International Performing Arts Academy — Local services in Los Angeles

My son was scouted at the mall and decided to attend the show case held in Houston 04/24/2016 with lots of kids and parents. It was exciting to see my son among those walking there and in the end they called his name for further interview. At the end of the interview when the money part came up, I tried balance what's best for his future versus the cost, I decided that money comes and goes so got my son into this program and paid the upfront fee of $595.00. The following day Monday while reading the reviews, I kinda got scared and worried as many of them were negative and thought I may have also been scammed. Good thing I had the recruiter’s contact so I texted her and she responded with a bit genuine and honest text that she believes the program is good for my son and she can only speak for herself given the kids she has worked with and believes that my son would gain from the program and urged we give it a try. She was so kind and even asked that I call her directly with feedback on my son’s first day of class experience which will be beginning of May 2016. She regretted that some people can go negative online about things they have not even tried urging me not to believe everything I read online as many of them are not accurate. For now am stuck and despite the cost involved, I will just give it a try and see how...

Please read! Scam for sure. I went to this "workshop" held near town because I got a call from the online application. We had to sit in a room for hours and walk a runway no matter the situation or job you want. I got pulled aside by a woman that worked there. She says "I see talent" and so on and so forth. They made it seem like it was an agency, it wasn't, it was a school. They didn't even mention it. In the ending of that day they said there's a FEE. $2500. My mom ended up paying in monthly payments and couldn't get her money back at any time. I went to the school moth later and hated it the first day. They were so unprofessional, they taught nothing they just talked about emotions, played games, and walking a "runway" (the ground) and we signed up for ACTING! The teacher was very rude and thought I was 9(she said it);i was 13 at the time. Some girls were rude and 4 hours of nothing! I gave it more chance and ended up quitting towards the end. Please dont let them persuade you saying "oh you got talent" "something special" dont give up, but just dont pick this place! PS my friend "graduated"from it and NEVER got a call for anything, or anywhere, nothing, not even a list of agencies.(as they promised) She was an amazing model too....

These people are scam artists! They take money right out of your account and do not refund it by ANY means. My child didn't even go to one class. We asked for a refund the next day when we were told that these people were scam artists. After making several calls to Sandra Heyer (aka Sandra Bernadette) we made zero progress. This woman proceeded to cry over the phone saying she felt so bad that her own company was screwing us around on our refund. Then she proceeded to lie to us saying that they could not locate our child's form because her name was misspelled. DO NOT give these people a dime! They pump up your child telling them they are the next Nickelodeon star. They have no talent scouts and their "industry professionals" are people with no legitimate licensing. They discuss tuition right in front of your child and make you look like the bad guy if you have to decline due to the outrageous cost of classes that aren't even taught by professionals. This company is by far the worst "talent scouts" I have ever had the displeasure of...