To ask about child filming

[sawseesaw]

Anyone have any experience of child filming.
DD (9) is taking part in a couple of months.
I'm wondering if she should be paid something.
It's 8 hours filming over a few days. It's improvised, so no preparation is needed.
I wouldn't expect her to get lots, but maybe something like I'd give her a bit of pocket money for lots of extra chores. The company filming is making the programme for a major network.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Because its helpful to know what is usual and to be able to go back to the company/agency with a bit of background knowledge.

The op was querying whether she should at least expect her dc to receive a similar amount of money for filming (£10/20?) to that which you might give a dc for doing extra chores. From the sound of it however, a speaking part should be paid at a higher level. She wanted some info to go on before opening negotiations with the company, is all!

My niece was an extra in a major Hollywood film at Pinewood studios about 5 years ago. She got about £60 a day (was 13 at the time). Three full meals, compulsory tutoring and it seemed very tightly regulated. I think if you are being paid then the local authority has to issue a license.

pretty sure she didn’t end up with £60 as agent took 25% but she was there most of Easter and then got called back on the summer holiday as well as missing a weeks school altogether , so she ended up with quite a healthy bank balance.

As they have an 'interest' in the contract. They might say, "oh nobody is paid for this kind of work," and I've not got a clue what happens normally.
Mumsnet randoms can hopefully (some already have) give me some idea.

Remind me never to post in AIBU ‘for traffic’! So unnecessarily contentious.

But all those experiences vary. Will you settle for £60 a day? Or £600 for the job? Will you know what the law is about chaperoning? No.

I still think you should be contacting Equity, who will actually know.

Try www.thecastingnetwork.co.uk/rates.asp as a benchmark.

My licence expired during lockdown but I was a licensed chaperone. The rules are that if a child is getting paid at all, if the film will be broadcast publicly (which could include film festivals, streaming or TV etc etc) or if any time off school is required then a performing licence is needed.

Equity won't help the OP unless her daughter is a member.

What the fuck is this reply?
Read the OP again. Slowly.

Is there another official body, then? There is such a safeguarding issue and so many people sleepwalk into it, blinded by the excitement, that there needs to be somewhere that can offer this sort of advice.

This doesn't sound legit at all, I wouldn't be signing your daughter up. My DD was paid almost £3k for a non-speaking commercial, and I received £300 for chaperoning fees as well as all my travel expenses (it was abroad). For speaking parts, it's been anywhere from £600 to £6k, depending on the length of the production. Also, for speaking parts she had to be Spotlight registered. Children who just model, rather than act and are therefore not Spotlight registered, are not put forward via our agent.

I don’t think the OP is that easy to understand to be honest, everything of use has been drip fed in the comments.

Oh yes and I forgot about the licensing - which can be a nightmare if your council are slow to respond. All children must obtain a license from the council in order to work, paid or not. If it's in the school holidays it's usually fine, but if they're missing school and have missed school in the past, they can sometimes say no. So you could get to the final stage of being "on pencil", and then the council say no so they pick someone else.

OP I fully understood your opening post, what I didn't understand was the resulting pile on of negative comments from some posters

Is there another official body, then? There is such a safeguarding issue and so many people sleepwalk into it, blinded by the excitement, that there needs to be somewhere that can offer this sort of advice.

The Education Welfare Department of the local authority where the child lives. As well as issuing the licences they can and often do, build conditions into them such as payment terms.

There is a lot of information on the NNCEE website too

www.nncee.org.uk/page/491/about-us

The contract suggests no pay.
I want to contact them to discuss this.
She would probably be happy to pay to do it.
I think she (not me) should get something for her time, even though it will be a fun thing to do.

If it says no pay, it’s no pay.
She doesn’t have to spend her time doing it.

Some companies will offer a payment as a way to get people to do it but many companies will not pay as people can use the experience to get paid work in the future.
It’s a bit like volunteer work.

Unless its a student film for part of their degree course, or a charity the OP and her daughter wish to perform then no pay = exploitation

The op was perfectly clear. It’s lack of comprehension skills which have led to posts claiming the op is going to make her dc do extra chores to access any money from filming, or that the op is going to keep all the money for herself!!

Even if it is unpaid, that doesn't let them wriggle out of their legal obligations around chaperoning, breaks, wrap times etc.

I’ve a friend who does work as an extra and they get paid around £150 a day.
One job required nudity which they didn’t do, but I believe that was more. They are adult though.

Statutory Regulations and licensing information
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/401345/ChilddperformanceanddactivitieslicensingglegislationinnEngland--departmentaladvicee-_final.pdf

Not really. It’s experience in the industry. You do it or you don’t. You don’t HAVE to.

OP intro was worded fine too.

The more people who are willing to do things for nothing for "experience" the more exploitative the industry gets.

Would you work for nothing?

Your misunderstand was with this sentence
I wouldn't expect her to get lots, but maybe something like I'd give her a bit of pocket money for lots of extra chores
It’s perfectly understandable if you read it properly.
It’s ok to admit you’re wrong.

Because people are idiots.