Child Modelling AUGUST 2006

[mrratty]

Hello...

poppiesmum- welcome to the thread. are you northern based? I live east Anglia and we commute to London for each casting etc as thats generally where most the work is. There is a site called www.childmodelling.net which has contact details of agencies etc. If you read down the thread Models direct don't have great reviews. Definitely try some other agencies if you can. I looked at two Norwich agencies yet decided to stick with London ones in the end as I just thought they will have more work in the longrun although I could be totally wrong I just had this gut instinct that this was the best option for us.

There is an agency in Oxford supposed to be good can't remmeber if its elliott brown or elisabeth smith is Oxford nearer to you?

sleepfinder - thanks for your reply. its on a sat so no loss of school, totally unpaid (not even getting travel expenses). I haven't asked the school as its on a sat and he hasn't been there due to holidays at the moment- do you think that should be ok then? only about an hour or sos work in total

apparently if it goes to screen etc like they plan all it should have his name on the credits afterwards yet def no money etc.

julie4travel - thanks for the super quick reply! We are in Bristol at the moment, but will be moving East soon, so maybe I'll wait until we're nearer London and apply to the agencies that I've seen listed on the thread.

Do they charge anything to join, or should I steer clear of any up-front payment?

Just to answer your license question - talk to your local council. The 3 main criteria they follow are these

1. Does the child gain from the appearance (money or otherwise)
2. Are they missing school?
3. Has work qualified as 'performance' i.e. close up and / or dialogue?

Sometimes if its only 2 out of 3 they let it go, but it very much depends on how strict that particular council is...

oops sorry - thought I was editing a [ost and ended up sending twice!!!

hello - it sounds like it could be ok if its saturday and no money, but I know that one council decided a license was needed for a child who appeared in the audience of The Saturday Show on BBC 1 and took part in a singing competition (amateur) because it was a 'performance' - and the producer of the show, whose responsibility it is to get the licence / check with the council was in HUGE trouble. If they don't sort it out / apologise they get threatened with up to 3 months prison - as its still classed as 'child labour'...

poppiesmum- i am sure there is a couple of mums on here from more southern areas, hopefully they will reply later on. Its hard to say re fees. If you can get with one which charges minimum amounts like b and b , ua (november they take kids next) MOT etc then thats superb. They do take small amounts of kids though. B and b initially said no to my ds and a few months later we got a yes. my ds though is joining truly scrumptious who are a reputable agency been going for 20 odd years, they get the work yet fees are high. I have paid £170 to be represented for a year and Oct will have an £80 photoshoot charge. Most of the mums on here are with the top agencies which fees are lower. We nearly did Norrie carr for my ds their fees were £135 if i remember rightly for a year. All I would say go with your gut instinct and research the agencies etc. There is another website www.notapushymum.com which may help you. take your time aswell as an agent who could be good for someone else might not be good for you due to a different agegroup etc

sleepfinder- thanks for your advise. do you think its best if i ring them up rather than leave it to the production team so no problems occur?

poppiesmum give modelsdirect a miss they have had a lot of bad press,they have also been featured on watch dog. go back to my post perfumelady on Monday, 21 August, 2006 7:44:40 PM this will show you some agencies that have low or no star up costs, i think you will find it hard to find many agencies that don't charge but there are a few with very minimal start up costs. we are in southampton about an hour from london and most agencies have not turned us away for being to far, i supose if your planing to move quite soon it may pay to wait, but it won't hurt spending time researching some of the agencies availible. good luck

poppiesmum, dont fall for models direct, they sound really professional but they will take your money and you will be very unlikely to hesr anything from them. Also the leaflet they produce naming companies that have used their models is untrue as I phoned some companies to enquire.

I live south of london on the coast and a couple of agencies wouldnt consider us, like elisabeth smith, but we are going with ts, but have to be available and prepared to travel at vey short notice, so depends on your situation I guess.

poppiesmum dont go with models direct they are a con ive never heard of anyone getting work from them!

Julie - I'm sorry I went off and didn't reply. It can't do any harm to phone the council yourself but also maybe have a word with the production people. Good luck!

mrratty, was in Brent Cross yesterday. There's a brochure with the window pic of your dd on the cover at mothercare. Have you picked up one.. or lots? I picked up a couple just in case
Also saw cute pic of Thornton's dd in M&S

perfumelady- what agency are you with?

julie- have you heard yet?

who applied to the starnow listing looking for children?

tavalava- i applied for three on star now have you heard anything yet?

i haven't heard yet - but they're stil advertising, maybe when the listing finishes??

Thanks to all the mums for their advice - I've binned the models direct stuff

Just one more question...what kind of photos should I send to the agencies when applying?

julie4travel and sha11 - i applied for all of my three boys and just got a standard reply saying they were short listed but nothing else.

poppiesmum - just normal snapshots are fine to start with

ellismummy my dd (8) is with urban angels.

poppiemum def snap shots but do try to get a really good clear head shot. with my eldest dd we rushed out some snaps that weren't very clear or good and got many no's but since learning so much about this industry i have purchased a white painting canvas( very cheap) and when i need to redo photos i get one of the other kids to stand behind with the white board and it instantly gives you a much better professional looking picure. i have since sent off her photos again to agencies and beleive it or not with a clear head shot photo we have received a yes from every one that said no a few months back, so a good photo def makes all the differance.

shall + tavalava yes it finishes 1st sep so maybe its too early yet. I just had the initial email and nothing else

julie4travel can i be nosey is the star now job you are talking about the one that is for brochures with no pay but photos on a cd given? if so we have applied for that one too. from my experiance most starnow adverts that we have applied to have always got back weither yes or no , but there have been the odd one or two that we never heard from again. i did have one modelling advert that replied and said yes please, we want your dd, please phone to make arrangements etc, but i chickened out because there was mention about doing the shoot at the photograpers house and that scared me so i didn't bother to phone. so you really do need to be on guard when considering doing stuff that is not through your agent, but most adverts say a production company name so just google it and see what comes up.

morning all- perfume yes thats the star now listing asking for children for a brochure aged 0-10 that we are referring to.

I have just had a definite yes for my son on a different star now listing. I have looked up the lead actor to see what work he has done etc and it looks all legit. I understand peoples concerns if not done through an agent. This one does seem legit etc. I hope my ds will enjoy it and gain experience!

Re Starnow catalogue listing - I applied and got an e-mail straight back saying that they had too many applications so thanks but no thanks. That was the evening of the day posted on here or the next morning.