561-826-0456

Got a call from someone claiming to be from Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen 561-826-0456.  Told to call Beth assistant to Caroline King.  They were interested in doing a piece about the dental profession.  Not sure if its a scam or not.

I just got that too. Tried calling back

Me too......some women named Regina is call on Monday @ 12:30. Not sure what this is all about !

I got a similar call about neurosurgery. They are calling me back on Monday. The assistant said her name was Jennifer.

Got a same call - Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen. caller wanted to speak with our director and sounded quite desperate. Told him he was not in. His name was Alex Holt, I asked his company name and he said he was from Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen, that's funny, any production companies would introduce their company names, not just a program title. I think it's a scam.

Also contacted.  Seems too good to be true...so it probably is.
Joe

Yes, it is.  It's a "pay per view" television show.  You pay them thousands and get an airing at some off time like Sunday at 6 am.  Just run.

Before anyone jumps at this, check this Washington Post article out.   http://tinyurl.com/Production-Firm-Stirs-Suspicio

They are operating as both Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen, and InFocus with Martin Sheen.  If you have any doubt about their authenticity, or lack thereof, check out who they claim to use as a distributor:  "Public Television Distributors, Inc.".  They claim that this company has distributed shows like National Geographic, going back 56 years.  If you go the website for that company, you will find a beautiful, high production quality website, and a beautiful picture of a building supposedly in Burbank.  However, if you look up their address in Google and do a street view, you will find what appears to be a rundown abandoned store front in an warehouse district.  The phone number gives you two choices: Choice 1 "Distribution" takes you to a timed loop and then leave a message; Choice 2 "Accounting" takes you to an invalid choice message.  The website's domain "publictelevisiondistributors.com" was only created and first registered in 2011 (odd for a 56 year old established company in the media business).  And there is no record of such a corporation in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Delaware, or Arizona.  It is clearly a front set up to cover a loose end for the scammers in Boca Raton.

One of their promises is that they will get your "show" on public television stations.  However public television station policy is generally to run any program that is "pay to play".  Their so called airing schedule is completely bogus, and out of date.  Ask them when they have actually run a program on a public television station in a major market.  

They also promise your program will run 400 times on cable television in major markets on channels like CNBC, MSNBC, CNN or channels of your choice.  Think about it though.  They could not possibly do that for less than hundreds of thousands of dollars of air time.  Those cable channels are not giving away their air time.  Selling ad time is how they make money.

Also, think about their pitch:  I'll bet they told you they were in a hurry because they were closing out their program on this subject, which just happens to be in your area of expertise. (They may not have called you saying they wanted sell you on the idea of you paying for a program.  Instead they probably said they were looking for experts in the subject.  Then, after they get you turned around to thinking you want to do this, for about $25,000 to $30,000, they need all their money up front.  Let me assure you, no legitimate producer in the video industry gets all their money up front.  There is almost always a payment schedule, with payments due at successive steps (on signing, script completion, shooting, etc.) with a holdback for final delivery.

I am sure they will produce you a quick knock it out production.  But they want to make sure they have all your money before you realize that the rest of their promises were a total sham.  And then good luck getting your money back.

I do not know why Martin Sheen has apparently not tried to stop them.  I think he is more reputable than that.  My guess is that he got snookered into some quick production deal, including the use of his name, and is now afraid of a lawsuit for breaking the contract.  Who knows.

Advice:  Say "Thanks, but NO THANKS", and then tell them to never contact anyone at your organization again.

They just called me too, stating that it was a Regina Fisher, John Carter's assistant and they wanted to do a piece on Histotechnology awareness.  It did sound too good to be true.  If John Carter calls me I will say Thanks, but no thanks, isn't it illicit to ask for money doing a news story?

I recieved a call from a company stating that it was a technology piece that they wanted to run on me Breakthroughs with Charlie Sheen, but I think they are scammers

My friend got a call from these people too. He asked me about it and I looked at their site, it's a big fat SCAM. Asking a subject to pay $23,500 to be in a "Public Television" piece? What horsesh*t!!!
How they got Martin Sheen involved is a mystery. Thankfully other people are on to them.

We got a call from a Liz Mellman independent producer of Breakthtough TV. She wanted to talk to us about possibly featuring us for one of the segments although she was talking to many companies in our industryand it was very competitive - hah!

All of the things that smelled fishy:

- She did not want our PR or Marketing arm involved – only my boss
- There are no person names on the website – just an address with a suite number
- There was no "breakthrough" that she could pinpoint
- She was very specific in asking what decision makers needed to sign off for approval if we were lucky enough to be chosen
- She insisted on getting all money up front

I Googled the name "Liz Mellman, Boca Raton" and found that the only Liz Mellman who lives in Boca Raton was born in 1926 and is 86 years old so either it's a bogus name or Liz is an 86-yr old scam artist (my guess).

These people are despicable and Martin Sheen needs to extricate himself from this scam immediately.

They called saying they wanted my boss to be a part of their panel of experts.  Before I gave my boss the message -  I googled the company.  If you check out the link I attached below (or you can type breakthroughs plaza real boca raton in any search engine)  you will see their Facebook, twitter, YouTube and other items on the top right of the "about us" page are all "unable" to load.

SCAM!!!

http://www.breakthroughsptv.com/contact/index ... rsform&formId=1

I meant to type Breakthroughs with MARTIN Sheen, not Charlie.

Sorry for the confusion.  

Winning!

Its a SCAM!  Do not do business with them. The use to call the show INFOCUS. the expect 25k upfront snd u never see any airtime

It is a SCAM!!! They say they will give you all this airtime for your educational segment. But they want 26k upfront !! And quickly. They use to call the show Infocus with Martin Sheen. They change the name of the show frequently and their company to try to stay ahead of the game! Now they call the show Breakthroughs with martin sheen!!!

SuzyFL1975@gmail.com

This company is a total scam. They keep changing their name to try and stay ahead of the game. If anyone would like more information about them feel free to email me. I had a friend that worked for them for a weeek and quit once they found out how they were stealing money from companies

Its a SCAM!  The people who work there are not even aloud to use their real names when cold calling people.  BREAK THROUGHS AND MARTIN SHEEN SCAM.  

I know this because I have had a friend work there in the past

We just worked with them. Not a scam and we paid throughout the project on a payment plan. They are also providing our company with affidavits of air times for the commercials they provide for us on top of the documentary they distribute. It is nothing compared to what we normally pay for production and airtimes.

They contacted a client of mine, with the same pitch.  I contacted our state Public Broadcasting System, who confirmed they cannot carry this content due to FCC rules governing client-sponsored content, and that this company surfaces "every few years" with a similar pitch.  Furthermore, the PBS website warns against them as well.
If you want the video, fine.  But if you expect it to air anywhere, it won't.