Young gifted children in acting...anyone?

[lovbeingamommy]

Does anyone here have gifted kids 0-12 involved with an acting/modeling agent? The reason I ask is that my ds 4yo wants desperately to be on tv and/or in a commercial. I know I need to find a local talent agent, but what I don't know is how to determine if they're a good one or not. I know there are a lot of scam artists out there and I've been told that if they require $$$ money upfront to run run run. However, after talking with some of the local theater directors at two universities they've both said that headshots will be needed and that does take $$$ for it to be done by a professional photographer. I just need some help...

[Black Orchid]

My daughter went on one go-see for a commercial. She was really excited and is a lovely precocious 5 year old (at the time). Needless to say, she didn't get the part. She asked me every day if she did and I had to explain that they onyl call when you do and if they hadn't called in a week that she probably didn't get it. She asked over and over, why she didn't get it, why they didn't call, who got the part, etc... she was very disappointed.

Now whenever anyone tells her she is pretty/cute/whatever she comments that she is not pretty enough to be on TV. Whenever she looks at the Sunday ads, she comments that they, "Only want perfect-looking girls and I'm not perfect". She *still* asks why she didn't get the part.

IDK, I don't think they are wired to handle rejection at this young age. We were asked to go on this go-see, out of the blue by an agent when we were out. I've never talked with her about being on TV or anything, nor have I once mentioned the go-see to her. I think kids at this age expect everyone to love them and think they are cute- and they should! They shouldn't have to deal with the grown-up rejection of not getting a job. Especially a job that *they know* is based (at least somewhat) on their appearance.

I would really reconsider your approach and perhaps look at a drama class that allows *all* the kids to perform and save the other stuff for when you child is older and skilled and better able to evaluate his own strengths and weaknesses.

[whatsnextmom]

My eldest has been doing professional theatre for several years. Both my kids do youth theatre but we don't allow commercial/TV/film. It's not a lifestyle we want. DD doesn't have an agent. The professional theatre's in our area allow self-submission for children and that's what she does. I take the headshots because it's something I'm pretty good at so that saves tons of money. What it costs us is time. When DD is in a play we're talking 6 days a week commitment for months at a time! If it wasn't her passion, we wouldn't be doing it.

Here is a fantastic site for you to explore. It's got lots of good information on how to get started, how to avoid scams, how to handle it with your child, ect. I thoroughly reccomend you read every little bit of it before you start anything.

http://www.bizparentz.org/home.html

[deminc]

We reluctantly allowed ds1 to be in a commercial once when he was 3 as a favour to a cousin who was part of the filming crew, and because he would be doing it with a couple of familiar adults. It was a one-off and while we were given a complimentary copy of the commercial, ds1 never takes it out or talks about it. It was just something done to help a relative.

I think the two main considerations would be the child's ability to take rejection/limelight, and also the amount of time you have to put in.

In ds's case, the boy originally selected for the commercial had cold feet and freaked out. His younger brother was the backup but he began running wild all over the set. Hence the cousin came running to borrow ds1 for the commercial.

It takes a few hours to produce about 5 minutes of usable footage. Even for a simple print advertisement, a shoot could take half a day, and that's not including rounds of auditions (my nephew does print commercials on occasion). I know it's your dd that's asking for it, but personally I feel it's quite a waste of time, esp when they are very young. Older children can gain more out of the experience.

[pigpokey]

My kids (currently 5 and 6) work a little bit ... it is not intrusive and I have not done it the expensive route. I do think the work is educational for them or we would not be doing it. I will PM you my phone number.

[ollyoxenfree]

I have also a couple of dc who have been on t.v. because we know someone in the industry and she needed some help. The experiences have been fun and interesting. However, the shows have been children's programming, so the crews were very familiar with working with children. It was also for public broadcasting, and I'm not sure if that also made a difference in attitude. I imagine there are more stresses in a commercial film production, but I don't really know.

I would also encourage you to check out reputable children's drama groups. There are groups that offer film workshops if that is your child's preference. DD's drama group belongs to an association of acting studios with a code of ethics and a good reputation for developing "the craft" and related theatrical skills. Her instructor is a respected professional who works in different aspects of the industry (film and theatre, voice talent for animation, commercials etc.). She helps her students with finding an agent, preparing for auditions etc.

You may find that your 4 y.o.'s desire to be on television is satisfied by attending a weekend workshop and shooting a short film that gets shown to adoring relatives and friends.

[RiverSky]

What state you are in? The laws vary drastically in the different states and it does make a difference.

You absolutely should not need headshots for a 4 year old, snapshots only, and they actually prefer snapshots. Once your child has gotten some work, then headshots (at a cost) make more sense, but a reputable agent will not ask you to put out money before you even have experience for such a young child.


Back when my children did some print work in California, we found their agent via the Screen Actors' Guild website. You can find a list of reputable talent agents there:

http://youngperformers.sag.org/faqs

http://www.sag.org/content/find-agent

Depending on where you live, of course. I don't even know if you are in the States. A SAG agent will follow the laws though and only charge you a percentage of what your children make, nothing up front or before they make some money and get some jobs.

I think the first tip off if an "agent" isn't a real agent is if they ask you for money or insist you take classes or something first. The two agents we have worked with both asked for a variety of snapshots taken by me to be emailed to them. I did that, then I was asked to bring in the children to be met. I was immediately told that it is not always the most beautiful or perfect looking children who make it in the industry, it is the children with personality and who happen to have a look that fills in a blank spot in their repertoire of talent (like maybe a brunette, or a red head or a boy of a certan age range or a child with a character look, whatever the case may be, just a bit of luck), and the main thing is if the child is pretty friendly, outgoing, happy, probably not shy, etc.

I will say that the age of 4 isn't a very easy age to get children in for work. 4 year olds are tough cookies (tricky stage of development) and those who cast for commercials, movies, print work, etc., know this and well, simply don't hire many 4 year olds. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try, but I am just telling you what our children's talent agent had told us way back when.

Personally, we stopped being involved in the industry when we moved to a state that didn't have very protective laws for children in the industry. In California, the children were very well taken care of and in our current state, not so well at all. Then again, even in California, it was quite a turn-off to meet some of the parents of the children who worked frequently... stage parents like that scared the heck out of me and I knew I didn't want to risk spending too much time in such an environment and starting to think that that was normal behavior.

[justthinkn]

Interesting thread! I was a young gifted child who acted... It was a lot of fun, a great outlet for the precocity that also got me out of a lot of school and I don't remember being very bothered by the rejection. When you audition enough, I don't think you're so invested in every part. That said, I like the idea of limiting a young child to theater, rather than film/print. If it's a true passion, that's the place to build it And the suggestion not to invest a lot of money upfront is also good!

[pigpokey]

Originally Posted by justthinkn

Interesting thread! I was a young gifted child who acted... It was a lot of fun, a great outlet for the precocity that also got me out of a lot of school and I don't remember being very bothered by the rejection. When you audition enough, I don't think you're so invested in every part. That said, I like the idea of limiting a young child to theater, rather than film/print. If it's a true passion, that's the place to build it And the suggestion not to invest a lot of money upfront is also good!

ITA, my kids are not emotionally invested in any audition.

I would let my kids audition for the stage if they want, but it would be more intrusive than the kind of small things they currently do. If you do a commercial or a music video, you disappear from your normal routine for a day, maybe. Not six weeks.

[whatsnextmom]

I would let my kids audition for the stage if they want, but it would be more intrusive than the kind of small things they currently do. If you do a commercial or a music video, you disappear from your normal routine for a day, maybe. Not six weeks.

The intrusive part for us would be commute. We're 2 hours from L.A. which means there is next to nothing in our county in reguards to film/print/tv/commercial. Our friends who take this route do that commute 3 or 4 times a week just for auditions. The commute and wait time is more hours than kids are even allowed to work in theatre a week just over fewer days. If you lived IN L.A., I could see it being less intrusive but if you aren't in a hub, that transportation and housing is a toughy! We have bigger reasons why we choose to stay out of that side of the business but time wise, for us, a good enough reason is the hours and hours on the road.

[St. Margaret]

I've wondered about this, b/c DD loves performing (puts on shows for us daily) and the idea of having some money socked away early for her college fund is attractive. I had the same thought as pigpokey, that some things would be shorter-term, but I've not looked into it b/c I'm so concerned about the values of the industry (and we have friends in it, I just mean the focus on appearance overall) and if it meant pushing DD in any way. I loved performing as a child, too-- I did community theater from about 7 through college, but we never tried to go pro. Honestly, DD is way cuter than I ever was

As I've typed this, DD has come up and put on a show for me.

[Holiztic]

My DS is 3 and very verbal and social, he also loves to put on shows and act out scenes. I think he'd love and be great at acting.

For that reason I am thinking of putting him in a little kids acting camp (like for all and any kids) in our Maryland suburb when he's 4.5. It's 2 hours a day for a week. (It's just for fun) I'm trying to say that if they love acting--why the need to "Go Big"? Make your own TV shows with a video camera and some relatives or friends. Do local theater with expectations and time commitments commensurate with your child's age, interest, ability, and emotional well-being (in terms of rejection, etc). If the kid is really great AND loves it at 8 or so, then move up the "bigness" scale gently.

Just my $.02. I know I only have my own perspective and experience--and my opinion is clearly informed by that.

[Teensy]

My DD has done two paid shoots and would like to do more "fashion model jobs," as she calls them. I have a friend who is a talent agent who needed a child my DD's age to submit for a particular audition a few years back. The friend/agent just cut and pasted a vacation photo of DD from my facebook account and submitted it (with my approval), and that's how my DD got her start.

DD has been to a few other auditions for parts she didn't get, but it hasn't bothered her at all.

DD did need 8x10s to take with her to auditions. I used the vacation photo for the first batch, then did hire a photographer for the second batch (children are supposed to update their headshots about every six months since they change so often) but I paid less than $100 and could have taken the photos myself if I had been so inclined.

The biggest issue for us is the timing aspect, especially since I have other children and a part-time job. She'll get notice of an audition (or job) with less than 24 hours notice and it's a scramble to get everything organized so I can take her (and it's not always local).

I did let her submit a videotaped audition for a feature film, knowing that the call-backs (and actual filming) would be in another state because I thought it was so random she'd never get called-back. Well, she did get a call-back so I took her to the audition out of state which was a bit costly both time and money-wise, but was also a very fun little mother-daughter trip that we both enjoyed. She did not get the part. The whole experience was a crazy little blip in our lives - fun, weird, a little stressful (for me).

I did some reading on message boards by parents and it appears very common for kids in the business to go to many, many, many auditions for every job they book, so this is something to be aware of.

[heathergirl67]

Have you ever thought about using her as a background character? That way you could probably be with her and she would be on tv. My husband did it once, for fun, when he was out of work. All they asked for is a regular picture. It's one day, they provided lunch, and he got paid for it. He didn't need an agent, because he didn't have any speaking lines. He said it was a whole lot of waiting around. Maybe that would be a good way to see if your daughter is still interested, without spending a lot of money?

[whatsnextmom]

Have you ever thought about using her as a background character?

My DH and DD did this once together. They said it was hours of waiting around but it was an interesting experience. Not interesting enough for either to do it again and it's not something you can put on a resume but if your longterm goal is TV/film, finding out what it's like "on-set" could be beneficial.

[St. Margaret]

Originally Posted by Holiztic

My DS is 3 and very verbal and social, he also loves to put on shows and act out scenes. I think he'd love and be great at acting.

For that reason I am thinking of putting him in a little kids acting camp (like for all and any kids) in our Maryland suburb when he's 4.5. It's 2 hours a day for a week. (It's just for fun) I'm trying to say that if they love acting--why the need to "Go Big"? Make your own TV shows with a video camera and some relatives or friends. Do local theater with expectations and time commitments commensurate with your child's age, interest, ability, and emotional well-being (in terms of rejection, etc). If the kid is really great AND loves it at 8 or so, then move up the "bigness" scale gently.

Just my $.02. I know I only have my own perspective and experience--and my opinion is clearly informed by that.

No, I agree, this is the route we'll go. I LOVED my experiences with community theater, and I also helped run the city's youth drama program. that's just the kind of thing I'd like to find for DD down the line. Around here it's all "little divas" dance troupes :P I figure we need to wait a bit b/c most programs are for much older kids, at least school-aged. Until then, it's showtime at home

[HeatherB]

Moving to Parenting...

[leighi123]

My ds did a pageant (all natural) and won the top award, but that whole thing is too expensive and too many crazy people so we wont do it again any time soon.

He also does plays with a local theater group, which is all older kids/adults, but he loves it and they give every kid a role and all of the kids help build the set, make props, and participate in the whole process. Its a really fun and rewarding expierence for him and he makes a lot of friends and learns a lot! Its also a no-pressure environment which I like.

He did modeling when he was a baby and that was fun too - no agent or anything, I did modeling myself and did pregnancy pictures, and the photographers I worked with wanted to shoot ds as well. He did mostly portpholio work (to be in photographers portpholios), and some ad's for comercial photographers (like those cards you get in the mail advertising for such and such photography studio)

I NEVER paid for headshots or anything like that, to get those (for ds and myself) we did 'TFCD and TFP' shoots, where no money is exchanged, you get either a CD or prints of photos (some retouched), and the photographer gets to use the shots for their portpholio.

[nextcommercial]

I have had two daycare kids who were in commercials. One was in them from about age three til age nine when he lost interest. Mostly Burger King commercials in the late 80s. (he went through an agency that has since moved to LA)

The current one has done several car commercials and loads of back to school commercials. He is ten this year and isn't the same "cute little thing" he was when he started, but he LOVES it. Now he wants to stop doing commercials and just do plays.

The current boy is working through a local agency. He's had great luck with it, but only gets about a third of the jobs he tries out for. So, he's gotten used to the disappointment.

They both have head shots, but neither spent a lot for them. They chose their own photographers, and did a lot of their own photos. I think some color photos, and some black and white photos were required. They have to be kept up to date and in a folder.

[Mama Shifra]

I just took out a book from the library that discussed children in commercial, film, TV, and other media. It's a real eye opener and discusses frankly the pros and cons of working as an child actor. The book is called Raising a star : the parent's guide to helping kids break into theater, film, television, or music by Carson, Nancy.