MandyReviews 610

I got into Sesame Workshop from Mandy in 2009. Now it's a sham. What's worse is that I just recommended it to my local employment office that is skeptical that I am looking for a job after my recent lay off, because I dismissed their clueless job boards. Great. Now artists are subjected to sites that have NO CLUE about our industry. Indeed et al. Have no idea what the proper jobs titles are, which leads to endless confusion. How I hate apply for a "graphic artist" position, just see if the employer really means "character designer" (character designs with turnarounds w/o color) or "visual development" (fully color backgrounds and characters). What a mess. What a tragedy.

As previously mentioned, it used to be "OK" when it was free, but it's a farce now you have to pay. I've 10 years+ of professional experience on international films and TV but have paid a couple of times for a monthly subscription so I can see the info about a couple of specific jobs.

My negative rating isn't purely down to the fact that it's a particularly bad site because it's alright - you have a profile page, can upload docs like CV, list contact details and references etc - but largely due to the fact that it is, and always has been, populated by arrogant and ignorant wankers who a lot of the time don't actually know what they're doing or anything about the industry.

Even when I was looking for unpaid opportunities starting out, I probably received one reply from every hundred apps if I was lucky. Nothing's changed despite having a strong portfolio now and seeking paid work, which a lot of the time is pitiful - my day rate is more than what's offered for a feature film!

People posting jobs there should also really learn that if they're offering very low if any pay, they shouldn't have the tenacity to list ridiculous demands of applicants to be professional experts with 50 feature film credits, able to provide a Dolby Atmos studio in the heart of Soho for 6 months free of charge, have Scorsese, Spielberg and Tarantino's numbers on speed dial, be able to secure an international release deal and bring Hitchcoc back from the dead to direct their film... but it's OK, because you'll get an IMDB credit and copy of the DVD for your hard work.

If it was free I wouldn't have written this review, but it's cost me money so thought I'd relay some facts. Hopefully it won't be too long before someone provides a solution by setting up a free, user serviced website to provide competition and get film industry staff working a bit more collaboratively.

UPDATE: still not a single job from it since originally posting this.

Mandy used to be a good place to look for work, and check in to see what was new in the film and video world(s). Suddenly, well, not exactly suddenly but the place has gone through some changes over the past 1 plus years and now it is a tragic mess. Basically a place to avoid until they clean up their act. The last time I tried to log in they asked me for very personal information and would not let me access my data, unless I supplied it to them. A complete scam! Beware.

I'm am an aspiring actor from Toronto with very little experiences and been looking for some really good training just to get in the business but when I try checking out some of the classes in the website, I ends up wasting my time and money with these so called acting coaches that couldn't teach me anything to improve my acting ability. All I get from there was some stupid silly improv and pointless mind games where I had to think of things in my personal life to force out emotions which has nothing to do with acting or the scene I suppose to work on (I do not believe this is how to acting and that "true acting" is about storytelling and put yourself in the situation by really feeling whatever is happening in the story. These people who I wouldn't mention any names don't even own theirselves a real acting studio but instead runs the so called classes from their either homes, hotel, basement, etc. I haven't been to all of the classes in the website just to let you know since I was trying to find good affordable training but couldn't find an actual teacher that own a real studio and have real teaching experiences. I don't understand why this site have these people around as I can see this could be a good resource for any aspiring actor like myself to find real training to get the acting industry. I know this place is good for getting involve in short film to gain experiences and places to audition seem legit since there are run by colleges out there but what's the point of that when you can't get good training to prepare yourself to audition for these films. I am very disappointed and lost some hope of getting in the industry but would like to see some changes to improve the site by preventing anyone from being scammed from these frauds I had encounter so far...

This company provides a virtual receptionist by the name of Mandy. She has a great voice and she is efficient. She takes your messages for you and she locates you by dialing all the numbers you put in for locate purposes up to 3 or 4 I believe. Her messages are both sent to your email address where you can playback the actual caller's message. You can also call the Mandy number and get playback of the message and then return the call by pushing the button. When Mandy puts your caller on hold then there is music playing in the background. It is very inexpensive and yet does the job. Great overall site and service.