San Francisco, CA: Be Productions, a California-based talent agency, is facing a federal class action suit, alleging that the agency illegally took money from thousands of Californian families who registered with them.
Be Productions allegedly lured customers in to doing TV auditions, but charged them up-front fees - in some cases several thousands of dollars worth of fees. According to a report on ABC7 News, San Francisco, some families paid as much as $5,000 to Be Productions. When customers tried to cancel they were told that they had missed the contract cancellation deadline.
California has laws that govern 'advance fee' talent agencies. The ABC7 News report states that "advance fee talent companies must follow a lot of rules such as: Register with the state; Post a $10,000 bond; and Give consumers 10 days to cancel and refund all money if customers don't get expected services."
Be Productions allegedly did not adhere to these regulations. Furthermore, the suit claims that the agency was being paid compensation for referring children to classes and photo shoots, which is against the law.
Apparently, the hunt is now on to try and locate more than $20 million in fees paid to the agency. It is believed that the lawsuit could represent as many as 6,000 children.
