the large metal "Options" emblem on the wall that was slowly in the process of falling off, skewed at about a 45-degree angle. By the time the lady came in, it had fallen off completely.

You made a good point about Photoshop. Any editing (tattoos, etc.) would be misleading to potential clients, and therefore it would be false advertising to use doctored images. Oh, there's that phrase again, false advertising.

Also on the topic of photos, you are exactly right. They said: "All pictures are scanned in; it makes no difference if they're amateur or professional." That is not only wrong, it is totally absurd.

Earlier complaints said the same thing about emodel/Options: they paid little attention to image quality, as if they could not care less. If you never get a second chance to make a first impression, why would they be so flippant about image quality?

I liked what you said about job titles. It sounds like a lame effort to hype the business when you consider the lack of training and qualifications they require to be model scouts and talent executives. The definitions are so loose it's unbelievable.

You mentioned Don Johnson and Martin Landau, and asked, "Are they aware that their names are being used in this information?" I had the exact same question when the site first went up.

Somebody needs to contact their agents and get them in the know.

Finally, you asked about an agency in Chicago. Try calling the big agencies in New York for recs. See the contact info on this page. They should know who's hot and who's not.

Editor, Modeling Scams.com