John Casablancas International Reviews

Listen I went to this meeting because I got tired of my mother, friends and peers alike telling me that I'm handsome and should be in acting/modeling , so I wanted to take a jab at it. I'm not famous by any means but even I know that this isn't how to get started in this industry. They should be paying you for your time then take a 20% commission fee when you get contracted. They also encourage you to have other people around you, like your support system (Mother, spouse, father, best friends, aunts, uncles). So when they get to discussing the price, the 2,050.00 is less of a burden on just 1 person. It's a ploy to make everyone there supporting you feel OBLIGATED to pay and help you "Reach your dreams". These cowards are ripping poor families off. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. This is a warning, caution. Do not, do not, do not, do not and I repeat, do not move forward with this "agency".

-Mike

Strange enough (though not really important) when I first signed up for a/an meeting>>audition<< the rep. Brandi had a passion for over selling the company. When I called to cancel said meeting ?audition? I informed her "I see this is a school not an agency and I'm so sorry for wasting your time but I just need an agent.." and before I finished talking Brandi cut in saying, "YEP." and hung up at the end of statement. Perhaps my apology didn't mean anything to a major acting/modeling agen... school, like John Casablancas School. In conclusion, just in case you've somehow missed the message here: JoHn CaSaBlAnCaS MoDeL AnD AcTiNg Is A sChOoL yOu MuSt PaY fOr. Not an agent who gets paid when you do. False advertising. Two stars.

The bank wanted to reverse the payment but my son felt he could talk to them. He talked to a young lady who I DO not wish to give her name don't wish any hardship. However in stating this no one up until receiving a letter address to me saying I owe them 142.77 in collection against me. Also during that time after saying they will not, they took out $77 dollars 3 times. They did this before the payment was due and after requesting a pause. I pray this will help a parent, if the child can't handle do not do process a deposit, even if someone like Matthew will say, " it's only a deposit and this is the only payment from parents".

Long before price or commitments were even brought up, we got a detailed breakdown of their 30 week instructional period. Our only regret was that it is currently done entirely virtual (e.g. Zoom), which has its pros and cons. Had they had an onsite/in-person training option, we would have probably signed up. The cost is not astronomical for what you get. Even if you do not ever become a model, actor, etc, there were multiple training sessions that would just be good to have for yourself in general. We will definitely revisit them again in the future, in the hope that in-person training resumes. Not everyone is cut out for virtual learning, and some things are just done better in person for some people.

They rely on the same predatory tactics that MLMs use to reel in potentials. They rely on the fact that 99% of their agency students will fail, pay their thousands of dollars in fee, and the 1% who do make it and become rich and successful will pay 20% representation fees to their company. They do not openly discuss investments that will be made by the student in an upfront and honest manner, and they do not provide a contract before asking for your credit card details! Please do not fall for this gross, predatory business (whose founder, by the way, was a predatory man).

3) I have been in this agency for 2 years and I’m now signed and working in NYC with an actual agency. They did not help me get this contract nor have I heard from them since I graduated. They informed me that if I stayed in touch and showed up to “refresher courses” then I would stay in the top of their lists for job. After doing all their recommendations nothing.

They are also listed as a modeling school with the state of CT and not a modeling agency therefore falsely advertising themselves to make money and getting away with this. I have reviewed them negatively on their main website and soon after it was deleted for being “reported false my the business” which happen to all their bad reviews. PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH.

4) If you are looking into this for your young children it is more of a day camp then anything professional or getting job related. Even for adults this is compared to a cosmetology school in my opinion then a actual agency.

5) When I first got offered a contract they told me I had a day to respond and I ended up saying no. The next day I got a call from the agent saying that really want me and she can’t hold the spot. A week in I finally cracked (horrible idea) and paid their huge fee which they suddenly were able to take and weren’t overbooked like they originally said. They do not actually need to hold spots. They let everybody in!

When walking into my actual agency that wanted me to work with them. There was no fees. They didn’t make any promises and all they wanted was for me to make a professional looking portfolio that I did on my own with my photographers. Spent barely any money and have had the best luck! I’m saying this because if they want you. They will work for you!! For parents. Do not waste time on this place.

After receiving the emailed contract on that same day and carefully reading it over, we decided not to move forward with the high price, high pressure program. WE DID NOT SIGN OR SUBMIT THE CONTRACT. However, we followed the cancellation requirements outlined in the contract and cancelled our enrollment in their 30-week program via a certified, signed letter sent out on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, well within the 3 day cancellation period (although the contract was neither legal nor binding for us as it was never agreed to, signed, or submitted). We contacted the Cary office notifying them of our cancellation as well. My daughter did not begin or attend any classes as we had cancelled her enrollment prior to the start of classes.

According to the agreement contract, we are entitled to a full refund of our initial $295 deposit which we requested multiple times to be refunded as soon as possible. Again, we received no goods or services, did not sign a contract, submitted our cancellation via certified mail within the 3 day time frame, and have contacted the Cary, NC office as well as their corporate help desk (as there is no other contact information available to us) multiple times without response. Again, I'm uncertain as to why this company could delay or withhold refunding us our $295 without any legal reason for doing so. We made every attempt to follow all reasonable avenues to deal directly with this company to request and receive my refund with no response at all.

We sent at least 4 emails to the Cary, NC office along with 3 emails to the corporate office simply requesting our refund for 2 months with no response, no update as to the status of our refund, and no refund. We also placed multiple phone calls, but no one answers their phones. It is a shame that a consumer must beg and plead to receive a refund on goods and services that were never agreed to or never received. As an update, we filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau with no response from John Casablancas and filed a transaction dispute with our bank to try to refund our $295 charge. It is pathetic business practice that a customer must file a transaction dispute to fairly and per policy receive their refund. Unless you are certain that you want to lock yourself into this financial commitment for modeling classes, avoid them at all costs.

Our meeting was at 1:00PM and my daughter KINDLY reached out to her at 1:00PM and stated: "Is it okay to log in". Janet did not respond to her until 1:15pm and here was: "I was on at 1:00-1:05 and did not see you. Are you ready now?" My daughter responded at 1:15pm with "Yes". I did not like the entitlement attitude in which she CHOOSE to speak to my daughter but I was willing to hear Janet out because my daughter really wants to attend acting school.

On the call, after her greeting, the NEXT thing out of Janet's mouth was: "Were you waiting on me to respond to join the call"? My daughter responded, "Yes". Janet then said, "I told you yesterday to just join in at 1 so I don't know maybe you misunderstood me." I chimed in and said, "Yes she DID misunderstand you and that's OK because it could happen to anyone." Janet responded with "Yes it could happen to anyone."

She then went to her "presentation" of how this school can offer this, that, or the 3rd meaning misleading promises. In the middle of her "presentation" she overheard my 10 month old baby boy in the back and said, "How old is the baby?" I said, "He'll be 10 months on Saturday." My son was crawling towards me so I turned my attention to him and Janet said, "Wow 10 months huh, maybe he will grow up better."

Although my attention was on my son I STILL heard what this lady said! What the heck she was trying to imply that my son's life may be better he wouldn't be met with the same challenges my disabled daughter has? Or that since my daughter do have a disability, she probably didn't have that great of a life growing up?! I didn't know what she meant so I asked for clarity. I said, "Excuse me, what did you say because I'm having a hard time understanding you." Cowardly she didn't repeat it but I know what I heard. By the that time I'm done with the conversation. So I told her, I'll think about it and discuss it with my husband. This place is more than just a scam, it's ran by some disgusting, rude, and ableism people. I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. And to Janet you need to educate yourself on how to properly communicate with people, especially those that are different from you. Do better!

I am a middle aged actor, and I auditioned with mostly kids and young adults. After reading the commercial copy, they rated me an A, and then told me I would be contacted by email. Then they just abruptly cut me out of the Zoom room. I never got the email, and when I inquired via text, I was just ignored. I can accept a rejection, but don't lie to me by saying say that I will be contacted when you have no intention of doing so.

I contacted John Casablancas, and informed him of the unprofessionalism of his team. He had texted me an hour before my audition saying he looked forward to meeting me (he never showed up by the way). So I texted him this message: "Hi. I auditioned on Tuesday night. I was given an A, and told I would be get an email requesting headshot and resume. Never got the email. Texted the agency back and got no replies. This is really unprofessional." And this was Mr. Casablancas' response: "Excuse me the email was sent and your texts did not come through. I don’t work for Verizon so maybe lose the attitude."

I never received any emails as promised. And if they didn't have my email, they could have texted me (because I had received numerous texts from them prior to the audition). Whether this was ageism or racism (don't see my demographic represented in their Instagram photos), I will never know. But it doesn't matter. As I said, I have worked in the industry in the NY metro area for years, and I have never seen such unprofessional conduct and been treated so poorly. My advice: STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS AGENCY.

Not getting picked on an audition should make you work harder. For ex: I think that I can sing, my family tells me I do good (but they are my family), if I hear it from 10+ strangers or acquaintances, I would definitely think about it; if you only hear it from your people, they love you, they see beyond because they know you but a stranger doesn't.

College is gazillion times more expensive, you land a job and that's it. Everything that happens after that is part of YOUR EFFORT. You have to take responsibility and be honest with yourself. In JC, you invest in bettering yourself (don't think about fame, think about you are doing this because you want to grow some areas in your life...) Exactly like college, paid 50k (studying "my passion") doesn't guarantee I will land a good paying job or a job that relates to my career. It all comes down to me, applying the techniques I paid for in college. So people, chill out and stop looking for FAME. Work on yourself first and analyze your reasons for doing it.

According to the contract we signed, if we cancelled outside of the 3 day cancellation period, we would receive a partial refund, which I accepted the terms of. I sent a postmarked letter requesting my partial refund, and my daughter DID NOT begin classes, I even spoke with Mark ** on the phone who advised that he had received the letter and the "Corporate Office" would review and take care of the partial refund.

2 weeks later, not only had I still had not received any refund, but I received a bill for $1970. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. When I attempt to call to get a number for this "Corporate Office" I am either told that they will contact me or the call is disconnected. My daughter has not attended ANY of the classes and we even have correspondence from the "school" confirming this.

My daughter was very excited because of what they had told her so I said alright and they set up an automatic debit to my account. They told her she had until her first scheduled class to drop if she changed her mind and if she did we would get the $185 already paid reimbursed. Her first class would be September 28th, about 2 weeks after the initial audition, and after about 2 days she realized that she wouldn't be able to do this with her course load at college. She has been calling them at the number they provided, and had received calls from prior to the audition, 2 to 3 times a day since then.

There is no answering machine, voice mail, actually nothing at all. Every time she calls the number it beeps once and then hangs up. Since when does a reputable company conduct business in this manner, to me this has all the ear marks of a scam. I would tell everyone to stay away from this so called company, it is my opinion that they are just taking peoples money with no intent of providing anything to them. I find it very interesting that every review talks about how they were taken by this company but just recently a few reviews about how great they are suddenly appears on this site. I can't help but wonder who wrote those and even with them they still only have a 1.9 rating, again, my suggestion is to stay away from them.

We went to this meeting and they told my mom all kinds of stuff and blah blah blah and I felt so uneasy. And she signed me up because she was feeling guilty as a mom and laid out a check for 2000 grand for modeling classes and I went to these no training classes twice a week and was never taught anything. The sad thing is a lot of other parents who have problems like this fall for these people. I ended up walking away from this company and moved back home with family. The sad part is my mom put out this money she could have spent on better things for me like the therapy I needed. They are a real scam. Stay far far away. I do still have the travel bag they gave me all these years later, so sad.

Yes you have to pay to take the classes but $68.00 a week isn't bad when it comes to your child's dreams. They work with you and do payments if you don't have $2000.00 upfront. Her first month she got a runway job. By class 10 she was signed to a 3yr contract and was given all these tools and websites to book jobs. They do not hand you your career you have to work hard and listen to what they say but they give you all the tools needed to become successful. I have nothing but love for JC and the amazing people who have given me back my amazing, beautiful, talented daughter!!!

The first thing I noticed while we were in the waiting area was that the people that had been excused from the night before (who didn’t make the cut), was there meeting with representatives. Immediately a red flag went up. Then me and my son was called in a room to talk about his career and what they could do for him. Next thing I know, they are telling us that we have to pay $2,000 for him to attend all these classes and take additional photos (which could be purchased if we wanted).

Although, many thoughts went through my head I remained professional, but I don’t believe in discussing finances in front of children AT ALL. After I told her that I wasn’t going to pay, the lady got up and went to get another employee who told us she would refer us to another agency. They were so unprofessional and showed no compassion at all. This place is a total scam to get people money.

She gave some humorous stories about the industry and her experience places people with Disney and other big name entities after which each hopeful face walked the runway that was in this room. My daughter was chosen by the 25-year-old previously mentioned - a supposed honor because she works both in Dallas bad NY which is where she was leaving for (NY) later that day. Once in her office she blathered on about how beautiful and sweet my kid was and that they could definitely find work for her, however, they would need both parents there to contract her. Red flags were going off everywhere, however I decided to let this be a learning lesson for my daughter who sadly was getting her hopes up.

I did as directed, just to see this to fruition, and went home and got my husband and younger daughter who had just landed a child magazine cover on a fluke - no agent involved. Now back in a different office with another woman who was only on her 2nd week there, I asked the obvious question, how did they find us. Being new to the business she was not properly trained on the con-job, thank God! She told me that we must have registered online for information about the classes. I knew my husband and I had never done that and my daughter swore she hadn’t done it. I knew she was telling the truth because she didn’t know my cell phone number to provide and our last name was significantly misspelled in their database. She definitely knows how to spell our last name. Then the 25-year-old returned to the office we were in.

During our discussion she slipped and said something about her being with JC for 5 years. Hmmmm, the numbers weren’t adding up. She stated earlier that she had been with JC since she was 11, turned agent at 17 and was now 25. Second stumble was when she said something about looking forward to having dinner at a restaurant later that evening. The restaurant is a well-known restaurant that is ONLY in Dallas, however earlier she had told us that she was leaving after our meeting to fly home to NY.

Then came the numbers - $2000 for training which included 3+ years of unlimited refresher training and 3+ years of unlimited photoshoots. If you break the numbers down over three years of services, it’s not so insane, however knowing the stories weren’t adding up, I did not want my daughter getting caught up in this place/franchise. Yes, it IS a franchise - any old individual with some money can buy one and scam all day long. Oh and the 25-year-old knocked another business stating that they were NOT an agency. However, I know for a fact that they are. We were also told that even though if we were to sign with them and go through the training, we would still have the right to look for another agent and they would understand.

There are much better options to get yourself or your kid noticed. Spend 1 hour just to do some solid research and then Google or Bing reviews for a place that you’ve identified that might interest you. If there are a ton of negative reviews, there’s a reason for that. It’s a pain to write these, but even more of a pain to waste time and seeing a disappointed look on your kid’s face. They’d actually would have had a better shot at me had they just been straightforward and stated that this was for training because it appeared that I had shown interest at one point, even though it definitely wasn’t my daughter or me that had registered her.

Then they showed pictures of anorexic teenagers and she focused on the young women and told them, “in order to succeed in this industry, you must work hard to look like these girls.” (I worked in health and had volunteered for law enforcement since I was a teenager. These women in these pictures, if they weren’t photoshopped, were close to clinical starvation). Because I was already an actor looking for an agent and had several who worked in this industry, I knew two things: I should not be expected to pay ANYTHING to sign up with an agency because any legitimate agency prospers by viewing talented individuals' work and skills and talents they had cultivated over the course of their lives. We were never asked to demonstrate or read a monologue or do ANYTHING in the audition except to walk down a runway and then stand.

Here’s the thing... On the phone call, their texts, emails, and pamphlets, they advertise themselves as a modeling and acting agency that can help you find auditions and land auditions in tv and film. They went through several example of actors that became famous - namely Kevin Hart. Well I’ve met Kevin Hart... I’ve met several actors because I travel internationally and perform improv and standup myself and because I’ve done theater. If you look at theater and tv, there are actors of all sizes and shapes, but almost none of them are anorexic anymore because Hollywood has transitioned away from anorexia and because its reputation started to wane and gain heavy criticism after many models and actresses started dying and having serious health problems 20+ years ago.

So the message they were sending to these young women who were 10-17 was disastrous and false information that was damaging to their self esteem. I met one mother whose whole reading or putting her daughter in modeling was because their dad committed suicide and because she wanted to get her daughter out of the house and start doing things she was interested in. The next day we were told to come back. Well as soon as I walked in I was told I could purchase the photoshoots pictures for 10$. That’s a scam and red flag right there because I have text message receipts that the pictures were supposed to be free.

I brought in a resume and had a notebook full of everything from USBs of videos, plays, monologues, songs, and musical performances that I had participated in and a long record of my performance history and experience. They did not want to see any of that and did not believe that whatever I had was good enough without ever having seen them. They told me that I needed to buy their 2,000$ classes for 30 weeks, and IF *IF* I graduate from their program, I could sign up for a non-exclusive contract with them for 3 years. I asked what happens after you sign up? Allegedly I can apply for a short list of auditions (their website has 10 auditions, 9 of which are modeling gigs that were not paid well, like 50$ for each one, and an unpaid advertising gig. It’s important to note that every contract they offered our group of people they (the agent/agency) receives 20% commision).

This “agency” is not established well and lacks connections with people in the actual industry. Here’s the way they operate: they sell you a 2,000$ “VIP” package (or lesser packages for a few hundred dollars less) and they get 20% commission off of anything you get booked for, of which they leave it to you to actually book, audition, and submit the materials. Traditionally, it is an agent's job to do these things FOR you. Your agent is supposed to be the mediate who negotiates on your behalf using materials you and your agent collectively determined were good materials for auditions. An agent/agency is NOT supposed to profit by selling you classes or lessons or 20-30 week programs. In fact, that’s so taboo in the industry that most actors, modeling, musician, and entertainment unions, professionals, and legitimate agencies condemn this extortion practice.

To give a mathematical value for how their business model works... My experience with them lasted for two days - 3 hours the first evening, and 1 hour the next afternoon. In sum, I spent 4 hours with this group and at the end they wanted, without seeing my work or history in the entertainment industry, 2,000$ (or 1200 after I told them I had no money to spare). So let’s break this down... Let’s say we have 20 people show up (I think my group had 15, but 20 is an easier number to do math with) 2,000$ X 20 = 20,000.

Had all of us signed up for their maximum deal, they would have made 20,000$ in a total of 4 hours. A person can get by for at least half a year on 20k, and afford the rent for the building they operate out of based on 4 hours of work! Had they taken the smaller option, the total would have been at least 10k, yet that’s still a ridiculous amount for no legitimate contract - because again, you may not be eligible for the contract after their 30-week mandatory classes!!!

In summary, this “agency” does the following: masquerades as a legitimate talent agency. Primarily profits off of selling classes that you do NOT need (one of the classes was a class that would teach you how to wash your face, hair, and clip your nails). Supports the outdated and condemned practice that women must be anorexic in order to succeed in the entertainment industry (I can think of several millionaire women on tv who started from nothing and have been clinically obese their entire lives/careers. Heck, I’ve met a few!).

Takes advantage of grieving parents and child innocence. I saw one “agent” trying to guilt trip a parent into buying the package deal and assuring her this was the standard for the industry. As a person who has engaged in this industry who has traveled to several countries and has met many actors and whose friends are actually on major tv show productions like Revolution and Gotham, let me just tell you straight up: you are never supposed to pay anything for the contractor to continue with an agent.

They seek talent and find work for talent. An agency is never supposed to create talent or take money upon startup. I’ve also been told that a 20% commission rate is higher than normal - a normal/acceptable commission rate should be somewhere between 10-15% however, because I have not lived (merely visited) expensive places like New York, Las Angeles, Atlanta Georgia, etc, I suspect there is a possibility that the commission rate may differ based on location.

WITH THAT SAID... North Carolina is far cheaper to live than those places, so one would expect the commission rate to be lower than the acceptable range because there is less opportunity for actors, models, etc in NC due to the eradication of all tax incentives, loans, and even financial incentives in general for entertainment to work and produce in NC. (To clarify, you should do research on how the previous NC [republican admin/sorry for politics, but this is historically true and not mean to be a political jab] stripped entertainment industry incentives.) Because of this, most models, actors, musicians, etc fled like scared sheep and flooded into Atlanta Georgia, New York, and to a lesser extent, DC.

My overall warning: this is a scam, not a legitimate agency. Also, I glanced at a computer behind the desk to set the scam photos down... I saw numerous pages for reviews and such. They create fake profiles on various review sites to create fake positive reviews. Even if you don’t believe anything I have to say, but I sincerely hope you do, the 2,000$ fee for the mandatory classes on how to wash your face and hair and clip your nails is literally their business method for income. It was printed on a blue piece of paper, with their backup packages on a white piece of paper. They also included an “unlimited number of professional photoshoots” however, the way auditions work for paying gigs is, you only need a few pictures. You don’t need thousands or even more than 20 (and 20 is pushing it).

My dad was a graphic designer for 20 years in an advertising agency and I work in creating film and theater projects for the community for the past 6-7 years... I have no need of unlimited photoshoots because my family and I can do it ourselves and if I wanted to pay money I could go to my city’s cultural arts center and have it done for 10$ instead of 500$. So I mean... Take that for what you will. There are also numerous videos of people who got scammed by these people. I suggest going to YouTube to take a look. Be careful - they do a good job of faking their business success.