Alright, right there.
All you. Let me have it.
Yes, that’s it. Good.
Cross your arms. Give me a twist.
Excellent. Back around to me.
Good.
Alright, so I’m going to let you all in on a little secret:
I kind of just fell into this whole hosting thing.
Not really sure how long it will last,
so in order to set myself up for the future,
I’m going to check out some talent agencies.
[One Star Reviews]
[Find talent agency]
Whoa! Alright, so I just came across Nine9 The UnAgency.
This is pretty bad.
“This is a racket. High end scam.”
“A deeply dishonest, unscrupulous company.
An absolute scam.”
“Basically, they ask for $500 to be your agent.
And you have to pay for casting calls and head shots.”
“Run as fast as you can.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’m an idiot.”
Whoa!
What I think I have landed on is a full-blown scam.
Alleged full-blown scam, that is.
Welcome to the Nine9.
So, it turns out that this agency or as they call it, “the UnAgency,”
actually goes just beyond bad reviews.
There’s been YouTube videos.
They were like, “We made a decision, we really like your look.”
Entirely on your looks.
“Get ready to get some pictures taken.”
Build up your portfolio and charge you for that.
I would have to pay them $500.
And then they start asking for retainers.
-Does that make sense? -I mean, the proof is in the pudding.
-They’re scamming. -Scam.
Scam. Stay away.
Alright, let’s go get scammed.
Or should I say, let’s go get “allegedly” scammed?
-Hello. -Hi, Taji, how are you?
-Hi. -Good morning. Welcome to Nine9.
Thank you for having me.
Come right inside. You could have a seat, get yourself settled in.
Cool.
Excited? Nervous?
A little nervous, but definitely excited.
So what led you to start wanting to try to pursue
a career in the modeling and acting fields?
I kind of just landed in this position of the show.
And I want to just find out how I can pursue it further.
That’s a good, good reason. I love it.
I always say, anytime you even have the thought of it,
why not try it out?
That’s what we do here at Nine9.
We give everyone an opportunity,
99 percent of the models and actors that agencies typically do not
and cannot because of their expectations.
So I’m glad that you’re here
and you’re finally pursuing it and trying it out.
Email is always a really great source for the modeling and acting field.
So if you could just type in your email for me.
Given the agency’s reputation, I decided to make up an email.
OK.
-Sorry. -No, it’s OK.
I was actually surprised that you have a...
an AOL account.
OK, so now that we have that all set up,
let’s go ahead and get your measurements.
So you’re a 38 in your neck.
Our set-up cost is $499.
That is paying for the classes, Polaroids, all that good stuff.
And then, from there, there is a monthly of $39.95.
That is just a month-to-month to pay us to continue
doing everything that we have been doing for you.
Anytime you need anything from the casting side,
you could call us, you could email us,
you could shoot them a text message, they’ll reply back.
We’re always here to help and guide you.
“Once you are signed up and they have your money,
they completely disappear.
They are unresponsive in any way, shape or form.”
Sign me up.
That’s good. I actually just have your...
I hope nobody else falls into it.
I hope nobody loses money to them.
-Thank you. -You’re welcome.
So I have to get your Polaroids done.
Just lean back a little bit and just kind of cross your arms.
-Like this? -Yep.
No, no. Just do a regular cross.
Just...
You just have fun with it. That’s all It is.
They’re just regular crappy photos.
I think it’s good. That’s a wrap!
So, again, these are just temporary.
Right now, we’ll get in the car, we’ll go to Rex Lott’s studio,
we’ll get your professional photos done.
That’s going to be a whole different ball game with the photos.
Awesome. And you’re coming with me?
I am coming with you, so let’s go.
-Amazing, thank you. -Yeah, Let’s go.
Perfect. I’m just going to use the restroom.
It is going great, exclamation point.
This is going to help us out so much.
I really am killing it.
-You ready? -Yes.
OK, awesome.
I’ll let Rex know that we’ll be on our way.
-It’s about a 40-minute drive. -Cool.
Yeah, it’s going to be a great experience for you.
For you, especially.
Alright, it’s going really well so far.
Now we’re heading to Rex’s,
where we’re going to do the professional photos.
I'm feeling pretty good about it.
I don't really see what could possibly go wrong there.
Hi, Shawn. How are you again?
-Hey, how’s it going? I’m Shawn. -I’m Taji.
So nice to meet you. Thank you for having me.
Hi, Rex. How are you doing?
-I’m great, great. -So nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too.
Rex and Shawn had three looks laid out for me:
natural, bad boy, and game show host.
[Look 1: Natural]
What I want you to do, I want you to put your hip against the rail
and I you to lean into me a little bit, so you’re engaged.
OK? Right here. There we go.
How is the light? You’re squinting a little bit,
is it a little too bright for you?
Chin down, just a little.
Chin down a little.
And eyes right at me.
Eyes here.
Right, the eyes here.
Eyes right at the camera.
Excellent. Alright, cool, let’s come over here.
Put your back against the wall here and cross your arms.
Just like normal.
Like you’re hanging out.
Like this.
You're like this.
Stay like that, but fold this in here.
Right there.
Right there, good!
There we go. Good!
Alright, let’s go inside.
We’ll change outfits and we’ll shoot in the studio.
Amazing. It’s a nice building.
Thank you. Thank you.
This is the old Brooklyn Jewish Hospital.
Barbra Streisand was born here.
-Barbra Streisand? -Yeah.
Any other notable names?
-Biggie Smalls. -Biggie Smalls?
I'm not sure who that is, but he was born here.
How are you feeling?
-Pretty good. -Yeah.
I was told I did a good job out there.
Yeah, you did good.
I mean, you’re definitely doing better than I did my first time,
so that’s good.
Wow, thank you.
[Look 2: Bad Boy]
So, for this one, I want to get a little sexier in there, right at me.
That's not really sexy.
So relax.
Relax, shake it off and lean into me a little bit.
Eyes here.
Chin down, eyes here.
Chin down. Big, big smile.
Let me hear that laugh again.
Yeah, now you’re getting it.
That’s it. Very good.
Beautiful. Good job.
Very nice.
Alright, so now you’re going to shave for the third look.
Perfect. And that is game show.
Perfect, I like that.
Looks like a racer, with the track suit on.
The awkward ones are always the fun ones.
That's a tough look.
It’ll be funny to see.
I haven’t seen him shaving yet, but he’ll probably look like he’s 12.
I think that you’re... you know, you’re quirky.
You're adorable.
Your pictures look really good.
I just saw a couple on the computer.
You seem very easy to be around.
You know, I think you’re young, you’re cute.
I think it’s more just kind of that vibe rather than...
you know, super serious.
[Look 3: Game Show Host]
Right there, all you. Let me have it.
Yes, that's it.
Good.
Cross your arms. Give me a twist.
Excellent! Back around to me.
Good.
You look good, Taji.
Good. Good job!
Alright, thank you so much!
Oh my God! Perfect.
You did phenomenal. I was laughing when you were laughing.
And that’s always a good thing to do.
And you improved hugely from beginning to end.
You listened to me, which is not always the case.
So that was really good.
-Thank you. -Yes, my pleasure.
Thank you all so much.
I had so much fun.
Thank you for all your help.
I’ll call you guys later, OK?
-Great job. -Thanks again.
What’s your email?
Is it tajcam420@aol.com?
That’s my personal one.
It was returned because it didn’t work...
The day was a success.
I felt like a star, and I was ready for my future as a model
or game show host.
However, I didn’t fully understand
why they’d received so many bad reviews,
so I had to get to the bottom of them.
I wanted just to ask you, of your ten years of being here...
just before I came in I did a Google search,
and I noticed quite an exorbitant amount of negative reviews.
Would you be down to just speak on a few of them?
Just kind of clear the air on a few of the--
Well, it depends.
I mean, I could go ahead and read them.
If I could run them by you, and then you could, if you do have--
Yeah, let me take a look at them.
So the first one I saw says, “Scam alert.”
It is going great, exclamation point.
Exclamation mark.
The ones that think it’s a scam, what do they think it is, free?
You think someone that’s 5′7" is going to walk into a company
and they're going to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into you
when you have never done anything before?
What would you tell to this review?
“Let’s spread the word, people.
Please don’t ever go there, it’s a scam.”
I’m asking you personally,
do you think that that individual maybe knows what we do here
and the guidance that we have for our talent?
I’m just curious why, I guess,
so many of these people are saying the same thing.
We’ve been doing this since 2003.
OK.
Yeah, sorry, so many.
You don’t have to be nervous.
Don’t be nervous, it’s OK.
This is just a review that we’ll get to.
They said, the Craigslist ad, they thought was misleading.
They mentioned that it was a bait and switch.
We do not do anything on Craigslist.
So that complaint,
maybe it was just something completely out of the ordinary.
But whenever somebody does come in for an open call,
we ask them the most important thing.
As I said to you, “If it is a phase that you’re going through,
do not do it.”
Nobody in their right mind should ever invest into anything
unless they’re going to take it 100 percent.
You know, reading all these reviews,
that’s why I had to ask you about all of them.
Coming in, I was certainly reluctant,
but when I came in and have found out what you do here,
it does seem that it goes beyond what’s mentioned in the reviews.
Everyone is always going to write what they want and what they feel.
And it's sad to know that a lot of these people do feel that way.
Well, for now, I’ll probably put mine on hiatus,
-but once the show ends... -Yeah, that’s OK. But--
No, but honestly, I want to keep you guys in mind.
I might have misspelled my email earlier,
but you have my work one.
So I really appreciate having this for down the road.
No, it’ll be fine.
Thank you so much.
So I went to the Nine9 agency in hopes of becoming a hero.
I had all kinds of evidence from many people
about how they told you obvious things,
charged you lots of money, and invited you into their “family.”
The fact is, all those things are true.
They all happened, but I still don’t know what I found.
The fact is, I still haven’t been hired for a single job.
So my main take away is...
how do you judge a talent agency
when your own talent might be their biggest problem?
I don’t know.
It’s just another one of those unanswered questions in life.
[3 Stars]
For example, give me... try to do a Caribbean accent.
-How about I try the-- -Or a Jamaican accent.
Those are easy, right?
How about how about a Brooklyn one?
Go ahead, do a Brooklyn accent.
Yo, yo, I’m from Brooklyn,
and I’m here at the Nine9, and I’m ready to--