emodel.com, Options Talent, and Sector Communications

Hi,

I was just "scouted" by emodel (now known as "Options Talent"), and went to the open call.

What convinced me was the number of celebrities from major companies who were listed as "advisors," as well as testimony from so many major agencies.

It seems like it would be illegal to use phony endorsements.

I did a Google search for "Options Talent," and found nothing, so did not dig much further.

Only now, after paying $600, do I find the numerous horror stories associated with emodel.

No wonder they changed their name!

I accept that I may have just paid $600 to learn a lesson, and may not get it back, but I wanted to know whether there are any class-action lawsuits in the works.

I could probably get the guy who scouted me involved, as the scouts seem to be as much the victims as the models are.

D.

Sector Communications announced in a press release on January 4, 2002, its intention to buy emodel.com.

Sector Communications Inc. to Acquire eModel.com

It now seems as if Sector Communications did in fact buy emodel.com. At the time of writing, the emodel.com website is still up and running, at the same time as the new Options Talent website is up and running.

OptionsTalent.com is registered to Sector Communications, based in Los Angeles, California. The domain was registered on December 17, 2001.

Evidently, based on the testimony of the preceding letter, the same people or same methods of emodel.com are being used by Options Talent.

In fact, it could be worse than ever. A lady from Florida wrote Modeling Scams.com on February 17, 2002, to say her daughter was scouted by Options Talent, and shared her experience (see the Letters page for the full story).

Options Talent wanted $600 and they were aggressive. Options Talent was not up front about the cost of advertising her daughter online, and yet they wanted money up front, before her daughter was hired. Her mother was told payment was due immediately, effectively saying, "tomorrow is too late."

Why was tomorrow too late? That's total b.s. It's just high-pressure sales. Designed to produce emotional decision, without research, without thinking, without asking advice from anyone else, without learning about how the modeling industry works.

Aspiring models should be advised there is as yet no clear difference between the two companies, emodel and Options Talent, and in fact at this time it looks as if they are both owned by Sector Communications.

Please do not be swayed like the person who shared her story by name dropping and celebrity profiles.

Read the emodel.com Fraud Investigation Report for further details, a long and full account of practices, with testimony, complaints, Better Business Bureau files, news stories, and tv reports.

One internet board suggested Options Talent took over emodel.com and several people at the top echelons of power were fired. The comments were brief, unsubstantiated, and did not explain the reasons.

I have a friend that works at emodel. When Options bought them out, many of the top managers at emodel were fired. All I can say is you reap what you sow. I am glad that the Options managers did the right thing. Maybe these guys will have integrity in the industry.

The reasons could be they were deceptive, Options Talent wanted to distance itself from emodel.com, start with fresh blood, or any other number of reasons.

Or maybe nobody was fired. Maybe they wanted people to think their leaders were fired, so the leaders could stay and continue to do what they were doing, making a lot of money.

The person who made the comment below, saying the top managers were fired, sent the message from the corporate headquarters of emodel.com.

Emodel Firings

From: Poly
Date: 04 Feb 2002
Time: 15:44:47
Remote Name: 65.115.173.130

Comments

I heard that all the top managers At emodel were fired without notice when Options took over. I know that emodel had some problems, but this is still not right.

In fact, a similar post was sent to many online forums, several under the name "Brandie." That could have simply been more fraud, a lame and cheap effort to make people think Options Talent is different from emodel.

[Several other posts have been made to online forums from emodel's headquarters.]

But who is running Options Talent could be a distraction from the big issue, suggested a former emodel corporate employee:

It doesn't matter who owns eModel.com. It is just a front to protect the brains of the operation. The company is the brainchild of three principals: Ralph "Edward" Bell, Jason Hoffman and Alec Defrawrey. Edward and Jason have been found to use fradulent sales tactics and make false claims regarding how many of their models actually get jobs. Go to www.ftc.gov and search for "Ralph Bell" and you can read the public federal records for yourself. So beware... eModel pushes the envelope as hard as they can, and they don't care who they cheat.

A person who read those comments went to the Federal Trade Commisions website, and read about the case against the individuals mentioned, and asked, "What is the connection?"

That question received the following explanation:

THE CONNECTION IS THAT THE DEFENDANTS CHARGED AND FOUND GUILTY BY THE FTC IN RELATION TO MODEL 1, INC. (JASON HOFFMAN AND RALPH EDWARD BELL) ARE TWO OF THE THREE MAIN EXECUTIVES AT EMODEL (THE THIRD IS ALEC DEFRAWREY) AND CONTINUE TO BE INVOLVED UNDER THE NEW OWNERSHIP.

 

THE CONNECTION IS THAT THEY ARE PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS, CHANGING THE NAMES, OWNERSHIP AND INCORPORATIONS OF COMPANIES, BUT THE ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES WHICH DRIVE THE REVENUES OF THE COMPANIES REMAIN LARGELY THE SAME.

 

TO WIT: THEIR PREVIOUS COMPANY IN VIRGINIA WAS FOLDED, AND THEY MOVED TO FLORIDA, AND STARTED EMODEL, FORMERLY WHY MODELS, FORMERLY STUDIO 58, NOW OPTIONS TALENT.

 

INCIDENTALLY, TWO SENIOR STUDIO 58 EXECS WERE AND STILL ARE SENIOR EXECS WITH EMODEL, NOW OPTIONS TALENT.

 

THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL INTERTWINED WITH ONE ANOTHER FROM ONE COMPANY TO THE NEXT.

How does Cortes Randall relate to all of this?

CORTES RANDALL OWNED EMODEL AND HAS A TRACKABLE HISTORY OF FELONIES AND INCARCERATIONS RELATED TO FRAUD DATING BACK MORE THAN 20 YEARS.

Then the $64,000 Question was asked by an Options Talent worker:

Is Options Talent a legit company or am I out there helping them to scam people?

Answer:

WELL, UNDER THE TERMS OF THE FTC SETTLEMENT, THE DEFENDANTS ARE BANNED FROM ADVERTISING, MARKETING, PROMOTING OR OFFERING SCREEN TESTS, CASTING CALLS OR AUDITIONS (OPEN CALLS QUALIFY UNDER THIS DESCRIPTION), WHEN THESE ACTIVITIES ARE BEING OFFERED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SALE OF ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE.

 

UNDER THE SETTLEMENT, THE DEFENDANTS ARE PROHIBITED FROM FALSELY REPRESENTING THAT THEY ARE:

 

1) SELECTIVE IN SCOUTING, SCREENING AND REVIEWING CONSUMERS FOR MARKETABILITY AS MODELS OR ACTORS

 

YET OPTIONS TALENT, FORMERLY EMODEL, DOES THIS;

 

2) CONSUMERS ARE LIKELY TO OBTAIN SUBSTANTIAL PAID EMPLOYMENT AS MODELS OR ACTORS THROUGH THE DEFENDANTS' EFFORTS

 

YET OPTIONS TALENT, FORMERLY EMODEL, ENCOURAGES THIS NOTION WITH THEIR "86% OF OUR MODELS LAND WORK WITHIN 90 DAYS" PITCH, AND BY ASKING PEOPLE TO COMMIT MONEY TO THEIR CAREER, IMPLYING THAT THERE IS A PAYING FUTURE THAT IS LUCRATIVE ENOUGH TO BE CONSIDERED A CAREER;

 

3) INDIVIDUAL TALENT SCOUTS, VPS, SALES PERSONNEL OR OTHER AGENTS HAVE INDUSTRY EXPERTISE TO ASSESS CONSUMERS' MARKETABILITY AS MODELS OR ACTORS

 

YET OPTIONS TALENT OPENLY DOES AND THIS IS INDEED THE ROLE OF THE SCOUTS AND THE MODELING EXECUTIVES; AND

 

4) ANY PERSON OR ENTITY HAS HIRED TALENT TRAINED BY THE DEFENDANTS.

 

BASED ON THE SETTLEMENT LANGUAGE, IT APPEARS THEY ARE DOING WHAT THEY WERE TOLD THEY COULDN'T DO... BECAUSE IT WAS DECEPTIVE.

 

IS THAT THE DEFINITION OF A SCAM? YOU DECIDE.

Does anyone else find it odd that a new company, which is publically traded, would only tell you who its president is, but none of its Board of Directors?

The Options Talent website, at the time of writing, and for the last several weeks, only reveals its president in the News section, through an interview with a "Karma Magazine."

The emodel.com website listed the Board of Directors, several men and women. The Options Talent leadership, however, did not list its leadership talent. Was it conspicuous by its absence?

Rumour has it that Alec Defrawy and Edward Bell, two of the architects of emodel.com, and still with Options Talent, are wanted for fraud, and they are keeping a low profile to avoid prosecution by the United States Government. They were already prosecuted by the Federal Trade Commission but they appear to be repeat offenders, criminals running from the legal system!!

One person who claims to have been on the inside of emodel.com, as a webmaster, putting together the website code, said:

I've been told that many people in the country are looking for Edward Bell and Alec Defrawy for other businesses they've been involved with. Neither Edward nor Alec allow pictures to be taken let alone posted to the websites. Wonder why that is?

The same insider added a comment on October 4, 2001, that seems to explain how so much of the emodel.com advertising was misleading if not outright fraudulent.

You know emodel had lawyers, and anyone with a head on their shoulders had to ask, "How come their lawyers did not point out their advertising was unethical or illegal?"

The answer, apparently, is they did.

What you all don't realize is that eModel is walking a very fine line here. According to Alec Defrawy, their corporate consultant and the man who developed most if not all of the wording on the websites, we were able to claim affiliation with each agency because of the agreement we had with Model Network.

 

He took it to the further extreme when some of those same agencies contacted us, and told us to take them off the site, by contacting franchises of those same agencies, e.g., Elite Miami, and getting them to fax us letters praising us for finding such wonderful models... then he simply had us say Elite when we really meant Elite Miami.

 

Alec, do you remember me and Jason putting in 20-hour days changing the wording on the websites because Cort's attorneys kept questioning your wording?

 

I do... I remember countless UNPAID hours slaving away to change the wording on those damn sites just to have you have us change it back again when you were finished arguing with corporate.

 

It got to the point where I was keeping two copies of the sites: one unchanged and one changed. Made my job easier....

[Cort is Cortez W. Randell, the man who was twice convicted of fraud, not at emodel.com, but before emodel.com. A newspaper reported he signed corporate papers as eModel's president. Cort, ironically enough, rhymes with court.]

Options Talent.com listed several men and women in its Advisory Board, but none of its Board of Directors. An Advisory Board does not control the direction of the company, does it? Is that not the role of the Board of Directors?

So what is the situation with the Directors? Aren't there any? Is it only run by the President? Or are there directors whose names Options Talent is trying to hide?

To have confidence in a new company, you would think it would be important to say who the leaders are, what their background is, and how they have worked successfully within the modeling industry. They are after all the backbone of the business.

Put another way, Options Talent Group is a publically traded company (OPTG.OB) that wants investors. How do you attract new investors to a new company without talking about leadership?

The Advisory Board section was very interesting. There was a collection of big names who are apparently "advisors" (photograph plus info), and you could even send them email through the optionstalent.com email address.

Our Advisory Board welcomes your input and suggestions on improving our services to our talent and agencies. You are welcome to send your suggestions via email to the appropriate advisory board member -- no phone calls please. Thank you for your interest in Options Talent.

A smiling, tanned Don Johnson (of Miami Vice fame) led the list. You could theoretically send him an email (djohnson@optionstalent.com). Then there is fashion designer Max Azria. Each profiled person was given a complimentary email address @optionstalent.com.

But are there any endorsements from these celebrities and entertainment industry icons? Were they ever contacted by Options Talent? If there were, did they respond? Or did Options Talent simply decide to make them an "advisory board," meaning they would ask them for advice, if and when they ever felt like it?

Were the photos used with permission? Since there was a clear implication on the website that the celebrities are affiliated with Options Talent (photograph + email address), and they are being used for commerce (Options Talent is trying to make money), it would either be illegal or unethical to do so without permission, wouldn't it?

Is the Options Talent use of celebrity status any different from the emodel.com fraudulent use of supermodel images to boost the company image and attract new members?

Aspiring models and potential scouts could contact the agents of each celebrity and not accept their placement, image and affiliation with Options Talent unless and until there is independent confirmation.

Do not get convinced and assume the company is making an honest representation of its affiliation, like one girl did after she was scouted by Options Talent. She said:

I was just "scouted" by emodel (now known as "Options Talent"), and went to the open call. What convinced me was the number of celebrities from major companies who were listed as "advisors."

emodel.com misrepresented itself using big agency names (Ford, Elite, etc.) for its promotion without permission and long after it was asked to stop.

The onus, therefore, is on Options Talent to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt it got permission to use the celebrity images, and they are not trying to mislead people. They should not be given the benefit of the doubt. Especially if there is no direct quote from the celebrities which can be verified.

When you strip away the "Advisory Board," what is left? When you step back from what can be verified, is it virtually empty?

It is very easy, takes very little time, and requires almost no talent to copy images of celebrities from another website. Teenagers do this all the time for their fan appreciation sites.

It is not much more difficult to add a few lines of biographical text, which can also be found online, also on fan websites.

It is not much harder then to say or imply these people are part of, or affiliated with, your company. It's just too easy. It would cost them nothing, but it would look very persuasive, and it could bring in lots of recruits each shelling out $600 like the girl already mentioned.

None of the celebrity photos were given photography credit, another red flag, especially on a modeling industry website. Photographers are central to the industry and they should be shown respect and given credit for their professional work. Translation: their name underneath the photo and/or a link to their website.

Who is running Options Talent?

There is one argument that says the issue is not who is running Options Talent, because it is not so much about the people as the system.

The emodel system, presumably adopted by Options Talent, because it generated cash, is skewed against the models, evidenced most because there isn't the standard modeling industry commission-based payment system.

They want the money up front, not after getting aspiring models modeling jobs. They want money even if they do nothing.

The modeling industry has worked for a long time on the commission system. Then along came emodel.com, and they try to change all that, reversing it, turning it on its head.

The true modeling industry works on a commission-based system because that is most fair, and puts the checks and balances in place. The emodel system does not protect models.

Read The Problem with the emodel Business Model for further details and analysis.

In an internet forum one person asked about emodel, if it was a scam, or if it was a reputable business. The following reply was posted:

I have been a scout for eModel and each one is different. It's a franchise. However, they have a terrible reputation, I'll tell you that. They are really trying to be legit now, but they just are not there, and may never be. They are under investigation in my market and a class-action [law]suit of employees is being filed in Chicago. I hear they are merging with a communications company and will change their name to try and slough off the bad rep. So, let's just say now would not be the time to go with them. Good luck, though.

UPDATE

Sector Communications, Options Talent, and emodel.com

On February 6, 2002, Business Wire reported:

Options Talent Group (OTCBB: OPTG) (formerly Sector Communications, Inc. OTCBB:SECT) today announced that it has acquired all of the outstanding shares in eModel, Inc....

 

Additionally, the company had recently changed its name to Options Talent Group and its symbol to "OPTG"...

 

The terms of the transaction, which closed Feb. 05, 2002, were not disclosed.

 

eModel, Inc. will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Options Talent Group under a new name, Options Talent, Inc.

While emodel.com was operating, its corporate headquarters was in Orlando, Florida. In mid-March 2002, Monster.com revealed the corporate headquarters of Options Talent is EXACTLY THE SAME: Orlando, Florida.

This emphasizes the connection between emodel.com and optionstalent.com, and again raises the issue, How different, if at all, is emodel.com from optionstalent.com? Same place? Same leaders? Same staff? Same M.O.?

The prices keep going up. First emodel was charging $395; then it was $495; now Options Talent wants $600! The prices should be going down, not up. The larger the database, the greater the competition, and the lower the chances models will be found. One internet poster said: "I find the huge number of models to be a hindrance to getting work for the models, not an advantage."

But the real issue was well expressed by another forum post full of perfect questions. This was in May 2001, when the price was still $395.

Who would want to pay them $395 to be on their website? There are plenty of free websites out there. I'd much rather spend $395 on some kick-ass portfolio work with a great photographer. Why would you go through them so you can be signed with Ford, etc.? Why wouldn't you just contact Ford directly? Why the expensive middle man?

People are trying to learn more about OptionsTalent.com online, both aspiring models, who have been scouted, and potential modeling scouts, who have also been scouted.

The following exchange took place in an internet forum on February 14, 2002.

I am supposed to go to an interview next Wednesday to become a model scout for optionstalent.com.... I found this site and heard about emodel. I am hoping optionstalent.com is not the same thing or something very similar to emodel, because 9 out of 10 say it is deceptive, if not fraudulent.

The response:

Optionstalent is eModel. I have called several of the eModel branches and they all answer their phone: "Options Talent." Stay away from them.

Here's another internet post which makes an interesting point about the emodel/Options Talent name change:

Heads-up to all eModel watchers and other unsuspecting bystanders. Apparently, eModel has either been acquired by, has changed its name to, or is doing business as Options Talent Group. Same M.O., just by another name, which (by the way) is always a red flag in any industry. Companies that do well at what they do and have made a name for themselves generally do not change their name -- it's bad for business, unless your business is bad, that is.