Los Angeles city attorney Jim Hahn filed criminal charges on July 15 against the operators of a Beverly Hills company called West Coast Talent Ltd., Inc. who are accused of illegally operating an employment counseling service that entices parents to pay thousands of dollars for promotional materials and acting classes for their children.
Alexander Zafrin, 37, and David Leroy Harris, 48, both of Beverly Hills, and West Coast Talent (WCT), which also is known as Screen Artist Talent and is headquartered at 8827 W. Olympic Blvd., are charged in a 17-count misdemeanor criminal complaint filed July 15 in Los Angeles Municipal Court, where they are scheduled for arraignment Aug. 12 in Division 83.
The charges stem from a Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs investigation triggered by 32 consumer complaints about the West Coast Talent operation that were made to that agency and the Better Business Bureau, according to deputy city attorney Mark Lambert, a prosecutor in Hahn's Consumer Protection Unit, who is handling the case.
Investigators allege that WCT recruited clients by making unsolicited telephone calls to parents to invite them to bring their children for an audition and screening session for employment in the entertainment industry. Many parents were led to believe that there was no fee involved, while others were led to believe that the audition was for an actual commercial or that directors or producers would be present.
After auditions, WCT representatives would call parents, tell them their children were among a small group of youngsters being invited back for further screening, and invite them to a meeting at the WCT offices, where they would be pressured to pay substantial fees for promotional materials--including photographs--and acting classes, according to the allegations against the defendants.
The parents of a Thousand Oaks boy who attended an audition in November alleged in their statement to investigators that they were told that their son was a "natural" who could earn $500 to $1,000 for non-speaking parts in commercials and up to $30,000 for long-term advertisements, but needed camera training and promotional materials called a "Zed card" that would cost $3,645, according to Lambert, who said the parents paid the fees by credit card but later canceled the payment after talking to friends knowledgeable about the talent-agency industry and learning that they should not have been charged any up-front fees.
West Coast Talent Ltd., Inc., Zafrin, and Harris are charged with six counts each of operating as an employment counseling service and failing to provide, prior to accepting any fee, a written contract informing the client of their right to cancel and obtain a refund within three days of signing a contract, and misrepresenting an employment counseling service as a job placement service; two counts of operating as an employment counseling service and failing to post a copy of their fee schedule, and one count of operating as an employment counseling service and failing to maintain a $10,000 surety bond. In addition, West Coast Talent Ltd., Inc. is charged with one count of making false and misleading statements, and making false and deceptive representations while conducting business as an employment counseling service.
--From Los Angeles city attorney Jim Hah