This acting conservatory (not they do not call themselves a talent agency as those are more regulated by law) is a ripoff SCAM in letters 100 feet tall. They PREY on parents beliefs that thier kid is the greatest --they promise 15-20000 per national commercial if only you spend 2000-5000 for acting lessons diction lessons etc etc.... all BULLS*. acting lessons do not cost that much --google/ look up any other agency out there and you will see the typical fee is 350-400 for ten weeks of classes - one hour per week ..but i digress. The "talent" scouts make a wide range of promises about the tens of thousands one could make doing commercials...and it all sounds too good to be true. well guess what ..it is too good to be true. they also say there is a money back garuntee...yeah right..once they have your money you have been duped..you will never see that money back and you wont make tens of thousands of dollars. this is highway robbery without a gun. remember boys and girls these "talent" scouts are basically actors ..and actors make a living by pretending to be something they are not...basically convincing LIARS
the typical scam --they approach mother and daughters or sons at a mall or shopping center or wherever and say how beautiful she is or how handsome he is and how she could make tens of thousands of dollars maybe even pay for college from a single commercial. this is BULLS*. google for yourselves what the SAG rate is for a national commercial. The SAG AFTRA pay scale for a national commercial for a Class A campaign with all the bells and whistles for a principal performer (not an extra) is $627.25 for the first 13 weeks of running for the next thirteen its $143.95 for the third thirteen weeks $114.25 and for any 13 week span after that $54.75 so lets say you are lucky enough for your child to be the principal actor in a commercial for an entire year. woohoo boys and girls you will get approxiamtely $1000 . thats it ...and you paid 3-5000 for "acting" lessons. Now on top of this there ar the SAG AFTRA fees...after you do a commerical / ad you have a 60 day grace period where you can work on union projects...after that 60 days, to continue working you will have to pay an initiation fee of $3000 to sag aftra (just the initiation not the continuing fees every year) ...oh wait that means you are now down $2000 and again the 5000 to this rip off gary spatz prey ground conservancy. thats $8000 you have paid so you can make scale ($1000) on ONE commercial you can find this ifnomration anwyerhe one place is reference.com ask what is the sag-aftra pay scale for a national commercial and you will see these same numbers as proof of what the pay scale actually is.
again the pay for a principal actor (not an extra) for a years commercial is $1000 NOT TENS OF THOUSANDS
now heres even more they dont bother to tell you: that $1000 gets taxed..oh yes boys and girls the IRS wants their money..so there goes 18 -40% say is just 18% since its such a low income anyway.. then there is your agent fees (10%) , 10-15% more for a manager , 5 % for a lawyer another 5% to a business manager and low and behold your $1000 becomes - approximately half that sum or $500 oh and then theres the coogan laws for child actors where 15% gets set aside until your child actor becomes of age..so yoru left with about $350-400 and you spent a minimum of 4000 to this scam conservancy ...and 3000 to sag aftra.. so now youve paid nearly $8000 to make $400 feeling stupid yet?
but again they are preying on your belief that your kid is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the next rhianna or christina aguilera etc etc. they will throw out all kinds of names of child actors that "went" to their conservancy....no proof of this but they will thorw out thirty - forty names...most of which have NEVER heard of Gary Spatz. ..they will also say disney is lookign for a child just like yorus...well yes they are they ALWAYS are...but you dont have to spend thousands for that to happen..just find a reputable manager get soem ehadshots for $150-$300..and they will send your kids info to various reputable agencys who will if the client wants invite you to auditions --if you must spend money on acting lessons..then find a reputable acting school.. spend no more than $400-$500 for ten weeks. keep in mind in hollywood its all about the look...no one gives a crap about diction or speaking or as all this can be dubbed if they want a different voice..its done all the time. also your child willprobalby change their mind after 6-8 weeks and no longer want tobe an actor ...as kids are constantly changing thier minds as to what they want to be / do when they grow up--so why spend thousands on a "conservancy" when ou can get lessons for much much less
they sell this BS conservancy school as a way of buidling your childs confidence in public speaking etc..well its a confidence scam all right...the worst kind. con art is the only art these peopel are sellling and if you buy into it without doing any of your own research then you are beyond stupid....
Think about it if it was so easy to make 15000-20000 for a commercial simply by paying these lying pieces of s* $4000 every actor in los angeles new york etc woud be flocking to this coservancy, beating down thier doors, the prey ground wouldnt have to resort to sending out "talent " agents to malls shopping centers etc to get talent. every actor for hundreds if not thousands of miles would be going there beating down their door to get this wonderful opportunity...rather than waiting tables....hell even i would do it...if i could spend $4000 to make $16000 sign me up now. but i dont live in fantasy land i live in the real world. (i or anyone else would be much better off buying $4000 worth of lottey tickets.)
its a SCAM. a terrible heartbreaking SCAM. if you fall for it..you are naive and stupid. do your own research, google pay scale national commercials...look around at thier auditions at thes "conservancys" ask yourself honestly do you really believe all these kids including yours will becoem a succesful working actor? do you live in fantasy land? do you really want to spend yoru childs college education money on this pipe dream? that even if your lucky enough to land a comemrcail it cost you more than you will ever make back? if you do i have this bridge in brooklyn id love to sell you...and this tower in paris that is going to the scrap yard soon if i dont sell it
i know there are rebuttals on here ---from their employees...and they shoud all be arrested, prsoecuted and jailed....along with GARY SPATZ to put a stop to this extortion of parents beliefs that their child can do anything., is the most special kid anywhere.
The Playground Reviews
This acting conservatory (not they do not call themselves a talent agency as those are more regulated by law) is a ripoff SCAM in letters 100 feet tall. They PREY on parents beliefs that thier kid is the greatest --they promise 15-20000 per national commercial if only you spend 2000-5000 for acting lessons diction lessons etc etc.... all BULLS*. acting lessons do not cost that much --google/ look up any other agency out there and you will see the typical fee is 350-400 for ten weeks of classes - one hour per week ..but i digress. The "talent" scouts make a wide range of promises about the tens of thousands one could make doing commercials...and it all sounds too good to be true. well guess what ..it is too good to be true. they also say there is a money back garuntee...yeah right..once they have your money you have been duped..you will never see that money back and you wont make tens of thousands of dollars. this is highway robbery without a gun. remember boys and girls these "talent" scouts are basically actors ..and actors make a living by pretending to be something they are not...basically convincing LIARS
the typical scam --they approach mother and daughters or sons at a mall or shopping center or wherever and say how beautiful she is or how handsome he is and how she could make tens of thousands of dollars maybe even pay for college from a single commercial. this is BULLS*. google for yourselves what the SAG rate is for a national commercial. The SAG AFTRA pay scale for a national commercial for a Class A campaign with all the bells and whistles for a principal performer (not an extra) is $627.25 for the first 13 weeks of running for the next thirteen its $143.95 for the third thirteen weeks $114.25 and for any 13 week span after that $54.75 so lets say you are lucky enough for your child to be the principal actor in a commercial for an entire year. woohoo boys and girls you will get approxiamtely $1000 . thats it ...and you paid 3-5000 for "acting" lessons. Now on top of this there ar the SAG AFTRA fees...after you do a commerical / ad you have a 60 day grace period where you can work on union projects...after that 60 days, to continue working you will have to pay an initiation fee of $3000 to sag aftra (just the initiation not the continuing fees every year) ...oh wait that means you are now down $2000 and again the 5000 to this rip off gary spatz prey ground conservancy. thats $8000 you have paid so you can make scale ($1000) on ONE commercial you can find this ifnomration anwyerhe one place is reference.com ask what is the sag-aftra pay scale for a national commercial and you will see these same numbers as proof of what the pay scale actually is.
again the pay for a principal actor (not an extra) for a years commercial is $1000 NOT TENS OF THOUSANDS
now heres even more they dont bother to tell you: that $1000 gets taxed..oh yes boys and girls the IRS wants their money..so there goes 18 -40% say is just 18% since its such a low income anyway.. then there is your agent fees (10%) , 10-15% more for a manager , 5 % for a lawyer another 5% to a business manager and low and behold your $1000 becomes - approximately half that sum or $500 oh and then theres the coogan laws for child actors where 15% gets set aside until your child actor becomes of age..so yoru left with about $350-400 and you spent a minimum of 4000 to this scam conservancy ...and 3000 to sag aftra.. so now youve paid nearly $8000 to make $400 feeling stupid yet?
but again they are preying on your belief that your kid is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the next rhianna or christina aguilera etc etc. they will throw out all kinds of names of child actors that "went" to their conservancy....no proof of this but they will thorw out thirty - forty names...most of which have NEVER heard of Gary Spatz. ..they will also say disney is lookign for a child just like yorus...well yes they are they ALWAYS are...but you dont have to spend thousands for that to happen..just find a reputable manager get soem ehadshots for $150-$300..and they will send your kids info to various reputable agencys who will if the client wants invite you to auditions --if you must spend money on acting lessons..then find a reputable acting school.. spend no more than $400-$500 for ten weeks. keep in mind in hollywood its all about the look...no one gives a crap about diction or speaking or as all this can be dubbed if they want a different voice..its done all the time. also your child willprobalby change their mind after 6-8 weeks and no longer want tobe an actor ...as kids are constantly changing thier minds as to what they want to be / do when they grow up--so why spend thousands on a "conservancy" when ou can get lessons for much much less
they sell this BS conservancy school as a way of buidling your childs confidence in public speaking etc..well its a confidence scam all right...the worst kind. con art is the only art these peopel are sellling and if you buy into it without doing any of your own research then you are beyond stupid....
Think about it if it was so easy to make 15000-20000 for a commercial simply by paying these lying pieces of s* $4000 every actor in los angeles new york etc woud be flocking to this coservancy, beating down thier doors, the prey ground wouldnt have to resort to sending out "talent " agents to malls shopping centers etc to get talent. every actor for hundreds if not thousands of miles would be going there beating down their door to get this wonderful opportunity...rather than waiting tables....hell even i would do it...if i could spend $4000 to make $16000 sign me up now. but i dont live in fantasy land i live in the real world. (i or anyone else would be much better off buying $4000 worth of lottey tickets.)
its a SCAM. a terrible heartbreaking SCAM. if you fall for it..you are naive and stupid. do your own research, google pay scale national commercials...look around at thier auditions at thes "conservancys" ask yourself honestly do you really believe all these kids including yours will becoem a succesful working actor? do you live in fantasy land? do you really want to spend yoru childs college education money on this pipe dream? that even if your lucky enough to land a comemrcail it cost you more than you will ever make back? if you do i have this bridge in brooklyn id love to sell you...and this tower in paris that is going to the scrap yard soon if i dont sell it
i know there are rebuttals on here ---from their employees...and they shoud all be arrested, prsoecuted and jailed....along with GARY SPATZ to put a stop to this extortion of parents beliefs that their child can do anything., is the most special kid anywhere.