DOES MY CHILD HAVE A CHANCE IN HOLLYWOOD?
Yes! There are many opportunities for your child in Hollywood! Kids work in TV, Films, Motion Capture, Voice Overs, Cartoons, Audio Books, Webseries, Student Films, Print and Commercials. With 411 commercial television networks, 52 educational television networks, 7 Regional television networks and 183 State-level television networks, there are more opportunities now than ever before for children.Not only are there more outlets for child actors to work, but Hollywood has become more inclusive of all types embracing children of every race, ethnicity, age, height, weight and other unique and diverse qualities.
In fact, every year Agents and Managers go to Showcases throughout the country looking for new talent of all types. We are looking for the best kids in every group we see. And we want diversity! Nerdy kids, athletic one, teens, little kids, outgoing, big energy, charismatic personalities, dorky, overweight, bullyish, goth, strange looking kids, gorgeous or really unique looking… again all types and all ethnicities.
But to really have a chance in Hollywood, the one thing in common that we are looking for is actors who are BELIEVABLE and INTERESTING. They need to have a spark! Also working child actors are seriously committed to building an acting career. We are not looking for the “curious,” Agents, Managers and Casting Directors are looking for the SERIOUS.
Actors under 18 need their parents to be fully committed too because 99% of the work actually falls upon the parent. YOU are the one driving your young actor back and forth to auditions, callbacks, and to the sets of the work your child books. You are the one who pays for acting classes, dance classes, voice classes and new headshots every few years as your kid grows, changes and always need new pictures to reflect your child’s current look.
Many of the parents I talk to ask “What do Managers and Agents look for?” When I tell them we want kids who are going to be in LA 3-4 months every year some are shocked and certainly are not going to be doing that. That’s fine and I say get a local agent in your own state for film and TV auditions they may have there. Have your child do plays there and audition for student films in your local colleges. And have them takes lots of acting classes where you live. Get them a local Agent in your state and try and book some local work! That can be a great way to get your child’s feet wet and see if they love the acting work.
When we find child actors with parents who are willing to come to Los Angeles to spend 3-4 months every year auditioning for projects, getting to know casting directors, taking acting classes here in LA and working their way up the ladder of success so we sign them so we can make money together.
Savannah Liles pictured above moved with her mom from Arizona to California and gave themselves 100% to Savannah’s career. Savannah booked national Commercials, TV shows like Henry Danger and American Horror Story and lead roles in Feature Films. It was hard work and a financial investment for the family but Savannah found success! Is it worth it? Many parents say yes! Not only is it worth it to see your child achieving their dreams, but it is also a unique bonding experience and quality time with your child that neither of you will soon forget.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES CAN AN AGENT OR MANAGER GIVE MY CHILD?
Many parents say, “I will come to LA IF you have opportunities for my child.”
Or “I can come for 2 weeks in June. Can you get him auditions during that 2 weeks?”
That is not how opportunities work. The fact is we don’t know what opportunities your child will get and here is why:
Every day a NEW list of jobs that are available is released. That list is called The Breakdowns. It describes the characters that Casting Directors are looking for every day in every project that is currently being cast. Talent Agent and Talent Manager gets this daily list and only then do they know if there might be a project that could be right for your child.
Today the descriptions might be:
[TOBY STEVENS] Male, 30s, angry and confused. Social Worker. GUEST STAR
[CINDY] Female, 8-10. African-American. Spiteful. Devious. RECURRING CO-STAR
[VI] Female, 7-9. Caucasian. Soccer player, rude. RECURRING CO-STAR.
[BRANDON] Any ethnicity. Can play 12- 13. An aggressive and competitive basketball player. 3 lines, 2 speeches.
Somedays or even weeks there will be no descriptions that fit your child. That is why Agents and Managers want you to come for a period of months to maximize the opportunities that may come up.
Agents and Managers look at these daily descriptions and see which of their clients fit those descriptions. If we have a client that fits the description of what the Casting Director is looking for that day, we submit your child’s headshot, resume and acting clips to the Casting Director. The Casting Director will receive about 2,000 submissions for the role from every Talent Manager and Talent Agent in town that has a client that fits the description. The Casting Director and their Associates and Assistants will go through the pictures and resumes they have time to review and set up appointments to see the actors in person.
HOW DOES THE AUDITION PROCESS WORK?
The Casting office will email Managers and Agents a pre-read/audition appointment time for the actors they want to see along with the part of the script the actor needs to learn – that is called the “sides.” Casting schedules those audition 5 minutes apart and see every actor they have time to see.
For TV Episodics (weekly shows) casting only has 2-3 days to find the actor they need because it shoots the following week. For films they can cast for months and casting has time to see everyone they want to.
The selected actors go in to audition whichever actors they think were CLOSEST to the description of the character will be called back for a 2nd audition. Sometimes they call back 10 actors, sometimes just 2 or 3. That 2nd audition is called the Producers Session because show’s producers, writers and directors will be coming to watch the auditions to see the actors the casting director is suggesting to them.
There will also be actors who have gone straight to the producer session and skipped the 1st pre-read audition because casting already knows they are right for the role because they have auditioned them many times before or have hired them before for certain roles.
We never know what characters/roles are needed until the day the breakdown comes out therefor we can’t predict opportunities. Also don’t know who will get callbacks or get the job. We all gamble around here 🙂 If your child gets the job they get paid $585 for a Co Star which is 1 day of work or $2,800 for a Guest Star which work 3-5 days. If they book a Series Regular role they could earn $5,000 – $25,000 an episode.
Every Agent and Manager hopes that the clients they sign will get auditions and that their clients will book a Series Regular role. And if it gets picked up and it’s a HIT actors can get paid $100,000 – $300,000 and episode or become a spokesperson for a product like LEE Jeans which may pay $1 – $3 Million Dollars for the campaign which pays the REAL money we are all in this for.
There is one final stage of auditioning called Network Testing where the final 2 or 3 choices for each role are brought into together to TEST. Producers look at all the final potential choices. If your child gets called back from a producers session to TEST that means producers and the Network executives are seriously considering your child for the role. Now everyone wants to see the actors work together to determine what the chemistry is between the actors. Most actors are let go during this process and the final actors who Producers and the Network feel have the best fit together will be cast in the series. All of this is a process totally out of our hands and yours.
The Producers will decide who gets the role and casting will call the Agent or Manager who represents that actor and tells us the good news. They do not call and tells us which actors did not get the part. Also they do not call and tell every single Agents and Manager why the clients they submitted did not get a callback or go to Producers. People are WAY to BUSY for that.
Everyone just moves on to the next auditions…and so should YOU.
Since auditions come up out of the blue and are totally unpredictable, sometimes your child is called in the same day for a role, maybe the day before, or even a few days before. Actors that live here can be available for every audition they may get. Actors who don’t live here will not be called in for Co-Star or Guest Star roles. Shows audition and book locals for those roles because they are cast very quickly and they want to see people right away.
But Actors who live out of state can also have great opportunities and be asked to go on tape for Series Regular roles! That is so exciting! If the casting director wants to bring your child in to be seen parents will pay the expense themselves. If your child is asked to test, then the network will pay the cost to bring your child in to audition in person.
So you see, YES your child has a chance in Hollywood and lots of incredible opportunities!
Many actors come in just for pilot season to take a chance on being called in for auditions. Obviously, the actors who are here throughout the year have probably already seen the casting directors for other the smaller roles and casting has had a chance to get to know them throughout the year. That is an advantage.When pilot season comes around in January, Casting will bring in the actors they already know and often bring them straight to producers. They bring actors who have tested before straight to producers and actors who have been on a Series before will go straight to producers. That is an advantage.
The miracle is when an actor who no one has ever seen before goes in to audition and gets tested and cast as a Series Regular ! That could be your child!
That is like winning the lottery and we all want to win the lottery right?
See you on the red carpet,
