Flashcast Trial Set

The case against Universal City-based company Flashcast is scheduled for trial on Apr. 24. Deputy city attorney Mark Lambert filed charges in August, alleging that the company is an unlawful job-listing service and engaged in false advertising. Over the past eight months, the 14-count complaint has expanded to 26 counts, and eight alleged victims are lined up to testify next week. One count, against employee Deborah Elton Haugen, has been dropped. If convicted, Flashcast could face up to six months in jail per count, total fines of up to $60,000, and additional fines provided to victims as restitution.

Lambert explained to Back Stage West when the original complaint was filed in August: "They advertise what looks like an audition in the industry and then they sell what they call their 'computerized casting service.' So you go there, you audition, they don't tell you about a fee. Then if you're called back, they tell you at that point that you have to make your decision right then. There's an initial fee of around $495, and you're obligated for the next two years to send them 20 photos, plus a $50-a-month fee. That's $1,200 over two years, plus the initial $500 registration, plus the cost of 20 photos per month."

Lambert said the company, which specializes in kids ages 4 and under, has casting breakdowns and sends out clients' photos with breakdowns.

"That's where their responsibility ends," said Lambert. "They don't manage you; they don't negotiate for you. We're charging them with being an [illegal] job-listing service, matching potential job seekers with employment opportunities for a fee."

Under the California Civil Code, a job-listing service is defined as any entity which does any of the following things for an advance or contemporary fee: matching job seekers with employment opportunities, providing job seekers lists of employment, or preparing resumés or lists of job seekers for distribution to potential employers. All job-listing services must post a $10,000 bond, provide a fee schedule, include a right to cancel in their contracts, and provide a refund if the client does not get work.

Headed by Carl Ken Carranza, Flashcast has been in business since 1988 and continues to operate. Attorney Stewart Goldfarb, who will represent Flashcast, denied the company was a job-listing service. He described the company, rather, as an "advertising service."

"[Carranza] advertises mostly young people who want?or their parents want to get them into commercials, etc., to make some money toward college or whatever, and he does that by sending out their pictures to different locations where there is a call, say, for 40 children age 2-5, and he has in his computer base, 13-14 children who fill that category. If the casting person is interested in seeing these people, they call the talent agent who is representing the child, which is not him. In his contract, he tells the people, 'We're not a talent agent, we're not an employment agency, we make no promises.' He does not get them auditions."

Goldfarb also said the company had "a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau through about 1999." At the moment, however, the Better Business Bureau file on Flashcast reads: "We rate this company as having an unsatisfactory business performance record. Complaints generally allege that the company failed to perform services."

Goldfarb said he did not know what fees Flashcast was currently charging nor how many clients the company had. "People are entitled to make a fee for their services," said Goldfarb. "Is there a problem with that?

"It's almost like Mark Lambert has a personal vendetta against Mr. Carranza," continued Goldfarb. "They easily could have brought what's called a cease-and-desist civil action against him to try to stop him on the spot, and they never did. They elected to go through the penal system, which is really strange."

Lambert called this comment "irrelevant." Said Lambert, "What I'm seeking is that they operate their business according to the law, and that job seekers are protected from paying for work when they don't get it."