Hey,

Has anyone heard of Go See GIFTS? I submitted my son to a commercial casting at NYCastings.com and I was called by one of their "talent representatives" in response to our submission. This person said they were very interested in my son, that he's being considered for the commercial we submitted for and in addition, they want to keep him on file, to submit him for other projects. They sent me a list of various projects they have recently had, with dollar figures next to each one, indicating the pay. They also said that they can send us casting notices that we won't find online, for a monthly fee of $19.95. In order to establish a "working relationship" with them, you need to first complete the "activation steps" and then let them know ASAP that you've done so. I've received two emails in the past few hours, reminding me that we have just 48 hours to complete this process.

I read the boards here regularly, and have seen people post that whenever an agency (or whatever type of company) asks for money up front, to run as fast as you can the other way....but....hey, I pay a monthly fee for my backstage account...
as I do for nycastings and actors access. So, what makes this a scam versus the online casting sites?

They have now sent two emails urging us to sign up within the next 48 hours. The multipe emails are
sending up a red flag. Why so anxious? Is my son that HOT? Or do they just want me to think so?

I know there's a post on here about how to check up on companies to find out if they're legit or not,
and I will look for that post when I'm done jabbering on here in this post.

If anyone knows anything at all about them, I'd greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Their website is http://www.goseegifts.com/castings.html

it's been discussed on this board before; I think you can guess the consensus.

quote:

Originally posted by wendyliz:
Hey,

Has anyone heard of Go See GIFTS? I submitted my son to a commercial casting at NYCastings.com and I was called by one of their "talent representatives" in response to our submission. This person said they were very interested in my son, that he's being considered for the commercial we submitted for and in addition, they want to keep him on file, to submit him for other projects. They sent me a list of various projects they have recently had, with dollar figures next to each one, indicating the pay. They also said that they can send us casting notices that we won't find online, for a monthly fee of $19.95. In order to establish a "working relationship" with them, you need to first complete the "activation steps" and then let them know ASAP that you've done so. I've received two emails in the past few hours, reminding me that we have just 48 hours to complete this process.

I read the boards here regularly, and have seen people post that whenever an agency (or whatever type of company) asks for money up front, to run as fast as you can the other way....but....hey, I pay a monthly fee for my backstage account...
as I do for nycastings and actors access. So, what makes this a scam versus the online casting sites?

They have now sent two emails urging us to sign up within the next 48 hours. The multipe emails are
sending up a red flag. Why so anxious? Is my son that HOT? Or do they just want me to think so?

I know there's a post on here about how to check up on companies to find out if they're legit or not,
and I will look for that post when I'm done jabbering on here in this post.

If anyone knows anything at all about them, I'd greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Their website is http://www.goseegifts.com/castings.html

Hi wendyliz,

I have heard of them, and not in a good way. Last summer, I responded to this post in the 'jobs' section of craigslist, re: modeling for some nationwide jeans campaign. The ad instructed everyone who wanted to submit to write JEANS in the subject line, and to send it to some address like casting@goseegifts.com or something like that. Well, I submitted, and heard back from about a month later. Because I was in the subway, the call went straight to my voicemail. I returned their call when I got out, they said when I got them on the phone that they had already casted out the jeans campaign, but they really liked my look. (*shriek* As the saying goes, flattery will get you NOWHERE!!!) The girl on the phone went on to say that for only $19.95 I can recieve their "exclusive" casting newsletter, etc. Apparently I kept asking her questions that were too difficult (like, "Are you a casting director?" "Are you a member of CSA?" "Are you franchised by Screen Actors Guild?"), because she kept putting me on hold every other question.

Her "boss" Katie got on the phone, and gushed "oh, you were just on the phone with my intern," etc. I'm like, YEAH RIGHT!!! She gives me the $19.95 sales pitch again, I don't fall for it, and she goes into this speech about that "we don't deal with extra work, or any thing like that!" And she gives me this condescending extra work spiel like three times!

I asked her if she was a casting director or a talent agent, she said she was neither, and pompously replied that "we are a CASTING SERVICE." Go figure.

To cut to the chase, I didn't make any financial commitment. They kept e-mailing me OVER and OVER again, saying how excited they were about potentially working with ME, please call us to discuss the next steps.

Because they called me when I was in the subway, they ended up leaving me their telephone number, area code first. Not recognizing the area code, I called 411 asking where it came from, they said that those three digits were somewhere in Pennslyvania. Now my general experience has been, if a major "office" isn't located in Manhattan, or in the heart of some major city like Philadelphia or Atlanta, buyer beware!

About a month later, I came across ANOTHER jeans "gig" in the jobs section on NYC craigslist. The contact e-mail address was something like cast@modelactorslife.com or something like that. I copied/pasted modelactorslife.com into the browser box, the website didn't even exist!

Well, I figured what the hell, I'll submit anyway. (At least these people don't have my checking account number. LOL) What do I have to lose? Five minutes later I get yahoo failure notice, saying the inbox was full on that account, as I scroll down the failure notice, I see that cast@modelactorslife was just an "in-between" address that went to casting@goseegifts.com! I told a friend of mine the entire story, his response was-"They're all in bed together."

My honest gut instinct is that that "JEANS CAMPAIGN" didn't even exist in the first place, and that they post these fictitious ads on craigslist, to solicit their $19.95 "CASTING SERVICE" to uneducated people who want to get into the buisness. Just think, if they got 2000 people to pay that a month, the money ADDS UP!

Wendyliz, trust your instinct here. Avoid them!!!

Any more questions?

New local place (area code 610) surfaced I want you to be aware of - GoSeeGifts!!! Email - casting@goseegifts.com



Sarah the intern making calls and Donna the boss responding to 'conflicts'.

They are trying to duplicate Actors Access and NYCastings and I wouldn't have problems with that IF Sarah did not called and told me they want to submit Klare for JCPenny's job that ended on June, 1st.

So she lied. I've confronted her and Donna stepped to the plate with an attitude 'What's your problem?'


So I told her.

Monthly charge to be on thier site is $19.99/mo. per 10-15 calls.

Just beware, ok?

quote:

They are trying to duplicate Actors Access and NYCastings and I wouldn't have problems with that IF Sarah did not called and told me they want to submit Klare for JCPenny's job that ended on June, 1st.

Actor's Access and NY Castings are at least legitimate services. I'm telling you guys, this "nationwide jeans campaign" they advertised last summer that I saw on Craigslist didn't even exist in the first place! They lied, and used this phony pretense of a modeling job as a ploy for people to pay for their "casting newsletter." When they told me on the phone that they had already cast the campaign but they "really liked my look," well, it was pretty much a lost cause on THEIR end of the plea bargain.

quote:

New local place (area code 610) surfaced I want you to be aware of - GoSeeGifts!!! Email - casting@goseegifts.com

I am told that GO SEE G.I.F.T.S. holds operation in York, Pennsylvania, area code 610. No offense to the residents of York, Pennsylvania, but the two U.S. capitals of film and television are Los Angeles and New York City. Any "entertainment operation" that takes place out in the cornfields of Pennsylvania or Montana is most likely SCAM TERRITORY!!! (Sorry, guys.)

I recieved a call from goseegifts last week following up on the "10K campaign" they had submitted for me for.

My response was:

"Ok, sure, just let me know when you hear from them" and that was it.

I'm glad I followed my instintos here.

Good work!

I got solicited to create an accont and pay a fee by the same girl, Sarah, after replying to a Fall ad campaign on Craigslist. This time the email has the html newfacesnow.com...yet the website does not exist.

Closely related website company called newfaces.com does exist and seems to operate similarly (encouraging you to sign up to get casted for a fee). It's based out of Toronto, but whether it's legit or not, I have yet to determine. Their website looks pretty professional.

Can anyone tell me if this is the way of the business? To sign up to one of these companies if your new to the business for exposure???

I heard advice that you should never pay anyone to represent you or offer you an intent of a job, but rather perform the presentation of a job with a commission based cut of fees upon ur success of landing it.

quote:

Originally posted by JP:
I got solicited to create an accont and pay a fee by the same girl, Sarah, after replying to a Fall ad campaign on Craigslist. This time the email has the html newfacesnow.com...yet thewebsite does not exist.

Same here. I replied to that thing at casting@modelsactorslife.com or whatever that was, just to find out that my e-mail had ACTUALLY gone to goseegifts.com, and you know the deal on that one!

quote:

Can anyone tell me if this is the way of the business? To sign up to one of these companies if your new to the business for exposure???

You absolutely should NOT have to pay for work, or to pay for "exposure" in the industry. If you want real exposure, hire Paris Hilton's publicist. (LOL) You do however, need photographs to submit to casting directors, talent agents, advertising agencies, and it is important to invest in quality photography, and to save the receipt for tax purposes.

quote:

I heard advice that you should never pay anyone to represent you or offer you an intent of a job, but rather perform the presentation of a job with a commission based cut of fees upon ur success of landing it.

That is correct. If anyone is demanding money up front that does not seem legitimate, then RUN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!!!

Area code 610 isn't in York, PA but is in the Chester County, PA area (I live in this area) which is just outside of Philadelphia. Chances are it's not in the "cornfields" of PA but does sound like a scam. This doesn't particularly matter, just thought I'd give you a better idea of where the scammer is.

They left a couple of messages for me. I searched them here, and will not bother to call them back. Also, the woman said she was calling in reference to a Halle Berry cosmetics casting I'd responded to on NYCastings. I checked my submissions history, and it was from over a month ago. PLEASE. Commercial castings do not happen that far ahead of time!

quote:

Originally posted by singin4mom:
Area code 610 isn't in York, PA but is in the Chester County, PA area (I live in this area) which is just outside of Philadelphia. Chances are it's not in the "cornfields" of PA but does sound like a scam. This doesn't particularly matter, just thought I'd give you a better idea of where the scammer is.

*LOL* OK. Forgive my inaccuracies of Pennsylvania geography, most of my attention of the past decade has been trying to navigate the complexities of the NYC subway system. Anyway, no offense to any residents of any city of Pennsylvania was intended.

quote:

Originally posted by transfergirl:
They left a couple of messages for me. I searched them here, and will not bother to call them back. Also, the woman said she was calling in reference to a Halle Berry cosmetics casting I'd responded to on NYCastings. I checked my submissions history, and it was from over a month ago. PLEASE. Commercial castings do not happen that far ahead of time!

Yeah, you totally did the right thing. Like you said yourself, commercial castings do NOT happen that far ahead of time. The dead giveaway to me, was when the woman kept telling me that they had already cast the jeans promo, but they really liked my look. I'm like, YEAH RIGHT. Let me tell you, if any "agent" tells you they like your look, 99% of the time they're full of $#/t.

As the saying goes, flattery will get you NOWHERE.

They recently posted a Target Holiday campaign and asked to respond at submit@newfacesnow.com. The following day, rep Jackie said she was going to submit my photos for the ad, and will continue to send my h/r out if i send a hardcopies to them. They have a PO BOX address. I can't trust that, compare to NY Castings. At least they have an actual street address; and it's $10 a month whereas Go See Gifts charges $20! I cant even find their address in their website.

Jackie sounded like a script, sad it was too good to be true.

But Jackie made a good point though, you cant "make it in the business" searching for casting notices on Craigslist, but GoSee Gifts can "once in a while."

I'm following my instincts to stay away from GoSee, at least offer us a free trial if you're legit.

I also applied to the "target" ad and althought Sarah was not "availble" I spoke with her intern Jackie, who sounded as if she was on an infomercial. I wanted some feedback on this place and wow, I am really glad I did not sign up. Not that I really would have anyway, but this sealed it. I am interested if Target knows they are using them to sign people up?