So, you have a kid that wants to be on the Disney Channel?
Here is info about how Disney Channel auditions work and how to prevent your kid and yourself being taken advantage by those that see dollar signs in your child’s dream of being a Disney star.
The Disney Audition pitch (from people who have nothing to do with Disney, Disney Channel, Disney+ or any subsidiary)
Just about every kid from Canada, the U.S. and all the way to Australia would love to be a Disney Channel star. Most kids watch the shows and say “I can do that too”, and maybe they can.
Scammers everywhere know this and have created scams that play on those dreams. They run ads online, in papers and on the radio aimed at getting these people to attend their events in an attempt to separate them from their money.
Is it legal? Yes. Here’s why.
You are driving with your kids and a radio ad comes on saying “Does your child want to be a Disney Channel Star? Auditions are being held this weekend. Call some number and book your slot”.
What you hear in the quick 30 second sales pitch is “Disney Channel Audition”. What they actually said was “Does your child want to be a Disney Star?” They never actually say that this is an audition for Disney. None of these so called auditions are affiliated with the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. They are held in places far from the actual Disney Studios in Burbank.
It is a classic ‘bait and switch’ sales tactic. They lure people to these events dropping the Disney brand. After people call the number, they are given a time and place to go. They make it sound very real by telling the parents to bring photos and to dress up as if to meet real casting directors. Some of these groups go as far as booking convention rooms at Disneyland resorts or hotels just to make it look more legit and connected with Disney.
These events draw thousands of hopefuls and once there the entire room gets a sales pitch of how their children can be rich and famous. Each family will meet with a sales person who will use a title like ‘talent scout’ or something that sounds meaningful in Hollywood. The sales person (‘talent scout’, ‘casting agent’, ‘talent director’, ‘whatever’) will then take the child in for an ‘evaluation’. To make it look more legit they may have the child read a few lines, pose, or do something to demonstrate their talent. They will go on and explain that only a small percentage of children are good enough for them and miraculously, your child is perfect, except… for a lack of training, a portfolio and whatever else they would like to sell you.
This is where the hard pitch begins. They tell you that your child has all the potential to be the next big Disney star, but only if they take some very expensive acting classes from them, buy an expensive portfolio, or a number of other services they are trying to push. They never come out and actually say they “are casting for Disney” because that would be fraud. But they play on words to make you believe that they are somehow affiliated with Disney or Nickelodeon. They often drop Disney star names and even pay ex Disney stars to attend these events.
The cost? thousands. How much they tell you it will cost depends on how much money they think you have. People have reported being asked to pay $2000 to $8000 at the same event for the same services.
Why the price discrepancy? Because the so called “talent scouts” are nothing more than commissioned sales people who wouldn’t know talent if it fell on their heads. They make their living off commissions from sales, they push whatever they think you are willing or capable of paying so they make something off of you… the sucker. These commissioned sales people masquerading as “talent scouts” can make as much as 40% of the sale, so getting you to sign a $5000 contract puts $2000 in their personal pocket.
These one-on-one evaluations are usually nothing more than the sales people evaluating the parents for financial means. They look at the clothes the parents are wearing and other factors to decide which package to try to sell.
Just like other hard sales pitches, they add a time constraint. They try to get you to make a decision on the spot by claiming that this opportunity will go to another kid if you do not do it NOW! Why the time constraint? Simple, they do not want you to go home and think about it, ask your friends or do your research.
These scams work well for the scammers. If only 50 people of the 1000 actually go for it, that is a 1 day profit of over $100,000 for them… not bad. Once they hooked you in and you actually pay for whatever inferior service they are pitching, they have a entire line up of other services to sell you later. Some people have complained that they were out over $30,000 over this. These companies also have solid contracts that make it difficult to cancel or get a refund after you have signed up.
Once they get the first payment, you feel invested and they make you feel like paying for this, that and the other will make your kid a star.
Protect yourself!
Disney Channel never runs ads on the radio or ads of any kind for sites other then their own websites. Recently, Disney lawyers even got involved after numerous consumer complaints but there are just too many companies doing this and their lawyers can’t go after them all. Even if they get shut down, they re-open right away under a different name.
Real auditions for Disney Channel never have any fees! They will never sell classes, conventions or make promises of fame and fortune. There are millions of kids with dreams of Disney stardom, the reality is that there is only room for a handful in the few Disney shows airing.
If your child wants to act, stay away from anyone promising a fast track to fame – THERE IS NONE, unless you are related to Hollywood producers or Will Smith. Get your kids some reasonably priced acting classes to start and take it from there.
you can also read these articles http://sethkoenig.bangordailynews.com/2012/01/06/whats-happening/attorney-general-warns-about-supposed-disney-auditions-in-portland/
In Florida, where many of these are held, a Disney Channel spokesman had this to say…
“Disney Channel is not affiliated with any acting school or acting workshop, and has not authorized a talent search in Jacksonville, Florida,” said Patti McTeague.
“Disney hires talent two ways, through agents or an authorized casting call,” she added.
Officials also had this to say “Disney Channel television movies cast principal roles in Los Angeles, usually from within the Disney ranks” – what that means is they cast actors they have already worked with for leads in new shows.
You can also read Disney Auditions on the Radio
modeling scams and photo mills
hello, my name is Luisa, I am 14 years old and I’m from Colombia, my dream has always been to be on Nickelodeon, be recognized and discover my talent, please help, but I’m from Colombia!
My name is nia, originally Xenia but shortened it to nia because Xenia is just to hard to pronounce. Hey what can I say I’ve always wanted to act for as long as I can remember and just like everyone else here it’s been a dream of mine. It will be really cool to actually have that dream come true and express myself by doing what I love. By the way, I’m 14 and Hispanic. I hope that one day someone will notice, kay later………x
I’m Jimmy from North Platte, Nebraska. I’m 53 years old and live with my parents. I’ve always wanted to be a star. I know I have more talent than 98% of all the actors in Hollywood. I just need to be discovered.
Hi! my name is Holly Gibson. I am 12 years old. I have always wanted to be on a TV show on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. I think I would be good for a role of a girl kind of like Cat Valentine from the program Victorious. I am good at singing I just need to work on the right volume and pitch. I don’t have any videos on you tube but I have been in choir for 3 years, I had to sing to get in. and I did get in. If I did get in to a show I would put a lot of hard work in to it. This has been my biggest dream since I was 3 years old. I love dancing, I have been in some dance classes like tap dance, maori dance and hip hop. I do art as well. I am really good, I mostly paint animals and flowers. So I think I would be great for a role. I would take it seriously and enjoy it at the same time. 🙂 All I want is an audition and I wouldn’t mind even if it was just extras that I got a part of. So please someone just give a chance thanks 🙂
Hello, I am inviting you to visit online Pilares Dance Academy in Hialeah, Florida. They had been forming a little group of three talented girls 11-12 years old. They had been winning some competitions, but their family do not have enough money to develop their careers. If you want to know, they will be competing in Hall of Fame Dance Challenge 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida. We are inviting you to enjoy their wonderful hard work. We never know who will be a real star, maybe it will be one of them.
This is Marcquez Marsh. I know I can do the acting real good. I would love to be on disney channel. Please email me. I would love that, please do. I am 13 yrs old. please give me a chance because it would be an honor.
Hi my name is Edward. I would like to be on disney channel (12 male), I got talnet and I want to show the world. I live in Fairfax VA and give me a chance.
Hi my name is Malachi I would like to be on ant farm and by the way I’m 8 years old.
If I would be on Disney I would like to be on disney on monstober.
Hey my name is alicia moosa ,I live in South Africa and I am very talented, I would like to be an actress in a disney show (I am 14 years old, female)and I would go all the way from SA to America for an audition.
Hey my name is Alicia Moosa. I live in South Africa and I am very talented. I would like to be av actress in a Nickelodeon show. I am 14 years old and I am a female. I would go all the way from SA to America for a audition.
I also wrote a song of dreams. I want to come true but don’t know how.
Hi, am the girl from Nigeria. I wrote a new rap calling victorious in Nickelodeon and disney. I also have a song of dreams. I want to come but don’t know how. I wanna make it known to the world that WALT DISNEY has inspired me and I must pursue my dreams. I’m gonna be sweet 16 on the 6th of April 2013. Thanks a lot for reading.
I all ways watch disney channel. I love it! I will love to be on disney channel and be right there with with Zendaya and Bella.
I love to sing, I am always dreaming about being on disney channel. All I want is an audition so I could show people that dreams come true. I am very confident about my acting skills. I’ve been watching disney ever since I can remember. Please I just want a chance, I am 11 and my name is Anastasia Prestidge, please, just one chance 🙂
Hi I’m Lucy. I have brown hair and brown eyes and light skin. I love to act and I can sing a little. I Live in England and I love Demi lovato and Joe Jonas. I wish to be like her one day, she has a lovely story.
Any way I am from England, but I want to be on Disney channel. If I would get this audition in England, I would move. I’m 12.
I have no shot at going to America if I didn’t audition.
Hello,I’m Ochuko from Nigeria. I Sing, act and write my own songs. I really wanna be a star in disney just like Demi Lovato, Debby Ryan, Chyna Parker in A.N.T farm and CiCi and Rocky in shake it up. No one likes Nigeria and I will like to change that and make my country a better place for everyone. That’s what I wish for to make my country great and united with the U.S.A and others. TO WALT DISNEY “YOU ROCK.
My name is Ryckia Tate and I’m really talented. I really love to sing and act, please let my dream come true. I have been dreaming for so long and now I want to go for it.
Hello, my name is Sol Silvera, I’m 16 and I live in Paysandu, Uruguay, I really wanna be an actress, it’s my dream, but here in Uruguay its impossible, the only classes that we have here is for the news, and I don’t know what to do. There aren’t any auditions and I cant go to Florida or LA. My family does not have a lot of money, and I cant ask to my mom to not eat for one year just to travel to The United States! All my life people say that I can do it, it’s a stupid dream and I will never be an actress, but really it’s my dream and I wanna fight for that. I always go on twitter and write to famous people “help me please to be an actress, it’s my dream” but nobody answers me. when I was a little girl, all the girls wanted to be a princes,I just wanted to be an actress. I don’t care about the money, I can work without a salary. Please, help me, I don’t know what to do anymore, and I really want this! please! ITS MY DREAM! and I’m desperate!
Please, I and my sis want to audition for Disney channel. We are 9. please accept our offer.
Why do all these little kids think this is an audition or a one way ticket to fame? Children, this is just an explanation on how to avoid getting scammed. You cannot just ask for a spot on a show, when no one even knows you yourself. Along with that, always follow your dreams. Don’t listen to the Debbie Downers everywhere, nor the people whom promise to provide you with automatic fame and money. 😉
Thank you! Even eleven and twelve year-olds can read this, I’m fourteen. For all you people out there commenting, “this is great!” or “I can’t wait!”
It’s fake, sorry. Not necessarily, but this isn’t an ad for Disney.
Get an education, then another dream. Pinning all your hopes on a self absorbed business is silly & will not help you as a person. You want escape & you need to focus on what you can accomplish with hard work. Don’t buy into the lie that becoming an actor will fulfill your dream, you will find the ugly underbelly even if you manage to make it! Please all of you take a reality check & find a back up plan that you can enjoy, start giving to others & thinking of other people – don’t hide behind the self deception that you are doing this to help your family or have a pure motive to become famous. Too much time longing & dreaming will result in a wasted life. You are better than that.
Your not going to be one! You have to wait to grow up or ask your mom to help you, people that don’t live in the U.S. Will never get to be where we are. I say you try your country, England would be the best place for you to go and start there. Take acting classes! Go out there and do it! Don’t sit here and wait for a reply, you’ll never get anywhere. First, Get off the couch and do something. Take drama and acting classes, you have to ask maybe one day you can go the U.S. But Hollywood or Disney won’t cast you if you have a huge accent. Your going to have to go to a dialect to break it. Good luck your lucky you got a response at all!
Hello, my name is Jasmine, I just turned 12 on Christmas. I’ve been watching Disney Channel since I was born. 🙂 I would really love to be on it! It’s a dream come true. I sing too. My brothers and friends say I have a good voice and that I should put it out on YouTube to be discovered. But I know that there are a lot of other girls/boys who will get discovered before me. If it’s not any trouble, I would like to Audition for one of the Disney Channel shows. Thank you, Jasmine. 😉
My name is Malika and I’m 13 . I can sing and I’m an pretty voice . I’m black but my skin is clear . I love to put myself in the skin of my characters and I remain myself, it is my strength. I’m really nice and I like the contact with people. Always smiling and very funny especially 🙂 I’m 1 m 70 and I’m a bit round. Thank you.
Please let my dream come true! I wanted to be an actor my whole life. My mom is a model, my dad travels the worlds and gets books for my sister so she could live her dream. I just think that acting is my thing and I won’t be like my family, so, please let this dream come true.
Please pick me it has been my dream since I was 4 to act
Hi,my name is Angel Onyejiaka and I would love to be on TV. I just love acting, I also love singing but don’t have that good of a voice. I would love to audition for a TV show because I would get to show all the people that mock me for loving to do what I do so much, that I do know how to do what I do well. I am 11 years old.
I would love to be on disney channel. I am a good actor and singer. I’m am 11 yrs old please give me a try.
Hello!
My name is Tahjae Jackson I would love to do anything exciting in order to be on tv. I also have incredible talents such as Rapping, and dancing. I enjoy those hobbies because it’s fun. My favorite channel to watch because its funny and filled with education. It inspires me to do well with my dream as I’m trying to follow my dream and accomplish everything. I really want you email me, I will be delighted to get a email from you so I could audition .
Thank You.
Tahjae Jackson
Hey I am Takira. I will love to be on Disney channel. It will be very nice but I need to audition first to get on Disney channel. I hope y’all will read it.
I have loved acting and have been good at it since I was little. It is a dream. I have and I know one day that my dream will be a reality. If I am discovered, it would be an inspiration to kids all over the world who have a difficult background. I would let people know that it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can still succeed in life. If I could become an actress it would be an amazing experience. I am 12 years old.
it has been my dream to be an actor, I’m 12 years old.
I would love to be on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. It would be a great opportunity to try it. I’m a 13 year old girl having a dream to be on tv and show what I’ve been dreaming. Please give me a chance I know I can do this thank you.
Thank you,
Diana Campos
I am a nick star and I’m 11.
I would love to be on nick or Disney show but I just never found out how and plus I live far away from L.A. I always wanted to be like a pop star on a kid channel, sometimes every body teats me like I’m the nobody and ever since the rodeo commercial I’v been thinking I would be a cool kid like you.
What did you do because I went to the event but they wanted a lot of $$$. Help please I know you probably get asked a lot but it doesn’t hurt to try right. I’m a 14 year-old girl who loves to dance and sing, and I really would like to act but my school is not very active in drama.
Reply to Diana Campos: SCAMS ALERT, I went to my dads bank they took out the 9,000 and tried to take out 15,000 more!
Hi I want to be on your show, choose me, I’m ten years old.
I love to be on tv! it is a dream come true im 12 year old !!!
My name is mariah hollis and all I wanted to know is how do a get a chance to become famous and be on disney channel. I know that I can do it all. I want is a chance!
Hi my name is Audrey. I am ten years old and in the fourth grade. I LOVE DISNEY CHANNEL and acting. I am in a drama class at my school and my teacher says I am an amazing actress. I have been in about eight or nine plays. The first play I acted in, I was in the first grade. My teacher says I get better and better every time I act. I live in Waxahachie Texas and enjoy riding my four horses, riding my bike, reading, playing outside, watching Disney channel, playing on my Wii, playing with my dog Daisy, hanging out with my friends, going to church to worship The Lord, swimming, going on cruises, shopping, and hanging out around my house. I love to act and I have always had a dream of being on TV, so I told my mom I wanted to keep moving for word with my acting. Then I found this website and love the idea and would LOVE to be on JESSIE. I am about 5 feet tall and I have short curly brown hair and glasses ( I also wear contacts though). I have one sister who is 14 and she goes to public school, but I go to private school which means I only go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am a lover of soccer and shopping those are the two sports I like most. I really hope you will chose me to be on JESSIE. If so email me.
Godbless all, Audrey
I’m 11 yrs old and I have great grades. I’m an enerool student. Please pick me to audition for Disney channel. I wanna be on set with Jessie, Zendaya, Sabrina Carpenter and Riley from girl meets world. I want this job so I can help my mom. She’s short on money so I wanna help her. It’s my dream to help her. I need this job its my only chance.
My phone would not stop ringing and the same voicemail of a pre-recorded voice of Phil Louis or known as Mr. Mosbey from the Suit Life Of Zack and Cody saying to audition for him. It’s being held at a Disney hotel and when I spoke to a lazy they did not sound very professional, and were trying to sound very convincing and pushy claiming there was going to be very high profile people who will be attending. But what I want to know is why are there a bunch of kids in these comments begging to be picked lol ummmm do they think this is an audition! Haha all I know is that I’m going to be sleeping in tomorrow and not going to the “audition”.
Same here. Same recorded Phil Lewis spiel about auditioning. Press 1 to talk to a live representative and all that jazz. Disney would never just call random people and promise auditions. Scam
Hi my name is Davia Brown am 13 years old I will be 14 a few months from now. I really love acting I do it a lot at home i love to sing and dance. I have wanted to be on tv for as long as i can remember and I really hope that you guys could give me a shot i promise I won’t blow this. I have faith in myself and I know I can do this. Am just asking for one chance and I won’t let you down acting is like the world me my dad died when I was a few months old baby, it was always me and my mom and she have pointed me in the right directions for as long I can remember. People have always looked down on me and I just want to make them all ashamed and make me and my mom proud.
Did you even read the article? You have a sob story, Cool. We all do. You aren´t going to get cast in anything if you don´t put in the work, you can´t make ppl feel so sorry for you that they give you a role, you have to give it everything. The ppl in the comment section doesn´t need to know. I looked into the comments to find more scams so I know what not to use, but all I´ve seen are literally hundreds of 13-15-year-olds telling their stories thinking it will help. You don´t need to waste your time doing that because it won´t help anything.