The expensive dream

I turned down another job, this time it was an admin position for a so-called "school" for young people who want to become actors, dancers or models.

I was actually looking forward to it, and attended a day's training but I then found a lot of less than flattering information about them on the internet. They are a chain of franchises, exploiting young people's dreams by charging them over the odds for one hour of tuition a week.

In the London "school" you can get a 10 week course for over £1000, which parents are expected to pay in full the next day on their credit card, or a year's course including a trip to LA for over £7000. They really put the pressure on the parents, and the idea is that once you sign up, your child will be "invited for auditions".
On the web I read that in the USA, some of the "agents" and "casting directors" who come in (on the weekend!) to meet the kids are actors, pretending to be business big-shots. Also people were urged to get photos done for prices of around $1000.
Here in the UK, charging to join an agency and "recommending" a photographer are illegal as far as I am aware, and I am not even questioning the quality of the tuition, but for £100 a week you could get your child at least one one-on-one acting lesson with a West End actor or vocal coach!

As soon as I realised the extent of the rip-off and the amout of law suits against them in the States I knew I couldn't do it. Some of their fanchises also have a history of not paying their staff, so I was even more worried.

I was disappointed, because I wanted to work - but not as the face of this outfit which exploits people's dreams and wallets like that.

The girl who does the job there at the moment, actually auditioned for them originally, and got entered into a talent contest in the States. Now she does this job for free in lieu of her enrolment fee. She saw on the net it's actually around $600, but she works off a £1500 fee...