TRACY GRAY / FIVE STAR PRODUCTIONS
FRAUD/THEFT

IN MARCH OF I WAS CONTACTED BY MS. TRACY GRAY OF NAPLES, FLORIDA. SHE CLAIMED TO BE A LICENSED MODEL AGENCY, GOING UNDER THE NAME OF "FIVE STAR PRODUCTIONS". MS. GRAY PROPOSED THAT I PHOTOGRAPH A NUMBER OF MODELS WHOM SHE CLAIMED TO REPRESENT. TO GAUGE HER "AUTHENTICITY", I REFERRED TO HER A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL WHOM I HAD STARTED AS A FASHION MODEL, AND WHOSE FATHER IS A CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND. UPON MEETING THEM, AND OUTSIDE OF MY PRESENCE, MS. GRAY ATTEMPTED TO "SELL" THEM A $1, 000 "RUNWAY COURSE", AFTER I SPECIFICALLY INSTRUCTED HER THAT THERE WERE TO BE NO CHARGES MADE FINANCIALLY UPON ANY OF THE MODELS WHO I REFERRED TO HER. AFTER I PHOTOGRAPHED THE MODELS, I CAME TO DISCOVER THAT, INDEED, SHE DID NOT REPRESENT THEM. THE TERMS OF OUR AGREEMENT WERE THAT UPON PHOTOGRAPHING THESE PEOPLE, I WAS TO IMMEDIATELY TURN OVER A FULL DVD OF EACH PERSON PHOTOGRAPHED. THIS, IS DID. I ALSO INCLUDED A COPY FOR MS. GRAY, LABORING UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT SHE ACTUALLY REPRESENTED THESE PEOPLE AS FASHION MODELS. IT IS A FULL TWO MONTHS LATER. MS GRAY HAS TURNED OVER NONE OF THE IMAGES TO ANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO PAID HER THE FEES. FORTUNATELY, I "SMELLED A RAT" IMMEDIATELY UPON MEETING MS. GRAY, AND DECIDED TO FILE OF THE IMAGES I TOOK ON A SEPERATE HARD DRIVE. ALTHOUGH BEING UNBER NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO DO SO, I HAVE BEEN DILLIGENTLY MAILING COPIES OF THE DVD'S OUT TO THE PEOPLE WHOM I PHOTOGRAPHED, WHO HAVE NOT HAS SATISFACTION FROM MS. GRAY. MS. GRAY, AS WE SPEAK, ATTEPTING SIMILAR SCAMS WITH OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS WHOM ARE MOST PROBABLY UNAWARE OF HER MODUS OPERANDI. A NUMBER OF ANGRY MOTHERS IN THE AREA HAVE BANDED TOGETHER IN AN EFFORT TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC OF THIS PERSON'S FRAUDULENT OPERATION, ANT THESE EFFORTS SEEM TO HAVE HAD SOME POSITIVE EFFECT. I HAVE NOTIFIED THE MAJOR MODEL CONCERNS IN NEW YORK, MIAMI, AND LOS ANGELES, WHO ARE NOW AWARE OF MS. GRAY'S PATTERN OF MISREPRESENTATION. IF THIS PERSON APPROACHES YOU OR YOUR CHILD, REPRESENTING HERSELF AS "THE OWNER OF A MODEL AGENCY" IN NAPLES, FL., BE AWARE! SHE HAS NO MODEL AGENCE, BUT RATHER, WORKS OUT OF HER HOME. SHE HAS NO CAR, NO OFFICE, AND NO WEBSITE. MOST IMPORTANTLY, SHE HAS NO CERTIFIED LICENSE IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO RUN EITHER A SCHOOL OR A MODEL AGENCY.