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Ok, I was approached by a scout at the mall, set up appointment to come in a few days later, really excited blah blah blah. I go in, little office, a couple posters, there was a girl in front of me and one who came in after me, I saw a BBB sign on the wall, so I figured it must be good. I go and talk to the woman in charge, seemed really nice and not extremely intimidating. I do some "catwalking" for her and she gives me some tips; everything seemed legit and normal. She then tells me I have the "look" they are looking for and she would like to represent me. Then comes the money. I could only use their photographer because he was "the best", and I would have to go back and forth from Boise to SLC, (at my expense mind you) and after classes I had to take and something else...I don't remember, but it all added up to $2, 000. She says "no one has the much money just sitting around, so that's why we have a payment plan!" Yay. And...as I get jobs with their help, I pay them back. I told her I'd think about it before signing anything...but I was really unsure.
In between the time I went in and the time I was supposed to let them know my decision, I got into a situation where any of my extra money was going to have to go to bills, and so I called the pushy employees and told them I would not be signing anything because of my current situation, and all I heard was a very brusque answer: "Well then we'll get in touch later." Hang up. 6 months later, no one "got in touch". Good thing. No sympathy, no understanding, no alternate plans, no nothing. All they really wanted was my money! They didn't care about me!
Basically it was a win-win situation for them: they sign me, I pay them to have them represent me (no promises that I get any work) and if I don't get work, no skin off their backs. They still get my money somehow. If I do get work, they get my original amount, plus a percentage of every job goes to them as well. So, either way, they get money.
SO...they don't care about you! They only want your MONEY! Get away from them!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I was hesitant on hiring Urban Talent Management. They like to call themselves an Agency but I'm GUESSING they cannot legally put it on their marketing materials because their business practices match more of a vanity publishing house (pay to be represented). Needless to say, I was desperate so I decided to give them a shot. I had a shoot that needed to be shot within 2 weeks and they at least could handle getting the auditions (by sending out an email to their talent).
I left the auditions feeling good about two talents, unfortunately what held me off was the Boise Talent "Director" Jen Levy was trying to tack on additional costs and it was briefly mentioned about how some of the communication would take place. I was like oh, I guess we won't be able to work with you, she said oh it's probably ok to do what we were expecting and she will make calls just to make sure.
I contacted the talent directly. I didn't know that wasn't allowed, my mistake, thought it was "probably ok" from her words. I found out that within 10 minutes of leaving Urban Talent Management's office, she already told the two talents they got the part... I was like, oh, ok, unprofessional but decided to go with it. Since this is just an indie short film project and 15% cut of $250 is $37.50 because it was being billed as a full day shoot, I thought maybe they just wanted to go thru the motions quickly. I get it, it's only $37.50, right?
Wrong... Turns out AFTER 13 days from the audition, Jen Levy contacts me later asking if I was going to confirm the talent... I was confused... First, I mentioned that this shoot will be within a week, 2 weeks at the latest and she now was asking for confirmation? I got my two kids with one of the Talent's help (she runs her own talent management too I believe) and I said I can't pay for the kids because there are no speaking parts and it's quite easy to find kids wanting to do it. She had no problem with that. We of course paid for their gas and treated them just like the main talent.
After getting an unfriendly email from Urban Talent around 14 days later, I told them I considered the commission when paying the talent (over paid them, $300 total for both). I decided to send the rest of the initial agreed cost for the two talents thru mail directly to Urban Talent, respectfully. I wasn't told beforehand on how things are supposed to run, my bad for not doing my due diligence. I do believe I asked this question but it may have been towards the talent directly.
Later, Urban tried charging me for using one of the kids because supposedly one of them was in Urban as well and I could be charged even if I didn't use Urban Talent to get them? I know they can't force people to work only on "Urban's Projects" because my main talent had her own projects and talent management for kids. I NEVER used their offices or services to hire my 2 kids for the shoot.
I am very frustrated on how Urban Talent Management treats their talent. I have recently read countless reviews about Urban not paying their talent for the shoot (glad I paid half directly to the talents), the communication errors everyone has to deal with and the threatening manner they portray on others. Again, this is based on my experience and other reviews.
IF YOU ARE A TALENT: Stay far away from Urban Talent Management. STAY far away from any Talent "Agency" (labelled management) that force you to pay before you can play. An agency would invest in its talent, not charge its talent for them to represent you. A real Agency will make money off of your performance, not off of you paying for expensive headshots, lessons, etc.
IF YOU ARE A COMPANY: There are many options out there. I hired Urban Talent Management because I thought they would help with the hassles of getting talent; this turned out to be completely opposite. There are casting call websites, facebook groups, craigslist (more legit now that spammers would have to pay to post), etc.
I want to end this review and say that there were errors on both ends. I should have been more diligent in understanding what was expected of me from a Talent MANAGEMENT Company. I don't believe Urban should have had such a long delay in response, change expectations after casting call and let talent know they got the role before we confirmed it. I hope this review will help see areas of where they can improve.
Matt,
Although as a Company we are not a fan of going on line and airing steam or subscribing to those that do, however we felt that it was important to respond. All I am going to do is state the absolute facts and my experience. I think there may be a negative or revengeful intent behind all of this. So I will bring up something that started in 2015. My intent is not to upset but to communicate.
1. Your wife. Mercy came into the Boise office several years back in 2015. She didn’t have the experience needed to go out on jobs so we recommended Style Inc. Which is my first company that I started in 95” developing professional models, prior to Urban’s inception in 97’
2. She was upset and went on line and was not complementary about Urban because we recommended training. Her interpretation is valid to her but not how we see it.
3. As I am sure that you are passionate about photography etc., I am also very passionate about education and development. I am also sure that you pride yourself on your value of what you do, like I do. I have been training models since 92” and I have seen so much growth and success with the talent that dig in and put forth the work ethic and practice that it takes. This business is highly competitive and it requires a strong look, skill base, positive personality and strong photos and everyone can benefit with development. I am still learning in the business after 30 years and I love passing it on to the talent and clients. We book a lot of in talent in Utah and Idaho. The tears and reels from jobs speak for themselves, so I think we have done pretty well as far as a booking company. We can’t fabricate that. The fact is clients do like working with our talent. Urban books a lot of jobs. I would like to invite you in to the office and I would be happy to show you invoices. Since 2000 we have cut over 33, 000 individual checks to talent.
4. With that said, Style Inc. is what makes Urban so strong in the industry. Clients do like working with talent that know what they are doing. With the time and expense that goes into creating art, film, photo etc., it is of value to work with strong talented models and actors. I think we are all training every day and we need to be able to be humble enough to see how we can improve.
5. Back to the other issue; Matt you did set up a casting with Jen in our Boise office on October 1, 2018. That very night, you met with our talent you contacted Dayna directly without Urban’s knowledge. Industry standard is clients worth through the agent not the talent directly. I am sure working with some of the actors you say you have worked with, have agents, and it is not industry standard to contact talent directly.. If fact it is a tortious act to coerce or to induce an individual to breech contractual agreements.
Both companies have a business license and like I said Style Inc. is my company and that is what I did several years before a I became an owner at Urban. When I started Style (23 years ago), there was no Urban. I trained for other agencies. Style Inc. does not offer free training. Too much goes into the program and the instructors are top notch. That is a passion of mine and something I am very good at. I also love booking, and as an agent, I choose to work with talent that can book a job, not just sit on my roster and if they don’t want to work on their skill, Urban is not a good fit.
6. Here is the conversation with Jen and yourself (Matt)
After speaking with Matt, he mentioned he was on a tight budget. We agreed that talent hired would be hired at a day rate of 125/day/talent plus 15% agency fee. We set up auditions to be housed here in our office on Oct 1st from 4pm-6pm. 125.00 is the same as an extra rate for 12 hour day not a principle.
On Oct 1st, after auditions Matt came into my office and said that he “really liked Dana and Joe” and if they were hired he would like to have them go to a few rehearsals before shooting. I brought up that rehearsals being required for the talent would need to be a hired “compensated” rehearsal (because they would be needed for multiple days). He did not like that idea and said that if they would have to pay for anything additional that he wouldn’t hire them. I told him that that is the usual operation for talent, their hired for their time etc. I said if he wanted to hire them since it was the first time working with him that we would do it for just the $125/day +15% per talent this time if the talent would also agree to that rate and were available. He said he still had a few other auditions lined up and would let me know in through email on his decision.
He mentioned in his complaint that I had already told talent that they were hired which he thought was unprofessional. My text to Dana did not mention that they were hired. I only mentioned that “they liked you and Joe … but may not know anything for a day or two.”
He mentions in his complaint that he had no idea that we were the middle man, however in his email below, he states that he didn’t want to work with a middle man. He seeked our talent out on Facebook after we held his auditions and knew he wasn’t supposed to.
Below is Matt’s initial email to Dana and I have highlighted some points he made to her.
Hi Danna!
I don't know if you got the background for this project. I'm a media teacher at The Ambrose School and I will have 2 of my students on set (they are amazing). I also split my time in LA and Idaho for various film projects. I worked on Transformers 2, Avatar and Last Airbender as a digital artist and I have a passion for communicating thru media. I have ALWAYS wanted to be a "Media Missionary" and communicate Christian messages thru story and film. I have attached a quick article about myself where you can read more about my work in Hollywood, page nine.
I hope you can see my passion and my overall message with the script and hope it got you to think. Currently we are negotiating with Urban Talent but there are a lot of red tape and politics and we may run into a situation where this may not work out. I used to work with Urban Talent and even did training for them with Lance but even Lance said that what they are doing is not the best for their talent (red tapes, charging people to be a part of the talent community, industry misinformation we were told to teach, etc.).
Anyways, after the casting call, I mentioned a few things that were needed to be done because lets face it, there are no A list actors that Urban Talent represents and because of experience and talent "ranking, " there needs to be a small evening session to fine tune the performance so we aren't on set for hours and hours. Example, I would love our first evening together to run thru this exercise that I find really helps explore the characters in the script: Make the other one laugh by being passive (Sean's Character) while reading the script. Make the other laugh by being hysterical (Susan) while reading the script. As you can see, with some exercises like this, we can really flush out these two characters and make it the best performance regardless of acting experience.
I did mention in my Facebook message to you that I actually have casted A list actors and currently will be working with Sean Austin next year as well. When I casted Vin Diesel, the terms were all set and after the contract was signed, I had full access to him; no middle man. It doesn't seem to be the case with Urban Talent which is one of my concerns...The Middle Man. There is a reason why Hollywood doesn't do this after the contract is signed, if there is a problem, then the agency is involved; not when we are communicating before the shoot.
Anyways, I am wondering what your thoughts are in regards to these terms:
1. $150 per person ($25 more than what urban is offering, but it does include gas cost to and from set, up to 50 miles), full day shoot (but I think it'll take 4 hours at the most to shoot it because I'm doing previz and will basically have the movie fully animated before we shoot so we don't overshoot anything and we know exactly what we are getting)
2. 2-3 1 hour sessions at your home to go thru the script and really make sure we get the performance BEFORE we are on set.
3. Hair and Makeup (no permanent change), no additional fees charged to us for that (Urban mentioned a weird clause on additional charges if we were going to change the appearance of you guys a while back, don't know if they still do that).
4. Your names of course will be in the credits and you can share it on Facebook and your portfolio.
5. Future work? I am always shooting commercials and would love to utilize your talents with kids. One of our potential next shoots is with Dwayne Johnson with a room full of small kids, another comedy short for USC.
6. Be able to communicate with you guys directly and if there are any problems and we are still using Urban tTalent, we can bring them into the picture.
We can use Urban Talent if you want (but would go with their rate of 125 because I think we pay the commission?) but I would love to make the shoot as simple as possible. If Urban Talent doesn't agree to these terms and the cost increases past $300 for the talent portion (not including trailer/tent/amenities and craft services), then we won't be able to use Urban Talent and if you are not able to work independently, then we would have to continue looking for our talent. I do have another talent call next weekend at Grace Bible Church all lined up as a just in case plan.
We would LOVE to work with you though and we will work our hardest to make it happen :). We love your background and love the family aspect you bring! We also love your involvement with churches and the community :).
Thanks Dana for reading this extremely long email. Curious on your thoughts! Say hi to your husband for me! I already know he and I are going to be working great together! :)
-Matthew Hasselblad
[protected]
CovenantMediaMissions@gmail.com
At the end of all of this Matt, with the adversity that we get to work through, I believe in communicating directly to the source. Using mass media to solve problems is not the answer. Every choice we make can either come from creation or victim mode. I always believe that there is a way to create something that can move everyone forward other than placing shame and blame. It is not necessary. When I am faced with an issue, I first ask myself before I respond to things that may have a negative feel, 1. Is it true, 2. Is it kind and 3 is it necessary? If you would like to talk please let me know. I can also respond to all of the platforms you placed your complaint on as well. I am sorry you felt the necessity to do that. The intricacies of our business is more than what you see or think you should see. It is always best to be transparent and direct to the source. On a lighter note, my son is a fan of transformers, I went to imdb and did not see you listed on the credits under the digitals artists. What did you do on Transformers 2? Just curious, we love the film. Thanks again for sharing and I do wish you the best. Tina
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that Urban Talent of Boise Idaho is under different management now, or has changed it's practices.
I auditioned and was accepted by the "agency" [protected] as an actress and possible print model.
I (as well as numerous friends in the agency) were constantly pushed to take acting classes priced at or above $500 per person. I was also pressured to work with the agencies favorite local photographer who charged upwards $1, 000 for basic headshots. I can't remember his last name, but his first name was Patrick. This is a bit off topic, but I think that it's relevant: numerous girls told me that he was "sleazy", intimidated them into showing more skin than they were comfortable with, and even called then fat when they didn't.
I asked if I could pick my own photographer. I was pressured not to. So I chose another photographer that Urban Talent Boise worked with. I ended up with some of the worst headshots I've ever seen. I ended up flying to Salt Lake City and working with an amazing photographer there, who gave me over 400 photos to choose from for only $150.
I continued to go to audition after audition for local films, usually for no pay. I was cast in almost everything I auditioned for, but not through Urban Talent Boise. Boise has such a small film community that I heard about every audition just through word of mouth, before I ever heard about it from the "agency"
I was continually promised auditions for bigger projects through the Salt Lake City office, and none of it ever materialized.
After two years I couldn't figure out what I was paying for, so I stopped.
If Urban Talent Boise wants to be considered a legitimate acting booking agency they should stop encouraging actors to go to horrible "Stars At Sea" cruise ship audition presentations. Stop selling over priced acting work shops. Stop pressuring actors to work with unprofessional and over priced photographers. And they should pay more attention to their clients, instead of just treating them like a number.
Again, if this has changed since 2010, thats good. But this was the way it was when I was involved with the agency.
Absolutely terrible THE WORST AGENCY YOU COULD GO TO. I repeat do not sign there contract Urban talent had an add on KSL I was interested on the part like a fool I walked into there office they filled me up with words that seem to be valid at the end of the day I made the worst decision trusting what they had told me. I am writing this report so that no one has to ever go through what I went through with them. They'll tell you that their the best agency that you need to take classes they have professional photographer ABSOLUTELY LIES . I called in the next day to cancel my contract and the lady told me that I couldn't I called in again and she told me in order to cancel it I'll have to pay a cancellation fee of $$$875. Please people girls out there do not sign up with them you will get scam out of your money I GUARANTEE YOU WILL REGRET IT. I plan on posting this every where for at least a year till I feel that every model I know EVERYONE understands how terrible they are. I've learned now that a good agency wont charge you a dime they will make money off you but only because of the jobs you book not for classes or anything like that. I am now working and doing pageant allot of these girl I work with are also interesting in modelling I absolutely TELL THEM NOT TO DO IT and hopefully I HOPE IF YOU READ THIS THAT YOU WILL DO THE SAME.
Hopefully in April I will be the Next Miss Haiti I plan On taking this to the media and as far as I can YOU CAN BET ON THAT I refuse to be scam like this. Please take my advise and not sign there contract
Sincerely Melyssa.
SIGNED MY DAUGHTER UP. SHE DID A COMMERCIAL FOR THEM. 5 MONTHS LATER, STILL HAD NOT PAID MY DAUGHTER FOR HER TIME. CALLED 5 TIMES, THREATENED LAW SUITE, THEY SAID THE SENT THE CHECK...WE WILL SEE. THE CHECK WAS A WHOOPING $60.00. THIS IS A TOTAL SCAM. PAID $750 TO SIGN MY DAUGHTER. DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO THE SCAM.
Be careful at urban. They will take your money and your pride. They are a lost cause, from waiting an hour past my so called scheduled appointment for Tina to arrive, it was awful. Brett crosses the line between what is and is not appropriate, I was offended. The so called booker was a joke, stumbled upon her own words, food all over her desk and had nothing close to a fashion sense or someone who should be working in a talent agency.
Beware! Do not waste your time or money.
I was approached when I was like 15, somehow got excited about it and signed on with them. I just barely got off the phone with their Salt Lake office for the thousandth time and they told me, once again, that they would take me off their website as I had requested over and over. I'd been with them for a few years and never gotten a legit opportunity to earn any of that money back that we forked out. And their "awesome photographer" was a total creep. Overall it was a pretty terrible experience and in no way profitable. Don't wast your time, money and effort on this organization. Lots of money to take a couple of ridiculous classes, get a terrible "all natural photoshoot: aka weird and not attractive", and have terrible back-channels, so if you've got a concern, forget about it or figure it out yourself. They'll try to sell themselves to you but I'm telling you that you will regret it, and the odds of you ever getting a job are next to none. Oh yah, and everyone who can pay them has "got that look".
so there was a lady at the state fair gorounds last night and she came up to me and told me that i had the look and that i was really pretty and that i should join them because they are looking for "new faces" (latinos) so she said she would give me a call today... what do you think i should do?