John Casablancas Modeling & Career Center

Run !!! Take your money and run. This place gives you false promises and name drops whoever they can to try and convince you that you will receive work, and this is your door to be in the industry. It blows my mind that people don’t look around a little online and see these reviews before they go in somewhere, and then PAY money. If you are going to pay money for something, especially your child, do your research people! This place is a scam. They have no models, or actors with work. They do not know what agents or casting directors are looking for. They just got a new owner… I wonder why. Scary!

After reading all of the reviews from this website and another one, I wrote this to the agency.
Thanks to everyone that has shared their experiences. I think it has saved a lot of people a lot of money and headaches.
Good luck to all of you that are serious about an acting or modeling career. Please read my message to them below.
Jennifer,
I really enjoyed our conversation yesterday. I was really looking forward to meeting all of you on Tuesday evening at 7:15 pm. Just the thought of knowing that at 58 years old, I am in one of the better positions to begin an acting career. Unfortunately, I have an emergency meeting with my organization and will not be able to make the audition. I hope to stay in touch and maybe if you all are back in the area over the next year or so I will have another chance. Too bad this is the last audition you will have for some while.
I attempted to give you heads up so that you can put someone else in the space and not lose all the money for the photo shoot and portfolio.
Take care and have a great week.
Hopefully, you will get this email.

ALL REVIEWS ARE TRUE. Awful awful experience!!! Please make yourself a favor and don’t go in there.

Waist of time. Everyone gets a B. They essentially assign everyone a B which is their option for their bull shit training. All they do is try to get you to do some shitty training. Don’t waist your time. The main lay was rude anyways saying I couldn’t get around a their score of a B when I tried to explain I knew I wasn’t a B and felt like I didn’t need training at all. Waist of time don’t even bother if they call you. Horrible place with or without their sucky new management.

All you need to understand is that some people are agency-​ready and some people need development before they can be sent on auditions.
If you are agency-​ready, you get signed at no cost.
If you have talent but need some training, you may be offered a slot in the program.
Why is it an «honor» to spend $ 100,000 at Juilliard to study 4 years of flute, but a «scam» to spend less than the cost of a semester of Junior College to learn everything you need to know to compete in the actual business of modeling and acting?

John casablanca is a good looking company but isn’t. John casablanca had ripped me off with there classes. They just want your money. They are a scam.

They are a scam they use people to intimidate you to sell you acting lessons. They say they don’t charge you on the phone and say this is a test shoot. Agencies don’t ask for money and take 20% of what you make from an acting/​modeling job. This scam wants you to pay $ 250 for classes. Everyone at John Casablancas is fake and they are liars.

So I’m not exactly sure where John Casablancas got my number, but I didn’t feel too disturbed by i seeing that I am an aspiring model and have recently been putting my information out there for modeling agencies to look at and maybe contact me. However, the text message I got was very robotic: ended with a «text STOP if you want to stop receiving texts». Naturally I get suspicious because I thought these kinds of things, auditions, interviews, etc were supposed to be personal. So I had my guy friend come with me.
There wasn’t too long of a wait (about 10 or 20 minutes), the «photoshoot» was a quick pose, pose, pose, you’re done.
Then we’re all ushered in a little room with a little runway and a tv is on with a video of runway models. They put on some techno dubsteb or something with some circus music mixed in there (weird I know). And THAT amount of waiting was like 45 minutes. A guy from Dallas explained their company and was very convincing with his speech. He then told all of the auditioners to walk down the runway. I thought «What about the aspiring actors?»
Then we all had to wait to be interviewed individually. They were interviewing youngest to eldest and I guess everyone there was either a child or 18 and I’m 21 so I waited yet another hour. I was then starting to actually question the professionalism and seriousness of this company. The long waits, the small space, the inattentiveness towards the actor portion of the auditioners, the bad taste in music (mind you, near the end there was a remixed version of a song with cuss words. I don’t mind curse words, but others, especially children, might).
Finally, they called me in. Francesca was suuuper nice and she said I got a B+ and I need training. I don’t disagree; I’m an amateur. She took me into her office and said that I can come in tomorrow for a second audition and if I pass that then I get to start training… but first…
I have to pay $ 200 and something dollars for registration. I immediately got that sinking feeling of scam central. Modelling schools you pay for, yes, but they weren’t presenting themselves as a school. I decided to research them more and low and behold, I see all these reviews and I go on
and now I’m disappointed. Dammit. I want to be a model so bad. Now I won’t even bother wasting my time. Ain’t nobody got time for scammer bullshit.
2 stars because they were nice, but I’m hurt that they wasted my time.

Let’s be honest here, anyone who call JC will get a call back. Anyone who attend the open house will be accepted for JC! I don’t want to say that they are scam, because they are a legit business. They are a development center. My only concern is that they solicit their services as a modeling and acting agencies. I don’t think that they are an acting or modeling agency. All they care about is signing you up for their cheap classes. They don’t really care about you or the work you done. Even if you fully qualified for a modeling job, they still grade you as B so you have to enroll and pay for their classes. I never attended their classes because I didn’t want to sign up with them, but what kind of learning that you get for only $ 2300? If I want to study at an adult school I will ended up paying more lol! Anyway good luck to you if you sign up for their classes but I’m telling you don’t expect to get casting calls back because they are not an agency, they are a development and learning center.

I absolutely loved my experience with John Casablancas! I just graduated recently and I could not be happier with the outcome. Not only did I learn about modeling, I also learned about self confidence and how much I am capable of. The atmosphere is very supportive and everyone wants to shape you into the best that you can be. I am very grateful for the whole journey. You should definitely give it a try, you will learn a lot about yourself!

Please read the link below!
Pay no attention to those giving this center a five-​star rating. They are employees of this company.
New management does not mean that anything else has changed! Their practice is and will continue to be the same, here and at all of their other locations! Get people in, get their money. You do NOT need modeling ‘schools’ to become a model!

Ok, I normally don’t right reviews but in this case Unilocal reviews saved me from some more future anguish. I would say that this place is the biggest load of crap I have ever seen or heard in my life. In one day I called back to refund my registration after had reviewing and researching all the bull shit that came out of their mouths. They had me send a certified letter in the mail with in three business days to obtain my full refund of $ 370 and I won’t receive it for up to 45 days. No real agency will ever ask you for money even for training. This is a complete hoax. They are frauds messing with people’s lives and I’m sitting here with an empty bank account because of my refund not coming back to me yet. Literally starving, guess that’s why I’m angry enough to write a review. The reviews are true! They are full of shit and they prey on people’s dreams and no one should ever waste a moment of their life there.

Thanks to John Casablancas «Modeling» Center I’m getting unsolicited spam texts to my cell phone.
You know your «modeling» business sucks when you rely on spamming strangers. How’d you even get my number bro?

I had placed an ad on Craigslist selling furniture. This «agency» grabbed the phone number in my ad and sent me this:
«This is Francesca with John Casablancas Modeling and Acting Agency I have an audition for you for modeling and acting opportunities in your area. Please call me at my office today by 8:30pm (619) 299‑7200 to make your reservation. Spaces are limited! Reply STOP to stop receiving texts.»
Yeah, looks like a really legit business to me.

This place is the scum of the Earth. It’s obvious how horrible this place is just by the Unilocal reviews they have! I am writing this review to warn you that this facility is just money hungry and does not care about their students. Very unprofessional and very pushy. Little to no opportunities here. You will be wasting your money if you invest in any classes here. Also the staff is extremely rude. I accidentally walked in here when I was looking for John Robert powers (a much better modeling and acting school) I walked up to the front desk, after being ignored for several minutes I walked over to a different staff member and asked if this was JRP. She laughed and said to not go there and that their place was much better blah blah. How sad that you have to bash another company (who has been in the game much longer than you) because yours is not as up to proper standards. Since then I have been randomly contacted by them several times via email, phone, and even text messages! Every single time I say no thank you, they continue to contact me. This place is a sad excuse for a business. Since working with John Robert powers I have been on several auditions, have a professional photoshoot planned, and have the opportunity to work with a well known runway modeling teacher. Don’t waste your money, time, or energy here at John Casablanca.

if you are serious about acting and modeling this is NOT the place for you. they just want your money and all the gigs are modeling, so if you aren’t a size two forget about it. do it right. research. get a REAL agent and get work that way. if people think this is a bogus review its not. i did the full course and call into the hot line at least 1x week but all of it was a waste of my time and money!

All the negative reviews are true, I am writing this as I am walking to my car because the customer service there was horrible. The manager clearly stated to me and my partner, «we’re nobodies and don’t deserve special treatment» after he made us sit through a 2 hour presentation of their company.
AWFUL MANAGEMENT
HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE
RUDE CRITICISM
NO RESPECT UNTIL YOU PAY
You can find better. Please beware.
UPDATE: Roger, the manager called my partner back stating we «interrupted» his class. All the kids talking and being restless were disruptive. Me trying to tell him I have to be somewhere at 9pm is «disruptive». He kept saying, «you want a photo shoot don’t you?» Like it was suppose to make your panties melt, LMAO.
Don’t go here! Please take your kids elsewhere. Future models, find somewhere else!

PLEASE BEWARE! READ MY REVIEW!
If you ever receive a «FREE PHOTOSHOOT» from this place specifically be expected to waste 2 hours of your time listening to Roger (the manager). For a man representing a «high fashion model» agency, he dresses like someone going through a mid-​life crisis that shops at Wal-​Mart for his suits.
First rule of when you’re trying to scam people, at least be nice to them.
He proceeded to mention facts such as: not only do you have to pay the fees you have to go through an «interview»? Really now? Roger became very upset when me and my partner wanted to just take off early.
He made a SCENE in front of the parents, kids and potential new models about my partner and me, specifically stating «we’re nobodies and don’t deserve special treatment»
by that point I’ve decided this «FREE» photoshoot wasn’t even worth it. I don’t need to waste my time to go to someone who doesn’t know how to treat others with respect. He even called me to leave me a voicemail to tell me I was «rude and disrupted his presentation» when all I wanted was my free photoshoot.
DON’T COME HERE.

This place is wonderful! It’s a modeling and acting school plus you get to do jobs while going to school. First they do open house to get talent in the door. Then they evaluate your confidence and experience in the second meeting. The instructors are helpful and it’s such a great deal! Only $ 40 bucks a week and that includes the whole school period and photo session! There’s acting and modeling classes and they find jobs locally and in L.A. People just get upset because they don’t want to spend the money. But why would a company want to hire you if you don’t know what your doing? I already did a promo job in «old town» and got a part in a reality show. Plus one of our actors got send down to try out for big brother recently. It’s great, come on in! :)

Super unprofessional. Very unorganized. Don’t waste your money or time here. I was told rude and insulting comments about myself, not constructive criticism. The instructors don’t really seem to know what they’re doing. Success rate is not impressive. I went to John Robert Powers, a different talent company and really enjoyed it compared to this facility. If you still have hope for acting or modeling after Johncasablancas, try JRP out.