The mother of a girl who auditioned for The Celebrity Experience (TCE), run by American talent scouts in Auckland, says she believes it is “milking money” from parents and children’s dreams of becoming movie stars.

April Rimene-Iopu, 36, took her daughter, Cataleya, 8, to audition with 200 other hopefuls at the 5-star Cordis hotel in Auckland last month. According to its prospectus, TCE offers online training by celebrities and workshops from US$1500 ($2500) for its showcase programme to US$15,995 for its career programme.

April Rimene-Iopu told the Herald she couldn't afford to pay the huge fee for her daughter, Cataleya, to participate in an online training programme and workshops run by The Celebrity Experience. Photo / Dean Purcell

Rimene-Iopu’s interest was sparked by a Facebook advertisement that asked “Does your child dream of being a YouTuber or on Disney+?”

It said, “no preparation or experience needed, and the lines provided will be age-appropriate and comedic in style.”

The Herald understands Disney+ is not affiliated with The Celebrity Experience.

Rimene-Iopu told the Herald Cataleya is fascinated by TikTok and YouTube and wants to be an actor when she grows up.

“She has a sassiness about her and loves playing princess roles and creepy villains like Melissa McCarthy in The Little Mermaid. She auditioned once and didn’t get the part, so I tried to find another way to get her into the industry,” Rimene-Iopu said.

Cataleya Iopu auditioned for The Celebrity Experience programme. Her mother says the American talent scouts are preying on New Zealanders. Photo / Dean Purcell

The mother of three said her eldest daughter was No 84 in a group of 200 children who were then divided into groups of 10.

The group was sent to a private room where all the children auditioned for the same role in front of one another.

One of the judges was Geno Segers who played Mufasa in the Australian stage production of The Lion King. The other was George Caceres, the founder of The Celebrity Experience, a TV and movie producer and author.

Celebrity Experience judges Geno Segers (left) and George Caceres. Composite photo / Getty Images

According to his bio, Caceres has“dedicated his time to identifying and developing the next generation of actors, singers, performers and leaders.”

Rimene-Iopu says even before Cataleya’s audition, an assistant told her to expect a phone call from Florida the following day.

“That part stunned me. I thought why would you call back when you haven’t even seen her performing yet? I thought you’d only get a call if you made the cut.”

Cataleya got top marks and made the cut, but her mother said she heard later that all the other children who auditioned also got a callback.

Rimene-Iopu told the Herald that the following day when she returned with her daughter, she felt pressured into signing up for the most expensive package.

April Rimene-Iopu wirh her daughter Cataleya. April says she felt pressured into signing up for the most expensive programme. Photo / Dean Purcell

She claimed it was a hard sell and money focused. “They tell you what you want to hear, like Cataleya got top marks and should choose the expensive package. I thought ‘bloody hell, who has a spare $27,000 sitting around’, and it didn’t include flights or accommodation.

“They wanted payment then and there. That put us off. I was like ‘flipping heck, one audition and you want $27k’. I was looking at my girl wanting to be a star, she said ‘Please mum’. I was thinking ‘how can I make this happen for my girl’? I could see people getting out their credit cards. I felt stink for my little girl because I didn’t have the money. I said, ‘sorry this is not for us’, and turned them down nicely. The woman said that if I didn’t pay now, I’d lost the spot for my daughter.”

The Florida number given to Rimene-Iopu has been disconnected.

The Celebrity Experience headquarters in New York did not respond to calls and questions from the Herald. A receptionist said it was company policy not to give out contact details.

”The owner doesn’t allow us to give out the email — sometimes people like to call in and they are actually solicitors. They like to pretend they are somebody else, that’s why he doesn’t allow us to give out any details,” the receptionist said.

Manager and head agent at Auckland-based KAM Talent, Olivia Flavell, says she always advises her clients not to get involved with TCE.

Olivia Flavell, manager and head agent at KAM Agency. She is warning parents and families not to be duped by The Celebrity Experience. Photo / Supplied

She claims that at the beginning of this year someone on her books was disappointed by them. “They paid a lot of money to go to Australia and nothing came of it.”

Flavell’s message to parents is to do their research and call a local agency for advice.

Cataleya Iopu, 8, auditioned for The Celebrity Experience at the Cordis hotel. / Dean Purcell

Deb Howard, managing director of Bubblegum Talent, says she posts a warning on social media every year telling families not to engage with The Celebrity Experience.

“We say enter at your own risk. It doesn’t surprise me the Florida phone number is disconnected. They hold recruitment drives here for our kids that cost thousands of dollars and they say you could work with Disney. The reality is, there are several million children in the USA that movie companies can cast — they don’t need to come here to find child actors. For legitimate international castings, your agent should be able to secure you an audition for free.”

The Iopu sisters, Mahalia (left), 4, Kulture, 2, and Cataleya, 8, who dreams of being an actor. Photo / Supplied

Cataleya, who has two younger sisters, Mahalia, 4, and Kulture, 2, still dreams of being a movie star.

The popular Year 5 pupil attends Swanson Primary School and loves to play netball and touch rugby.

“Cataleya is a happy, bright kid full of ideas, with a big imagination. She is constantly pushing me to find another way for her to be an actor.

“Why would I get my daughter into this industry when there is no trust.”

Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland- based investigative journalist. She worked for the Herald on Sunday in 2007 and joined the Herald in 2016. She was previously a commissioner at TVNZ and an award-winning current affairs producer for 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.