For the week of August 21 - 27, 2002

Ad for film extras 
raises eyebrows

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By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Write

A company that ran a classified ad in the Mountain Express last week seeking extras for an alleged upcoming movie appears to be interested only in collecting money, bank account numbers and credit card numbers.

The ad stated, "Motion picture coming to your area. Movie extras needed. Make $85 to $125 per day. No experience needed." It included a phone number in Southern California.

In addition to the Mountain Express, the ad ran in papers in Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint, Mountain Home and Driggs. The ad is no longer running in the Express.

According to the Idaho Film Bureau, an arm of the Department of Commerce, there is no major film scheduled to be shot anywhere in the state. Furthermore, said department Film Specialist Peg Owens, people from the five areas where the ads ran reported that when they responded to it, they all were informed that the movie would be shot within 15 miles of their home.

"It is highly unlikely that there would be simultaneous films shot within 15 miles of Coeur d’Alene, Mountain Home, Driggs and Ketchum," Owens said.

The phone number in the ad is assigned to Talent America in Hollywood, Calif.

When a Mountain Express reporter responded to the ad, he was told that a local company, called Pradi Productions, will be shooting a crowd scene for an "action comedy," rated PG-13, in eight to 10 weeks. However, he was told, the name of the movie was being kept confidential.

If he wished to apply, he was told, he would first have to submit a $25 deposit, refundable when he showed up for work. That deposit could be made either with a credit card or a "check by phone."

"It’s a lot safer than a check by mail," the person on the other end of the line said. "You’re giving us a check, but instead of doing it physically, we do it verbally over the phone."

"How does that work?" the reporter asked.

"You hold a blank check right in front of you and I just ask for the information that’s on the check," the person said.

"You mean you need my account number?" the reporter asked.

"Yes," the person said, adding that he would also need a picture sent with the application.

The reporter said he’d have to think about that.

Owens said casting directors never charge a fee to potential extras and always do their casting on site, not before the movie is shot.

The Mountain Express made a second call to Talent America requesting an interview. Jason Murray, who identified himself as the company’s talent director, said Talent America is a "staffing agency" for a production company that will be filming "in your area." Murray said he could not release the name of the production company, but that Talent America did work with Pradi Productions, which he said is in Anaheim, Calif. Phone information for Anaheim had no number listed for a Pradi Productions.

Murray said a request for any more information would have to be done in writing and gave an address in Hollywood.

The Better Business Bureau of the Southland, in Colton, Calif., states on its Web site that it has received complaints from people who had sent money to Talent America in response to ads run in newspapers in Southern California seeking film extras and who said they received nothing in return.

The Better Business Bureau Inc. based in Boise also issued a warning about Talent America’s advertisement.

Talent America also advertised in newspapers in eastern Washington in June. According to Inland Northwest Film Commission spokesperson Jeanna Shelley, respondents to the ads there were also told they would have to pay a deposit by a credit card or by giving bank account information. Shelley said she knows of no films planned in the area for which extras are to be supplied by Talent America.

The ad in the Mountain Express was sent to it by the Idaho Newspaper Association. The association’s executive director, Bob Hall, said it got the ad from the Missouri Press Service, and distributed it to 42 newspapers around Idaho.

"We usually rely on the other states to screen their ads," Hall said. "This one apparently slipped through."

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.