Hey I Saw Your Commercial

Despite the negative reviews, I decided to take his free class and enroll in the program. I was excited, wanted to believe the best, and came in his class with a positive attitude. Here?s what you can expect : Each class is nothing more than a sells pitch to get you to the next class. Yes it is true if you drop out of the program you will be charged in full. If you try this program I recommend paying as you go in CASH that way you will not be charged for classes you do not take. At first he seems like a great guy, positive, polished, experienced, and even inspirational. He tells you how he paid his dues and will save you years off your career by telling you his secrets and giving you advice. Sounds great! You're left thinking ""Why would anybody say anything bad about this man""? Here?s why: After the 1rst class you don't learn anything new he simply repeats the same information, giving you sales pitches and stories about himself in between. You will not learn Any acting fundamentals in this class! When you are on camera it will be rushed like he is only trying to fill your 2x on camera quota. I figured out his gimmick, he hands you a script, does not allow you to read over it, and demands you perform it on camera. He then tells you to feed the lines to the camera instead of reading the script. It is impossible to perform a script you?ve never read and you don?t know what it is about, especially while feeding lines to the camera. This is designed to make you feel Uncomfortable and Insecure, that way even if you?re a good actor you will feel bad about your performance. He has you do this quickly 3 time in a row, the first 2 times he criticizes you (or says nothing, sometimes not even paying attention to you). On the 3rd time he says you did better and then takes credit for your improvement like it was because of him, even though you only did better because you were able to read through the script a few times! At an audition you will Never be asked to perform a script you?ve never read on the spot, he even admits that. It becomes obvious his exercises are designed for you to fail so you will feel insecure enough to take another class. Also he?ll makes you go up in groups and do stupid stuff like sing lines from a cue card in unison or have a screaming contest. It?s embarrassing, pointless, and seems he makes it up as he goes. After 4 classes I realized I?d been CONNED. At the end of the 4 weeks he tells you that you didn?t learn anything it?s because the entire Level 1 class was just an introduction for the Level 2 class! He then tells you if you don?t take the Level 2 you?re not serious about your career, and don?t have what it takes to succeed. Also he says if you have any problem with his teachings that you?re a wicked person, and if you don?t take his level 2 class and sign up for his coaching (a total of 520.00) you are not allowed to contact him ever again! I?ve heard after he gets your money he will ignore your phone calls and emails. He even admits to taking a minimal of 10 days to respond to anybody, and to ignore emails if all questions are not bullet proofed! Also if you decide not to take level 2 he says you?re not allowed to put the classes on your resume. The more class went along the less I liked him. I had 520.00 set aside and intended on completing his program but he is not only a really bad person, he is a con artist too. He might be nice to you before you sign up, but he will show his true colors quickly, because he is extremely arrogant. I wish I would?ve goggled the top commercial schools in Los Angeles first, you?ll see a night in day difference in the reviews of the more reputable training, and they?re around the price as his program. I?m not going to put any of my personal information on here, but you have any questions email me. ? Hope this helps! more

If you do not want the honest truth about how to navigate within an industry that will eat you alive, then stay away from this class. If you do not want to get knowledge that many agents, managers and other ""so called"" professionals would hide from you, then stay away this class. If you are too afraid to go outside of yourself and actually realize that you have more talent than you realized, then stay away from this class. If you are so accustomed to hearing negative things about yourself and told that ""you will never make it"" then stay away from this class. If you want to run game on someone who is just trying to do the right thing, then stay away from this class. Haters, just stay away. Period. more

If you go to his website you should be able to tell his is a bad program. Regardless, all these claims of his ""fraudulent business practices"" are absurd. The terms of payment are on his website and you all should have been smart enough to read it before writing a check or giving someone named ""Coach Mike"" your credit card number. FROM THE SITE: POLICIES AND PROCEDURES All payments being made weekly are due at the beginning of each class, each week. Please have your payment ready when you arrive to class to expedite the payment transaction quickly. Please make checks and/ or money orders payable to SUCCESS INCORPORATED. In the event you are unable to take the course you have signed up for before the course starts, any and all payments (payments in full or deposits) that have been made will be put on hold for up to the ?next two courses? or next 60 days. Meaning, if you do not make up your course within the next months session (check the times and days as they switch in the next month) You will have 1 more month (the next consecutive month) to make up the course or days you have missed. If you miss the 60 day period any and all payments will be forfeited and you must pay for the courses to be made up. This includes payments in full, deposits, etc.. All deposits/payments are non-refundable, i.e., deposits made at the seminar, online or in class. We do not refund any deposits or payments for any of our courses i.e., Level 1, Level 2, Commercial Improv Mastery, Agent Showcases, Commercial Print, etc... The materials fee is also non-refundable. Monthly agent showcases are priced separately from the cost any course we offer. To attend a showcase please see the instructor for current pricing and agents in attendance for the month. Once the student agrees to take the 4 week course and we reserve a seat, our understanding is that the student will complete 4 consecutive classes. Your seat will be saved and will not be given away to another student for the next 4 weeks. If the actor misses a class and is making payments, the make up class must be paid for in advance before the class for a continuation hold to be put on the seat saved. If the actor drops out of the course before 4 weeks end, the actor will be billed for the remainder of the balance owed of the cost of the course ($210). For class make up dates see Coach Mike. Note: We reserve the right to refuse services to anyone that is abusive, disruptive and/or hindering other students from learning. Students with such behavior will be removed from the course without a refund of any deposits and/or payments made. more

Mike Pointer is a very dishonest, fraudulent man. Signing up for his class has caused me nothing but stress and more stress. Please, please, I warn you, do not believe the things he says. He is a pro at skewing information and selling his ""services"" to you. He has a way of convincing people to put down a deposit at his free class without telling people the consequences for putting down such a deposit. Here they are: (1) If you pay with your credit/debit card, know that he keeps all your information on record. He will, I repeat, WILL withdraw funds from your account without your authorization. To date, he has withdrawn almost $200 from my account without authorization. (2) There is absolutely NO cancelation policy. Forget the fact that he doesn't even draft a contract detailing his services and and payment policies, and the fact that bbbureau states that businesses like him should have cancelation policys whether they choose to draft one or not... After attending one of his classes - I only went to one and decided it wasn't for me - I decided that I no longer wanted to attend since I did not get the services I was led to believe I would, I tried to cancel (had already paid about $75). I did not ask for the $75 back, I only wanted to discontinue payment since I would no longer be attending. Well, needless to say, he refused and withdrew 2 separate charges of $67.50 from my account!! (3) He is rude and degrading. When I told him (plesantly) that i wished to cancel. He called me back and immediately began berading me (no joke), telling me that I'm an arrogant person who thinks she knows everything and that I would not get anywhere in life with that kind of attitude, etc (Seriously, I checked other scam alert websites and lo and behold, he has a history of talking to people in this manner). Pros: Nothing Cons: He has fraudulent business practices more

Does this business even deserve one star? Perhaps one, for he does offer a lot of information in his class. And the way in which he delivers the information is incredibly believable. After the fact, I don't hold much merit to anything that was said in the tiny room packed with 20+ people where he rushed us through our excercises. You see, if all else failed, Mike Pointer could have a successful career as a used car salesman. Every class started with a sales pitch for his next class, his great headshot package, his ""VIP"" membership offer. But regardless, I kept going back, that is until we scheduled a photoshoot. $250 for 4 looks, in an hour. I should have known. Lets just say it was a catastrophe. His demeanor was similar to that of a drill sargent and my discomfort came across in the photos. When the whole train wreck of an ordeal was over, he handed me the disk. When I got home and started to look through the images, my heart sank . There were 150 + images of me in a putrid orangey yellow shade and many were out of focus. I tried to maintain an upbeat attitude.I printed them out and took them to him to help me ""pick out the bests"" and I told him I was a little upset that they were all shot with the wrong camera settings.He had the oddacity to tell me that I will not get far in life with an attitude like mine.I needed to follow through, hire his retoucher, and they would fix my little upset. Mike Pointer said it was common for photographers to take over a hundred photos and the subject look like they had jaundice.They just had to hire his retoucher! I got them professionally retouched, but they were shot as low quality jpgs and couldn't be salvaged except for maybe a nice framed photo for grandma, but not a professional headshot. When asked for a refund he responded with a condescending and accusatory e mail. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this man unless you are looking to hire a used car salesman. Cons: Mike Pointer is dishonest and greedy more