Do Due Diligence (Renee Farias aka Model Actor Photo)

Update July 26, 2012
This morning, I received an email from Miranda Spigener, Renee Farias' publicist, which I have posted with my comments below.  A publicist with a publicist.  That's a new one for me.  

Dear Chris, 

I am writing you in regards to your recent blog posting blasting my client, L.A. photographer Renee Farias.

I think the term blasting is a bit much.  Harry Anderson often quoted Stanley Weiser, "A fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place."  It is upsetting to me when people target the hopes and dreams of actors and attempt to take advantage of them and their money.  I am not saying Renee Farias is taking advantage of anyone, but after his numerous spam emails and my limited interaction with him, I would say that my opinion is that I am not confident of his ability to be a publicist.  As a photographer, he seems to be very talented.

Renee is a very reputable photographer based here in L.A.  He has been written up in the trades and fashion magazines as a top photographer. He also shoots for celebrities as a preferred photographer for Kelly Stables (The Exes, Two and a Half Men), Angyl Cromwell (Young and the Restless), Alex Curry (Sportscaster for Fox Sports) and several other actors and major brands.

I never argued that Renee Farias is a bad photographer.  In fact, I said in my original post that Renee "is probably a very competent photographer" and that "the photos included in his mailers look good."  What I am leery about is his ability to brand himself as a publicist.  Going off nothing more than my inbox, his publicity services are just more mass mailings with "Introducing (actor name here)" in the subject line.  His misquoted price of, "$600 for $400 worth of services" and his barely readable reaction really concerned me as to what exactly he is trying to sell to actors.

I just spoke to Renee to discuss this matter after this was found in Google.  I would appreciate it if you would please remove this posting and any other shares of this post. I am more than happy to discuss this with you in case you need more information or have questions.

I'm sorry, but I will not remove this post.  Let's recap.  On 01/26/2012, Renee Farias (Model Actor Photo) added my email address to his newsletter.  I have no knowledge or working relationship with Renne Farias, which means he probably harvested my email off another site.  I immediately emailed him back stating I had no interest in his emails and to remove me from his mailing list.  He removed me.  On 06/27/2012 I was readded and I started to receive his spam.  On 07/02/2012 the interaction from my previous post took place (see further below), so I took it upon myself to review, using my professional knowledge, of Renee's probable ability as a publicist.  

I would advise you to direct your client to the Federal Trade Commission's rules for email harvesting (aka CAN-SPAM) so he isn't creating a liability for himself if he is in fact harvesting email addresses.

Contact me direct at 323-610-2565.

That won't be necessary.

Kind regards,

Miranda

Miranda K. Spigener, Publicist - Producer - Management
Miranda Spigener | Film PR Literary
323-300-5368 Office

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The contents of this email are legally privileged, confidential and intended for recipients of this email only. If you have received this email in error please delete from your system and notify the sender so this can be corrected. Any republication of this email without consent of Miranda Spigener or MirandaSpigener.com constitutes a legal offense and must be removed within 24 hours.

As I am not your doctor, lawyer, priest or husband, nothing in your email is legally privileged and as a contract needs to be agreed on by both parties, and as such since a "meeting of the minds" never took place between you and I, I will state here that I do not agree to your proposed terms.  Therefore, your language is not legally binding or enforceable.

Actors, I cannot stress this enough, always research the person your are giving money to.  Agents and Managers are not allowed to take fees outside of commission, they should never refer you to their photographer or classes, and if the PR you are getting is just someone mass mailing to emails they have harvested, you can probably do that on your own.

Original post July 2, 2012: I get a healthy amount of spam and not just the email blasts for Viagra or Porn, but somehow I am added to a handful of new mailing lists every couple of months.  9 times out of 10, they are photographers offering specials on headshots.  Actors always need headshots, so I usually just virtually file them away without a second thought.

As of late, I've been receiving emails from Renee Farias also known as Model Actor Photo (http://www.modelactorphotography.com).  He is probably a very competent photographer and the photos included in his mailers look good.  However, he is also pushing his PR and Marketing services.  I've worked with some wonderful publicists and know what a thankless job it is, and was leery seeing a photography shill out a service he probably has no experience in.  But, it's up to each potential client of his to do the due diligence and make sure they aren't throwing their money into a vacuum where their high expectations will be met with little to no results.

Actual Screenshot

Then, I received the latest mass mailer from Renee Farias (aka Model Actor Photo) which had the huge headline, $600 for $400 worth of PR/Marketing Services!  I rolled my eyes at what was either a huge typo or he was actually short selling himself on purpose.  I assumed the former and sent him an email so he could hopefully fix his mailer.  I received the following response from Renee Farias (ask Model Actor Photo):

Actual screenshot

No my silly rep mess this one up.

It’s rare this is ever a blunder, but this new rep

created this blunder. A new email is going out.

He sent out with my approval. He is out of here.

I normally proof everything.

Sorry. New email going out.

Best Regards,

Renee Farias

http://about.me/modelactorphoto

Normally, I would have just laughed at that horribly constructed response, but then remembered that he's shilling PR services.  Renee Farias (aka Model Actor Photo) could barely construct an email to one of the people he's mass mailing, someone he either sees a potential client or a source of referrals.  If this is the type of email I receive from him, what kind of PR/Marketing is he out there doing?  What kind of damage to your career will you get for $600 a month.

Always be wary and always do your research on anyone that offers you anything that costs money.