Any parents of child actors out there?

[froot]

Do you have an agent ? How does it work? Is it free? My 10 year old (to our surprise) seems to have a real talent and she cannot go to stage school as we live nowhere near London. In the past 18 months she has been in local productions............but how do you take it further. She would luuuuuuuurve to audition for TV etc.

[froot]

P.S Cant afford Stagecoach!

[marymay]

have you looked at the website notapushymum.im sure there is lots of advise on there that will help.

[evenhope]

My DS has an Agent. They take 15% of anything you make.

It is free, except that you have to pay to be in the casting book (Spotlight- on internet) and it's about £80 a year. If you aren't in Spotlight you don't get called for auditions.

I don't know how you go about finding an Agent. DS was spotted during a dancing show and invited to sign up.

[goingfor3christmaspuddings]

Where do you live?

[goingfor3christmaspuddings]

I met a girl who lives in Devon or possibly Cornwall. She is signed up with Syilvia Youngs Young'uns agency but has to travel to london for castings. IDo look on www.notapshymum.com as you will find someone who can tell you about good agents i local to you.

[froot]

I live near Southampton. Will look at the website. Will look on notapushymum right now!

At the moment am a stressedoutmum as she is losing her voice (though no cold or sore throat- just 4 nights of rehearsals last week and last night was a corker - school rehearsal 3.30 til 5 then audition 5.15 to 5.30 them amdram rehearsal til 7.15 - wanted to pick her up after audition but she is a determined little madam and insisted on staying.....)and has the lead in the school play starting next Tues.

Am stuffing her full of echinacea, vitamin C and fish oils and giving her hot squash. Any other tips for voice preservation (vow of silence impossible but am trying to get her not to sing - very difficult as she has been known to sing in her sleep.....)

[froot]

Just lookesd - fab website thanks for the tip!

[UniversallyChallenged]

it says to go to www.talentcircle.co.uk but i cant access it for some reason, does anyone on here have a link i can try? Thanks

[Tinkerbeltinsel]

try this www.talentcircle.co.uk/

[HipstaHackneyMum]

try KidsCCP - > //www.kidsccp.com :)

my son is getting a lot of good attention there and got cast in two student films already :D

[tez67]

If she is keen on progressing her acting, she should start doing theatre work. Is there a local theatre company near you? You don't necessarily have to be from London. I have lots of friends who have got child actors and live all over the UK. You can apply to talent agencies for kids and you will be required to pay for a spotlight membership which is a casting directory. It is how producers and casting directors find talent to cast in their films/tv shows etc. This costs £106 for kids. You'll also need some headshots which can cost around £100-400, you'll need to update the photos yearly as kids change fast! Auditions usually happen in big cities like Manchester or London that's why many actors choose to live in surrounding areas as auditions and casting can come less than 24 hours. It is a huge commitment and your child will get rejected lots. Every actor experiences rejection but make sure to tell her to never give up. The rewards are worth all of the hard work!

[Legomania]

@tez67 the op's daughter would be 24 by now!

[MaxMari]

Depends on where you live..My 11YO is with Sally King Agency, he gets paid £50-60/day for a very hard day "at work" and often locations are 2 hours away from Clapham and they pay me (the mom) £18 / day for fuel LOL!! You have to do it for the love of it as there are little benefits. Having said that, he is in the Larkins on ITV, just one episode but was fun :)