VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:42:52 06/16/04 Wed
Author: Sarah
Subject: Re: Robert De Niro Film "Good Shepherd" Now Casting
In reply to: Rebecca Klein 's message, "Robert De Niro Film "Good Shepherd" Now Casting" on 05:16:09 06/09/04 Wed

Rebbeca Klein & Call Cast USa are scam artists
The Casting call for Good Shepherd has false info.

Thank you for your interest in auditioning for the new Steven Spielberg film Terminal starring Tom Hanks!... For more information, click on the link below."

this, beware. The "link below" will lead you to the "Cast Call USA" website (www.CastCallUSA .vze.com)--a website that asks you to pay $9.95 per month for false casting information.The website is currently displaying descriptions of roles in the film Terminal. The problem is, the descriptions aren't correct, and they certainly aren't endorsed by the film's casting director, Debra Zane, who said she has already finished casting the project."We read all the descriptions, and a lot of them were inaccurate in terms of gender and age.

They obviously weren't coming from this office," said Zane's assistant Tannis Vallely. Remarked Zane, "The thing that just kills us is that we obviously get mail every day through the U.S. postal service, and we look at it all. We often call actors in from a self-submission, and often they get hired. And they paid only 37 cents for a stamp. They're not wasting their money on this crap. Actors should just do their homework. Find out what's casting in town in another way, as opposed to paying these scam companies. And if you need to find our address, for God's sake look in a phone book."It seems Zane and the actors submitting to her are not the only ones to have been affected by the company's practices.

A New York?based website for models has devoted an entire page to exposing Cast Call USA as a fraud (www.wnymodels.com/the_casting_ room_SCAM.htm). According to this website, other aliases used by Cast Call include The Casting Room, Sharon Stevenson, TVAuditions, Marsha Nields, Jennie Stewart, Karen Bernbach, and Rebecca Klein.

The NY website alleges that Cast Call has been recruiting customers by posing in actors forums as a direct representative of the networks and by sending e-mails with a subject line that often looks like, "The Sopranos from HBO Now Casting."BSW contacted attorney Joseph Ragazzo of the California Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division to bring the website to his attention and to ask about possible legal ramifications."Clearly in the case where they are giving the wrong information, that is criminal fraud," said Ragazzo. "With respect to just giving out information that is already public information, that seems like deceptive, false, and misleading advertising and unfair business practices, which are violations of our civil consumer protection statutes, as well as possibly criminal."So what can actors do if they have paid for this information? Complain. "If we received enough complaints," said Ragazzo, "we would either investigate or refer it to the District Attorney in L.A. County and try to get the website shut down, and or file a suit trying to get restitution for people who had paid and lost money."Since the information was posted on the website, Zane said she has received more than 100 submissions from misled actors.

"We literally got boxes of submissions," said Zane, "including things messengered by paid messenger service, including people from out of town--a guy in Boston, a guy in Maine. We started going through it, and then we just started throwing everything away. Not even opening it up. They are writing character names on the envelopes that are cast and have been cast for months.

"While Zane said she does not intend to pursue legal action against Cast Call USA, she has sent it a letter inquiring into its practices. The company has yet to respond. Ca

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

  • Re: Robert De Niro Film "Good Shepherd" Now Casting -- Sarah, 17:44:40 06/16/04 Wed
    [ Contact Forum Admin ]

    Forum timezone: GMT-5
    VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
    Before posting please read our privacy policy.
    VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
    Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.