has anybody had any luck with their agent showcases out here in la? the one in new york seemed ok, but not great. i dont really have anything to compare it too, help! I am looking for a class or casting director workshops in the LA area. recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I have never personally done a showcase with them, but I have known a few people.

They are not terrible... but they don't seem to be worth the money either. I have issues worth showcases in general, but if you are going to do one, find one that is very strict about who they let join. One girl I know who did a TVI showcase was not very good, but they let her in anyway.

I met with them in NY & they were hard selling the whole time and the person selling was not very knowledgable either

I've done stuff at TVI in NY and it turned out great for me. I took classes there with several different casting directors and ended up being called in for auditions and BOOKING REAL SAG and AFTRA jobs with those casting directors. And I'm not talking about BS extra work.

plus, i learned alot about the "business" of acting that I had no idea about, even with all the training I had.

Since i have lots of training and experience, it helped me immensely. the people who seem to complain seem to be the ones that just started and have little to no experience and wonder why they aren't getting "Discovered".

also, whether or not the other people in the showcase are on your level is not important - maybe some of those people are new to the business and are there to learn.

You are at a showcase to showcase YOU - and if you are at the right place in your career and have the training and experience and the knowledge of how to market yourself correctly - those showcases can be very effective.

but if you have a crappy homemade headshot and no training and little to no experience and expect some kind of amazing result - then you are being naive.

if you are inexperienced and want to do a showcase like that to LEARN more about the realities of how the business really works, then that is a good investment.

no one would take one dance class and expect to be a professional ballerina the next week - but many people think they will be able to get an agent or a TV role after taking one class or one showcase.

I had good luck at one I did at a Commercial Agent showcase at TVI. Not everyone was the best actor, but I got calls from KSA and Beverly Hecht...KSA passed, but signed with BH. My attitude is you either need to be in a play, film, etc. to have agents see. Otherwise, pay for it. Better than nothing.

I asked once about a workshop and they called me every few days for weeks to try and get me to sign up for things. One was $145 for a 5-minute meet and greet with an agent. It was not something i would do.

so not blond - how did you finally end up finding an agent?

TVI has one of the worst reputations in the entire acting business, as far as taking advantage of newcomers, and wasting money. I think "agentman" might not respond because TVI is a major advertisor in BackstageWest. Please google, look on any message board and research-Information is key here! Please really research TVI as best you can!!!

Followup:
There are 3 things that will happen to this post
A:SecretAgentman won't respond, because it is the safest thing to do in this situation, seeing as TVI is a major advertisor
B:This post will be deleted (or at least my posts in this thread)
C:SecretAgentman will respond in support of TVI, thus proving he/she is not a legit or good agent (in my opinion)
D: (and this would be amazing) SecretAgentman will say "stay away, save your money"...

eaglesfania - why so bitter? are you one of those wanna be's who did a few workshops and didn't "magically" get cast? even though you have little training and little or no experience?

where do you recommend people go to learn from and get exposed to ACTUAL working Casting Directors and Agents? the people that teach there work for major tv shows and big networks. and how is TVI any better or worse than any other acting school? no one school is right for everyone - and a school that is right for you might not be right for the person who asked the question in this post.

they were specifically asking about places that had workshops with Casting Directors - do you have any experience with ANY of those kinds of schools? do you have any Actual recommendations, or do you just want to bitch about this one particular place?

Whenever a poster calls another poster "bitter" for criticizing an organization, my own first reaction is that the poster has some connection with the organization being criticized. But of course I could be wrong....

It's been years since I took any casting director/agent workshops. When I did, I took one or two at TVI. Then I never went back. It didn't help that they kept shifting between trying to get me to come to workshops even though I wasn't a member of TVI and then telling me, "Well, you really should be a member [translation, pay more upfront money] to attend".

I found the level of acting from the other attendees less consistent than at other workshops (not surprisingly, since TVI seemed to be getting anyone they could at that point to come) and the price, as I recall, was higher than for other workshops.

In the intervening years, I've become pretty cynical about the whole idea of paying to meet industry professionals (most people who get called in at all get called in for under 5's - as I did, several times; and some people who know CD's say they look down on "workshop actors".) But TVI seemed a pretty poor choice even when I was doing them, and the negative comments I've seen posted here are in-line with what I've heard from other actors over the years.

Hi Stagesweetie

I would say that TVI offers the same opportunity as many other 'workshop' providers. The opportunity being a few moments to show your work, or if you are not experienced, the opportunity to get a glimpse of how the casting process works.

But

I believe you could actually hurt yourself by showing work that is not ready to be shown. . . your call.

TVI is WAY overpriced. You can find the same thing, same casting directors, for 35-40 bucks.

One man's opinion.

Jim
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0446457/

i said he seemed bitter because it seems he has a specific beef against this one school. i found TVI to be really helpful and informative AND i booked thousands of dollars of work from those workshops

i have taken workshops at all three places, TVI, Actors connection and one on one - and they are all about the same as far as price. the TVI ones are free for members - so the price actually worked out to be cheaper in the long run than paying 30-45 bucks per wrkshp

I personally found the experience at one on one kind of cold and isolating - maybe they have changed their format - but showing up and sitting around the waiting room to go in for 3 minutes was just not that great for me.

and as far as experience level - the party line when i was doing workshops was more that Actors Connection people were the least experienced and that they would let anybody do cd workshops there. TVI and One on one required an "audition". that may have changed as well.

i found the process at TVI to be a lot more comprehensive and helpful than it was at other places. yes, they call alot - but that was better than no follow up at all - which is pretty much how i felt about the other places I went.

like lurker said - the opportunity is pretty much the same, i just found that TVI worked much better for me. Plus, they also have longer term classes with top of the line casting people and career support services that other places don't offer.

I've taken a few classes and workshops at TVI.

I personally wouldn't take any of their actual acting classes or anything, but I find the workshops or classes with CDs are helpful.

I am currently taking one with Eric Woodall of Tara Rubin casting, and he always has something insightful to say about my work and I got to work with one of the biggest casting directors in NY theatre for 4 weeks. People in my class (while being in the class) were being called in for Mary Poppins, Phantom of The Opera, Grease, etc. So the group does have some talent.

I also have a friend who did a lot of the film and tv classes with TVI and the CD she worked with took her under her wing and helped her sign with a new agency. My friend actually had 4 agencies that wanted to sign her and she got her choice because this CD had taken her under her wing and presented her to agencies. This was all away from TVI too. so at no cost to my friend.

Like someone said, it's all what works for you. You could be in a BFA program at a major university, but that doesn't mean you will be happy and book tons of work. So go in. Maybe take a class or two. see how you feel. then go from there.

I read about TVI and sent in the form on their site for more info.

I was called by a woman who seemed very...'used car salesmanish' and I was immediately put off.

After asking my questions, I felt TVI was the equivalent of an Actors Connections type of place, so I figure I'd rather pay $33 for the service at AC over hundreds of dollars to be a member, then hundreds more for each workshop etc.

(this is just my experience and opinion, to each his/her own)