of Los Angeles based "Talent & Showcase Consultant," STEVE THOMPSON, and his actor's showcase known as "STARS SHOWCASE," operating in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
This is a classic Hollywood style RIP-OFF.
It is not known whether Steve Thompson is an alias or an actual legal name, but Thompson, also known by his one man company, "STARS SHOWCASE" is an entertainment industry predator who falsely promises to place actors with "top agents" who will provide the actor opportunities in episodic TV, pilots, and commercials.
Thompson focuses primarily on minor children and their cash secure parents, but he also preys on adult actors. Although these actors may be professional artists, they are aspiring and unknown to the industry. Like children, they also become unsuspecting victims, who because of coming from outside of the LA entertainment arena, they are not exposed to the standard LA industry protocols of Casting Director Workshops, Internet Casting Calls, or Self-Submissions, so instead fall prey to scammers.
Thompson is a shrewd and manipulative "smooth talker" who uses industry "buzz words" such as, "Pilot Season," and "Episodic Season" to entice actors and/or their parents to give him thousands of dollars through untraceable PayPal accounts based on promises to secure the actor "good" Los Angeles agent representation among his self-acclaimed list of "thirty (30) top LA agents." Similar to other entertainment industry scammers and frauds, Steve Thompson is also a name dropper, casually mentioning in conversation A List celebrities or their associates who he claims affiliations with.
Part of Thompson's proposal includes promises of ongoing personal tutoring on SKYPE with him, in preparation for "meeting the agents," but after receiving his fee, this "instruction" only amounts to (5) minutes weekly, with Thompson criticizing the actor's essence, offering nothing of educational value. Within a few weeks the instruction ends with Thompson abandoning the teaching, suggesting to the bewildered actor that the actor "record and review his work for his own education on an i phone."
At that juncture Thompson drops the client until the future "big day" when he supposedly sets the appointments in LA for the actor to meet the agents he/she contracted for. Thompson then becomes unavailable for months, not answering e mails or phone calls. When and if he is finally reached, he suggests he was with family, on holiday, etc.
In time the "big day" arrives for the actor to travel to Los Angeles to meet the agents, but at that point, Thompson is quick to offer a series of well-worn and canned excuses why he is unable to provide the actor with more than a few appointments, suggesting that the actor just wasn't the right "fit."
Thompson does in fact arrange 3-4 lukewarm appointments with D & F LIST agents, or worse, with "assistant agents," that he has never met. Most are unknown among professionals! These are extremely low-level agents, far removed from any agency with any influence in LA markets or with Casting Directors. Most often these "agents" are beginners or "has-been" nobodies, who in essence are bottom-feeders like Thompson.
Then regardless of an actor's talents, training, range in comedy, drama, or past performances, the actor will be forced by desperation to accept one of these fifth-rate amateurs who work in the periphery of local (not regional or national), low grossing, non-union commercial markets. The actor will then likely sign a loose agreement with one of the "agents," and join the ranks of the massive pool of talent in LA. The opportunities for film or TV, pilots, or episodic series will never be mentioned.
Thompson's initial pitch will have included statements saying any agent who was procured will submit the actor to industry casting professionals 400-600 times yearly and will provide back-up and a monthly accounting of submissions and results of such. That will prove 100% false. Actors will generally get zero support, referrals, auditions, or accounting from the agent.
After a few months the "agent" will drop the actor for lack of performance, leaving the actor humiliated and disillusioned, reopening the agent to repeating the process with Thompson or someone with a similar scam. Parents and actors alike then discover that the "agents" they were referred to had access to the same audition data that was provided to the general public by on-line casting companies.
Litigation becomes impossible as one faces the LA City/County Small Claims Court, discovers an unmanned storefront office address in Beverly Hills, and no business on record in the civil records system pertaining to Steve Thompson or STARS SHOWCASE.
Steve Thompson is an archetypal example of a dishonest, immoral fraud and perpetrator who preys on those creative artists who hope to have their artistic dreams manifest with some small recognition in LA film or TV. ACTORS BEWARE!
Stars Showcase Reviews
ACTORS BEWARE
of Los Angeles based "Talent & Showcase Consultant," STEVE THOMPSON, and his actor's showcase known as "STARS SHOWCASE," operating in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
This is a classic Hollywood style RIP-OFF.
It is not known whether Steve Thompson is an alias or an actual legal name, but Thompson, also known by his one man company, "STARS SHOWCASE" is an entertainment industry predator who falsely promises to place actors with "top agents" who will provide the actor opportunities in episodic TV, pilots, and commercials.
Thompson focuses primarily on minor children and their cash secure parents, but he also preys on adult actors. Although these actors may be professional artists, they are aspiring and unknown to the industry. Like children, they also become unsuspecting victims, who because of coming from outside of the LA entertainment arena, they are not exposed to the standard LA industry protocols of Casting Director Workshops, Internet Casting Calls, or Self-Submissions, so instead fall prey to scammers.
Thompson is a shrewd and manipulative "smooth talker" who uses industry "buzz words" such as, "Pilot Season," and "Episodic Season" to entice actors and/or their parents to give him thousands of dollars through untraceable PayPal accounts based on promises to secure the actor "good" Los Angeles agent representation among his self-acclaimed list of "thirty (30) top LA agents." Similar to other entertainment industry scammers and frauds, Steve Thompson is also a name dropper, casually mentioning in conversation A List celebrities or their associates who he claims affiliations with.
Part of Thompson's proposal includes promises of ongoing personal tutoring on SKYPE with him, in preparation for "meeting the agents," but after receiving his fee, this "instruction" only amounts to (5) minutes weekly, with Thompson criticizing the actor's essence, offering nothing of educational value. Within a few weeks the instruction ends with Thompson abandoning the teaching, suggesting to the bewildered actor that the actor "record and review his work for his own education on an i phone."
At that juncture Thompson drops the client until the future "big day" when he supposedly sets the appointments in LA for the actor to meet the agents he/she contracted for. Thompson then becomes unavailable for months, not answering e mails or phone calls. When and if he is finally reached, he suggests he was with family, on holiday, etc.
In time the "big day" arrives for the actor to travel to Los Angeles to meet the agents, but at that point, Thompson is quick to offer a series of well-worn and canned excuses why he is unable to provide the actor with more than a few appointments, suggesting that the actor just wasn't the right "fit."
Thompson does in fact arrange 3-4 lukewarm appointments with D & F LIST agents, or worse, with "assistant agents," that he has never met. Most are unknown among professionals! These are extremely low-level agents, far removed from any agency with any influence in LA markets or with Casting Directors. Most often these "agents" are beginners or "has-been" nobodies, who in essence are bottom-feeders like Thompson.
Then regardless of an actor's talents, training, range in comedy, drama, or past performances, the actor will be forced by desperation to accept one of these fifth-rate amateurs who work in the periphery of local (not regional or national), low grossing, non-union commercial markets. The actor will then likely sign a loose agreement with one of the "agents," and join the ranks of the massive pool of talent in LA. The opportunities for film or TV, pilots, or episodic series will never be mentioned.
Thompson's initial pitch will have included statements saying any agent who was procured will submit the actor to industry casting professionals 400-600 times yearly and will provide back-up and a monthly accounting of submissions and results of such. That will prove 100% false. Actors will generally get zero support, referrals, auditions, or accounting from the agent.
After a few months the "agent" will drop the actor for lack of performance, leaving the actor humiliated and disillusioned, reopening the agent to repeating the process with Thompson or someone with a similar scam. Parents and actors alike then discover that the "agents" they were referred to had access to the same audition data that was provided to the general public by on-line casting companies.
Litigation becomes impossible as one faces the LA City/County Small Claims Court, discovers an unmanned storefront office address in Beverly Hills, and no business on record in the civil records system pertaining to Steve Thompson or STARS SHOWCASE.
Steve Thompson is an archetypal example of a dishonest, immoral fraud and perpetrator who preys on those creative artists who hope to have their artistic dreams manifest with some small recognition in LA film or TV. ACTORS BEWARE!