Complaint Review: The Exposure Studio - Los Angeles California

I was new to Hollywood. I had no idea. I was completely sucked in by this scam - this business that sells hopes and dreams to those who don't know any better...

I was only visiting LA. I had never even considered acting until one night while walking the Third Street Promenade, a woman approached me and asked if I was an actor. I said no, but that I could be (I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life anyway, partially why I was visiting LA...so I was particularly vulnerable and saw this as some kind of sign). She then said she was a talent scout, and she was most interested in finding and developing raw talent such as myself. We exchanged information. She gave me her card In bold letters, it said Thexposure Motion Picture Studio, and underneath it listed Artist Development, Studio Back-Lot, Filming, Recording, Casting, and Music. For the next few days I thought about it a lot. Could I be an actor? Is this for real? Does it really just happen like that, a stranger coming up to you on the street and offering you a chance at acting?

I know now that the answer is clearly NO. It does not just work like that, but again I had no idea. I auditioned for a guy named Tristen Cutler who claimed to be the director of the Professional Performance and Celebrity Mentor Program at The Exposure Studio. I thought my acting was bad, but to my surprise he said that I was a very pure person that showed a lot of potential, had a great look, and could easily be trained into a great actor, depending on how much work I wanted to put into it. He said that he and his team had interviewed/auditioned over 500 people for this program and they were about to narrow that down to 200, and from that 200 they would pick twenty to be part of this program, and that they would call me in a few days.

They called me back a few days later and told me I'd been chosen for the program and to come in to talk about it with Tristen and discuss if it's something I want to do. When I got there I met Jim Richer for the first time. I immediately had bad feelings about this guy. My intuition is a basset hound and falsity is a wounded rabbit. I smelled it a mile away. He told me I had a good look, then proceeded to talk endlessly about himself, his accomplishments, and who he knows. In the middle of this, he answered his phone and said, I cant talk right now, Im in the middle of an interview. I found it funny that he had the audacity to label his sanctimonious rant an interview when not one question was asked of me.

When Tristen finally showed up a half hour later, we went upstairs to his office and sat down. He began to discuss the program. He said that it was ten months of intense foundational acting training, for which the class of twenty will be observed and then ultimately given opportunities for exposure to castings and auditions. He compared it to the training one would receive at the USC Film School and Julliard, without the years of study and outrageous tuition. I knew this was a stretch, but I let him continue. He made it clear that a majority of the curriculum was based around the inner work that is necessary in order to harness the ability to be transparent, honest and in touch with ones true self.

He reiterated that real directors and actors, such as Dan Ireland and Cindy Pickett, would do the training. He continued by then going into what will happen after I had been trained. He claimed to have been raised in the life of film, as he is the Grandson of Martin Ritt, an early Hollywood screenwriter and director. Because of this, he claimed to have amazing inside connections in Hollywood and the Entertainment business, to the extent that he could literally pick up the phone and have me in an audition the next day.

Then he took us on a tour of the studio back-lot (the backyard). There were several mini-sets, all seemingly geared toward children and teens, ranging from a bedroom to a beach (which was essentially a sandbox). The garage had also been converted into a makeup studio that also doubled as a classroom, and there was also a music room that had a vocal booth and foamed walls but no equipment other than an old keyboard and computer monitor. Tristen said that they were remodeling it and were about to deck it out with all new recording equipment, and that I would be able to use it whenever I want. I am a musician and I REALLY enjoyed the idea of having a recording studio to use whenever I wanted. When we finally got to talk about what it would cost, he said they could work around a budget, and that they had several packages to meet different needs, and they range from $300 to $600 per month for ten months...

This is where I should have seen the red flag waving right before my eyes. I should have said thank you and walked away from this place. But I didnt, partially because I didnt know any better, and also because I was so bedazzled by the Hollywood dream that I didnt want to believe it was a scam. I wanted so much to believe everything I was told, that I was going to be sculpted into a great actor and given all the tools I need to grow and prosper in the entertainment business. I would compare the feeling to buying a lottery ticket and spending the time up until the drawing daydreaming about what you would do with the money if you had won. Even though you know its a long shot and seemingly too good to be true, you cant help but dream. And when someone tells you that you have high potential to be a great actor, you cant help but dream

So I decided that I had nothing better going on in my life ant that I was going to move to LA to pursue acting. I flew home, and within 2 weeks I packed up my car with as much as I could fit and drove back across country to LA. I started the classes once a week with about 15 other students. The teacher was Cindy Pickett and the theme of her class was 'breaking down barriers," learning how to be in touch with emotions and using the body as the instrument of the actor. I was unaware of how acting classes went, so I assumed all was normal.

Things started getting fishy around the four-week mark. We were supposed to be finishing our sessions with Cindy, but Tristen came in and asked us all if we would like to continue working with Cindy. We all loved Cindy so of course we all agreed, but it left me wondering why we couldnt progress in the way that was planned. I started to realize that there really wasnt much of a plan in the first place, and nobody really knew what we were supposed to do next. Another thing that nudged my suspicion was that every week, we had a new student in the class. How could such an exclusive program, in which I was told they selected only twenty prospects out of a pool of over 500 applicants, have a new student every week? Why was I told there was this deadline I had to commit to in order to secure my spot in this exclusive program? Is the information we learned before the new students joined the class irrelevant to them? It became apparent that they were taking on anybody willing to pay. I noticed these things, and I asked myself these questions, yet I ignored them out of fear of the answer being something I didnt want to hear. A strange thing, we humans do

As the weeks went on, it also became very apparent that I was not getting my moneys worth. I was paying over $400 each month for one two-hour class per week, in which most of our time was spent working on scenes. Some classes you never even got up to do anything, you sat there the entire two hours watching other students do their scenes over and over again. This is not what I was paying for. I hadnt seen anything that was outlined in my contract for the level 4 student either:

LEVEL 4: $5900.00- SERIOUS ARTIST LEVEL (For those that want to be bookable on as many types of shows as possible) ?Due to the extreme price break and additional services offered, this level is by INVITATION ONLY?Includes: Includes:?One year or 48 sessions of Professional Artist Training?12 Casting Director Workshops-Includes Q & A?FULL Professional Portfolio with Celebrity Photographer-Face and Full Body Shots-(Professional Make Up and Hair included) and 100 Head shot Reproductions and 100 ZED Cards or 200 of either or. ?10 Retouches?Full Access to all Showcases for up to (5) years after successful completion of Training?Full Access to all agent, manager, producer, director showcases for up to (6) months after successful completion of training (green light).?Extensive Image Development-"Build your Brand"-Image Direction-"Tool Building"-"Photographic Tools"-"Treat yourself as an unfinished product"?Animation Voice-Over Elective Music-Vocal/Songwriting Elective Screenwriting Elective (5) Private acting coaching consults to be used when a call back or big part is pending?20% Lifetime Discount on all future services offered by Thexposure Studios.

I had a terrible experience doing headshots with Jim. First of all, he never remembered who I was, even after seeing and conversing with him several times. He might've remembered me if he hadn't spent his entire life caring only about himself. The only time he stops thinking and talking about himself is when he sticks his head in his lap taking a heaping whiff of his own glorious a**hole before returning to being a *ick. The photo shoot was impersonal (he was shooting several people at the same time), I was uncomfortable, rushed, and every smile I tried to muster up was forced over my desire to punch this man in the ear. And still to this day, I have not yet seen the pictures, even though I know they're terrible.

Soon after this, the s**t hit the fan at the Exposure Studio. I received a call from a fellow student who told me something has happened at the Exposure Studio that there was a confrontation between Jim and Tristen, both accusing the other of stealing money. This information was coming from Tristen, by the way. Tristen said that he confronted Jim about where all the money went, and then Jim pushed him down the stairs and has suffered a minor heart attack and possible internal damages. He said that there were no more classes at the Exposure Studio, but when he recovers from his heart attack in about a month, he would be resuming classes at his own studio (which he didnt have yet). I already knew Tristen was full of it, but this just brought it to a whole new level.

The next day, we all received an email from Jim saying that the classes will in fact be resuming as normal at the studio, and that Tristen was no longer with the Exposure Studio. A few other students and I still decided that we were not getting a straight story. Both were accusing the other of stealing money - money that was ours - money they should have never got from in the first place, but they took advantage of our ignorance. We felt wronged and no longer wanted to continue taking these classes and giving money to Jim or Tristen.

So as a group, we all decided to go to the studio and speak to Jim personally to get the story straight and find out how to move forward from there. We all went in and sat down with Jim, and he said there was an argument but no physical confrontation. He claimed that Tristen was trying to take over his business. He tried to convince us to stay but we all just wanted to get out and to get our money back. He said he accepted full responsibility and asked us to write out this desire along with our reasons so he could submit it to his lawyer for approval.

I was beyond ready to sever ties with Jim, Tristen, and the Exposure Studio. I did what Jim had asked and sent him my request for a refund:

Jim,

The purpose of this email is to express my intent to withdraw from a contravened contract with The Exposure Studio, and to request a full refund of the amount paid thus far, including the initial deposit of $1,475 and two (2) monthly payments of $442.50, bringing the total requested refund to $2,360.

I request this refund because the services promised in the contract were never fulfilled, nor do they show any promise of being fulfilled. I agreed to participate in an adult acting development class under the direction of Tristen Cutler, who is no longer with The Exposure Studio. Furthermore, the program lacks organization and direction and is grossly unprofessional. I sacrificed so much to come be part of this program - I left my family and my home in Niagara Falls, NY, quit my 2 jobs that I had there, and drove 3,000 miles across country just to be part of this program that has now let me down like this and violated my trust.

I do not wish to continue with a program that I cannot trust. Without trust, there can be no covenant - no contract. I do wish to obtain a refund of the money I have invested thus far so I can move on and pretend this never happened. You will find it in your best interest to fulfill my request in order to ensure a peaceful severance. (end)

For the month of June, there were no classes happening. There were no students, and no teachers either. I hadnt heard from Jim, so I called him several times leaving messages with the receptionist that it was urgent to call me back. From talking to other students and Cindy, it seems that in this time Jim was very busy trying to woo everybody back into the Exposure Studio and make it seem like nothing ever happened that his partnership with Tristen never existed.

When he finally called me back and I asked him about the refund, he said that he was in no way obligated to refund me, since there is still a class and therefore no breech of contract. I knew for sure that it was not the same students, because I knew that most of the students from the original exclusive class had dropped the Exposure Studio after the whole scandal. So in those few weeks, he was able to find more ignorant people (like myself) who were willing to pay and bring them on into the class, freeing him from any legal obligation to refund the students who left the class and argued that there was no class that there never really was a class in the first place.

He said that the letter I sent (that he asked me to write) was an expression of my choice to walk away from the classes and therefore breech our contractual agreement. He was using something I did in good faith against me. He even told me that he could sue me if he wanted for breeching my contract, but he wouldnt, again because he is such a nice guy. I was stunned and I didnt know what to do. I had $2300 invested into the Exposure Studio and got nothing out of it. The only thing he offered were my headshots, which he said he would give to me on a disk if I wanted them as if throwing me breadcrumbs out of pity and even though I knew they were bad, I agreed to take them just to feel like I got something out of it.

Another month went by and I still didnt have the headshots. I called Jim to see where they were, and he said they were on a hard drive and if I came to the studio he would burn them to a disk for me. I arranged to come in the following week to pick them up. When I did, again he seemed surprised I was there. He told me that he didnt have the pictures because someone had broken into the studio and stolen the power cord and the cable that connects the external hard drive to the computer. I found this very hard to believe right off the bat, but again I let him continue. He said that they didnt sell the cords anywhere, and that he had to special order them and they would be in next week.

I came in the next week. He said that he was unable to get the cords and in fact he had to send the hard drive back to the manufacturer so they could recover the files, and that he should have it back in a week. It became apparent that he didn't have the pictures and he was brushing me off every time I went in there...

So here I am ten months later, and despite everything promised by the Exposure Studio, despite all the money I put into it, I have nothing to show. Although it was always sort of lingering in the back of my head, it has taken me this long to finally come to terms with the fact that I was caught up in a dirty Hollywood scam, and I was naive enough to be willingly robbed by people in the business of selling hopes and dreams a dishonorable industry clearly driven by the selfish motive of profit rather than the altruistic economic responsibility to serve others. The only reason this business is surviving, other than Jims moral deficiency, is because there is always a fresh pool of misinformed people with the same hopes and dreams that dont know any better when it comes to how things really work in Hollywood.

Hollywood was never my dream in the first place, but the allure of it was potent when dangled in front of my face and that is exactly what the Exposure Studio did. Jim has and will continue to label this a hiccup in his business at the hands of Tristen, who is no longer with the Exposure Studio, therefore relieving him of all responsibility for the damages left in Tristens wake. Jim has continually tried to act like the good guy and the victim throughout all this, but if he really was a good guy - if he really was honest and taking full responsibility for himself and his business if it wasnt about the money - then he would have given my money back rather than brushing me off and hiding behind his lawyer. The bottom line is - if Jim really were a good guy, if he really cared about anyone other than himself - he would not be in the business of selling dreams and taking advantage of unsuspecting people for the sake of profit. That is what it comes down to, and he should not continue to get away with it.