tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27307368928667801002024-03-05T02:33:13.194-08:00The Bizzy MamaMama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-81809665196969404392021-04-21T14:08:00.001-07:002021-04-21T15:12:46.668-07:00A Day in the Life of a Print Agent<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As some of you know, I used to be a kids’ print agent for Take 3 Talent in NYC. Within the past year or so, I’ve re-joined the agency part-time doing behind-the-scenes work. Being back in the loop, and because of my past experience as an agent, I have gotten the opportunity to fill in at the kids’ print desk a few times and I’d like to share what goes on in a day as an agent. It’s a lot of fun, but also a pretty fast pace and the day can go by really quickly!</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-10b9e154-7fff-3fd8-2312-042cd684cd81"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, everything is done over email and the internet. Back when my daughter first started in the industry, hard copy comp cards and photo prints were just being phased out. Now portfolios are online, there is software for putting out appointments, not to mention the heavy-virtual casting experience because of COVID. This is a full day at your laptop.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First thing in the morning, before I even get out of bed, I check the emails to see if there are any urgent breakdowns from a client. A breakdown is a description of the job, including the client/product, rate, usage (how long the images will be used and where), the job dates, and types of kids the client is looking for. A breakdown would usually include size, sex, and look of kids, maybe something like “size 2T girls with diverse looks”. Very commonly breakdowns include a height (in inches). More on that in a minute. I’ll also check for any holds or bookings that might have come in early or late. I just like to know what I’m getting into when I start my day. Clients will always get a quick reply so they know I’ve gotten the email.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The day usually begins percolating around 10:00 am. That’s when I’m logged-in, comfy and have the coffee in hand and the TV-background noise set to Bravo, HGTV, or SVU (depends on the day!). Time to really dig into the emails. Breakdowns are the top priority and will always be handled right when they come in, so the client can see our kids right away. Then, holds and bookings also need to be confirmed right away, which is why it’s so so so important for parents to check for emails from the agent. Don’t check like an obsessive madperson, maybe just set your device to sort agency emails into priority or give them a special tone when they come in. Clients really need confirms within an hour or two. If we email with a size question or for a quick snapshot, we’ll need that right away because a client is probably asking. If you work, your child goes to school, or you’re away from your child during the day, you should have this information handy on your phone. Definitely have a few good snapshots on hand that you update very regularly. (This is where I remind you this is a business, and by having a kiddo in the business, we need you to treat it like you would your own business priority emails.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other than breakdowns, clients will send requests for casting materials such as size information, self-tapes, and snapshots. Holds (also known as “first-refusals” -- or second-refusals, etc.) come out for kids the client would like to reserve a kid for a potential booking. In theory, everyone should be available unless you’ve booked out, but clients will check because they want to be sure someone is available before they book them. A first-refusal is a hold for the first potential booking. If a child is on hold, the second client to hold the child would get “second-refusal”. During busy times of year, it’s not that unusual to have a couple of kids with more than one hold. Then there are bookings that come in, and agents get just as excited about bookings as parents do! Those are the best kind of emails to receive, along with the parent confirmation as soon as we send out the details.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a client sends a breakdown, we respond by sending back a package. A package is a link or set of links for the client to open and see the photos of kids who fit the breakdown. Each photo in the package includes sizes and a link to the full portfolio of the child. We can change the cover-pic for a child to suit the project, but usually the cover pic is a headshot as opposed to a full-length pic so the client can see the child up close. This is why we need GREAT pics including the work the child has done so clients can see what the child looks like in a photo shoot. Pics need to be current, reflect current hair and teeth, and should include full-length as well as head-shots. Modeling photos, which look like the kids look in paid work, are also great if you have them. A client will receive a package for each breakdown they sent -- so there might be several links for one project. Usually the links are broken down by size and sex. Every photo you send us should look like a child a client wants to book.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a client sends requests, whether to see someone in person or gather virtual-audition materials, we enter the breakdown into our entertainment software data-base. It is a system that keeps files on all talent and clients, and can carry a project from the initial breakdown and appointments all the way through to billing details. It’s quite comprehensive! When we input a project, we start from the name of the client and get in the rate, usage, dates of the project, if it’s union or non-union (in print, the work is non-union since it’s not on-camera BUT if there is any on-camera portion, it’s very important that we know if it is union or non-union because talent who are union members cannot work in non-union video). Then we can use that program to put in the names of talent who have appointments to generate emails with all of the project details. Once the talent are input for the appointments, it’s very easy to bump them to a hold and/or a booking.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That covers client emails, and of course confirms from parents. Another task is when clients request paperwork from talent they have booked. For the most part, we need that back as soon as possible along with the booking confirmation. If you cannot do the paperwork right away, please at least confirm the booking and estimate when you can get the paperwork back to us. Going through the paperwork is time consuming, so we need as much time as possible to get that sorted and sent back to the client. The sooner you can get that back to us, the better! Usually the items clients request are permits, I-9 (proof of citizenship), documentation for the I-9 (passport or birth certificate and social), W-4, proof of trust accounts, and sometimes contracts/releases and non-disclosure agreements. The agency will look over those items before sending them to you just so there are no surprises down the road. This is why it’s so important to have a printer at home and access to a scanner (maybe one that is along with the printer) or a good scanning app for your phone. It’s ideal to send paperwork in PDF form and not jpg, as those can lose quality. These are just tools of the trade for you to have as part of the business. When Take 3 signs models, we ask for all of this paperwork and ideally we have it on hand to send to a client, but sometimes there is paperwork that is client-specific that we’ll need you to fill out. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bookings will also require size confirmation. Parents, pleeeeeaaaaasssssssse update sizes! When I was covering the desk this week, we lost a booking due to a size being inaccurate since the last update. That was a bummer for all involved. A baby needs to be updated monthly at minimum and older kids need to be updated literally every time they grow half an inch. Still send updates even if there is no change. Send the actual sizes and don’t just say “no change” because we will always want to double check the numbers we have.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other than confirms, we hear from parents every day. Size updates are important, and we also love to receive photos from jobs when they are released. We do NOT get those photos unless they come from you! It’s always a good idea for you to ask when you’re on a shoot when and where the photos will be released and then hunt them down. When you find them, try to get us the highest possible resolution. Sometimes the only thing you can do is send us a screen shot, but we always need the best possible version you can find so it shows up well in the portfolio.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parents will also send fresh photos that they’ve taken or sometimes from a professional photo shoot. We need you to send those to us in a dropbox link and NOT as attachments. Set up a dropbox account, create a folder, fill it with photos, click share, and copy the link to the folder. Don’t mail us an invite to view the folder, as we have one agency dropbox that we all share and it doesn’t match the email you sent the invite to. Instead, send us the link so we can click on that and then download away. We really can’t handle more than one or two attachments of photos in our emails, and dropbox is always best. We’ll look through the photos and use what we can or coach parents if we need something different.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bookout emails also come from parents, and we note those in the entertainment software I mentioned above. When we put in appointments, the program will tell us if a model is unavailable. We might still send you a project if you are booked out if the casting is virtual -- with snapshots and/or video -- since that’s something you can do anywhere. In the past, when castings were in-person, knowing you were booked out was important for the casting, the callback, and the booking. Now things are much more flexible.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes parents have billing questions, and we will remind them that non-union jobs (which includes print) can take 60-90 days to pay. If it’s beyond 90 days, we’ll refer the question to our accounting department. We do need to get those vouchers back from you right when your child finishes the job because we invoice right away, so make sure there is no delay. This is where a scanning app on your phone comes in handy -- you can snap that voucher and send it to us as a PDF before you even leave the job. Done and you don’t have to worry about it and we don’t have to chase it down.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Agents also get unsolicited emails from talent seeking representation. We handle all submissions through the agency website, which we check constantly, and when we see kids we like, we send out invitations for them to submit virtually with additional photos (we specify what the photos should look like) and a self-tape (we give direction) so we can see the child’s personality. We used to do in-person sessions where we’d block off a couple of hours at a time and see submissions that caught our eye, but now we’re doing that virtually. I do miss meeting parents that way, though! We then look through the virtual submission packages to make decisions about representing new models.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, there is a bit of a one-way street here. As much as we need parents to get back to us right away, it doesn’t always work the other way around. If we don’t get back to you right away, it’s because we’re working hard to get kids seen by clients and get them out to their appointments and doing everything we can to get the kids booked. You’ll hear back from us, but just give us a little patience! We didn’t forget you!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The day winds down around 7:00 pm. It gets slower after about 6:00, but clients often work to get bookings and castings finished until they are done rather than putting unfinished projects off until the next day. And appointments do come in on nights and weekends! If a client is shooting or fitting over a weekend, chances are we’re fielding appointments!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So what questions do you have? I think I got down most of the stuff that goes on in a day! Did I miss anything? Do we eat? I have honestly forgotten to at times if the day is steady because there doesn’t seem to be a natural break to do that, but sometimes there is a lull when I can grab a bite! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any questions for me? Feel free to ask on the facebook post, comment here, or shoot me an email! My email is </span><a href="mailto:thebizzymama@gmail.com" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thebizzymama@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and Instagram is @thebizzymama. Follow the Bizzy Mama facebook page -- I announce new posts there!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamt34ZDmnrgk52ibxDwNHZW1Ps8jl3b3DzTR4R3xMhzSeoW826Fkb7uCo1j9PqAfzduAbrzkKwyUrizYhpEexing6cPspzZCNelR2RGQvq1nxHtgR7iF8qp37agEqOTHNKRfM5oR3r3jI/s1024/Day+in+the+Life+of+an+Agent.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamt34ZDmnrgk52ibxDwNHZW1Ps8jl3b3DzTR4R3xMhzSeoW826Fkb7uCo1j9PqAfzduAbrzkKwyUrizYhpEexing6cPspzZCNelR2RGQvq1nxHtgR7iF8qp37agEqOTHNKRfM5oR3r3jI/s320/Day+in+the+Life+of+an+Agent.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-53717463927544794942021-01-19T13:30:00.001-08:002021-01-20T11:13:16.546-08:00Is it a scam?<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is it a scam?</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e54d3ef9-7fff-6b31-f517-94f01d3c15ed"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have to ask… it probably is.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I, with a group of other moms, administer a Facebook group called “Child Model & Talent Scams”. Mostly, new members are looking for representation in their area. Sadly, a lot of these people do not live in major child performer markets, and what they often run into are scams. Often they have had interaction with an “agency” and want to know if they should pay money for representation. Answer? Always NO.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s define the word scam, because it might be a little different depending on the situation. Technically, according to the little dictionary here on Google docs, a scam is a “dishonest scheme”. In the modeling and talent world, it’s pretty similar, but more focused on someone who asks for money for something you can do for free. Usually, these places are being dishonest because they make promises they cannot keep (maybe unless you read the fine print, which probably actually promises you nothing). When you want something for your child, you’re probably going to get a great impression of what they can do for your child and face it, you may not be reading the fine print. They are dishonest because they don’t tell you that you can do it for free. They want your money.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Legitimate talent agencies in major markets do not charge for submissions, representation, or classes. I’m in the New York market, so I can’t speak to the California laws very well (see <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bizparentz/">Bizparentz Foundation</a> for their wealth of information) but in CA it is actually illegal for agencies to offer and charge you for these things. I can speak to what is ethical, though, and this should apply nationwide. It’s not ethical to claim to represent a child but demand you get photos through that firm. It’s not ethical to claim to represent your child and charge you for classes to model or act. (But doesn’t my kid need acting classes? Sure, at some point, but more on that later.) The only money a legitimate agent should make is commission from work your child does.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, it is more and more frequent that casting directors DO NOT want professional pictures of kids! Photos are perhaps the biggest scam going. You can always find a great photographer for far less than scam “agencies” or their photographers charge. One “agency” has “preferred photographers” that you pay THROUGH that agency which marks up the cost about 100% and then they pay the photographer the going rate, taking half for themselves. Shameful. If you can take a decent photo of your child with your cell-phone (most have better cameras than our old digital point-and-shoots), you have what it takes to get jobs for your child. <a href="http://www.thebizzymama.com/2019/05/submission-photos-look-with-me.html">See this post for some direction.</a> Once your child works and has photos from those shoots, your agent will use those as well.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Classes are a blatant scam. No child needs classes to model or to walk the runway. There just isn’t runway modeling for children like there is for adults, and it takes no more than five or ten minutes of practice to do a runway walk should you encounter a children’s runway show (there are a few legitimate ones out there, which your child would book through an agency). Classes that teach silly poses and pouty looks will be a detriment to your child. Go online and look at The Children’s Place and Gap. Those kids have natural, happy looks. There is a wrangler on set to make them laugh and have fun. Nobody is asking a five year old to look over her shoulder and make duck lips. If someone wants to teach your child to do that, run.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acting classes through an “agency” that claims to represent you are a huge NO. Children who act should take acting classes, sometime after they read really well and can take direction -- such as “do it again, but with more energy/humor/fear/etc. and go a little more slowly but have better eye contact with that performer”. That usually happens in the age 8-11 age range. Your legitimate agency will have a list of acting classes that they like -- and they know what they like because they like classes that will help a child be prepared to book jobs. They will also have a list of photographers that they like because those photos will hopefully help your child to book jobs. But here’s the thing: you shop around, do some legwork, talk to experienced parents, and make the choice YOURSELF and pay the fee YOURSELF directly.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most egregious “agencies” promise you photos and classes with the ultimate goal of meeting agents who want to represent you. Usually LA or NYC agents! Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Well, they are going to charge you a huge fee to get there. I’ve heard of parents paying $15,000 for their “child’s dream” (your dream, I mean). They promise big names but… we’ve investigated and some of those agents on the list they show you are dead. Or out of business. Or maybe attended ten years ago. Full disclosure: when I was an agent, I went to one of those big conventions on a fact-finding mission. I signed no one and saw maybe one interesting kid who lived five hours away and as a result would be impossible to work with. <a href="http://www.thebizzymama.com/2019/09/no-youre-not-willing-to-travel.html">And no, you don’t want to travel.</a> Did I see legitimate agents there? Yes, for some adult modeling agencies. Did they see anyone they liked? I sat behind some reps from a TOP adult agency (and no, your fifteen year old 5’9” beauty will not work in NYC fashion week) -- remember, fact finding mission -- and they saw very few interesting prospects. Maybe someday I’ll do a post on just that experience.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If your child has what it takes, you can get there for free. When my child was younger, I did the legwork and got her signed by doing tons of research, taking some good pics myself, and even submitting through snail mail (back in the day). It’s so much easier to do this today with better internet submission access. I also live near a major market. If your child just wants to get hair and makeup done and walk a runway, there are those sorts of things that do just that and don’t make promises they cannot keep. Or go have a salon day. See if your local department stores do a fashion show in the mall.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you really want your child to work in the industry, no one can make magic for your child. If your child has what it takes, you can do this yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodhHh8NrKpnEjT3O4yI5YIyr3FM9V-iLESzPwbsm40KhvJIqKjr_CJ1S8JKc6wtuUMbz4rt08oiIq0lJa9HAVUG__tPuLfUrcFcSfUZjARqeogAOA0tjJ-ga45Y_WS9fRQlCD5UD1cmLC/s512/giraffe+stars.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="381" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodhHh8NrKpnEjT3O4yI5YIyr3FM9V-iLESzPwbsm40KhvJIqKjr_CJ1S8JKc6wtuUMbz4rt08oiIq0lJa9HAVUG__tPuLfUrcFcSfUZjARqeogAOA0tjJ-ga45Y_WS9fRQlCD5UD1cmLC/s320/giraffe+stars.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be sure to check out the Child Model &Talent Scams page on Facebook, the page for the Bizzy Mama on Facebook (where I announce new posts), and my Instagram @thebizzymama (fun with kids and pets and I announce new posts there, too). You can also reach me by email at thebizzymama@gmail.com.</span><p></p><br /><br /><br /></span>Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-8915128824250475832020-09-01T13:38:00.002-07:002020-09-02T09:15:04.219-07:00 Why? And Stop.<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This has been building in me for a while. I am not calling out any specific person. This is not a passive-aggressive post designed to address one person but indicting everyone instead. This is a response to trends and patterns I've seen, no doubt a product of the season: Summer. So, follow me here for a moment before I get to my point.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f1f2be17-7fff-b1bd-40f9-6a91c652f95d"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just read an <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/youtube-myka-james-stauffer-huxley-adoption.html#_ga=2.93389144.430929402.1598989753-651026388.1598989753" target="_blank">article in </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/youtube-myka-james-stauffer-huxley-adoption.html#_ga=2.93389144.430929402.1598989753-651026388.1598989753" target="_blank">New York Magazine</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about a YouTube family. You know, one of those ones that posted daily about their comings and goings of the children and their new homes and cars… just one of those day-in-the-life things. My daughter has watched a couple of those families over the years. This particular family’s story focused on an adoption for a while, which is irrelevant here, but here is what is relevant. I just learned this. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">YouTube does not allow comments on videos featuring children because internet pedophiles would place cryptic messages to each other time-stamping glimpses of children in bathtubs or bathing suits. They have secret code-languages to call out to each other where to find these images -- for their sick pleasure. Here is the quote:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year, Google began rolling out policy changes affecting family YouTubers, first by disabling comments on content featuring young children — which cut off a crucial line of communication with their audiences — after news outlets reported pedophiles were time-stamping scenes in videos as a virtual Bat-Signal to one another (a child swimming in a bathing suit, for example, or children in the bathtub).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here’s where I kind of lost it. Parents, why do you post so many pictures of your young children in skimpy bathing suits? I really want to direct this to mothers of sons and daughters equally, and it is directed to parents of children of any sex/gender. I just happen to see this more with young girls. And by young, I mean anyone under the age of consent. The pictures I see range from toddlers in bikinis to tweens and teens posing like Sports Illustrated bathing suit models.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Internet pedophiles find these pictures. I will not leave that open for dispute. If you are concerned about the true existence of these sickos, you can look at the sex-offender registry in your town and see the crimes committed by those placed on the registry. I bet you will see people whose record includes internet-based crimes. I know that’s true in my town. And maybe the children for which those pedophiles were indicted included photos beyond bathing suits, but how is it at all different if your child -- clad in anything -- ends up on any of those sites? Pedophiles search out any photos, but I somehow think it is worse if the child is barely clad or posing suggestively.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I guess my question is, why? Convince me about this. Why do you need your children posing in these photos on internet social media sites? What do YOU have to gain by posting these pictures of your children? What does your child have to gain? Feel free to @me on this one. I get it; we all think our children are beautiful, playful young things who ought to be showcased for these gorgeous qualities. I post photos of my kids. You don’t need to @me about that. Because of my time in the model-mom/agent world, many of these children I see happen to be in child-modeling, and let me reassure you: nothing about these photos will get you any chance at work. In fact, as an agent, I would never put a bathing-suit photo in a child’s portfolio because I would never want to be responsible for a photo like that getting into the wrong hands. Just convince me why you need to post anything that offers a more-likely chance for your child to be exploited?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I’m not talking about Satanic pedophile cannibals here, so please do not think that has any origin to this rant. This is based on garden-variety internet pedophiles that I think we can all agree do, in fact, exist.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you feel called out, my question is kind of… maybe think about this before you post? Maybe clean up your existing posts? It’s not too late. Am I making enemies here? Feel free to wish me to eff off on this position, but it’s not changing. We are a village and we need our children not to be exploited in any way. (Have I exploited my child by putting her into the business? Not wanting to debate that here, but you could have that opinion, too. I’m just acknowledging that some might have that argument.) If I help prevent one kid from falling into that abyss, it’s worth my time writing this.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRj8duC3bkiZwV8nihN5AWRQo8cb93f3RDl9kWRJhyphenhyphenjWMEl3U9zXTHB1mZSELLPuYF5UwV4FW13Td3Kv7p5ifsJEkjG9BP3ueLD0S3NBdMUIGY0cgTZgFfW-7Up8nyGhHECcZjFCzLqUz/s600/no+bikinis+allowed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRj8duC3bkiZwV8nihN5AWRQo8cb93f3RDl9kWRJhyphenhyphenjWMEl3U9zXTHB1mZSELLPuYF5UwV4FW13Td3Kv7p5ifsJEkjG9BP3ueLD0S3NBdMUIGY0cgTZgFfW-7Up8nyGhHECcZjFCzLqUz/w400-h400/no+bikinis+allowed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parents, it is your job to protect your kids. It is not your job to rack up likes of your cuties in compromised positions. First day of school? Eating ice cream? Bring those on. Fully-clad, please.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feel free to like the Bizzy Mama facebook group (where I announce new posts) or head over to my Instagram, @thebizzymama for kid and pet photos and also new blog post announcements. My email is </span><a href="mailto:thebizzymama@gmail.com" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thebizzymama@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and I am definitely open to hearing your thoughts on this topic.</span></p><br /><br /><br /></span>Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-85764374073522404702020-03-26T16:00:00.000-07:002020-03-26T16:15:16.584-07:00Things I DON’T miss during this time off<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Happy quarantine! Hopefully everyone is social-distancing and surviving in this time of COVID crisis. I know it’s a stressful time and I thought maybe I could recap some of the things about the industry that I DON’T miss during this time-out from auditions, castings, and shoots.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOz8-v6ekJIccWT_ML6Pf4mH9HPs28Cy-wTUFs35GYmGrIh-MuAAda7IoWLQ6hFDV4yF4B3dDuHcdiiUPu7jfLU9BFUl4fuxOfTVkycElkIFpD6JBOwFwLiABpUbmYy1BKyTJ35IlMbO4P/s1600/new-york-city-parking-ticket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="826" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOz8-v6ekJIccWT_ML6Pf4mH9HPs28Cy-wTUFs35GYmGrIh-MuAAda7IoWLQ6hFDV4yF4B3dDuHcdiiUPu7jfLU9BFUl4fuxOfTVkycElkIFpD6JBOwFwLiABpUbmYy1BKyTJ35IlMbO4P/s320/new-york-city-parking-ticket.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Holds</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seriously though -- isn’t it a relief to not be on hold? While holds are great in many ways because it means your child might have a job coming up, there is always that sense of the unknown and the vague stress about what plans you might have to change or back out of in the event of a booking. We’re on hold for a job next week and I’m not even worried about it since it came before the NYC stay-at-home requirement, so I’m quite confident I don’t even need to worry about that.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Parking tickets</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve been cleaning off my desk and came across an old parking ticket and thought, wow, how great is it that I’m not playing parking roulette and trying to decipher whether something is actually a legal spot or not? I used to be a “never pay to park!” person who somehow always managed to find a spot (but it took a lot of time) and I probably messed up on about three or four occasions and paid mightily. In my old age, I now just use the Best Parking app, which usually gives a good price BUT sometimes you over-pay if you reserved for over an hour and you ended up in and out under a half hour (you know, that magically cheap period of time in the parking garage that is the teaser price they put out front on the sign). But, no driving into the city, no paying to park!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fake families</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0eb43e94-7fff-e3fd-5af7-214c3309aaff"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My daughter and a fake mom and dad in their Easter finest popped up in a Facebook memory, and I thought it’s nice taking a break from fake families. Now, there’s really not much wrong with fake families -- in fact, they have always been very professional and kind people who have been really great to my child. Cannot complain about that! Now, what is massively wrong with fake families is that they tend to be -- no joke -- a minimum of twenty years younger than I am. Twenty years. So when I see my daughter pretending to be the daughter of a twenty-six year-old, it’s a real bummer. They are also so significantly more attractive (and thin) than I am. So a break from feeling old, ugly, and fat? Nice!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Christmas in the Spring</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c216d5f7-7fff-7403-af94-362e4be0707b"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The great thing about working in the spring and summer is that you get a little taste of Christmas on many sets. I remember the days of my daughter not understanding she couldn’t open the fake presents. (Thank you, wranglers, for your help with that!) But Christmas in the spring can also be a little stressful. You think, wow, if I’m really in gear this year, I can do my holiday shopping early! Get ahead of the game! Maybe even organize all of the decorations in one place in the basement! But no, that never happens. And when the holidays actually do arrive, you never got around to any of that and the whole be-prepared spirit just blows away.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Early dismissals and absences from school</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-58a0c103-7fff-0ac7-fc36-1276557eb9ed"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is a double bonus! No jobs or castings/auditions means no stress about those absences adding up. Wait, what? AND no school to actually miss? No mental calculation about what time you can do the pick-up and still get in over half the day? Score! My daughter’s school has a very organized online program, so if she were to miss a day, we would need to call in an absence so she is not just missing from her ZOOMs and assignments. But again, no jobs so no worries about missing school!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Friday auditions</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I just had to put this one because my daughter seems to magnetically attract Friday 5:30 audition times. And living out in CT, there is a massive amount of weekender traffic from NYC to CT. I usually figure three hours to get home on a Friday (we’re about 1:45 TO the city), so about double the drive time in. Now, no worries about those appointments and… wait for it, even when things do get going again, apparently everyone is already in CT (the people on my town Facebook pages are so ginned up about the “NYers” coming out to the country). I can definitely say I do not miss that Thursday afternoon email about the Friday audition!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What are you NOT missing during this time off?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be sure to like the BizzyMama Facebook page so you can get the posts as soon as I post them! Also check out my Instagram @TheBizzyMama, and you can email at </span><a href="mailto:theBizzyMama@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">theBizzyMama@gmail.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stay safe and healthy!</span></span></div>
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Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-88225568523402736912019-11-10T08:21:00.001-08:002019-11-10T08:21:21.142-08:00The Gritty (but Great) Truth about Child Modeling and Acting<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-60b664ac-7fff-f06c-e0a3-e886a52f210f" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“A model?!? Your child is a model? Really?”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is funny. Why? How many of us ended up considering this opportunity for our kids because tons of people said, “Oh my! Your child is gorgeous! He/she should be a model!” Apparently they don’t share memos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I talk to people outside of the business about child modeling and acting, they are often surprised to learn about some of these misconceptions. But for those of us in the industry, this list is all too familiar. It’s also a great “study notes” guide to what you need to know before you take the leap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>1. “You/your child must be rich!”</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The money in child modeling and acting typically falls into a few ranges. Most print jobs pay $125/hr to a couple thousand (rare!) per day. More if you are working commercial print (like Pepsi or pharmaceuticals as opposed to clothes like Justice or Lands’ End). Even the glorious giant windows in Baby Gap will pay out only about half a day of work (babies and toddlers have restricted hours according to NY labor laws). The more prestigious the brand does not equal more money. The department stores, Ralph Lauren, Target and Amazon pay all in the realm of the fair NYC child print rates. Prestige is in the pics. What will pay out? Tech. A tech company may pay up to five figures for your kiddo to model in a print ad. But — be prepared — that will likely take your kid out of the running for any tech-related work for a couple years. The lowest payer? Safe to say now because they aren’t in business anymore, but let’s just say… big toy store.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commercials usually pay from $500 to $50,000 on up. Yup, you read that right. Non-union commercials for kids pay about $500. Union commercials (SAG/AFTRA) can pay out BIG. That depends on how many times the commercial airs, which channels, what time, which markets (locations) and for how long it runs. Non-union commercials tend to pay a session fee (for the time you shoot) and then maybe more if the commercial actually airs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>2. You don’t keep the clothes.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It happens every so often… almost never but… here’s why. Mostly you’re working about two seasons ahead of what people are buying now. The clothes your child is modeling are supposed to be “under wraps” until the client releases the photos. That’s why it’s also a no-no to take pictures of the products on set (so put the phones away, moms).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, many of the clothes are samples, meaning not quite the same you’d get in the store. They may be a little less “finished” than what you buy, just so they client can get pictures of the look before the mass-production arrives in stores. Some clients also tailor, which doesn’t mean customize the outfit like a fine suit… it means letting in and taking out and shortening or lengthening — but just so it doesn’t show in set. For example, a tailor on set may take in some jeans just by sewing up the back of the leg — it won’t show in pictures, but it’s definitely not how you’d “wear” the garment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>3. Getting to the city on time WILL age you.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh man… this one alone. If you do not live in NYC, like a subway ride or less from the shoot location/studio, block off the day for travel. You cannot predict how long it will take you unless you’re working on specific train schedules. I drive in and it takes me 2-2.5 hours if you figure leaving home, maybe a pee and/or dunkin stop, light traffic, and parking. Please note: it can also take this long at rush hour for someone driving in from NJ of LI… even like 20 miles away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You get used to being very early or squeezing in an arrival just in the nick of time… and since time is the client’s money, you do NOT want to be late. This is a business (okay, you know I always say that. You get it.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please note this is also stressful AF. It will age you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Important rules: always trust WAZE. If it tells you to take the Lincoln Tunnel to go back over the GW Bridge just to get back to CT, you do it. You swear a lot, but you do it. Second WAZE rule: you will always add time. Always. Leave earlier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>4. Oh the miles...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will become one with your car. Love your car. Have a comfortable car that you love. And that you’re ready to drive it into the ground. You will get it scratched in garages, kissed by taxis, dinged by Amazon vans (I swear, those may be worse than citibikes) but but but… this is not the time to skimp on a car just so you have a plain old little city commuting car. You will move into this car, and need to have a full kitchen, mud room, laundry facility, and two bathrooms in it. Your kids will barf, wet their pants, have to poop NOW, and… so will you. Be prepared.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh, and with the last minute nature of this industry, this car needs to be ready to roll in a few hours’ notice. Don’t roll into your driveway with 2 miles left and think you’ll get gas in the morning — suddenly you have a casting at 9:00 am and you’re on E and need to add fifteen minutes into your trip to deal with the rush hour gas station dance. (I may or may not be guilty of this.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Embrace the mileage. You’ll need to shop for cars that keep on keeping on after 200,000 miles. And that you want to sit in four hour traffic going back to CT on a Friday in July. Love your car. Praise her. She deserves it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>5. Auditions and castings after school can be a JUGGLE</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For school age kids, usually first grade and up, most castings are between 3:00 and 5:30. Well, no one gets out of school before 3:00 in enough time to make a casting. So this means early dismissals. And for 3:00, you want to get IN AND OUT of the city before… wait for it… RUSH HOUR. That means like, 3:15. Otherwise, if you live close enough to run in after school, amazing… but… what happens when it’s time to leave? RUSH HOUR. Even if you do the train or bus thing, rush hour is not fun. And it usually takes a long time. See also: #4, preparing your car for hours of comfort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>6. Missing school is a reality</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">just mentioned early dismissals, which can really stink if your child always has the same subject at the end of the day. Prepare to help with lots of homework and maybe even extra help if you need to fill in for missed class time. But… when you get jobs, and for a few castings and auditions here and there, your child will miss school. Period. If you have a problem with this, this is not your industry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That said, all of the successful child models I know excel in school and plenty of other activities. It’s all a balance and a juggle. Just be prepared for this. I have a <a href="http://www.thebizzymama.com/2017/01/managing-those-school-absences.html?m=1" target="_blank">post</a> about dealing with absences — the real key is collaboration with the school. It’s all communication.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also worth mentioning here — your child will also miss after school activities and lessons. Sometimes this is non-negotiable with the activity, so you may have to make some tough choices. It can also be a drag if your child misses the activities that don’t happen as often — for example, we have Girl Scouts twice a month. If we miss one, it ends of being a month between my daughter’s participation in the activities and that can be a real drag for her missing the continuity. And all the other great things about the activity. Kids tend to leave the industry right around the time that after school sports and plays really heat up for kids. Kids often choose the activities over the photo shoots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>7. This not translate to adult modeling</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those dreams of that Vogue cover… the Prada runway show… it's very unlikely your child will transition into an adult model. Of course it happens! But: your child will likely be very tall and age out of child modeling at a young age (think 58” inches as the end of the line for girls and 60” for boys) and then you have to wait several years until your child is the right height for adult modeling (tall), see if your child’s natural healthy weight would fit into tiny sample sizes, and… be 18. There is not much of a market AT ALL for adult models under 18 (and those stories you hear about 14 year old runway models are old news — with child performer permit laws and regulations, no one would hire a 14 year old. Even junior models — like the odd-numbered sizes — are often over 18 and look young.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh — and the looks that make child models successful are often different from the more mature and artistic high-fashion looks. Cute and sweet children may not translate into those looks. Still beautiful, but not Dolce.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>8. My child is a brat for 20 other reasons</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But don’t child actors and models get so spoiled?” Well, on set, it’s true they are treated well and there are people on set whose job it is to make them happy and comfortable. But very quickly, kids also learn this is work. It can take a lot of patience and a lot of taking direction that can also make kids cranky at the end of a long day. But isn’t that true of any job? We all get cranky at the end of an unusually challenging day. Often, these kids then get in the car and go to music, sports, or other lessons and groups and might seem a little grouchy. As they get older, they learn that just doesn’t fly. People aren’t nice to grouchy kids.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One thing that is a plus in all of this is that your child learns to work with many adults and personalities (kids and adults) and your child is performing in a professional industry. These are good skills that child models and actors learn young.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s important for parents to keep their children grounded. Dina Lohan is very much the exception and not the rule. I have yet to meet a single mom anything like her. Generally? Moms that break the norms of professionalism and good parenting tend not to last. Parents are very much seen on set but rarely heard during the actual shoot. Kids need to learn to work without their parents nearby telling them everything to do. Parents of child models and actors also need to be sure this is just part of their child’s overall childhood experience. Balance, variety, and a focus on education are paramount.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And if my child acts like a brat? Trust me, it’s not because of this. You can blame me for twenty other reasons, but not this one.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. What about c</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">reepers?!?!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But aren’t there pedophiles?!?!?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, heed this warning. There are pedophiles hidden in any possible place. It’s possible for there to be a pedophile in schools, sports, clubs, and even at your dining room table. Children who are sexually abused are most often abused by someone they know and there is usually a grooming process. See my earlier <a href="http://www.thebizzymama.com/2016/06/are-we-worrying-about-wrong-things.html?m=1" target="_blank">post</a> on this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The key is vigilance. You never let your child out of your sight and/or sound. You never let your child be changed (clothes or otherwise) by another person and if you get the least bit uncomfortable use your mom senses and make the decision you need to in the moment. California has layers of laws to protect child performers including background checks. NYC is not there yet, but most of the people in the industry tend to all work together and know each other so it’s not like you’re getting complete randoms every time you go to a job.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve never heard of any sexual assault situation in the child modeling/acting specific community I’ve been part of for seven years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, vigilance in ALL places, including your own homes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>10. Remember: it’s a JOB.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes there are people there to make it fun and you and your kid should also prepare to make your own fun for the day — toys, electronics (this is NOT a no-electronics zone; every kid uses a tablet or iPod and the older ones have phones. They need various forms of entertainment), snacks, books, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it is work and professionalism. If a client is running late and you find out there are six more outfits to shoot in the next hour, your child needs to power through this like a trooper. Kids who work regularly will get used to this. It gets easier as kids get older.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This isn’t like signing up for a fun activity where your child will laugh and love every moment. A lot of toy/treat bribery goes on in this world. Maybe that’s why kids seem like brats, but by they time they are older and can read books and do homework, they are usually quite good at managing their own down-time along with work time on set. It’s a developmental process — just like anything else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>11. No, you can’t just sign up.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So it still all sounds great? You want to sign up? No, you can’t just sign up. Now you need to do your research, find reputable agencies, learn how to submit and then… wait. It’s not unlike applying to colleges. If you get called in and then offered a contract, now you’re ready to roll and you know what to expect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for reading! Check out my Instagram @theBizzyMama or my daughter’s professional IG @bizzyholland and you can like my Facebook page to learn when I post new blogs. Contact me here or by email, </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">theBizzyMama@gmail.com</span></a></div>
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<br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-79264272351694148642019-11-03T11:42:00.001-08:002019-11-03T11:42:48.034-08:00Do you need headshots?<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e68a3c96-7fff-5ef2-150f-bc7579c7b005" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The universal question from every parent considering modeling for their child is “Do we need headshots?!?” and the first resounding answer I give is, “No! Not yet!” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why not yet? If you are simply in the submission process to children’s agencies, you need basic submission photos — you can do these on your cell phone. See this past <a href="http://www.thebizzymama.com/2019/05/submission-photos-look-with-me.html?m=1" target="_blank">post</a> to know how to do that. If you are invited to begin working with an agency, use your agent’s guidelines for choosing the type and style of photos you need. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So if you get to the point where you actually need photographs, the first thing is… not all photographs are headshots. Headshots are shots, from the shoulders up, usually used for acting. If your child will be doing any acting with the agency, your agent will likely require strong headshots. You should probably aim to get two to three different expressions. The goal is to have one semi-serious and engaging looking for movies, TV, and theater and another fresh, happy face for commercial submissions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vocab term: a “look” is a hair and wardrobe combination. Most photographers sell their packages by the number of looks they will shoot. So five looks would be five different outfits with some different hair options mixed around. Note: five looks is usually too many. Three is usually just right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So headshots are a must for acting. For modeling, your agency might ask for some professional pictures if your child is over five/six years old. Usually before that point, when kids still grow fast, GREAT snapshots will work. Modeling pics aren’t headshots. Usually they are full length and can be in fun clothes showing off a little fashion and then “lifestyle” pics which show the child doing something active instead of just standing there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to show you some from my daughter’s recent session with Alex Kruk, an LA photographer who comes to New York for a few days at a time to shoot in the warmer months. She first photographed my daughter when she was four and I’ve been in love with Alex’s work ever since.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Headshot (Commercial)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Behind the scenes: Alex and her husband James</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Behind the scenes: with Christina Turino, HMUA</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you’re selecting a photo package, be sure you talk to the photographer about what to wear. They usually send a list and you just bring a big bag of stuff and the photographer will select outfits that will look best in the setting and highlight the child’s features.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also discuss hair and makeup. Most photographers have a hair and makeup artist they work with and I opt in for that package addition because my daughter has very long hair that needs attention. Makeup is usually very minimal and would consist of a bit of blush and concealer if necessary as well as a neutral lip gloss. That’s the most they would need. This session’s HMUA (hair and makeup artist) was Christina Turino, who does great work with kids.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At our agency, we have four headshot options (two legit; two commercial) </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">the on-camera agents use </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the modeling agents use those as well as some full-length and lifestyle looks in her portfolio. One session can provide all the photos necessary if your child is a model and actor — especially if you communicate with the photographer. Your work with the photographer should be a collaboration. Be sure you each know what the other one needs/plans and you’re all in agreement. Photo packages in NYC are running close to $500-$600 and up, so you want to come out with everything you need.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are many great photographers. Your agent can recommend who is “hot” and the moment and/or who might do the best work with your child. There are young/apprentice photographers who will do a no-frills, one-look, no HMUA session for a low price and that can be a good headshot option if you’re starting out and budget is a major issue — but use one that other people are using, not your neighbor’s cousin’s babysitter. You want someone at least slightly proven.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tend to stay in the box when choosing a photographer BUT I like to have a look a little different from what’s totally on trend at the moment — one reason why I chose an LA photographer who comes to NYC. But there are so many great photographers to choose from — just go with your tastes as much as the recommendations from the experts in the industry. You need to be very happy with these photos — not just <i>ok</i> with them because that’s who everyone else uses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m about a year and a half out of the agent seat so I don’t maintain a list or really even name photographers off the top of my head, so I’m not going to give any additional recommendations. One reality is that kid models who work all the time really don’t need modeling pics because they have their tearsheets (actual modeling work like ads or catalogs) to use in their portfolios. If they act, however, they will still need pro headshots.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’d like to get in touch with Alex Kruk, her email is </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">alex.kruk@live.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. You can reach me here, check out my instagram @thebizzymama, like the Facebook page The Bizzy Mama, or email me at </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thebizzymama@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Note: I received no special price or other consideration for using Alex's work in this blog. She granted me permission to write about her.)</span>Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-10760179867002213392019-09-29T12:10:00.000-07:002019-09-29T12:14:05.712-07:00No, you’re not willing to travel.<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-80d3919e-7fff-88a9-fbe1-cb9d5bc159da" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As some of you know, I moderate and lurk around some FB groups for aspiring model parents and I have some strong opinions that come off. If you’ve read this blog, you know that. But now I have a story for you and it’s the perfect example of one of my biggest rules of the road here in the biz:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NO, YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO TRAVEL.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So often I see parents saying they live somewhere quite far from a major market and they always seem to say, “We’re willing to travel!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I say, no way. As an agent, I’ve turned down kids for their distance. And in NYC, the general rule of thumb is you must live within a 2-hour radius for ground transportation. This is important! And the simple reason is: this business is fast-paced and maybe not as glamorous as it seems from afar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here’s my story!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My daughter took some time off from print (about two years) and we jumped back in this fall. She went to her first casting, got a hold, booked it, and was totally confirmed for the shoot the day before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s what’s kind of remarkable about the day of the shoot: my doctor scheduled surgery for me on the very same day and because somehow I am a moron with dates and times, I didn’t realize until about three days ahead of time that these things were both happening on the same day. (See also: book out! See also: keep commitments!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My wife had taken a vacation day to take me to surgery. Makes sense, right? Spouse at the hospital with you? Wellllllll, once I realized both of these things were happening at the same time, I had to figure out a plan. What seemed to make the most sense to keep this commitment was to have my wife take our daughter to the shoot and have my parents take me to the hospital. Easy enough, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Er, imagine you are the spouse — and definitely not a model mom — and you’re given this news. And your she-shed has long since burned down and the playhouse in the backyard is filled with spiders. Kind of rough patch there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok, so we have the booking, the surgery, the wife, the parents… everyone managed to get out of the house and where they needed to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But my wife got to the shoot with our daughter and the shoot was cancelled. Like, that morning. Like, at the start time. Like, no warning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travel? From NWCT to Union City, NJ, during rush hour traffic. Two hours is kind of cute at this point, but we’ve done it for six years and we know that burden is on us — just the actual, realized cost of a self-employed performing artist. It was more like 3/3.5 hrs. And then back home, also at the end of rush-hour traffic. It was a six hour total day for my wife and daughter. And after all that my wife could have been at the hospital with me. (My parents were great; don’t get me wrong; my wife just really wanted to be with me.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now imagine this scenario if you live in, say, Nebraska. I’m guessing you’ve already traveled here for the casting — round-trip plane and probably a night in a hotel, right? Then you book, YAY! So you probably come in a day early and stay overnight… then go to the shoot to find it cancelled. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m now going to add: no one but you pays for your transportation (unless you’ve booked a job that specifically says they will cast nationwide) and even then, that is the JOB and not the casting. And now I’ll add: this was a 4-hr gig that paid a usual NYC hourly. (I won’t get specific because usually agencies don’t want you sharing what that rate is, but it was “typical”.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So not glamorous at all. You’ve done all this and while you can be pissed off at the situation, YOU had no control and you and your agent can certainly say that it really sucks after all that driving that this happened, but I’ll bet there was probably a kid who booked from fifteen minutes away and in reality, who won that competition? Seriously, not me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While it is NOWHERE near common for a client to cancel, 2-3 trips from casting to working is not unusual. There can often be a fitting on a date in-between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now you want your BABY to book something like Gap, Children’s Place, Target, or Carter’s? Babies and toddlers get hired for a 2-hr window. That’s the amount of time dictated by law and what they can actually handle. And that’s $100-$150/hr. Let’s conservatively estimate you could go to a casting, a fitting, and work a gig for your child to earn $250 (minus 20% so, that will be down to $200. Fifteen percent to the trust account is another $37.50 and now a check comes for </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">$162.50</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.) Four plus hour gigs are usually for school-age kids during a school day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still willing to travel? Planes get cancelled, busses break down, cars get stuck in miles of traffic at rush hour, during construction, or if there is an accident. I</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t care what WAZE tells me when I leave the house; it will always add time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Traveling is just not realistic. I’m a firm two hours away in regular traffic but I have to add more for rush hour, UN traffic (last week… ugh), pit stops, and whatever else comes up. Sometimes kids barf.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, you’re not really willing to travel. It sounds like fun — but even all that I described above is if your child </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BOOKS</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! Are you ready to just do casting for long stretches at a time? With no compensation?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unless you are independently wealthy and paying for plane tickets today for a casting tomorrow OR you have a private plane, how could you possibly pull this off? There are so many other wonderful things your child can do if you don’t live close enough. Remember your child is talented, beautiful, and special. Being a child model does not need to be part of that. You cannot have a dream of working at Microsoft for Bill Gates if you have no intention of living near Seattle. And I hope I have convinced you that FINANCIALLY, child modeling is not a job anyone should re-locate for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope everyone has been enjoying the last days of summer and a smooth transition back to school. What’s up? Tell me what you want to know. Follow my page on Facebook where I announce new blog posts (The Bizzy Mama) or my insta @thebizzymama or my daughter’s professional insta @bizzyholland email is thebizzymama@gmail.com</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-84526095713444779602019-05-29T20:55:00.000-07:002019-05-29T21:06:21.833-07:00Submission Photos: Look with Me!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>How Does a Children's Modeling Agent Look at Submission Photos?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">As you may know, I was a print
agent at a great NYC agency for a year in addition to my seven years in the biz
as a model mom. I belong to a few Facebook groups that serve the purpose
of discussing headshots -- what makes a good one, is this a good one, whom do
you recommend, etc. I know my way around a decent headshot, but I’m going
to talk about submission photos now.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Please note: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I often see parents talking about their child’s new headshots when they
are not really headshots… or parents thinking babies need professional
headshots… OR WORSE: anyone in the industry telling you that a baby needs
professional headshots. We are NOT talking about headshots, but at the
type of good cell-phone photos you would be using for submission. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I thought it would be helpful to know what it
is EXACTLY that children’s print agents want to see when you submit your child
for consideration.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">What I’m going to do
here is share what’s going on in my brain when I look at a submission
photo.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(Please note: all of this info is
based on current accepted practice in the NYC children’s print modeling
industry.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This info will NOT carry over
to adults or other divisions of print modeling.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I grabbed a few “stock” photos (these are photos available on the internet for use or purchase, for any purpose; these are NOT children I know and I am presuming all parents involved have signed releases for their children to be used in the images). The stock photos tend to be pretty good, but I picked a few that I can pick apart a little and a few I can praise as submission photos.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">All of these kids are adorable so I am not commenting AT ALL on the “looks” of the child, but rather how I see the submission photo</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Photo “Submission” 1:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Aw, happy first birthday, little
dude! Cake smash and other “styled” photo shoots show up in baby
submissions often. Doesn’t get much cuter, right? Well, a few problems here. What’s the biggest problem? The hat? It’s a problem… but the biggest problem is
that I really have no idea what this child looks like. I need to see a
face -- full on, full-frontal face.
Eyes. They eyes are a key feature
to what draws us into a child. Then, the hat: I don’t know if this baby
has any hair. After all, it is a first
birthday photo, and I need to know what kind of hair this child has for his
age. Overall, save these styled shots for friends and family. First, there is really too much going on here
for me to give this child a good look.
Second, styled shoots like this tend to have a lot of editing/photoshop
so we might be missing some key features.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Photo “submission” 2:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This is the perfect baby submission
photo. Plain background (can be any neutral color like a beige wall or a
grey sofa), simple white onesie, good light on the face, and a clear shot of
exactly what this baby looks like. I even see the baby is sitting up, so
that gives me more information about what the baby can do. If you have a baby or young toddler you would
like to submit to an agency, MEMORIZE this photo! ALSO: this is the type
of photo you should be sending to your agents every 2-3 weeks if you have a
baby in the business. Cannot praise this
photo enough.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This kiddo is pretty cute, but…
right, the hat. I can’t see what’s going on with the hair or head shape.
But what if I threw down this one: Let’s
say I get this photo in May. What does this photo tell me? Ok, it’s at least 5-6 months old. Which means, I have no idea what this baby
looks like NOW.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Today. NEXT!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Photo “submission” 4:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’m really hoping this one is
obvious… but that doesn’t mean we don’t get shots like this all the time! I think she’s cute, but I have no idea
because I have actually already moved on through three other submissions in the
time I would have written this sentence. Never hats; never sunglasses.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Photo “submission” 5:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LT6oSZJWroRYxh2OEur8Kqjf1NvThg7SZFrEovBFK9XBByVI4jfC5W0UUhjf2eH2UweVHiVNGLeIINohpPNXfJg47NTk9OLYz3eJfhVuxXhBqR4TWLZ6vC6kE4PuGwfVww0c0XcF" style="border: none;" width="294" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This is an example of a great
submission photo. Nothing distracting in the background -- just
grass. The simple top is good -- notice
no distracting words or logos -- just a minimal pastel something or other that
blends into the shirt. (I see the girl -- not the design.) This is a happy, natural face with a little
personality -- not a forced grin or squinty eyes in the light. Her hair
is natural, which clients love. My only
issue here is that I want to see a full-length photo as well, but this girl
would get a call for sure.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Photo “submission” 6:</span></div>
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fDYzgViGwoMYauXGAs7O6HMWs3-UVDjZL_rYRSIZk-eCFDlp1sgslaqgcvQP4pN9WiEP7IPtqsU5syWKTYgzNfZ9q-ui1IV4Lx9lS-ex7TzCy8uYS80qGIgvEemT38Wt02DNBua" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fDYzgViGwoMYauXGAs7O6HMWs3-UVDjZL_rYRSIZk-eCFDlp1sgslaqgcvQP4pN9WiEP7IPtqsU5syWKTYgzNfZ9q-ui1IV4Lx9lS-ex7TzCy8uYS80qGIgvEemT38Wt02DNBua" style="border: none;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">So yeah, this happens too.
Especially for girl submissions, I would see a lot of styled photo
shoots. A couple GIANT problems here: do
not send bathing suit photos of your child to anyone, especially anyone seeking
photos of children -- even this type of “innocence” can end up in the wrong
place. Gonna wander off a little here:
You model a bathing suit for Target?
It’s up in Target? Great. But even as your agent I don’t want to be
submitting bathing suit photos of children unless a client well known to me is
asking specifically for the photo. My daughter did an adorable bathing
suit shoot with a really talented Canadian designer (shout out, Danica!) so
there is nothing wrong with that if it’s in your comfort level and you and your
agent is booking you with a vetted client.
NEVER LET YOUR CHILD OUT OF YOUR SIGHT AND ONLY YOU DRESS AND UNDRESS
YOUR YOUNG CHILD.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Ok, back on track here. So no
to the bathing suit in the submission. No to cheesy styled photos -- I
can hardly find the child through all of that seaweed. This child looks
like she has pretty eyes, but upon closer inspection it appears as though her
features have been significantly smoothed out in editing and her eye color may
have been altered as well. I even detect some makeup. NEVER EVER submit a photo of a child wearing
makeup. Real, working child models do
not wear makeup (look at a Children’s Place ad). For some reason, people have an inclination
to make children look older. In child modeling, children should look as
young as possible for as long as possible.
And one more thing: the hair
accessory. Please, no hair
accessories. Maybe a little clip or pin
if you need to keep hair out of a child’s eyes, but don’t do anything that
distracts me from seeing the child’s actual hair or head. You want me to
see your child’s face; not some giant flower bow headband thing.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Photo “submission” 7:</span></div>
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<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OZsGxMqaqceRIqCjYzwZvGNm5DB7lu2oVByQRXJcVIibTtHoGSTMPOh4oAqVeaZLHVmPc09PhUXCUFG-BwiWfyAAx0Hp64XQCqhfRSU55jR8eU4mOC7eP1L8sSdlGe6NXCoF6oo1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OZsGxMqaqceRIqCjYzwZvGNm5DB7lu2oVByQRXJcVIibTtHoGSTMPOh4oAqVeaZLHVmPc09PhUXCUFG-BwiWfyAAx0Hp64XQCqhfRSU55jR8eU4mOC7eP1L8sSdlGe6NXCoF6oo1" style="border: none;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Let’s pretend a parent actually
submitted this. This is a RULE-FOLLOWER!
Plain background, solid tshirt, the child is looking at the camera with
a natural expression, and nice light. This is what you are aiming
for. If you are submitting a toddler,
memorize this picture! Full-frontal face
and good focus also make this a winner.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
So, let’s review the rules. I even made a handy checklist for your
convenience!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><img height="280" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/hUNzsMKNY0pmAOhplLXCHm7nyDJQpfRAtiP6tD709okLvZ-d9Q2qZakIsnj2lmdvm-3LH3OdAookrOc83XRgQszu4EyliglBRvlPGUnxDqg1HScFwtlu82z98FaJBF4WzHwjxiBj" style="border: none;" width="624" /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next time, let's talk about something else that's VERY important about your submission. Hint: No, you're not willing to travel.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks for reading! Please respond here, via email at thebizzymama@gmail.com, or on The Bizzy Mama facebook page. Also, check out my Instagram @thebizzymama and my daughter's public account, @bizzyholland </span></span></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-75162350375008615512019-05-03T14:34:00.002-07:002019-05-03T14:34:41.372-07:00Are GIANT castings worth it?<br />
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Well hello! It’s been a while!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m 100% back on the parent end of things
after spending a rewarding and very fast-paced year as a print agent in NYC and
another year dealing with some annoying health issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to be able to share some of my “double
wisdom” from being on both sides of the desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I may even repeat some older topics with some greater emphasis – we’ll
see!<o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s one thing I’ll throw out there right away: while I
was working as an agent, the business itself was pretty much exactly as I
imagined it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My intuitions and insights
as a savvy parent kept me grounded in day-to-day operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few surprises, but nothing too major.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also walked into the agency with some
pretty good insight in to industry parents (from my own interactions) and
parents in general (from my teaching career).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This leads to where I’m going with this post:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Are giant castings worth it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1U3izLO8zC9far3Lt3G_B0bjTIw_ZFfd2MHDoi3hU2i0wH1GXSoQebTWau99H2HAyY7IL1r__3XvTx12rrnus02kjW_URqhdG4q5xovhJofCzQioVp3hJ5L0F5XghyPcFFWK2NaqTJTO/s1600/cows-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1024" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1U3izLO8zC9far3Lt3G_B0bjTIw_ZFfd2MHDoi3hU2i0wH1GXSoQebTWau99H2HAyY7IL1r__3XvTx12rrnus02kjW_URqhdG4q5xovhJofCzQioVp3hJ5L0F5XghyPcFFWK2NaqTJTO/s320/cows-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There are as many types of castings for print work as there
are clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each client seems to have
its own slight variation on their typical casting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve taken my daughter to the giant two-hour
plus waits and to meet one-on-one with a client in her design studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some castings are done with a lot of back and
forth photos and maybe a video clip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are so many submissions and direct castings that you don’t even
know about happening on a daily basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But we all know the ones that stand out are the ones most parents refer
to as “cattle calls” which are usually still request castings – just giant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Cattle calls are typically not request castings
but maybe open to entire breakdowns and sometimes even open to the
public.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are so big they go over
two or three days, dividing up ages or agencies to spread out the volume of
kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some actually try to see a zillion
kids in one day (or maybe 400+).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Usually the name of the client is pretty exciting, so
parents will gladly hop on board the casting train, excited about the
opportunity regardless of the hassle of whatever wait there will be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Will they complain?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least to each other?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also want to remind parents or let you know if you’re not part of this
loop: one of the NYC CDs who holds the biggest castings advertises her
breakdowns online so any unrepresented parent can submit (emphasis on unrepresented
– she does NOT like it if you submit AND your agent submits, so DO NOT do it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever this CD posts, agents will
invariably receive 5-10 emails that day from parents asking if you submitted
their child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes; yes we did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So there’s this parent (clues seem to indicate it’s a dad
who’s relatively new to the industry) who thinks he can shake up the industry
by encouraging parents to refuse large castings because “there has to be
another way.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If all the parents refuse
the large castings, then maybe they just won’t happen anymore!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, the goal is to end large castings
and have everything done via photo submission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cute, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I didn’t know about this little movement until a friend
pointed it out to me and, well, I have some thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of them!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s my first reaction: you know when you have a job in a
company or group and things go pretty well so you decide to take on another
employee?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you get this new employee
right out of whatever school and that person comes in and points out everything
he/she thinks should be done differently after like, a week on the job?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sense this is what we have here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can have the best job ever but still have
to write the TPS report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or muck out the
stalls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or track down the non-compliant
patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those things are always
going to suck and no matter what, you’ve tried it all, there just isn’t another
way to do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think back
to your initial meeting with your agent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We told you there could be direct castings, in-person castings, and
giant castings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We said pack for the day
– snacks, changes of clothes, toys, comfy shoes, and be ready to hurry up and
wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And chances are, once you’ve been
with your agent for a couple of seasons, you’ve done them all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I want to emphasize something: you need
to know that when you go to a casting, you will be meeting with a casting
director, a production team, the actual client, or a photographer – or any
combination of one or more of those people/teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chances are, if it’s a giant casting, you’re
with a CD and a production team or photographer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re going to a callback, then the
actual client might be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So just tuck
that into your mind so you know the cast of characters and that different
castings may actually be with different people.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How does a giant casting work on the agent’s end?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would get the breakdown, which tells the
genders, sizes, and probably height ranges of kids needed for the campaign or
project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would then put together a
sampler (generated by our website) of everyone who fits that breakdown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we would sort for all boy babies, 9-12mos,
size 12 mos and create a sampler for that and make a link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CD would click on the link and see our babies
that fit those specifications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would
make a link for every breakdown and package that all together in one email to
the CD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a week or so (or maybe even
a day, depends on the CD’s timeline), we get a list of requests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THEN we send the requests with all the job
info to the parents, get confirms (track down confirms as well) and send the
confirms and unavails (you should have booked out!) to the CD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That cycle continues back and forth through
the callback.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just want to remind you
of something and this is a fact and not an “oh poor me” – the only time agents
get paid is when kids book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, all of
this is done with the goal of having up-to-date info, great photos, and
cooperative parents BECAUSE WE WANT YOU TO BOOK.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But “there has to be a better way” guy wants some reasons
why CDs/clients still hold these castings when they are sooooo inconvenient and
torturous to little ones and their parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s get this one out of the way: these people are not early childhood
advocates and it’s not their job to be sure little Simon is happy and
entertained during a giant casting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not their job to make sure nap times are upheld or you didn’t have to put
little Tina in a car for too long and pay a lot in tolls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are wandering into THEIR business where
they assume you are ready, willing, and able to take part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may see 400 kids today and 200 adults
the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their job is to pick
people who are right for their project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No more; no less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note that this
is different on set – usually there are more plans in place to keep kids
cooperative and relaxed during a shoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is where the wranglers come in.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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But here are some very practical reasons why castings of any
size are not going anywhere (because someone wanted a list):<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A lot of kids do not look like their
photos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are not always up-to-date (AT
A MINIMUM: babies need to be every two weeks; toddlers every 3-4 months; school-age
every 6 months… and when you get to six or so and up, pro pics are great BUT we
all know they are styled and edited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really,
though, great snaps need to be added regularly – ideally, once a month.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Can the kid handle the photo shoot, or is a
little one super clingy and shy?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->If it’s an older child, is the child surly or
bratty?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Parents are not reliable about size
updates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry – they just are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even when they are, a measurement at a
casting never seems to match any other casting or what we have on file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s not something we can argue
with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(UPDATE SIZES MONTHLY!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Is the parent a hot mess and someone you don’t
want on your set?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->How does the kid’s hair look in person?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the texture like?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What types of looks can be styled with that
type of hair?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Does the vibe of the kid match the brand?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The agent only sent one pic – from the chest
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does the child look like
full-length?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those were just off the top of my head in the morning,
before coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dude comes back with:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p>"As for the kids’ behavior,
disposition, parents’ behavior, etc., isn’t that for the agents to know these
things about their talent and then the casting director putting trust in the
agency to sift out the ones that wouldn’t work out?"<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, perfect world, yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And an agent is not going to send anyone who is difficult to work
with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as parents, we know that
kids change on a dime and they may have been totally cooperative a week ago and
now they are going through a new phase. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may have a baby who booked everything at
nine months and now that she’s eleven months, she’s impossible to work with because
she just started walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many times
have you met with your agent?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were you not
on your best behavior?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know we
rejected gorgeous kids who seemed impossible at the initial meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But agents do not see their kids very
often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With our daily load of work to book
jobs, seek new clients, create samplers, meet new models, we simply cannot meet
with our kids more than once a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
rely on parents to tell us when the kiddos are “not into it” or at an impossible
age – and unfortunately, sometimes we will find out the hard way when things
don’t go well on a job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We DO NOT WANT
THAT – because it makes us look bad and it puts the client in a position of
having to pay a kid they couldn’t work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we’ve had difficult parents blackballed from brands because maybe
they were having one bad day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’ll tell
you all about my daughter’s COLOSSALLY bad audition in another post.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I also used this analogy: I would not hire a contractor to
do an expensive job on my house without meeting him/her/them first no matter
how highly recommended that contractor is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hiring 15 models for a few days’ project ends up being big money for
that client.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they want to meet the
kids first, they are entitled.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Anyway, this parent who is starting this movement says that
things will change if parents refuse to go to big castings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few more pearls of wisdom for you: if you
refuse castings when you are not booked out, that’s a great way to get
dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a different agent is willing
to pick you up afterwards, go ahead and try that again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can predict how each office in NYC would
respond to that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you refuse, I can
find three parents and children thrilled to replace you – because agents can
sometimes make a couple of replacements in these circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also probably have a few hundred
submissions in the inbox I haven’t gotten to yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need kids on my roster who will book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You refuse castings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re not booking… so… next.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But – are the giant castings actually worth it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kids book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are kids who go
to the same CD and client and book on the fifth time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Never.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe they will not book one
client with that CD but will book a different client with that CD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe a kid will book one division (say, a
circular) from big castings but never book another division (like store signage).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just part of the whole scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some smooth and simple castings and some that
are huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may even hit one that’s
small BUT you still wait two hours!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
just never know.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Remember, you have chosen this industry for your child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think if you read through my blog posts you
will see over and over and over that THIS IS A BUSINESS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your child is passing through a business that
has been around a very long time and will be there for a very long time when
your child is done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have agreed to
the travel, the tolls, the parking, the waiting, and the inconveniences of
wrestling around a busy city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
many joys and certainly – like any job – many pains in the butt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if the business if not for you,
gracefully bow out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your child is not
entitled to a smooth casting for every brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everyone wants that, but things happen – there are going to be
doozies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not youth soccer where
everyone plays, you can go to the coach or board with complaints about playing
time, or the hours of the concession stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You should be incredibly fortunate that your child has the chance to
participate in this industry – I participate in national advocacy programs for
child models and actors and there are parents and children everywhere would do
anything to be close enough to a major market to participate – and they do some
pretty stupid things thinking they are getting a real shot at this business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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So maybe turn the table a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be grateful and endure the challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know what’s best for your child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this isn’t it, so be it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t know all the ins and outs of a
business, don’t think you can jump onto the scene and make a great movement to
change it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s really not realistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re really bent on sticking it to the
man, may I recommend taking on DMV in Connecticut?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Check out my Instagram for dog and family and some modeling/acting
posts @thebizzymama or my daughter’s @bizzyholland and follow the Bizzy Mama
facebook page (I announce new posts there) or feel free to comment here or
email at <a href="mailto:thebizzymama@gmail.com">thebizzymama@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-24338829853018836222017-10-29T16:13:00.002-07:002017-10-29T16:13:53.387-07:00From the agent side! No punishment...no spite.<div class="MsoNormal">
The Bizzy Mama is just a different mama now. Still Bizzy…still a mama…so what’s new? Well, my daughter has slowed down in the
biz. She’s busier with her own stuff now
and has wanted to stay closer to home doing camp (in the summer) and tennis,
ballet (including the Nutcracker – and all of the various foul-language
versions it earns the closer we get to the performance), Girl Scouts, softball
and other kid stuff like birthday parties.
BUT: she still wants to be a movie star and a model, so once a month or
so she’ll still want an audition. It’s
nice to dabble a little on that side without the full drop-everything-and-run schedule we used to have.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what is the Bizzy Mama doing every day? I’m an agent now, y’all. Yup.
Full-fledged. So now I can write
to you knowing the business backwards and forwards – inside and out. And really: stop the presses NOT – I don’t
have any major revelations for you. What
I can do is 100% answer your questions honestly and truly. And the one that so many parents seem to want
answered…Do agents punish parents/kids (for whatever reason)?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d like to put an interlude in before the actual answer (an
imagine me nudging a colleague and saying this under my breath) “Do they even
know how we make money?” If a kid who
can book the job is not put forth to casting or the client and we don’t book
the job, we don’t make money.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Actually, I’m going to put in another interlude.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was in my first few weeks as an agent, people kept
asking me how different it was on the other side. I shrugged my shoulders often and said it
really wasn’t *that* much different than what I expected – I felt that I had a
really good handle on the business.
(Emphasis on business.) I’m
observant; I tend to absorb as much as possible; I soak it all in; I learn what
I can. What actually DID surprise me,
though, was the extent to which the agencies need to hustle to get
bookings. And this really shouldn’t have
surprised me – I was just somewhat oblivious to the competition out there. Beautiful kids galore, happy agents,
right? Well, sure, but it’s like any
other “agency” or brokerage – be it realtors, auto dealerships, travel
agents. They all have perfectly
wonderful things to offer but ultimately a client needs to make a choice. And that’s the way it is among the child
modeling agencies – there are a good handful of solid, reputable agencies in
NYC and they all have hard-working agents and gorgeous kids. Clients only need so many for their
projects. Try as we might, we cannot
really convince Gap or Amazon to increase the number of kids they may book to
make it all go around “so it’s fair” (ugh, jeeeez, now there’s another blog
post). It is, as they say, what it
is. Bottom line: we compete.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So if you do something YOU THINK pisses us off – or ACTUALLY
pisses us off – are we going to punish you?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I’m not going to speak for any other agents, but I’m
probably pretty safe in speaking from the perspective of a sane business person
who needs to make money: I’m a professional.
I am not going to “punish” you.
If you do something inappropriate, I am going to tell you. If I think it means we cannot work together,
I will warn you about that and we will come to an understanding about how to go
forward. If it really breaches our
professional relationship, I will cut you loose. Otherwise, we will move on and I will
continue to represent your kid just as zealously as I did yesterday. Because I need to make money and I get that
is the reason we are all here. But I
will not play games because I do not have the time nor the energy (nor,
frankly, the brain cells – I am an aging woman) for that and I hope you will
not spend any time thinking, “Did I do something wrong? Why haven’t I heard from them?” if we haven’t emailed you recently. (Hashtag office coffee fund: pay a dollar
every time a parent writes, “We haven’t heard from you – I hope I didn’t do
something wrong!”)<o:p></o:p></div>
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No, no, no, parents.
We want to work in partnership with you.
We need your updates and photos and cute stories from vacations. If you were 15 minutes late to a casting that
one time because of an accident on the West Side Highway, WE GET IT. You called and you let us know and when
casting called, we were on top of it.
That ONE TIME you didn’t book out even though you have been perfect
about booking out for TWO YEARS? Ok, ok,
maybe we’ll say “Please don’t forget to book out at least two weeks in advance
next time!” but we PROMISE that is NOT going to stop us from submitting your
child every time we get that breakdown.
There are even really bad things you can do that might not make us
punish you – and I’m not even going to say what those are because I don’t want
you to think you can get away with them – but the bottom line is, we don’t
punish you. If your kid is capable of
booking a job – WHICH IS WHY WE SIGNED YOUR KID – we will not stop submitting
your child for jobs. Because this goes
back to the whole business thing and making money thing. “Punishing” you -- that is spite. And spite does not run a business. Spite does not pay the rent, does not put gas
in my tank, and does not buy my child’s dance shoes. So until spite takes the form of currency, it
has no place in business.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
What will stop me from submitting your child for jobs? If you ignore emails and phone calls and I’m
not sure if I can reach you or not.
(It’s not punishing you – I can’t count on you, so I can’t risk being
unreliable for a client.) If you don’t
send photo and size updates on a regular basis.
(I have no idea if I am submitting you for the right breakdowns – again,
I need to be reliable for a client.)
There’s nothing more puzzling that going a few months without hearing
from a parent and then reading them ask if things are slow and why they haven’t
gotten anything lately…what am I ALWAYS going to write back? “Please send us updated sizes and photos so
we can make sure we are submitting ___ for the right jobs.” We’re thrilled to hear from you – and I wish
we had the time to reach out to each of you each month and do the legwork
ourselves…but as I used to tell my students when they were clueless about their
homework assignments, they have 6 teachers a day to keep track…versus me having
125 students a day to keep track of.
Now, as an agent, it’s even a little more than that. (But I promise, no one just like your child.) Bottom line: be 100% reachable when we
contact you, let us know when you are not available, and keep up-to-date with
sizes and photos. If you drop off the
face of the earth, I will stop submitting your kid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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So no, we don’t punish you.
We can’t operate on spite. There
will be slow patches, and it’s probably no one’s fault other than just a
lull...season, size, which clients are in town, which kids are top bookers in
the industry right now…did a butterfly flap its wings in a rain forest
somewhere…and we really do want to work together. We’ve got this.<o:p></o:p></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-34198552269249108722017-01-22T17:54:00.001-08:002017-01-22T17:57:38.597-08:00Managing Those School Absences<div class="MsoNormal">
Welcome to the first Bizzy Mama blog post under for which I
have a new perspective: the AGENCY! I
have to say, though, I think I could have given the agency perspective on this
one already. Remember how I always say
to remember that this is a BUSINESS?<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, thinking about BUSINESS, it only makes total sense to
write about school and absences and your child’s job as a model/performer. Right?
The thing is: somehow it does need to all come together. Because that is the reality. Your kid is a kid, who probably goes to
school (of which some form is required by our society), AND your kid works in a
legitimate, fast-paced and high-expectations business. Making it all work can be a challenge, but it
can be done. It depends on a few things.<o:p></o:p></div>
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First, I’ll get this out of the way. By having a school-age child and signing on
to be a model/actor, you are accepting the fact that school absences will
occur. Unless you are in this ONLY for the
summer, school absences are inevitable.
You really cannot have it both ways.
So accept that fact outright, and decide your game plan. I’ve heard parents say things like, “Well, if
they want to work with kids, they need to understand that school comes
first!” Unfortunately, modeling and
performing fit into a mostly Monday-Friday, workday schedule. For all of the adults in the business
(production teams, photographers, stylists, etc.), it’s their job – and they
operate according to a typical work schedule.
(I say “typical”, but there are shoots that occur on weekends and holidays,
so I don’t want to make blanket statements.)
If your kid can’t work because of school – another kid can. And I don’t mean to be mean by this – it’s
just the way of the business. If school
absences are not acceptable for you, consider summer work or whether or not
this is the right business for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I would say the most significant factor in pulling it off –
achieving that balance for a kid who manages both work and school – is: <dramatic pause> YOU. The parent.
How you deal with everyone in the equation will make all the difference
in the world when it comes to the great balancing act. First, consider yourself a role model. How do you present yourself in situations at
school with teachers and administrators?
I will tell you 100% what NEVER EVER EVER to say. Do not say this. I taught high school for twenty years and I
can tell you this is SUPER irritating.
Never say: “Will my child be missing anything next week?” or “Did my
child miss anything important yesterday?”
YES, your child missed/will miss important things. School is important; there may be some days
more exciting than others; it’s all valuable.
Think about how to rephrase that.
“My son will need to miss some class time next week; what can I do with
him to help him stay on track with his classmates?” maybe add something like, “I know you may not
have time to put together work in advance, but I’d love to know what you’re
working on in math/science/social studies so I can help keep him on track as
much as possible. I’ll check in again at
the end of the week for any suggestions you may have.” So what you’ve done there is show the appropriate
respect for school and the teacher, you’ve shown initiative to make up some of
the gap between makeup work and class time, and you’ve committed yourself to
communicating and keeping that communication open. Human perspective: you are totally respectful
and realize you’re in a collaborative situation. You’ve agreed to take on some of this
yourself and not burden others with your child’s extraordinary needs. Very importantly, you’re not treating the
teacher like some sort of learning servant.
(That was the worst. I’m all for
professionalism and expectations that your child has a great teacher, but when
I would get these demanding letters about a kid needing a week’s worth of work
because he’s going to Aruba right before mid-term exams, I would basically hate
you. No, I was not going to take
significant time away from my other 124 students to make sure your pampered
prince had a packet of work HE WOULD NEVER DO ANYWAY.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can say without fail that in any walk of life, you get
more flies with honey. The sweeter and more
gracious you are, people will be much more willing to work with you. Thus, the reverse is true: if you are a total
pain in the ass, you will get nowhere.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here’s where I’m going to come in with the agency
perspective. If you need to focus on school BOOK OUT. If you know your child has a pressing
engagement – of any sort – bust especially in school, please book out in
advance. And you know what the school
calendar is – if there is a week of state testing that your child cannot miss,
book out. Mom perspective now: “We haven’t been busy with work much lately,
so we don’t book out and just chance it.”
We’ve allllll done this. And most
of the time it works out just fine – we get where we need to be. But it will never fail that the ONE TIME YOU
DIDN’T BOOK OUT, a casting or job will come and…what are you going to do? Your agent needs to know if you are available
or NOT. You can’t get a casting today
for tomorrow at 3:00 and say you can’t pull your kid from school. Remember, you’ve accepted your child will be
missing school and you should be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Once an agent has to go back and tell casting
your kid cannot make it, it’s a real drag.
Sure, we know things are going to come up. Especially in the winter, kids get sick left
and right or weather takes a sudden turn for the worse, but these occurrences
must be the exception and not the rule.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The school district itself is an important piece in this
puzzle. Some districts are very content
to allow the absences, especially when the parent makes every effort to keep
the transitions in and out of the classroom as smooth as possible. The less you show up on the radar, the
better. This goes back to the whole
how-you-handle-it thing. I would say
that districts closer to the hub of NYC are probably more understanding. (Disclaimer: I can only offer advice for the
NY market. I have no idea how things
work in other markets!) The farther you
get from the city, the harder it is, both because the districts may never have
had industry kids or just the sheer challenge of distance. More on that in a bit. But you need to know that there are state
laws about absences and how they are excused and how many are allowed. For example, Connecticut (where I live) allows
ten unexcused absences. Modeling and a
lot of one-day acting projects – in general – are going to fall into that
category. An absence can be excused by
the district for some sort of amazing cultural learning opportunity, and I
pulled that card when my daughter missed a day to shoot a pilot with a director
who had just won an Oscar the year before.
(Side note: the pilot was not picked up, so…yeah. But cool experience!) But literally, that’s the kind of “reach” it
has to be – and it’s up to the Superintendent’s discretion, so you can’t really
play that extreme cultural opportunity card to go shoot for a toy catalog. Illness, however, can be excused, so every
time your child is legitimately ill, be sure to document that specifically in
your own records or get a doctor’s note – that way, none of those illnesses
will cut into those magic ten absences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now here’s some inside scoop (teacher perspective). I learned that it’s very difficult for a
district to deny a child credit or advancement if they don’t have a regular
practice of doing it. So, let’s say your
child had 18 unexcused absences from working.
The school threatens to deny your child credit for the year. If your district has a no history of doing
this for children (here’s the catch: educational records are PRIVATE and you
would have almost no way of knowing how it handles other kids’ absences), it
would be very difficult to suddenly “make an example” of a child. If your district is always a fascist about
this, you have very little recourse. But
it’s a Catch-22: you don’t know what they usually do, so you need to play your
cards right. However, if you missed more
than the limit last year and they suddenly change their tune, you kind of know
how they handled it last year and maybe you don’t have to worry as much. Here again is why it’s important to keep on
top of the work and keep the communication open: if your child is doing well,
it’s harder to initiate these types of clamp-downs on kids. Beware, though, that with all of the
electronic record-keeping that schools do, there may be an automatic letter or
phone call from the social worker when absences get near the limit. And yes, we have received both. How did I handle it? First, I knew the letter was automatic and
required by law that they notify me…so I didn’t specifically respond. Absences noted. Thank you.
When I got the phone call, I thanked the social worker for the update
and assured her I was aware of the situation, promised to provide documentation
for the excused absences, and make sure my daughter was doing well. And that’s all I had to say – there was no
grand inquisition. In fact, in a later
and unrelated conversation with the social worker, I joked that the whole conversation
sounded like she was reading from a script.
She admitted that, essentially, she was running down a list of things
she was required to say. So don’t take
it personally – let the school do what they need to do, and graciously thank
them for their concern and remind them that you always want a good partnership
between home and school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Am I saying to suck up?
Yes, I am telling you to suck up.
You’re causing them more work (for both the classroom teacher and the
administration) and you need to think of it from their perspective: this is a
pain in the neck for them. They probably
have some really annoying and ugly conversations with parents, and I’m willing
to bet that person who called you dreaded getting on the phone with
parents. Not everyone is as nice as you
are!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why do schools care so much – don’t parents always know
better when it comes to these decisions?
Well, first, their job is to educate your child to the best of their
ability, and they want to do it well.
Next, schools are actually rated and judged – by the state and federal
government – on attendance rates. I’m
not entirely sure about the funding being based on attendance rates; I think it’s
true but I’m not entirely sure how that works on a day-by-day basis. Usually the attendance rate on one specific
day is requested by the government, and the school must report the attendance
percentage. If that number is low in
relation to similar schools or the state/national average, it can mean
penalties for the school in terms of reporting requirements or future
funding. Remember No Child Left
Behind? I honestly have no clue how much
of that law is still intact, but that single attendance statistic was something
upon which a school could be deemed “failing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next question I often get is, “Should I lie and say my
kid is sick?” No. Don’t lie.
I say my child has an appointment.
If they ask, I say it’s a casting or a shoot. Lying will only bite you in the butt in the
long run. You don’t need to divulge all
the gory details, but they will ultimately end up knowing why your kid was
absent. And as a matter of moral and
ethical principle, I don’t think you should put your child in a position of
having to lie. If someone asks your kid
where he/she was yesterday and you tell your kid to lie…? No.
Just don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And another “what if”:
What if your child suddenly isn’t doing well and the school is saying
the absences are having an effect or your kiddo’s performance? For heaven’s sake, pull your kid from
modeling and performing. Contact the agency. Book out until further notice. Reconsider when the performance has
improved. Period. This is not debatable in my mind. There is no argument that modeling/performing
can be a better experience than performing well in school. Can it be an excellent experience for a child
in addition to strong school performance?
Yes. But in place of? NO WAY.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll come in now from the agent perspective. Is it realistic to tell the agency you can
only make castings and bookings after school?
Not really. Castings for
school-age children DO tend to start at 3:00, and I think that is pretty
standard. Here’s where distance comes
in: if you live far from the city, like we do, most castings require an early
dismissal. I’ve taken that on and accept
it as part of the business, just like the absences. Do I think it’s fair to refuse a random
casting that does pop up smack in the middle of a school day? Yes, I think that’s reasonable because it’s
rare enough that it won’t make a huge dent in the big picture of casting. I would not bite your head off. As an agent, I would ask casting that my school-age
kids be scheduled after 3:00 pm, and hope for the best. But can you request that bookings only be
after school? No. Bookings occur during regular business hours,
and that’s why you are in the business – to work according the standard
operating procedures of the industry. There’s no way of knowing the exact time your
child will shoot when he or she is submitted (sometimes months) in advance of a
shoot. If I know that you are
unavailable until 3:00, I probably cannot chance getting you booked for a 10:00
am shoot in four weeks – and knowing I would have to decline the booking with
the client. Bookings are the grand prize
in this business, and we have to do everything possible to secure them – not risk
losing them. There are some clients out
there who are somewhat mindful of school and may schedule older kids later in
the day so they can get in some school, BUT – big picture – they schedule the
kids according to what makes the most sense to production’s schedule.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m going to circle back to my big advice here. Be gracious, be sweet, and work your tail off
to keep your kid on track for doing well.
Obviously if you get a long booking or are going to be working on a
major on-camera project, the whole game changes. There will be set teachers and state and
union requirements for daily school work, and that’s a different story. I hope I addressed the overall concern about occasional
work-related school absences from my multiple perspectives...let me know if you need any more info!<o:p></o:p></div>
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As always, follow my Bizzy Mama facebook page where I
announce new posts, feel free to respond on Backstage, shoot me an email at <a href="mailto:thebizzymama@gmail.com">thebizzymama@gmail.com</a>, or check out
my silly pet and family pics on IG @thebizzymama. I work for Take 3 Talent now, so you can
check out their website at <a href="http://www.take3talent.com/">www.take3talent.com</a>
for more agency info.<o:p></o:p></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-16142719071958499822017-01-01T11:31:00.002-08:002017-01-01T11:31:21.613-08:00Should my child do...freebies?<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok. Deeeep
breath. I’ve been threatening to do this
one for a long time…and I think it’s finally time. For a couple of reasons. More on that to come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s the freebie blog post.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not touching Pay-to-Work here – see my posts from last
year for that. This is all about working
for free…or for trade (goods/products).
I have heard a range of opinions on this. And by range, I mean parents, agents,
photographers, designers, etc. It is not
a topic many people are ambivalent about.
I will say this: you know whose opinion I really haven’t heard? The kids’.
I really haven’t asked any kids how it feels to work for free. So, I’m going to try to take the kids’
position in this. (But realistically, we
know that involves a large dose of parent as well.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here goes:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Should my child work for free?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s just do a quick disclaimer: I’m not going to be a
hypocrite. We have done them. I am not even going to say 100% never will we
do one again, because there may be some circumstances (which I will explain)
where an unpaid job might be a good move.
But I’m going to say, at this point in our career and lives: no, we won’t
do unpaid jobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, there is a lot of grey area when we start thinking
about what, exactly, is a job. If your friend
designs toys and they want to do a photoshoot for their Etsy page, is that
something you should say no to? You
probably think it’s a no-brainer – why not?!?
It’s your friend! Of course you would
volunteer your kid! And if you say no,
you’re being a douche, right? Well…if
your child is a professional model, is it ok for a friend to use your kid for
his or her professional abilities for free?
Here are some ways to think about this, and I’ll let you decide for
yourself. If you are a physician, and
your friend has every symptom of strep on a Sunday and just can’t deal with the
walk-in, would you write a Rx? What
about when your friend throws out his back and just wants a few Oxy? And next week it’s happening again. OK, so maybe that is an extreme example. It’s your friend, and that was a big jump
there with that analogy. Now you’re a
plumber, and your friend’s sink is clogged on a holiday. Happy to help. Now your friend is adding on a couple of
rooms, and is asking you for a week’s worth of free work because you’re
friends, after all…you’d be saying no to paid work that week, and it would be a
week without any earnings…not just a week when you’d be home hanging out. Or maybe it IS a week when you’d be home
hanging out. Slow period; why not
help? But your friend across town now
knows you did that huge free job for one pal, why not him too?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Self-employed people and professionals with special skills
(electricians, mechanics, lawyers, accountants) GET this. They know what it’s like to be asked all the
time for stuff for free/favors/etc. And
I’m going to do it – here it comes – photographers know what this is like. Everyone who knows you wants a deal, a break,
a discount…and those professional and personal lines get blurred real fast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Have I asked my physician friends a quick medical
question? Sure. Have I asked my attorney friends a quick
legal question? Yup. Here’s where I draw the line and where the
line should be drawn: if I need treatment or expertise for which that person
would ordinarily be compensated, I probably wouldn’t ask. And if I did?
I would offer to compensate appropriately. I would show that person that I place a value
on their services. It is THEN up to that
person to say no, we’re buddies – I got ya this time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why, suddenly, are children out of the whole equation in
their professional capacity and their need to be valued for actual work they
perform?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hey, mom: I’m looking at you. Is this kid at the photo shoot for YOU or for
the kid? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am just as guilty of this as anyone else. Yes, I have brought my daughter to photo
shoots because I wanted the photos. I
wanted the experience; I wanted to see the pictures; I liked the photographer; I
wanted to hang out with other moms; what have you. Now, however, my daughter sees modeling as
work. And she knows she gets paid, and
pretty much does it because it’s a fairly fun way to make money. (Our big issue now is the commute – when she
was little and could be entertained with an iPhone for the whole time, it was
no biggy. Now that car time means
missing playtime in the neighborhood and all that good stuff. But if she wants money toward something, she
knows she has the option to actually work.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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The types of shoots I am talking about are shoots that are
usually done for emerging designers, who may want to show their garments at a
trade show, and want a look book or some magazine ads to promote their
brand. In many cases, these emerging
designers are working on a tight budget.
I am not going to pretend that these are people sitting on piles of
money just to deprive small children of a pittance. (Although those designers do exist, and there
comes a time when you’re doing well enough to pay – so do it.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can assure you – however – in most cases, those
photographers are getting paid. So the
studio gets the fair going rate, the photographer gets the fair going rate, the
hair/makeup person gets the fair going rate.
Your kid? Well, there’s no
shortage of people willing to work for free, so there is really no demand to
pay the kids. You see this on Facebook
all. The. Time. Photographers and stylists hold Facebook
castings, where they post what they are looking for and parents post a pic and
info about their kid in the comments.
The client/designer looks through the comments and picks the kids they
like based on the photos and info.
Casting: done.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, there are photographers and stylists out there in
facebook-land that I happen to like very much who do this. They know how I feel and I respect their
position. For the most part, they
believe that everyone in the equation should benefit: meaning, if everyone gets
some kind of good compensation, whether it be money, products, or photos, it
can be fair all around. And for the
parents who do freebies, I think this is where they fall on the continuum. They get the dress or the shoes or whatever,
and their kid gets some photos and experience, and they go merrily on their way
home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Re-read what I wrote above about the plumbers and the
physicians.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In New York and California, child modeling and performing
are regulated by labor laws and, as such, there are rights, responsibilities
and protections that must be integrated into the working conditions and payment
structure. For example, in New York, 15%
of the child’s gross earnings need to be deposited into a trust account, and
children must have a permit signed off on by their physician and school
official. The law doesn’t specify
whether a job is paid or not – so these requirements apply to ALL child
modeling. If you your child is doing a
freebie job or getting paid in clothes, what are you going to deposit? How is your principal (who signed off on that
permit) going to feel about your child missing school for – essentially – for doing
a favor for a designer (whom you probably never met before).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Maybe I’m coming down a little strong on this. So now I will offer you a couple of scenarios
when doing a freebie or an unpaid job may not be the worst idea in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Your agent might recommend one. Test shoots or editorial work may be
opportunities with top industry photographers that could truly benefit your
child. An agent may set up a test shoot
for you to get photos for your submissions, and you won’t pay/get paid but you
will get actual value added to your marketability. Some agencies do this for older kids just
starting out who may need more than a snapshot for submissions, while babies
and younger kids can get along for a while with great snapshots until they have
tearsheets for submissions. An agent may
recommend your child for an editorial shoot, which is when a top-tier
photographer borrows clothes for a creative shoot (using the photographer’s and
stylist’s visions, as opposed to the client’s vision on a paid shoot) to be
submitted for magazine publication – and here, the quality of the magazine
matters. The types of shoots that could
benefit your child in this case would be publications like Babiekins, Vogue
Bambini, or La Petite – essentially advertiser (not purchase-price) supported
publications that are available from news or booksellers. High quality industry stuff. This is not to say all agents support this –
it depends on the agent, so it might be handy to know your agent’s opinion on
this. Some editorial work is actually
paid – but it’s a very low rate.
Parent-centered magazines pay less than $100/hour, but they are usually
great photos so agents work with them.
My daughter once did a shoot for Elle Italia kids’ edition, and it paid
something like $150/day for a full on-location day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It may be worth it to do one or two freebies early in your
career to get a couple of good tearsheets to use for submissions – but this is
REALLY risky. And here’s why. If the photographer is unknown in the
industry, or not one that agents particularly enjoy, even getting payment “in
photos” is useless to your child’s career.
If the photos aren’t useful, you can’t say the same things I hear over
and over: “it’s to build the portfolio / gain exposure / etc.” Your agent may not want to use or see those
photos at all. If the photos themselves
are good quality, the clothing or styling may be wrong for your child’s look –
and again, useless for submissions. Just
because your child is modeling something does not make the work professional
model-quality. AND, if those photos end
up “out there” on social media or at trade shows, they might actually make your
child less marketable if they turn out badly.
(And frankly, this is a risk you take that you will only realize once the photos are released!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Maybe you don’t have an agent and this is your only way to
model. Well, go back to what I’ve
written above. The photos could be
useless, there are labor regulations for any kid working (represented or not)
and you are assuming all of those same negative outcomes regardless.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Designers and photographers aren’t going to like this post –
and I’m sorry, but I am not here to defend your interests. This is about the kids. Would a professional photographer do a shoot
for a designer in exchange for several garments? Highly doubtful. If a designer has a low budget, consider
whether you can afford live models at this phase in your career. You can hire a great photographer to
photograph your clothes without kids.
Or, you can come up with a nominal affordable fee (try $100/hr), hire 2
or 3 kids, and make the shoot as efficient as possible: two hours. (It’s no coincidence that freebie shoots
often go on forever: there is no imperative to stay on a by-the-hour model
budget!) Don’t do it on a weekday and expect kids to miss school for your
shoot. Have every bit of styling drawn
out ahead of time, ask the kids to come with their hair the way you want it, and
skip any makeup or grand concepts. Back
to my analogies from before: I am not going to budget and plan for a new
kitchen with all sorts of changes in lighting and electrical placement but
begin the project with no line item for the electrician because I will get
someone to do it free “for experience.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Parents, take this advice to heart. Really think about the value of your kid’s
time. (And yours, since you are always
the unpaid escort.) I honestly think it
will be more valuable for your child’s self-worth and esteem in the long run to
have placed importance and value on your kid’s time than having a few modeling
pictures in a box under your bed in ten years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Photographers, you don’t work for free and you have the
power to advocate for these models.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Designers, work within your means. Place a value on what you need to get
ahead. Don’t do it on the backs of kids
just because they are kids and cannot advocate for themselves. (Parents: advocate for your kids.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Agents, counsel your talent.
Let them know what your expectations are about this type of work and
explain your policy and position.
Explain your role as a protector of the best interest of the child, and
how their work needs the oversight you provide.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETV_0CrId1siHYuSvXWzdbOABKRHcOas3YATpJ7_iH9XxLUk5gOdis0d1Vl5npWUvnhvfzqQrVBtqtnVFCGnGUeCjW0fyyl4WJp46C0z5WMfitVozOMZR1KEdtpIQ2L_EeDP7ajhAvyUU/s1600/photog+advocACY.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETV_0CrId1siHYuSvXWzdbOABKRHcOas3YATpJ7_iH9XxLUk5gOdis0d1Vl5npWUvnhvfzqQrVBtqtnVFCGnGUeCjW0fyyl4WJp46C0z5WMfitVozOMZR1KEdtpIQ2L_EeDP7ajhAvyUU/s320/photog+advocACY.png" width="283" /></a></div>
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I saw this posted on a photographer’s Instagram last night,
and I thought I would share it here. A
LOT goes into their work, and really, you put a LOT into raising your
child. Demand what is right. You advocate for your kid in so many ways –
why not this one?<o:p></o:p></div>
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On another note, the timing of this is pretty good since it’s
likely to be my last post as “just” an industry mom. I’ll be crossing over to the other side soon –
the agency side – so I look forward to wearing a new hat in this crazy,
exciting business. Hope to run into you
there! But, as always, I will never stop
being an advocate for what’s best for kids.
You can count on hearing from me about that!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok, so let the flood gates open. I’m sure I’ll hear a lot about this. Comment here, but if you want to discuss
more, I’ll post on the Bizzy Mama facebook page and on the Backstage Forum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-12730094725016437292016-12-27T09:32:00.001-08:002016-12-27T09:32:12.135-08:00Should we do self-submits?<div class="MsoNormal">
Self-submits: there are a whole range of opinions on this
one! A self-submit is when you scan (or
scour) the casting websites (in NYC, there is NY Casting – or LA Casting on the
west coast; Actors’ Access, and Casting Networks, to name a few) and they often
have “ads” in which a casting director/company/filmmaker would post a breakdown
for actors (parents) to submit themselves for a role. These can range from print opportunities to
student films to indie productions that want to save money by doing the casting
themselves – and one friend (shout out!) submitted her son for a role in a film
that was released at Sundance and received wide acclaim – score! So honestly, there can be some cool stuff out
there. We have done some self-submits in
the past that have resulted in auditions and bookings, and my daughter has
worked on two Columbia MFA films, which were great experiences. There are also casting calls for extra work,
which I addressed in a previous post. Allegedly, politicians have used casting websites (or companies) to fill
audiences when necessary. I’m thinking
the actors probably signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreements: they cannot talk
about it).</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyway, should you self-submit? My first nugget of advice is: always ask your
agent or manager. Some agents and
managers may feel strongly about this, and you should know their opinion right
off the bat. Personally, we tried a few
when we first started, and I sort of gave up looking. Especially when your kids are older and have
more school and extra-curricular commitments, it might not be worth it to do
castings, auditions, and jobs in addition to what your agents send you. The student films my daughter worked on were
in the summer, and didn’t interrupt any of her scheduled activities. I found the students to be professional and
kind to us, and I really enjoyed those experiences. My daughter did, too. They didn’t involve any pay, so I didn’t need
to worry about working out financial concerns with agents and overall, which
helped in my decision whether or not to submit.
When I discussed extra work, I said it might not come with the type of
experience that can make your child a better actor (and some of you disagreed
and shared experiences that were beneficial to their kids, and that’s cool too –
but you know my opinion on the subject).
These WERE experiences that were beneficial to my daughter learning to
take direction, be patient, and persevere.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you don’t have agents, self-submissions are probably your
only way to get into the business. And
the following advice can apply to everyone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My general opinion on self-submission is this: beware. I often think there is a reason things are
open to self-submit and not (necessarily) going through agencies. Sometimes totally legitimate projects are looking for really
specific people that agencies might not be able to find: unicycling
skateboarders with punk-rock looks might be too specific for agents to find, so
casting is casting (tee hee) a wider net in hopes of finding that specific
person.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, often, there may be something to the job that agents aren’t
really going to like. Let me post one
that I screen-shot for you to examine.
Can you see anything here that an agent wouldn’t like?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquwi9TOICatDrCBSfU-OAG_ZQqpovFzInOtsFykn75Pv0hqhnhXctIYdkjDUSi5-TU6-QYZlZltGDwN3ll7r_u9Uqt0zkT8QTgmisNAAfq0XgnsLQijJP28XuIo5ILeAXEufnIxf-6YoU/s1600/self+submit+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquwi9TOICatDrCBSfU-OAG_ZQqpovFzInOtsFykn75Pv0hqhnhXctIYdkjDUSi5-TU6-QYZlZltGDwN3ll7r_u9Uqt0zkT8QTgmisNAAfq0XgnsLQijJP28XuIo5ILeAXEufnIxf-6YoU/s320/self+submit+shot.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first thing that may jump out at you is the rate. The range is WAY off. $250 for a commercial session fee is WAY
below the going SAG rate. It’s about
$100 more than an extra rate for a TV program, but about $350 less than the
going session fee for a SAG commercial principal. If your child would be on set for more than 2
hours, that rate pays less than print.
And that’s ridiculous for a “commercial.” Anyone can look up the SAG rates to make comparisons between what these breakdowns offer versus industry standards.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Are you thinking, “But what about that buyout fee?” It’s still SIGNIFICANTLY lower (and I mean,
lower by like FIVE FIGURES) than what a national SAG commercial could gross for
your child. That alone is really
suspect. AND, how many kids might they
shoot? Two? Twenty?
What are your chances of ACTUALLY getting the buyout fee? What’s going on here, I’m wondering? It just doesn’t sound like a commercial for a
tech giant with oodles to spend on their advertising – something like that
would usually go through a major agency, be SAG, and… show all of that in its
pay. Google is not a mom-and-pop local
shop looking to buy some time on cable channels to try and expand their business. This is a HUGE red flag. Now, you may not know all of this if you are
new to the business – but that’s why I’m here, right? This must be something like a spec-commercial,
which an independent group may be doing to try to pitch to Google to get their
attention and hopefully maybe somehow convince them to use the commercial or
use their agency.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there is an even worse problem with this project. And it’s really a potential deal-breaker for
future jobs for your child. Really GOOD
future jobs, like the ones I described above – that a real Google commercial
should be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can you find it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One word: PERPETUITY.
Perpetuity means FOREVER. You are
giving that group the right to use your child FOREVER for a tech ad. In addition to that strange money
configuration, there is no way an agent would touch that. No agent would give a company the right to
use your child forever. Especially for a
tech company! And here’s why.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tech companies – and pharma companies, I’ll add – usually demand
exclusivity. That means your child could
not appear in ANY ads, print or commercial, for another tech company for…
PERPETUITY. Forever. That is what’s called a conflict, and a
company does not want your child to be a face of some product and… also their
product. They see your child and is it
for Samsung or LG? No. They want consumers to associate the visuals
with their product and their product alone. If your child was pitching a tablet two weeks ago, the next tablet company would not want anything to do with your child for a long time. You know that guy who is in the cell phone commercials saying, “Can you
hear me now?” Why did he show up now for
some other wireless company? He is no
longer under the terms of his conflict.
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH MONEY THAT GUY EARNED… and now earns AGAIN
by being in that second campaign? I’m going to
guess no less than seven figures. (If
anyone knows the guy and I’m wrong, please correct me…but if I’m wrong, it’s
probably closer to eight figures than six.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A SAG commercial is going to pay actors in 13-week
segments. And maybe even DOUBLE scale if
it’s a product that would demand exclusivity for usage. And they need to keep paying you in 13-week
segments while that commercial airs. AND
another tech company won't even want an actor for a period of time (like one
to three years) beyond the time the commercial airs. That’s often why a project might pay double
scale – they know that their ad would limit earning opportunities for similar projects.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My daughter made it to the commercial and print callbacks (same
ad campaign but two different casting directors) for a major tech company a few
years ago. The commercial would have
paid double SAG scale and the print had a payout of – wait for it -- $30,000.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can you see why I wouldn’t touch that particular self-submit
with a ten-foot pole? Or a hundred-foot
pole? (Sorry for the cliché – it seems
like that kind of day in my world. I’m
sitting on my couch in my PJs writing a mommy-blog with Real Housewives on in
the background. If that’s not a cliché,
I don’t know what is.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bottom line: my advice for self-submits is this: BEWARE.
Scrutinize the terms. Back to
what I said before: there is probably a reason why this is not going through
agents. Keep your self-submissions to
the guidelines of your agent, if you have one, and really, really, really
consider what’s probably wrong with the project.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thanks for reading!
Check out my Instagram @thebizzymama, email me at <a href="mailto:theBizzyMama@gmail.com">theBizzyMama@gmail.com</a> and like my
Facebook page (The Bizzy Mama) to know when I make new posts. I also share these posts on the Backstage
forums if you want to comment there. Happy
holidays and bring on 2017!<o:p></o:p></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-70913914497521625752016-12-20T17:32:00.000-08:002016-12-20T17:32:16.799-08:00Should my kid do extra or background work?<div class="MsoNormal">
Ah, extras…they are everywhere. Any street scene, courtroom scene…restaurant
scenes…airport scenes…dystopian zombies marching...you get the point.
Many of those people you see on the screen in a film or on TV are not
just real people who happen to be in the background when the scene was
shot. (But sometimes they are: my
brother-in-law was at Fenway Park when they filmed that scene in Fever Pitch
with Drew Barrymore running onto the field to stop Jimmy Fallon from selling
his season tickets…and they just asked people to stay around after the game to
be people in the stands. Anyway, HUGE
Sox fan here…I could go on…) Where was
I? Oh, wiping a tear from my eye
remembering 2004.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, extras, or background work, are pretty important to filling
in scenes in all sorts of productions.
If you subscribe to the casting breakdown sites in any major production
city, you will see daily work available for extras. Many adult actors work as extras between gigs
or if they have some down time and need some cash. For SAG members, who cannot work on non-union
projects, extra work can help pay a few bills while running around from
audition to audition to get principal work.
Productions sometimes need children.
Classroom scenes, playground scenes, and sometimes just kids to be
walking down the street holding hands with their parent all may fit production’s
vision of what they want to bring to the screen. Learning to navigate the child performer
business can be quite challenging – then add in this question: Should my child
do extra work? And it can get even more
confusing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SAG-AFTRA, the on-camera actors’ union, sets rates for all
types of roles and markets and how much actors get paid based on where the
commercial airs, or the network that airs the program…etc. They have many combinations of negotiated
rates as well as rules and guidelines for both productions and talent with the
goal of creating safe, reasonable, and fairly-compensated work. (Full-disclosure: I am pro-union.) So, for the most part, extra/background work
is paid at a set, consistent rate.
Principal actors are paid at their set rates…and talent can negotiate UP
from there, but there can be no negotiation down on rates. Now, working one’s way through learning all
about SAG rules and payment structure can be a huge task. For the most part, it seems like you need to
talk directly to people at SAG or maybe a really experienced parent (with like,
3 SAG kids…there’s a mom on Backstage who is a whiz at this stuff) to know the
drill. Essentially, it makes sense for a
kid to put off joining SAG until they are designated a “must-join” – which means
you would need to pay the $3,000 membership fee before you set foot on set for
your next SAG job. (This typically happens between the child's second and third SAG roles.) There are more
opportunities if you can audition for SAG as well as non-union jobs, and since
you CANNOT work non-union jobs when you are SAG, you want to keep your options
open for as long as possible. You also
want to make sure you are able to pay the membership fee from jobs your kiddo
has worked or is about to work – that’s why some agents won’t submit kids who
are “must-join” if the role is not a well-paid one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, so hold onto all of that info for a minute. I needed to set some background.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In all of the rate structures established by SAG (these are
negotiated by union members and production management for a period of time for
all members), let’s take TV as our example.
A one-day role on a program, such as a pilot, would pay about $950 per
day. A one-day extra job pays about
$150. So there is the money aspect.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here is what is really, really, really important. You cannot – CANNOT – use extra work on your
resume, or in a discussion with someone you are hoping will offer you
representation or a role. It’s basically a
necessary, minimum-wage job (like many other necessary, minimum-wage jobs) that
anyone can do – and it would not serve as any type of experience for landing
principal roles. This may sound snobby,
but think of it this way: are you going to bring up the summer job you had at
Taco Bell when you are interviewing for a CPA position after college? No. It’s
just not relevant and serves as superfluous information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Go back and read that again.
You CANNOT use it on your resume.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you are wanting to do things in the industry with your
kid to get experience, learn the business, build a resume, or – ugh, this one –
gain exposure, this is NOT the way to do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Extras are often not treated in a manner we would prefer for
our children to be treated. There are
SAG rules and workplace regulations, and I’m not talking about mis-treatment,
but I’m talking about things like being out in the blistering sun without shade
for hours while production sets up scenes in which you may actually shoot for
five minutes or – not at all. Or the
cold. Or bad weather. Essentially, what I'm getting at, is stuff that's pretty uncomfortable and boring for kids. I could go on and on, but on multiple occasions
I have had moms say to me things like, “Wow, I really felt sorry for those kids
who were extras while my kid had an air-conditioned (etc.) trailer…” Production is focused on the principals. It’s just the way it is.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, so the money is lame, the treatment is lame, you can’t
claim it as experience…so why do people do it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have a few friends whose kids do it, and they are
perfectly equipped to do it when they feel like it. They live in the city, they are homeschooled
or do it during the summer, they like to experience interesting things – like maybe
work as an extra in a period production (cool clothes) – and maybe pick up a
little money. In other words, it costs
them nothing, they aren’t missing anything like school or their activities,
they’re up for an adventure, and why not?
I have friends (adult friends and sometimes their kids) who might do it
just for fun if it’s one of their favorite shows; I’ve never done it myself but
I wouldn’t say never – I might not mind being a member of a mob behind a
crime-scene tape on SVU. Or in a restaurant scene in Odd Mom Out (LOVE, by the way). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here’s where I was going up above with all of that SAG
background info. If your kid is a
must-join, and you do a SAG extra job, you are about to write a $3,000 check to
go earn $150. And then your child
can only work SAG jobs. And you have to
pay dues, which is either a set minimum fee or a percentage of your earnings. (Remember, I am pro-union, but I believe your
kid should join SAG when it makes sense financially and based on the quality of
the roles involved).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Would I let my daughter work as an extra? No way.
I can’t imagine a worse way to spend a day with my kid than waiting
around, probably being uncomfortable, essentially trapped until they release
you – for not very much money. It's bad enough when that happens at a well-paid gig (which has happened, and will happen to every child performer). Would I
work an extra job? Like I said, just for
fun – but I am an adult, and I can keep myself from whining or getting
annoyingly bored and can understand that I am not there to be pampered. Kids don’t understand that one job they may
be treated really well and another there is no food or place to have some down
time. And – if there is no benefit to
your kid professionally? Why do it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, if you fit into the category of not spending a cent to
do it and your kid isn’t missing out on anything better, maybe you could give
it a try if you feel like it. But,
otherwise? Trust me on this one – don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-88897880825460113242016-09-22T19:29:00.002-07:002016-09-22T19:37:20.677-07:00Dear parent of Bizzy's classmate,<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear parents of a child in my daughter’s class,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t know much about you, so I feel a little unsure
addressing you as “parents.” Maybe you
are a parent? I don’t want to make too
many assumptions here, because that is why I am writing to you – I feel that
some assumptions have been made and I certainly don’t want to do right back to
you what I fear you have done to me. I
mean, us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me tell you how I know about you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week (or so), my daughter came home from school with a
project called something like “All about Me.”
You probably saw your child’s, as well.
It’s a grade school rite-of-passage; it seems like there is some version
of it every year. As you’re aware, I’m
sure, it’s a chance to introduce themselves to the class and teacher as well as
to contemplate their own identities. It
included birthday and location of birth, maybe a few things about appearance
and pets (I really don’t remember too many specifics) but when we looked at one
particular fact in our home, we stopped short.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sentence starter was, “I live with ___.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Easy enough, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My daughter answered, “my mom.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But that’s not entirely true. She lives with her Mommy and her Mama, two
brothers (depending on the day) and a few pets.
But, whatever. Regardless of the
combination of who’s home on which day, there are always two (that’s TWO) moms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a state of suspended disbelief, my wife and I went
through some rationalization in our own minds.
She must have run out of room, we thought. Maybe she was being creatively succinct –
“mom” representing just a shortcut for the two of us, rather than saying “my
mom and my mom.” But something didn’t
sit right. We each hesitated for a
couple minutes, and then – very carefully – started probing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why didn’t you say your moms?” one of us asked. She answered something like, she ran out of
room. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But you know when your child answers a question and you know
their answer is not the *real* answer and you need to keep going?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we did. And we
asked a few more questions. Finally, one
of us said it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Were you afraid to say you lived with two moms?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our daughter hung her head down, like she didn’t want to
answer. And of course we gently probed
her, and encouraged her to share what she was thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“____ told me I couldn’t have two moms.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OH. Well. It happened.
We knew it would…we just didn’t know when. I mean, no matter how much you think you’re
ready for it, it kind of stings when it happens. And all we could answer was, “Well, ___ is
wrong. Because you do, and it’s ok.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If only it were that easy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, I can imagine there could be some really terrible
situations that may cause a child to feel shame about their parents. If a parent had succumbed to the horrors of
addiction or criminal activity, a child might feel shame. History has always dictated some sort of
shame to befall children: bastardry, divorce, what have you. I know there are people who see same-sex
parents as less than optimal, but I’ve never been quite ready for a
seven-year-old to be the great informant on that one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See, I know you read this.
I know, because my daughter has come home and told me that your child
has repeatedly called her “Bizzy Mama!
Bizzy Mama!” to the point that other kids have joined in. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, for that, I’m grateful. Because I can use this space to let you know
a few things.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re a loving family.
My child comes home every day to a home full of animals, dust bunnies,
clutter, and discussion. We have
thousands of books. I’m not even
exaggerating – we probably have tens of thousands of books. Most of which we have actually read. We understand there are as many perspectives
as there are Americans (330,000,000) and we really, really love our
country. We devoted significant portions
of our lives to learning and studying and teaching about our nation. We’re idealistic; we believe in the good and
the hope and the future. We DON’T feel
the need to make America great again (Dad?!?) because we know it already is
great. We’ve never worked for for-profit
corporations because we have, instead, seen our calling as service to others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re Christian. –ish. In that, we were raised to be culturally
Christian and we belong to a church, but we don’t see ourselves as superior. We hate to grasp onto one religious identity
because we believe there are so many and who are we to say what is better? But we believe in the unconditional love and
forgiveness and acceptance that comes along with the Christian tradition, so that’s
how we identify. We see our religion as
one where all are welcome – not one where some are shunned.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We swear. Honestly,
that’s probably as bad as we are. Maybe
a few snarky comments about Walmart shoppers (of which we can be included, so
who knows how bad that can really be.) We’ve
spent nights awake crying about students who have attempted suicide; we watch
cable news into the wee hours to see how unrest plays out; we’ve raced to
donate blood when disaster occurs.
(Note: they’d rather have it on a regular basis than when disaster
strikes.) We feel guilty when we bring home
a pad of post-it notes, despite the hundreds and hundreds of hours we’ve spent
on “our” time grading papers and prepping lessons.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why do you think we can’t exist?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why do you feel the need to say this in front of your child –
to the point that your child has the confidence to announce this to MY child?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe your belief system tells you that a child should have
a mother and a father. Biologically? Sure.
But for the day-to-day reality of my child’s life, she sees two parents
who love each other. And disagree. And laugh.
And talk passionately about real-world events. We correct grammar. We call each other on
bullshit. We cheer for the Red Sox. I – personally – clear my calendar to watch
the Housewives. We read books, try to
eat healthy foods, go to Dairy Queen, drink in sinus-curves of moderation, and talk about gas
prices.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How different are we from you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We own a home, pay shitloads of taxes, and support our
teachers. We vote in every
election. We donate at least as many
toys to Toys for Tots as we have children.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re good parents.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And we would never.
NEVER. NEVER EVER. Make our child think that any other parents
were any less than good parents.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And we would be ASHAMED if she ever made a child think they
or their family were less than ideal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we EVER said something to our child that made her tell a
peer that they weren’t every bit as important and valuable and loved as someone
else…we would be mortified. We would
fall to our knees and beg you to forgive us – and live to our dying day ashamed
of any pain we caused your child. Or any
reason we caused your child to believe they needed to hide who they were or who
they came from.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Children don’t choose their families.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adults DO choose what they say to their children. And children like to repeat what they hear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And unfortunately, YOUR child repeated something they heard
(I can only assume from you) to MY kid.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can handle it. It
causes me pain, but I expected it – because I know intolerance and hatred (yes,
it’s hatred, and that’s a strong word, but it applies) exist. I hate that it exists. (There’s my hatred. I hate intolerance and I hate hatred.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But here’s where we differ.
I WON’T tell my child what I think of your view of my family. I know your child has caused my child
pain. I could say that out loud; I could
teach my child to hate the haters, but that seems kind of simplistic and petty.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My job, however, is to teach my child how to think for
herself. It’s going to take her a long
time to realize that she has to get past what others think and to think for
herself. We’ll do all the self-esteem
building we can. Ultimately she’ll feel
good about herself; feel good about us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The real proof?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The real proof will be what she tells her children about others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if not one child – not one child EVER – goes home and
feels inferior because of something my grandchild says to them?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then I’ll know I did the best I could.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can you say the same?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yours truly,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Bizzy Mama</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Thanks for reading...feel free to comment here, on my facebook page The Bizzy Mama or via email, TheBizzyMama@gmail.com You can also check out my instagram for fun pics of my kid and pets. Usually I write about children in performing arts, but sometimes other parenting issues happen!</i></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-60700574502027672882016-08-21T10:39:00.002-07:002016-08-21T10:39:09.390-07:00About those photos...I mean, OUR circus.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes I like to start with a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m hoping that this story will send this
post in the direction of my thoughts, so read on for a bit and you’ll see where
I want to end up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please note, though, I
went back through my archives to see if I used this before and I don’t think I
did (?) but if I’m repeating myself, just hang on a bit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Several years ago, I posted a picture of my daughter on
Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a long great day
somewhere doing something…I don’t even remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was asleep in her carseat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know those moments…so sweet and QUIET…anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got some likes, some “how cute!s” – you know
the drill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also got a private message
from an old friend, who wanted me to know that the carseat straps were not in
the right place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, I could have gotten defensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could have blown it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I didn’t; instead, I was effusively
grateful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you know what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made sure those straps were in the right
darn place EVERY TIME I strapped her in until we went to the booster seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EVERY TIME.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because I didn’t know it on my own, another mom stepped in to help me out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wanted her knowledge of safety
precautions to help me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So here’s where I’m going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A couple weeks ago, there was some online discussion of some photos that
were taken by child photographers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(As
in, adult photographers who shoot children.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My initial reaction was that I wanted to share some thoughts on those,
but I couldn’t because I was outrageously busy taking care of ailing family
members and going about the usual summer mom stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just too busy to write and too tired at
night to get started…and I’m actually glad some time went by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say point blank that believe that
photography is a form of art and that photographers work to capture a vision –
whether it’s a head shot, editorial piece, or purely an artistic image –
through the lens of a camera to preserve a tiny bit of time into a long lasting
image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hire people to shoot our kids
because, hey, we don’t have what it takes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That said, there were two types of photos involved in the discussion:
one type was capturing girls performing authentic movements and the other was
more artistic, in which a child was used to create a scene as imagined by the
photographer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s really immaterial for
me to describe the specific photos in this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They exist; they’re controversial; they
feature children; people reacted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I decided to address, instead of the images themselves,
were the reactions that moms had to the images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Two reactions, in particular, got my mind buzzing a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you’ll see where I was leading with the
carseat story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to start
backwards, though.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, here’s an argument that really pisses me off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry if this argument belongs to you, but it’s
a bad one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard it before and I
saw it again this time, so it’s out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“If you think the images would be
attractive to a pervert, you’re the one thinking like a pervert.”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Um, NO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of us moms actually think about what types of images may cross
lines we don’t want our children crossing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>See, here’s the thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WE, as adults,
can make decisions for ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
children CANNOT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can decide if I want
to wear a low-cut shirt or booty shorts (I don’t) and I can deal with whatever
fallout there may be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s
catcalls or maybe it’s a tremendous sense of confidence that I’ve got it and
can flaunt it (or maybe I just don’t care what people think and that’s cool,
too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our children cannot
intellectualize the potential reactions that people may have to what they wear
or how they appear and while we want to build healthy body image or recognize
their talents, WE need to be the filter that decides how our children are
presented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a reason our parents
didn’t want us wearing a full-face of makeup when we were eight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t just because it wouldn’t look
right; it was also because they knew we shouldn’t really appear adult until we
were actual adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adults are
sexualized constantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hormones arrived
during puberty and control sex drives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can defend myself if someone makes an advance toward me and I can understand
that I will probably be seen as a sexual object to someone, somewhere, at some
point.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s what really sucks about that argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our society has created laws that define what
are inappropriate looks for children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lawmakers, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges, and juries
examine those laws daily – to decipher what falls into the category of right
and wrong legally – and those people are probably not perverts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asking a jury to determine if an image is
child pornography is not asking the jury to think like perverts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is asking them to make an objective
decision based on a legal framework created by our elected officials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who, I’m reasonably sure, were probably not
thinking like perverts when they made the laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The laws were made to punish people who create and disseminate images
determined to be inappropriate enough to be illegal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, again, NO, trying to objectively analyze
something to determine if it is inappropriate does NOT make someone a pervert.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, all that laid out, none of the images featured children
in any pose or state of undress that would technically be rendered illegal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that were the case, it would be in the
hands of justice by now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say,
though, that many perceived these images to be closer to NOT okay on the
continuum of what is or is not acceptable for images of children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And many thought they were TOO close to not
okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I probed a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I talked to the photographers in each case,
and gained some insight into their work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was helpful for me because I understand where their images came from
and I invited them to engage in some of the online discussions to defend their
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two (or seven or a
hundred) sides to these stories or perspectives, and it is fair to acknowledge
that they have reasons for their creations and that they stand by their
images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not entirely sure that they
knew about or could predict all of the reactions and fallout from the
discussions, but to be part of a discussion about the images was probably more
productive than getting second or third hand interpretations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next argument that I don’t like is: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Not my circus; not my monkeys.”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In other words, these are not my children, and it’s not my place to get
involved in the discussion/controversy/or, dare I say, drama. This is actually
a great argument in many real-life circumstances: workplace drama, for
example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, actually, many parenting
issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when children are put in a
compromised position; and yes, I am suggesting that these are compromised
positions – and I mean that as, they may be bad positions, but they may not be.
You decide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And “positions” here is
both literal and figural.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My child
being strapped incorrectly put her in a compromised position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For all the time I had her in wrong, was she
harmed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Could</i>
she have been harmed in an accident?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Absolutely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get what I’m
saying?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve said before that it is hard
enough to be a parent without people judging you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But when someone steps in and asks you to really think about a situation
in which your child may be unsafe, isn’t it reasonable for a person to put that
out there for parents to know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if
we framed these concerns in civil discourse, and gave parents multiple
perspectives to consider when they could be putting their child in legitimate
harm’s way?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As an advocate for children in the performing arts, I WANT parents
to hear my advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am getting into
their circus and trying to help them protect their monkeys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if anyone has a perspective that may help
other parents, isn’t that fair to share?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Haven’t you experienced moms ever suggested to a new mom a way to get a
baby to sleep?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">judging</i> her, or are you trying to give
her another idea?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aren’t we kind of in
this together at some point?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look, what’s done is done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The kids in those photos all over social media are there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can’t undo it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But maybe some parents will hear/read these
arguments and say, you know what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
going to think twice about putting my kid out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ALL of us, and I mean model/actor moms and
moms not in the industry, probably have photos of our kids on the
internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some photos are going to be
more likely than others to end up in the eyes of perverts and sickos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come on; you need to realize this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you know this and still want your kid to
be in the photo, take one step further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Will your kid want to be in this photo? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made this point before, but I’ll drill it
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other day, my mom reminded me
that I can make decisions for myself; my wife can make decisions for herself;
but my daughter cannot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I think my mom
probably thinks we’re a bit too free-range in how we raise our daughter; and,
honestly, she’s probably right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
she was referring to bedtime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hell, it
could have been anything.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By being a
parent, you are charged with not only making parenting decisions for yourself,
but also “childing” decisions for your kiddo.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Couple examples here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A parent recently shared with me that her son did a shoot for
Pull-ups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cool, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was on packages for years!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like, from the time he was five until he was ten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Can you imagine the teasing this kid faced when peers saw his picture on
a Pull-ups bag?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sucked for that
kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another mom shared that her
daughter did a Halloween costume shoot and her daughter was put in a costume
that ended up in a widely-published article about inappropriate costumes for
kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was mortified.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me throw this out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you put your tween on the internet in really revealing poses, are you
going to be happy with all the boys in her school passing around that picture
on their cell phones?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trust me; I taught
high school for 21 years – I’ve seen it happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it doesn’t take much to get a hormonal boy excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if it’s an authentic pose that your
child is very, very proud of, imagine that camera angle being slightly
different, and it may not be so compromising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I studied Misty Copeland’s Instagram feed, trying to see what kind of
poses she posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But remember: she’s an ADULT and she,
herself, can make the decision about what she posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And if you’ve seen ballet, we all know that
men’s junk is OUT THERE.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Any time you post something, ask yourself: will this photo
end up on every fourteen-year-old boy’s phone in your daughter’s class?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this photo likely to appear on the
computer screen of a forty-year-old man’s computer at 3:00 am?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will my child hate me in five/ten years for
posting this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are totally
confident in your answers to these questions – and if your child would be
totally confident in the answers – go for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or if you are
unsure?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want to read more, check out my archives, like my
facebook page (I let you know there when I have a new post), my Instagram, or
email me at <a href="mailto:theBizzyMama@gmail.com">theBizzyMama@gmail.com</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing: don’t message me through facebook
since I don’t get those notifications (boo on that glitch) – email is
better!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks for reading!</div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-6838239458112650922016-07-28T13:17:00.001-07:002016-07-28T15:52:11.265-07:00NYT writes about "summer kids" and I respond.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->Ahhhh…summer kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whatta topic!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times</i> published a story yesterday
about summer kids in the New York City modeling market and I can’t resist
responding!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, here’s the
link to the story – it may be helpful to read it before you read my response: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/fashion/child-models-new-york-summer-auditions.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=fashion&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Fashion+%26+Style&pgtype=article&_r=1" target="_blank">Link here.</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s no secret that New York is a prime center for child
print modeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Name a brand…any
children’s brand or store/catalog that sells children’s clothes…and chances are
good that they shoot in New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And,
historically, NYC has been *the* location to shoot over the summer: decent
weather, great studios and locations, and tons of beautiful kids.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s also no secret that year ‘rounders – the NYC models and
their parents – have probably rolled their eyes at least once and said, “Ugh…a
summer kid booked that job.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The truth is, the NYT article kid of rubbed me the wrong
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not because I thought it would
recruit even more summer kids, but because I thought it kind of both skewed the
realities of the industry and skewed the realities of the summer kid experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully, I can clear up some of that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First of all, the NYT did a good job with their
sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FFT/FunnyFace Today and Charlie
Winfield are highly respected in the business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everyone I know who has worked with Charlie says he’s a great agent and,
above all, a great person. My daughter started freelancing with FFT for her
first foray into the business and, while we didn’t work directly with Charlie,
the agency and their reputation were nothing but professional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More notably, they have been around a LONG
time, and they know the business inside and out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, score one for the NYT on choosing an
agency to profile.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now I’m going to say score ZERO for the NYT’s choice of
parents to profile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They chose summer
kids and parents to write about because they wanted to show the extreme of
people throwing thousands of dollars at…potentially…no return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice how they did not profile any returning
summer kids nor did they profile kids who are regular bookers in their home
markets (such as Florida).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seemed
to profile these people as chasing some fruitless dream…spending thousands of
dollars they probably didn’t have (notice they didn’t profile a child whose
parents are investment bankers, for example) on some dream of MAYBE making
$20,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More on this in a minute.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I feel the article portrayed both child modeling and “summer
kids” in ways that didn’t give an accurate picture…and in ways that were pretty
elitist (typical for the NYT; full disclosure: I read it daily and respect its
historical value as a national newspaper of record, BUT I believe most of its
feature stories err on the side of the white shoe) and pretty “surface” in
their overview of the industry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many parents I know wonder why agencies even take summer
kids – why wouldn’t they show more loyalty to their full-time talent?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few reasons why an agency may
want to have some new faces on hand for 6-8 weeks in the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditionally, the summer has been THE
busiest time in NYC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I would say,
from my experience, the busier end of the summer is June/July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess what: NYC schools, and schools within a
two-hour radius (considered the “local” distance to NYC) run through almost the
end of June.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what happens during
June?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Field trips, sports banquets,
concerts, playoffs, tournaments…all reasons why local talent “book out” (let
their agents know they are not able to work).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Southern and Midwestern schools tend to get out mid-May…and if they want
to come work in New York, that’s a busy time for photoshoots…and a time when many
NYC kids are not available…it makes perfect sense that an agency may want some
new faces to fill their rosters during those busy times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Couple that with the extra work in the
summer, and you can see why agencies might be interested in taking on some
extra kids during the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
flip side, there are many local kids who work primarily in the summer because
of school and activity schedules.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many local parents have been speculating that there isn’t as
much work as there used to be in the summer, so having the extra kids in town
may not be as necessary for agencies as it once was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my friends (shout out!) keeps a spread
sheet of each go-see/casting/audition and job her kids work, and she has the
evidence that it’s not quite as busy in the summer as it once was several years
ago…yet others say that there is the same amount of work per year, but it’s
spread out throughout the year rather than being summer-heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are new brands popping up all the time,
and this year I can think of a couple of west-coast companies that shot in NYC
for the first time back in the spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, overall, it
seems like coming just for the summer may no longer be as advantageous to hit
the super-busy time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back to where I take MAJOR issue with the NYT article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It focused on a handful of families that
appeared – according to their description – to not necessarily be in the best
financial position to make such a big gamble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Joey Hunter’s estimation that a busy child model can POTENTIALLY
(emphasis mine) make $20,000 a year is true – I know a top booker can make
$50,000-$60,000 (and by top booker, I mean TOP booker who works constantly) but
it’s also possible that a regular booker (2-3 times a month) could easily make
under $10,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all based on 52
weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a family is here for 7 weeks…well,
the math shows the reality…there is almost no opportunity for a financial
windfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Child models get paid
SIGNIFICANTLY less than adult models…and remember, most adult models don’t make
much either. (<a href="http://www.thebizzymama.com/2015/05/its-not-about-money-money-money-cha.html" target="_blank">Here is a past post I wrote about what child models earn.</a>)</div>
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I see that these families have shelled out $7,000-$15,000 on
their kids’ modeling and that really makes me sad and kind of angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m being judgmental here – sorry – but is
that really the kind of money a family of modest means can shell out on
something with a very small chance of recouping that amount?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I (and other advocates in the industry) feel
very strongly that this is a profession in which children do not need to “spend
money to make money.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are there
legitimate expenses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Commuting expenses, meals on the road,
headshots for acting…these can all add up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even local kids have these expenses…but for the most part, the kids are
working and can cover the bulk of them out of their earnings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the expenses being numbers being in the thousands?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s just not an accurate picture of what
it takes to “make it” as a child model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(And what does it mean, exactly, to “make it” anyway?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They quoted a child saying she was hopeful
about booking a Toys R Us shoot…and you know what that pays?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$100.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe $200 if things are going slowly on set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After commission: $80 (or $160).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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And this is a HUGE reality: rent in NYC is OVER THE TOP
expensive…and add in the meals (food is more expensive too)…let’s just say that’s
a GIANT expense in addition to what these families have already shelled out.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I do know some families who have had VERY successful
summers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the work was plentiful,
and the kids were booking 2-3 times a WEEK, and working in TV as well as print,
a good summer could bring in $10,000-$20,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those kids also booked national commercials, which paid very well…but I
would also say it’s somewhat unusual to be here for 7 or 8 weeks and get “out
there” for many auditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their chances
for success increased over time because they built relationships with agents and came for
a few summers, so they were probably able to get out and be seen right away
when they arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These kids who had
these successful summers would be the exception and not the rule.</div>
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I also know many families for whom the expenses are
reasonable within their finances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
guess that suggests that coming to NYC for several weeks is an option for the
wealthy, but -- I’m being judgy again – I’m kind of put off by the use of
GoFundMe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be fair, the people
contributing are probably fully aware of what they are paying for…but are they
aware of the slim potential for a return on the whole investment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it fair for the kids to have the pressure
on them to book jobs and earn money so they can go back home and prove
themselves? Or is it going to be ok to go home empty handed?</div>
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<br />
If you noticed the ages of this children in the article, most were 11 (and I think one was 7 and one was 12). Those ages are absolutely unrealistic representations of the "promise" of child modeling. Obviously FFT would not have taken on kids who were unlikely to book, so their sizes matter more than their ages -- but child modeling ends, for the most part, at size 10. There are a few jobs for size 12 (and I have seen boys go up to 14 on occasion), but it is highly unlikely that an 11-year-old would be building connections and a portfolio in this one summer that could give a jump start to working next year -- because the odds are great that they would be too big. It's also worth noting that it is difficult to break into child acting at that point, as well, because many of the kids working at that age have been in the business for several years and simply have more experience and time working with their managers and agents.</div>
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<br />
My final criticism of the article is the title: “Kid Models
(and Their Moms) Trade Summer Fun for City Auditions.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is total BS and shame on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Times</i> for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coming to NYC for the summer – or any amount
of time – is an amazing experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Learning how to navigate city life – from the streets to the
transportation – is something that can be a benefit to anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can get around NYC and adjust to the
pace, you can probably make it around any city in the world (language
aside).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many things to DO –
and many can be free or low-cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saying
these families are only auditioning and having NO fun is just irresponsible
journalism – probably designed to get the readers to shake their heads and tsk-tsk
what these desperate mothers are doing to their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And really, castings and auditions simply do
not take up every hour of every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
may have three in one day, work a few hours the next day, and have a few quiet
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if I’m kind of down on the
whole spending all that money for child modeling, these parents do deserve some
props for taking the risk of leaving their comfort-zones to give their kids a
NYC experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m two hours away from
the city (but was educated and lived there) and one of the reasons why I like
my daughter being in the industry is so she can experience and navigate the
city.</div>
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So, yeah, expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Probably not going to pay off much in modeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the experience?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty darn great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, hey, if you have the money, you can hit
up Hamilton, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not: you can’t
beat Mister Softee and a good water playground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(I know which one my daughter would prefer!)<br />
<br />
Feel free to "like" my facebook page, The Bizzy Mama, so you know when I publish a new post. You can comment there, here, on the Backstage forum, or email me at theBizzyMama@gmail.com You can also check out my Instagram @theBizzyMama. </div>
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Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-77276174367085808412016-07-13T11:02:00.000-07:002016-07-13T11:02:56.436-07:00Did You Know...Protection for Earnings of Child PerformersAccording to New York State law, 15% of a child's earnings from performing (including print modeling) must be deposited into a trust account. It can be very confusing navigating the requirements of the child performer laws! You need to have a permit on hand to work, you need the school and the pediatrician to sign off on it...and provide all sorts of bank documents? Whaaaaa? Just take the pictures!<br />
<br />
But seriously, this has all been designed to protect the earnings of child performers so that they will have access to some of that money when they become adults. California has a much more specific structure of protecting children's earnings...probably because California is the epicenter of the film industry and there have been significant problems over time with parents, um, losing track of their children's earnings. (The California blocked-trust account in named the Coogan account after a child actor, Jackie Coogan, whose parents lost the equivalent of several million dollars in today's money.)<br />
<br />
This can be difficult to navigate, though, since you have to be able to imagine a child making anywhere between $100 (total) or millions of dollars over the course of the child's career. The law requires 15% (gross) to be deposited into a trust account for the child, so how do you decide what kind of account to get? Do you do just the 15% or more? How can the money be used? It's a LOT! And if you're at all like me, when the subject of money and banking come up...well, my eyes just glaze over and I can't even deal with all the options. Sad example: my 401(k) money from my first job that I left in 2003 is exactly in the same configuration of whatever sad fund allocations as the day I left it. I get the statement every three months and put it in a file. I would not even begin to know how to do anything with it -- and I sure as heck don't want to pay someone to figure it out for me. I REALLY AM THAT IGNORANT.<br />
<br />
However...when it comes to my kid's account and career, I wanted to figure out exactly what the law requires. What I cannot help you with are the things that make me go apoplectic, like, what banks have the best interest rates? How should I invest for college? No, no, no...I can just tell you about the basic types of trust accounts and how they need to be matched up with the type of work your child will do. You get to choose your bank based on convenience and what minimum balance requirements are and interest rates or whatever...I will, however, mention which one I understand to be the most convenient.<br />
<br />
Most states offer UTMA or UGMA accounts as a way to put money
aside for youth until they reach the age of majority (18 or older,
depending on your state and if you want lawyers to draw stuff up).
Those accounts are structured so that a kid can inherit money, receive a
gift of money -- or earn money in this case -- and claim ownership to it when they
are an adult. With UTMA and UGMA accounts, there are guardians -- an
adult on the account with the child who is specified as a GUARDIAN but
not the owner of the account. That means I do not need to count that
money as an asset of MINE, but I can have say over what happens to it
while my child is under 18. (See how that is different from a joint
account?) Also note: that money is, in fact, an asset of the child and the child will need to claim such asset for things like college financial aid forms.<br /><br />Now here is what the big difference is: with UTMA and
UGMA, there are some semi-specific guidelines why a guardian could withdraw money
in the best interest of a child. Basically, you can use money from that account to provide things
beyond the necessities. YOU -- not your child -- are obligated to
provide food, shelter, clothing, and basic necessities like access to
school. If your child has money in those trust accounts, you could use
it to provide acting lessons or ballet summer intensive or something
like that...AND, the expenses related to the acting/modeling CAN come
out of those accounts. If you use the money for lavish family trips to Monaco, that doesn't really fit the definition of something in the interest of the child. Maybe. Who knows. Talk to your accountant.<br /><br />NYS accepts those types of accounts --
UTMA and UGMA -- as the "trust accounts" necessary for deposit of the
15% of the child's earnings.<br /><br />NOW: there is the Coogan account
which is the required trust account for child performers in California
(and a few other states, such as Louisiana).<br /><br />The Coogan accounts
are 100% blocked trusts, meaning NO ONE can withdraw money from them
until they become the property of the adult child. Coogan accounts can
be hard to open if you are outside of California, but that's only
because banking laws are done on a state basis and banks are not
obligated to open any old account from any old location. There are
financial institutions geared just toward performers (such as the
Actor's Federal Credit Union and the SAG Credit Union) that can help you
open a Coogan account from basically anywhere in the country. If you
work AT ALL in CA or anywhere in the world that uses a CA production/payroll team,
your child MUST HAVE A COOGAN. Any account that is a 100% blocked trust
counts as a Coogan -- and because they are not common, for anyone other
than child performers, they tend to be called Coogan accounts.<br /><br />Since
NYS also accepts Coogans as a form of "trust account" some parents may want
to start with a Coogan since it can be used anywhere. However, that may
not be the best option if you foresee wanting to use some of the monies
deposited toward career-related expenses. That is where you need to think seriously if you will stick with the 15% deposit required by law or deposit more. And you can change your mind on this -- the 15% is written in stone, but the rest is up to your discretion. Just remember that if you use the Coogan, you cannot later go in and withdraw money for, say, SAG joining fees. Or headshots. Period.<br /><br />I have gotten into
debates with parents about whether or not you need to be present IN
CALIFORNIA to open a Coogan. NO -- you just need to open it from a bank
that offers it (a 100% blocked trust) and will allow you to open it. Some banks make it
realllly hard -- like, there's a Bank of America on every corner in the U.S., but to
open a Coogan with them from CT is like a crazy highly orchestrated
bicoastal procedure. (Plus I basically think they kind of stink based on them losing stuff when they bought and sold my traditional, highly desirable mortgage.) Some banks in CA make you bring in a contract to
prove that you are actually going to be paid as a child performer before
you can open one. Those are the policies of the BANKS THEMSELVES and
not the law regarding the type of account. I'm guessing that Coogans in general are not advantageous to banks, because they don't tend to roll out the red carpets and give out toasters to get you to come in and open one.<br /><br />Chances are, if you go
into a bank that does not deal expensively with child performers, you
can ask for a Coogan and they will have never heard of it and convince
you that you must be talking about a UTMA. But if you are told you need a Coogan for a California job,
you NEED a Coogan and get one from AFCU (I have heard this is super easy
and can be done over the phone and fax from ANYWHERE in the country -- we do not have a Coogan yet
but that is where I would open one), SAG CU, some bicoastal bank
arrangement, or in person somewhere in CA.<br />
<br />
And when I say you NEED a Coogan -- you will need proof of that account before you take a step on set. I know people who have traveled to CA for a gig and needed to hire a car to take them from a studio to a bank before they could start working. Bear this in mind if you are planning a trip for pilot season...and I would say there are more and more print gigs hiring in NYC and then going on location these days.<br />
<br />
Hopefully, that helps...<br />
<br />
Feel free to ask questions here (remember, I just know about the types of accounts -- not the nitty gritty about who has the best interest rates and stuff...), email me at theBizzyMama@gmail.com, check out my Instagram @theBizzyMama or like my Facebook page so you can see when I post on the blog. <br />
<br />
This is a direct copy and paste from the <a href="https://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/secure/ChildPerformerFAQ.shtm" target="_blank">NYS Child Performer Permit FAQ page</a>:<br />
<br />
<i><strong>Q: Do I need to set up a Child Performer Trust Account in New York State? </strong>
</i><br />
<i>
A: A trust account may be set up anywhere, as long as:
</i><ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>It is set up as required by New York State Law </i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>The employer can complete the required transactions </i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>It
meets the standards required by a New York State Uniform Transfer to
Minors Act Trust Account (UTMA) or a New York State Uniform Gift to
Minors Act Trust (UGMA) account or is a blocked “California Coogan” type
account. </i></li>
</ul>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-73336741411835721372016-07-05T18:51:00.004-07:002016-07-05T21:29:31.559-07:00Dear Bizzy Mama: Is this all worth it? (And, what information should I
expect in a go-see request?)Ahhhh, happy summer! I am on my deck with a glass of rose and a string of red solo-sup lights hanging from my umbrella. All is right in the world -- NO, not the WORLD -- but at least here at home right now.<br>
<br>
I thought I would share a question I got from a reader. It's a great question, and actually raises some good points I think you should all know about the business. AND, added bonus, it's something industry moms ask and talk about all the time!<br>
<br>
I'm going to edit the original question a bit, but I will still keep it in italics so you know which part was the question and which was the response.<br>
<br>
<br>
<i><span class="_5yl5"><span><span>Dear BizzyMama,</span></span></span></i><br>
<i><span class="_5yl5"><span><span>We were booked mid-day today for a 9am shoot tomorrow in Brooklyn (less than the 24 hour notice I thought our agent
guaranteed). Logistically I would need to leave my house at 6:45am to
ensure we made it there on time factoring in an extra hour for rush
hour. The rate was also only $50/hour, so none of this made it worth it
to me and I told my agent we couldn't make it and she got extremely
upset. How does one avoid these situations going forward? We went to
the casting last week in Manhattan and all of the work we have done so
far has been at a minimum $100/hour which makes parking and tolls less
painful. Basically I would be losing money spending 6hours to make $80 (2 hour limit at this age and agency fee). Is this even worth it?</span></span></span></i><br>
What a great question!<br>
<br>
When I responded, I tackled a couple of points in particular.<br>
<br>
I'll start with the "24-hour notice." That's not a thing. Your agent should not have promised that. Your agent could have said, "We will give you as much notice as possible." My daughter has worked for MANY clients who send out their bookings late in the day for the next morning. Usually there is a hold, so it's not a total surprise, but if you go to a casting and know the shoot dates...well, keep reading.<br>
<br>
We are fortunate to have an extremely business-oriented, Type A, ultra-clear and concise agent. That is exactly the style of agent I want -- but remember, agents are all about the FIT. Just like some of us like iPhones and some of us like Androids, agents at reputable agencies all get the job done and do what they do -- for the most part -- well. Here's where I questioned this mom first: did your agent tell you the dates, rate and shoot location BEFORE the casting?<br>
<br>
Agents, I know you read this...and I love you all and you know I have tons of respect for the work you do. But YOU know this information when you send parents on castings, and parents deserve to know this information as well.<br>
<br>
When you get a request for a casting (and remember, "request" is a term I use loosely -- if your agent sends you the casting, it's a request whether 1000 kids or 4 kids are going -- never question that; it doesn't matter)...when you get a request for a casting, you should know the shoot dates, the location of the shoot, and the rate. This is what your agent should be telling you. (Agents who don't: if you have a compelling reason to withhold this information, please email me and explain...I will be happy to clarify.) If an agent does NOT know that information, they should tell you they do not know the information. For example: Client X, shoot dates: late summer (exact dates unknown), location: shoots in NYC and upstate NY, rate: 125/hr.<br>
<br>
Parents: generally speaking, by signing on to be part of this business, you have agreed to take jobs within the tri-state area at the going rates the agents negotiate. IF a casting is for a location-shoot and for some reason you are unable to make a location shoot, you should let your agent know. Your agent should make all of this clear to you when you join their agency. The going rate in the NYC market is $100+/hr with a 2-hour minimum with the exception of a couple of clients. Your agent can let you know what the exceptions are. Expect that there are a few exceptions and be ready to take them when they come. A common exception is that some companies do not offer a 2-hour minimum when school is not in session or for children younger than school-age. Another common exception is editorial work; this is the type of work that appears in magazines like the ones we all get when our kiddos are little or see in the OB/GYN's office. Those are often as little as $50/hr BUT they are really cool jobs, so we take them as just being cool. Some agencies even have their talent do an occasional editorial shoot for NO PAY if the agent expects great photos that can be useful for marketing your child down the road. You have signed on to trust this reputable agent -- trust your agent.<br>
<br>
If you've been reading for a long time or are new to my blog, remember or read the post I wrote about the money. For child models, it's not about the money. Very few kids make tons of money as child models. VERY FEW. The bigger $$$ is to be found in commercials, TV and film...which a lot of us would love for our kids to hit big, but we need to be realistic. Depending on your expenses, child modeling can be a nice bonus in the bank for your kiddo OR...it can actually be...A LOSS.<br>
<br>
A $200 or $250 job -- which is what most of us could reasonably expect to make -- might result from a casting/go-see a week or so before. So...we didn't make any money on the go-see and paid $10 (minimum) for tolls, maybe $30 for parking, another $10 or so for bribery snacks and coffee plus tip, and who knows how much for gas. (I just got a new car -- "new" car -- that takes the super ultra premium gas: WHAT WAS I THINKING?) So there's $50 assuming gas was free. NOW, you book! WOOT! You pay that much again, and the commission to the agency AND don't forget you need to put 15% of the GROSS earning into that trust account... Let me assume $20 for gas (that's not accounting for any wear and tear on the car)...ok, so that's $70 per trip which is $140 now for 2 trips...let's say the job paid $125/hr for 2 hours...that's $250, subtract $50 for commission, now $37.50 for the trust account...now your kid made $22.50. And little more that they can have when they turn 18. But you are also out the miles on your tires, engine, and oil change.<br>
<br>
I do know many parents out there who say things like, "All the money goes into my child's account...I don't take any for expenses...it's all theirs..." and that's great. I, personally, am not wealthy enough to NOT recoup some of my expenses. Do I eat a fair chunk? Sure. Do I need to get reimbursed for some as well? Definitely. Full disclosure: we also live farther away than average, so it's pretty expensive for us to go back and forth. Even when we train, we have to drive half-way and train half-way from the closest station. <br>
<br>
So where was I? Back to the original question. This mama who wrote to me wondered if the job wasn't worth it. Fair question? YES. Was it financially worth it? NO.<br>
<br>
But remember, why do we do this in the first place? 1) We all want our kids to be in a Baby Gap. Don't lie; that's why you started. 2) It's a fun industry. I meet and have become friends with some awesome people and my child has the opportunity to become friends and work with kids from far more diverse/different backgrounds than are present in our little white-bread Northwestern CT town. 3) We love seeing pictures of our kids in stores and catalogs. The grandparents are pretty cool with pictures as well. 4) Our kids often love the time to express themselves, play with other kids and experience things in the City they wouldn't at home...AND 5) they also learn to deal with direction, waiting, patience, self-entertainment, and the rejection that can come with the business when they are old enough to understand.<br>
<br>
But ALSO remember this:<br>
<br>
This is a business. This may be fun for some of us, but for our agents, this is their livelihood. When we sign on, we are expected to follow by the general rules of the business and take the great jobs with the lame jobs...just like in any business, there are ups and downs. Positives and negatives. In the end, if it's not right for you and your finances/schedule/personality, it's fine to bow out professionally and gracefully.<br>
<br>
In the meantime, have a blast!<div><br></div><div>Feel free to "like" my Facebook page (The Bizzy Mama) where I announce new blog posts and post other industry info and follow my Instagram @theBizzyMama to see my random life photos. I'm always interested in your feedback!<br>
<br>
<br>
<i><span class="_5yl5"><span><span> </span></span></span></i><br>
<i><span class="_5yl5"><span><span></span></span></span></i></div>Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-11154888968692941062016-06-09T11:27:00.004-07:002022-10-02T12:58:57.890-07:00Are we worrying about the wrong things?<div class="MsoNormal">
I usually write exclusively for parents interested the business
of child performing. This post will
start that way – the inspiration for this – but it’s quickly going to go into
some passionate feelings I have for all parents. So please read, consider, and share if you
think this can be helpful (and I’m really hoping it can). It’s taken me a long time to write this;
school, family, auditions, all pile up…and, frankly, it’s a tough subject and I
wanted to provide you with as much accurate information as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, several model moms discovered that there were
photos of their children (or children we know) along with many other kiddos on
some “chan” sites. Now, I
will admit that I took a look at a link for about two seconds and the children
I saw were fully-clothed and pretty innocent-looking. Some children we did not recognize were young
girls (as little as one in a full-on carseat) that had a lot of makeup on and
done-up hair. (Remember I am a real
makeup prude for kids -- especially mine -- but I don’t want to get all judgy –
time and a place for everything and it’s hard enough to be a mom without other
judgy moms). These particular sites are
called “chan” sites (I believe) and are like whac-a-mole sites…impossible to
eliminate because they come as fast as they go and skirt legal vs illegal
activity and are based out of the country and travel through all sorts of
servers to protect the anonymity of the origins. Ok, creeped out much? (I just want to add
that I visited a site for only two seconds because I quickly realized I wanted
NOTHING even connected to the stuff that could end up on my computer or the
viruses or the whatever related to the garbage.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moms I interact with FREAKED OUT. You probably would too. I told my wife and she FREAKED OUT (although
no one seemed to see my daughter anywhere).
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Guess who didn’t freak out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You see, my kid is out there. You can go on Macy’s, Belk’s, Target, Hanna,
J. Crew (etc., etc.) and see child models.
Heck, many of us put photos of our kids on Facebook and Instagram all
the time (I do). My kid is
fully-clothed, looks age-appropriate, and just happens to be a seven-year-old
girl. Guess what? If some creeper is going to get all worked up
over my kid…it could just as easily happen to any kid, model or not…whatever. I HATE that it could happen; it SICKENS me;
and it’s just plain WRONG – don’t get me wrong.
I don’t want to argue THOSE points.
But what am I going to do? Hide
my kid behind a veil or keep her inside her life? We let our schools post photos of our kids
planting trees and stuff. Perverts who
like photos of kids planting trees?
Probably exist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, the ODDS of your child and mine ending up on
internet creeper sites are so minimal that as EFFED UP as it may be, you just
cannot worry about it. If you post
scantily-clad, sexy-pose photos of your kid, maybe worry about it more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here’s where I’m going to get really passionate. Look back at my title: Are we worrying about
the wrong thing?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you’re worried about where your kid shows up on the
internet, YES, you are worrying about the wrong thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now this part is for ALL parents – not just those of kids in
the public eye.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mic check. Testing…1,
2, 3…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know what we really need to worry about? Our children being sexually abused. You know why?
Because this actually DOES happen to many kids. The statistics are staggering. I’m passionate about this because I cannot
even count the number of family members, friends, and students I have worked
with over my twenty years in the classroom who have been sexually abused. I’m not even going to divulge the range of
people who are so close to me who have endured that vile atrocity because it’s
their story to tell – but trust me; it’s many.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me throw some numbers at you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, ONE
in FIVE girls and ONE in TWENTY boys are victims of child sexual abuse before
they reach adulthood. This is ALL kids
and these are only statistics based on actual reported acts in the United
States. The statistics align with adults’
recollections of their experience with abuse, although adult males tend to
report that they experienced child sexual abuse in slightly higher numbers than
actually recorded in crime databases.
Overall, this translates into slightly less than 10% OF ALL AMERICAN
CHILDREN experiencing child sexual abuse.
Even worse: only about 30% of sexual assault cases are reported to
authorities! (I want you to know that my
I have done my well-trained due diligence to verify that the websites I used
for this present reliable, well-researched statistics, so you can trust my
sources.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here’s the one that should make you stop dead in your
tracks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
90% of the victims of child sexual abuse are victimized by
someone they KNOW. 60% are known to the
offender but are NOT family and the remaining 30% are family members. It kind of turns out that “stranger danger”
is BS.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Children who experience abuse by someone they know are far
more likely to experience significant problems with trust, feelings of
worthlessness, and are very likely to have suicidal ideation. These internalized feelings may lead to
significant problems forming meaningful relationships and partnerships as
children become adults…and there is evidence that children who suffered
prolonged abuse from family members are far more likely to experience so-called
acquaintance rape (political statement: rape is rape whether you know someone
or not, so we’ll just say “raped by someone they know”).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An extensive report authored in 2010 by former FBI Investigator
Kenneth Lanning (sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children along with the Department of Justice) offered this important
information:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Acquaintance molesters are still, however, one of the most
challenging manifestations of sexual victimization of children for society and
professionals to face. People seem more willing to accept a sinister, unknown
individual or ‘stranger’ from a different location or father/stepfather from a
different socioeconomic background as a child molester than a clergy member,
next-door neighbor, law-enforcement officer, pediatrician, teacher, coach, or
volunteer. Acquaintance molesters often gain access to children through
youth-serving organizations. <b>The
acquaintance molester, by definition, is one of us.</b> He is not simply an
anonymous, external threat.” (Emphasis
mine.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the most important things you should learn about, as
a parent, is the process of “grooming” – how a potential perpetrator of child
sexual abuse gains trust in YOU as well as your child to create a situation in
which that person can victimize a child.
One thing very true of child performers is that they are exposed to
close contact with adults who could potentially create “grooming” situations
hospitable to abuse – but honestly, it can happen in church, on a sports team,
at karate, or at Thanksgiving dinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I could go on forever with facts and statistics…and I will
provide you with the links to all the sites I used for my research, including
helpful information to learn about child sexual abuse, how to talk to your
children, signs and symptoms and even the sex offender registries (handy to
check when your children are starting new activities, etc., but remember these
crimes are VERY UNDER-REPORTED so the offenders may never have encountered the
justice system in any form). And don’t
even get me started on the plea bargains offenders can take to avoid trial that
make their crimes seem minimal “on the record.”
I served on a jury in which a man charged with forcing a young boy to
perform and receive oral sex was pled down to “sexual contact with a minor” – a
fourth degree felony with a relatively short sentence – from First Degree
Sexual Assault (which is the legal charge for RAPE in CT)…and a man my family
knows well who was caught file-sharing as well as possessing a lot of child
pornography on his computer who pled that down to something like one obscene
photo or something. (The justice system
in this country is effed up, but that’s like another entire blog I could
write.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So please. Worry
about the right things with your children.
You CANNOT be too careful about this. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do not let your child spend unsupervised time without you or a very,
very, very trustworthy person (and remember the whole “grooming” thing? They make themselves seem very, very, very
trustworthy!). Re-think sleepovers –
even with family members. Host them at
your house or discourage them entirely. I’m
sorry – I know that is really lame and maybe over-cautious parenting, but my
child is much less likely to suffer from the tears of reacting to mean old mom
than being abused by a known person.
Heck, I worry about this more than any likelihood my child will be
harmed by a giant, red, three-month-old perfect Monsanto strawberry. Or riding her bike in the road.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Talk about this stuff.
With your kids, your spouse, your friends. If you think it hasn’t happened to people you
know, you will become quite aware how widespread it is once you have those
conversations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And please share this.
Share these links. Let your
friends know what they need to worry about.
The bicycle helmet? YES, of
course. Drowning in the pool? YES.
But this one – child sexual abuse – is more likely than any of
those. We TALK about the helmets and the
pools – so maybe that’s why they happen less.
We hear the horror stories of drowning and we make our kids have a
healthy fear of the water and we teach them to swim. But do we teach them to do as much as
possible to protect them from sexual abuse?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’d better start.
NOW.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Reactions? Thoughts? Post here, on my Facebook page (The Bizzy Mama) or via email: theBizzyMama@gmail.com<br />
<br />
Resources:<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
National Center for Victims of Crime, Child Sexual Abuse Statistics:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.victimsofcrime.org/media/reporting-on-child-sexual-abuse/child-sexual-abuse-statistics">http://www.victimsofcrime.org/media/reporting-on-child-sexual-abuse/child-sexual-abuse-statistics</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Lanning report on child molesters:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC70.pdf">http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC70.pdf</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
National Sex Offender Public Website (lots of publications/guides/etc.; not just sex offender registries)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Education/ResourcesMaterials">https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Education/ResourcesMaterials</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
...and a direct link to their "Common Questions" page where you can read about many things including grooming:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Education/CommonQuestions#answer-05">https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Education/CommonQuestions#answer-05</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stop It Now! Resources for preventing child sexual abuse:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.stopitnow.org/">http://www.stopitnow.org/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children -- includes information on reporting child sexual abuse (among many other things):</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.missingkids.com/Home">http://www.missingkids.com/Home</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-68537393864510185772016-04-01T11:05:00.003-07:002016-04-01T12:24:58.642-07:00What to consider if you're thinking about...switching agencies.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">At some point in
your child’s modeling career, you may start wondering: is it time to find a new
agent? Assuming you’ve been around for a
while, booked some jobs, and now know the process, you may wonder if you have
the right fit with an agent. This is
very common. In fact, almost everyone I
know has either had the thought cross their mind (even if only for a few
seconds) OR has switched agencies. If
you’re at that point, what should you consider before you try to make a
change? And then, if you decide to make
the move, how should you handle it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>Part 1: Should I
switch?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">If you’ve been a
loyal BizzyMama reader, you know that I often suggest that you think of this
stuff very much within the context of a business decision. I live within a mile of two grocery stores, a
Target, and a Walmart. I go to Stop
& Shop and Target while my wife goes to Price Chopper and Walmart (well,
she’s into Target as well, but she WILL go to Walmart and I just don’t.) Now follow me for a moment here: the Stop
& Shop is more expensive, but it’s newer, better lit, and cleaner (in my
opinion). I’m also a creature of habit:
I drove across town to go to Stop & Shops in my previous two homes, so
imagine how happy I was when one opened near me! I get their, as I call it, logic – how they
have things laid out. My wife “gets”
Price Chopper logic, likes the prices, and can find her favorite yogurt there
or whatever. We make these choices based
on different things: someone may like the cashiers better at one store or shop
at any store based on the price of sale items.
I hate the parking lot at Walmart, but find Target’s to be pretty
civilized. My preferences are my
preferences. And: I’m talking about
businesses here. If I had a bad business
experience, I would probably change my store.
And that’s what you should be thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">But: can you get
FOOD at both grocery stores? And cat
litter at Target and Walmart? YES. You’re really going to have the same outcome
at either place. So when you are
wondering if you should switch agencies, here is probably the ONE THING you
should be very realistic about…and it’s probably the LAST reason why you should
switch agencies…I’m going to put it first but number it really low on the
list. It’s really important to know this
one and really important to say it should not be your #1 consideration…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>#654: "My child isn’t booking with this agency."</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The solid
agencies in each major market generally get the same opportunities. They generally submit any kids who fit the
breakdown, and they generally operate their submissions and bookings the same
way. This is why they are the solid
agencies…they have built up their reputations with clients and casting
directors by doing good business and doing right by their talent. If they didn’t…they wouldn’t be able to
survive in the business. And,
furthermore – perhaps most importantly – I really only know of two (that’s TWO)
kids who booked more when they switched agencies (and I know a lot of kids and
moms!). There are really not many “grass
is greener” stories to share with you about booking…so realize that different agencies don’t
mean more jobs for 99% of kids. (If I’m
wrong about this, write to me so I can change my statistics!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">So what should
you seriously consider? In no specific
order…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>Do I work well
with the people who contact me?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Does the agency’s
system of sending out castings and bookings make sense to you or do they leave
you with questions? Are they
professional and courteous, as you would expect, for example, when you call
your pediatrician’s office? Are they too
formal or too casual for your style? Do
you know who is contacting you or is the staff really inconsistent?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>How is the “fit”? </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This is very
similar to the previous question, but maybe takes a little intuition to figure
out. How do they respond to me when I
call/email? Do I get the right “vibe”? (This assumes you are calling/emailing/etc. a
reasonable amount and not asking every other day why your kid didn’t get casting
X or are holds out for casting Y?)
Sometimes people consider the warm fuzzies…or the organization…or the
precision…it really depends on you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>What is our contact
with the person “in charge”?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Some agencies
are operated heavily by their owners, some have long-established agents who
handle a division, and some have one or two junior staffers who handle most of
the day-to-day booking. You don’t
necessarily need to have regular contact with some head honcho, but you should
have a sense of who runs the show – which will give you a sense of HOW that
person runs the show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>How is the money
end of things?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Do checks come
in a timely manner? Does the amount paid
equal what you were told the job would earn?
Is the accounting clear? When you
do your paperwork on April 14, does it all make sense? If you do need to chase down a payment, is
the agency helpful and do they keep you posted?
Do things get deducted from your checks that you don’t understand?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>Do I like the
fact that this agency earns 20% on my kid’s jobs?</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And we circle
back to the whole business thing. Does
the agency want to book you? YES,
because that is how they make money. If
you think your kid is probably going out for the jobs you’re hearing about FOR
YOUR KID’S EXACT BREAKDOWN, and you like the interactions you have with the
agency, I would say: you really have no need to change. <b>If you are stuck on #654, wait.</b> Take a few (weeks’ worth of) deep
breaths. Don’t get hung up on names or
who is on their roster or what works for that other family. Focus on the business. I’m not going to start going to Price Chopper
just because my wife does. If Stop &
Shop starts getting shabby or I start getting the wrong change or rude customer
service, then I would probably look around at other stores. But I’ve got an embarrassingly large number
of years of Stop & Shop loyalty under my belt, and I’m not going to give
that up just because they were out of my raspberry swirl Greek yogurt the last
two times it was on sale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">To sum things up
with my “greener grass” analogy: most parents who have switched agencies and
were happy with the switch did it because of the fit and the business
model. Most parents who switched because
of the opportunities/bookings were not as happy with their move.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’ll save the
how-to for the next post…I’ve had a headache all day and I am going to chill
out before my daughter gets home from school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Thanks for
reading! As always, feel free to comment
here, on my facebook page (The Bizzy
Mama) or via email, at <a href="mailto:thebizzymama@gmail.com">thebizzymama@gmail.com</a>. You can also check out some kid and pet pics
on Instagram @theBizzyMama. And, for some reason, I don’t
tweet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-84168673853867438192016-01-31T08:53:00.000-08:002016-01-31T08:53:24.036-08:00Did you know…? Workplace Safety for Child Performers (Second in a series.)<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, two moms contacted me with some pretty serious
safety concerns about the sets where their children were called to work. As parents, we’re used to being pretty
vigilant with our kids – we tend not to take them to places we deem
unsafe. For example, I usually don't allow
my kids to climb on the lumber in Home Depot…while climbing at the playground
padded with 12” of superfoam is usually ok.
(Laugh about it – this is my sad attempt at humor while I am
procrastinating doing my Stats homework.)
We all know how stressful it is to bring the kids to a relative’s house
that is not child-proofed – it’s like playing full body goalie to keep your kid
from tumbling off the floating staircase or forming a percussion band
experiment on the Ming vases. You get
the point. We also tend to think places
where children are expected to be -- whether it’s a birthday party, school, or
day care – are going to be safe. So
reason would have it that sets for children’s photo shoots would be safe as
well, right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Um, no. Not really.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s what New York State law says about the safety of
child performers:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(a) The employer shall provide the child performer and his
or her parent or guardian with information and instruction to protect the
health or safety of the child performer, including any potential hazards
associated with the specific activities that he or she will be expected to
perform. In addition, a child performer must be given adequate instruction and
rehearsal time for the specific activities he or she is to perform in order to
protect his or her health or safety. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(b) A child performer and his or her designated responsible
person shall be given orientation training to the workplace, other than the
child performer’s own residence, that is adequate and appropriate to their
ages. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Orientation training should include: <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(1) Health and safety precautions for the venue or location;
<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(2) Traffic patterns backstage or on location; <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(3) Safe waiting areas for child performers backstage or on
location; <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(4) Restricted areas; <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(5) Location of rest areas/rooms, toilets, makeup areas, and
other relevant rooms; <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(6) Emergency procedures; and, <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(7) Employer designated persons to inform of hazardous
conditions and what actions to take.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sounds pretty good, right?
If only.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think I mentioned this in the previous “Did you know…?” but I’ll say it again. This business is not always child friendly,
and it operates much more on the basis of “children dropped into an adult world”
rather than adults creating a world for children. One of the mothers who contacted me described
the WAITING AREA of the shoot to be kind of like a Home Depot: ladders and
wires and set construction stuff all over the place. This was the waiting area. She said that every mother there was playing
the full-body goalie game, trying to keep little ones – we’re talking fifteen
month olds here – safe and happy. (A
walking fifteen-month-old is a creature unto its own…if you have older kids, you’ve
probably blocked that all out of your memory.
I remember childbirth better than I remember chasing my kids around at
that age.) Now, obviously this
description of the waiting area falls far from the parameters of the law.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another mom described the conditions on a location shoot to
be nothing short of oppressive. High
heat, kids waiting around in winter clothes (in the summer), no cool place to
wait while kids were visibly distressed and showing signs of the heat affecting
their well-being, random production staff taking kids to different areas of the
location without parents knowing, no private places to change children’s
clothes for the shoot, and flights of stairs for parents and little ones to
navigate endlessly because of the extreme disorganization on set. A typical shoot in these conditions would
have an air-conditioned motor home parked on set, with seating (not much room,
but cool and safe enough for everyone to have good supervision over the
children) and a private changing area, a place outdoors for the kids to play
between shoots, and a way to keep either our own beverages or
production-provided beverages at least a little cool for our kids. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And here’s another one -- not recent, but an incident that
is burned into my mind: a child FELL INTO A POND on a location shoot and a mom
had to jump in a rescue the child. What
on earth were they thinking holding a shoot right near a pond when plenty of
little kids were in the vicinity?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now tell me this: would Gigi Hadid put up with this? These shoots I described were for good brands
and stores – with plenty of resources to make a couple of adjustments to keep
the models more comfortable – but they did not take care to make sure the
children were safe and at least slightly comfortable on set. Of those provisions I provided from the law,
how many glaring violations can you see?
Now, I paint these severe pictures as worst-case-scenarios. Generally speaking, I have found sets to have
some safety concerns such as wires and gear that could be unsafe for the kids,
but generally I’ve experienced safe waiting areas and the kids have been
well-supervised on set. Most productions
tend to show concern for the little ones’ well-being. I personally don’t have any horror stories…yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So here’s the big question: what do you do when you’re on
set and these things happen?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll focus on print here.
Production companies (the people hired to set things up, organize the
schedule, get the creative team’s vision into reality) are not child-care
professionals. They are not used to the
safety concerns we only really realized once we had our own kids. So it’s going to happen that you may
encounter some degree of the inconveniences I mentioned. First of all, advocate for your child. There should be a “point person” on the set –
and if you’re not sure who that is, ask someone who signs the vouchers. The person who signs the vouchers is probably
someone with some degree of control in the situation. Express concern and ask specifically for what
you need. Some examples: “I’m concerned
that there is not a private area for the kids to change. Can you make a space?” (They can…there is stuff they can move around
or they can clear an area behind a clothing rack if nothing else.) “I feel like there are a lot of unsafe things
in the waiting area – can someone come and rearrange a few things so the kids aren’t
so close to the wires?” I feel like the
calm, professional parent can get a lot done with this type of direct
concern/ask for change type interaction.
It’s not confrontational and puts the staff into the position of looking
like idiots if they say no.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, what if the staff is surly or unresponsive? Or just so disorganized that they cannot stop
for five minutes to accommodate these simple requests? I think the next step is to call your
agent. Your agent has the contact
information for someone somewhere who has some control on the set, and your
agent should contact that person immediately.
As I mentioned in my previous post, your agent needs to know the law and
your agent needs to be willing to advocate for your child. You want your agent to tell you it’s ok to
leave if you feel like your child is unsafe or disregarded – and your agent
should take up payment, etc., with the client afterwards. If your agent hesitates and seems to want you
to stay so you don’t lose the booking, maybe it’s time to have a conversation
with the agent.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On-camera sets tend to be different. Modeling is only recently covered under the
child performer law, and they probably don’t know all they should about the
rights and protections of children. THIS
DOES NOT EXCUSE THEM, but it may explain why they need a reminder about their
sets. Production staffs that do
on-camera (or stage) are somewhat more versed in the law, as it has tended to
be enforced more with them. The unions,
SAG/AFTRA and AEA, have more stringent protections for the children than the
law provides, and they have a representative on set to make sure production
complies with union rules, so you know exactly who the point person is when you
have concerns. Unfortunately, modeling
has no union – yet – to protect its workers.
Here’s a little political plug: if you are opposed to unions, this is
one place where you need to acknowledge and be thankful that they actively
protect child performers. (I could go
on, but I’ll spare you.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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The only way conditions for children on sets will improve is
if parents and agents know the law and advocate for their children. If EVERY parent and agent insists on safety,
no one would have to fear retaliation by reactionary clients and production. Safety needs to become the norm – on every
set – and should never be questioned.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reactions? Responses? Comment here or on my facebook page (The Bizzy Mama) or you can contact me by email at thebizzymama@gmail.com You can also check out my Instagram if you want to see my kids and pets: TheBizzyMama</div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-44324605422123943162016-01-27T05:30:00.001-08:002016-01-27T08:59:39.064-08:00Did You Know...? (First in a Series)If you've read my recent posts, you know that I have strong feelings about pay-to-work modeling. Child modeling is a profession, overseen by labor laws. I have realized, though, in some of my advocacy work, that many parents are not aware of exactly how these labor laws protect their children. So, I've decided to do some posts about different sections of the New York State law governing child performers -- with an eye toward the level of protection you need to have over your children and how the law supports that. Here we go! Part one:<br>
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<b>Did you know…</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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According to NYS child performer law, each child on set must
have a “responsible person” overseeing the wellbeing of that child. Here is what the law says:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“<i>(a) Every child performer under the age of 16 shall be
assigned a responsible person at least 18 years of age, whose duties shall be
to accompany the child throughout the work day and to monitor the child’s
safety and well-being. The employer shall allow the responsible person to be
within sight or sound of the child at all times during the workday.</i>”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Essentially, the responsible person is YOU -- and this law protects YOUR right to watch over your child. This is particularly important for any child who will be
changing clothes – you should personally be in the presence of your child when
your child will be undressing. This isn’t
just to prevent your child from being “touched” by someone on set, but also to
prevent anyone from sneakily taking pictures of your child. I don’t mean the photographer (but I will not
exclude that possibility). People on set
are often employed by production companies hired by the client and you simply
do not know if some tech or assistant is going to snap a shot of your child. I recommend that you stand in front of your
child to block anyone’s view (same or opposite sex) if the changing area is not
absolutely private. I cannot stress
enough that there are perverts, sex offenders, and pedophiles out there – and they
are often “trusted” adults that your child may have met before. A common tactic is for someone to recognize a
child and warm up to the kid by saying something like, “Remember me? We met at the ___ shoot!” putting your child
in the uncomfortable position of having to warm up to, essentially, a stranger. Pediatricians, mental health professionals,
and industry advocates say there are far more people to be concerned about on
sets than we would ever know.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are some other provisions in this section of the law;
for example, the parent may designate a responsible adult over 18 if the parent
is not available (if you have a nanny, relative, or even another performer’s
parent watching your child that day).
There are further protections for children between 15 weeks and 6 months
– these young ones actually require an employer to have a registered nurse on set.</div>
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This law now applies to print -- in addition to stage and on-camera. That's a relatively recent development (within the past couple of years) and many print productions are not fully aware of these laws. Ideally, your agent should be very familiar with them as well. In case there is an issue that cannot be easily resolved on set, your first call should be to your agent -- who is the next in line after you as advocate for your child.</div>
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Until next time!</div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-74242664646944173332016-01-07T16:19:00.000-08:002016-01-08T06:06:53.016-08:00Pay-to-Play Runway NO WAY part 2 (or P2PRWNW2)<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow! Lots of responses to this pay-to-play runway topic! I've even had to resort to shorthand: P2PRW. I’ve spent some time wandering around social
media to see what people are thinking, and I’ve seen a LOT of interesting
points. I’ll address some of them
specifically, but first I want to focus on what I think is my biggest issue
with pay-to-play runway. Several people
raised this point with me, and it zeroes in on some of my biggest concerns with
the industry.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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So here goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Child modeling is a job.
It’s work. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It sounds really cool, and for most kids, there are bursts
of fun and giggling at shoots – but there is a lot of waiting around, getting
poked and prodded, reminded to be quiet…there’s a reason it’s paid work. And as it’s paid work, it’s regulated by
labor laws. A lot of us say it’s a fun
hobby – which it may very well be for parents and some families – and the money
isn’t anything you’re going to get rich from (see my earlier post about what a
child model makes) – but the hobby is actually considered BY LAW to be work for a kid
and as such, there are specific requirements and protections built into how it's done. And these requirements and
restrictions are especially important for runway work. It may not seem like a big deal for an
eight-year-old to put on a pretty dress and work that runway – but it’s a
slippery slope as to what comes next. The
regulations are designed to protect the little ones as well as to prevent
emaciated fifteen-year-olds from walking for Proenza Schouler or whomever. All kids under 18 are treated the same under child performer laws, and the laws need to be applied to all kids who work. And let’s just say that California laws make
<a href="https://www.labor.ny.gov/legal/laws/pdf/child-performer-regulations/part186-child-performer.pdf" target="_blank">NY laws</a> look like a little board-book story.
(And runway work is explicitly part of child performer laws.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s work. What do
you do for a living? What do you dream
of doing? Would you work for free? I highly doubt you would show up and do
someone’s job for free – and I’m sure you would never ask anyone to come PAY
YOU to do your job. How would your
colleagues feel if someone just paid to show up and do the job with no permit
or other requirements of the job? Again,
modeling is work. It should be treated
as such. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
So we're not actually talking pay-to-PLAY...As my friend (shout out!) pointed out, it's pay-to-WORK! YESSSSS!!! We're talking about PAY-TO-WORK!</div>
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Now – here’s where I can anticipate what you’re
thinking. “You just don’t want someone
to come and take away an opportunity for your daughter!” You know what? People come and get chosen for jobs she could
do EVERY DAY. Rejection is CONSTANT in
this industry. My daughter gets rejected
so many times that I never even know about!
I TRULY do not personalize any of that.
Some moms do, and I really disagree with that belief system. But honestly, there will ALWAYS be more
attractive, cuter, smarter, more talented kids than my daughter and my agency
may sign five of them tomorrow. I have
no control over that. I DO NOT believe
that your kid will take any opportunities away from my daughter that your kid
doesn’t totally deserve – when you play by the rules of the game. We don’t even love runway that much. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll do it, but it’s a
long hard day and probably even more fun for me than my daughter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok, now for some point-by-point responses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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1. But it’s my child’s
dream to be a runway model! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok, it does look cool and it can be a lot of fun. Lots of little girls like to be pampered and
feel beautiful. Is this the only
way? Is this really your child’s dream? As any model mom who started when our kids
were practically fetal or non-verbal – it was OUR idea. OUR choice.
As children get older, sure, they have more to say about it. Are there other dreams you can nurture? Do you want your child’s dream to be realized
by someone making money off of your child’s dream in a way that’s not
considered an industry standard or norm – when many other people are playing by
the rules? Do you realize your dreams by
paying for the opportunity? If so, who
profits? Was it worth it in the
end? Think about the lessons you want to
reinforce in your home. (And don’t tell
me it was your dream to go skydiving and you did and it was expensive and it
was great. You paid for the company’s
experience, their safety expertise, their equipment, their airplane fuel, and
their insurance – which I am sure is huge.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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2. …and we’re not in
a big market…we haven’t been picked up by an agency…etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All children are beautiful and many designers cast a
wonderful range of looks. Some kids
happen to do well modeling and some do not, but that doesn’t mean your child
cannot participate in local, charity, or fun runway shows. If you can’t find one of those, why not
organize a runway show for a few Girl Scout troops to raise funds? Get some people together to sponsor a mission trip? PTA family night? You can charge the viewers/guests of the show
and it can be a legitimate charity donation.
I am certain you can get a bunch of people excited to participate, maybe
some shops willing to lend outfits for publicity (or wear your finest or create
a theme) and you can even hire hair and makeup people and a photographer – or get
donated services for the charity – for less than it would cost even one girl to
participate in some pay-to-play shows. Get
creative. Want to go to a big city for
fashion fun? Make an appointment with a
personal shopper in Bloomingdale’s and book a beauty treatment at Elizabeth
Arden. Stay overnight. You are still paying far less than some
runway shows I’ve seen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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3. This will give my
child exposure!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Highly doubtful…to just NO. Agencies do not sign/book kids from their
runway work. Actually, I do know one
girl who was sort of scouted by an agent at Petite Parade (but then again, it
was an event that an agent would actually attend…and she was already a
successful actor…so I guess it doesn’t really apply here). My daughter has done several Petite Parade
shows and not once – ever – were the photos from the show used by her
agency. Not once were they ever used for
a submission. Did photographers take her
picture? Sure. Did she get posted on social media? Sure.
Did she get a really bad thumbnail pic printed in <i>Vogue Bambini </i>from the show when she was 3 and buried her head all
the way down the runway? Yes. But you know who soaked up all the exposure
she got? ME. Moms look for their own kids. And really…no one else does. And that’s at Petite Parade!<o:p></o:p></div>
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4. It’s just like
sports or dance or cheer or…fencing or…poetry class! We pay for all that!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yes, you do. And I
know those great things are not cheap!
And the older the kids get, the more it all costs! But it’s not the same. They get instruction and experience they can
actually apply. They are not paying a
fee just to show up at a game and realize their dream of being an
all-star. Those lessons/programs/classes
reinforce proper technique, the value of persistence and practice, and many
other labor-of-love lessons for our children.
Unlike walking down a runway, the time our children spend in those
programs give them the tools to realize both short-term and long-term goals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Maybe your dream is to play in the World Series. You can’t just pay to show up and do it. You can, however, spend a nice weekend at
fantasy camp with a real team – for fun – just not doing their jobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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5. Modeling is not
cheap!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Don’t I know it! I
commute two hours for most of my daughter’s work and that started when gas was
$4.00/gallon! Tolls and parking and
lunch/dinner in the city and all that stuff adds up – and that’s not even
counting the occasional head shots she may need or the acting classes she’ll
start in a year or so. It’s NOT
free. But you know what? Those are the business expenses any
self-employed worker would incur. There
are all sorts of tax laws to deal with that stuff. And here’s the clincher: you can only deduct
expenses incurred in the course of working or improving your current
craft. (So acting lessons for an actor
would work, but not cooking lessons for an actor…unless the actor is preparing
for the role of a chef…you get the point.)
Pay-to-play runway wouldn’t qualify for this, since it doesn’t further a
career. And my daughter never, ever pays to work. Agencies ONLY take money in the form of
commission from paid jobs – not one cent beyond that. And if you live in NYC, most of those travel expenses
I pay are off the table. I work with
moms and kids who WALKED from their apartment to the studio! How easy is that!<o:p></o:p></div>
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6. But I get to keep
the clothes! – or – But we get pictures!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Will your child wear them again? I mean, I’m sure they are wonderful and show
the designer’s vision – but a lot of runway looks are more conceptual than
wearable. Is it really a true win-win? And about the pictures? Of course we know that photographers should
be paid for their work. Are you paying
the photographer or the designer? How
does the rate for the photographer stack up to the going rate for a similar
shoot? If the designer hires the photographer
for just a few hundred bucks but then promises packages of pictures to
participants, that really sucks for the photographer! Just consider what I wrote above about who
viewed the runway pictures of my daughter: me.
(And there were some images I selected and purchased full-res from the
photographers…for me.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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7. Not from model
moms, but from designers: Do you know
how hard it is for a young/new designer to get started?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not personally, but I have worked with several and know how
they roll. They work jobs they don’t
love during the day and they design and sew at night. They get friends with cameras to take pics…maybe
get a few friends with kids to model…and they grow a little at a time. I’ve seen lookbooks they printed themselves
on color printers they bought at Staples.
They pound the pavement to boutiques and sell on commission. They work their butts off and some succeed
and some don’t. I don’t want to be all “too
bad / so sad” here, but a lot of people
work very hard to realize their dreams or attain what they want in their career
and they don’t have the opportunity (or desire) to fund their goals off the desires
of little children. It can be done.<o:p></o:p></div>
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8. Let’s not all
judge each other!!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I agree. THAT’S not
productive. But advocating for one’s
position is – and I’m advocating to keep the child modeling/talent industry
fair for all involved. Work is work and
should be treated as such. And if we
happen to meet and you’ve just done, like, six pay-to-play runway shows with
your kid? Whatever. You know my feelings already. I won’t bite.
Six pay-to-play shows AND a “Make America Great Again” hat? THEN we may have a problem…KIDDING!!! (Dad?!?)<o:p></o:p></div>
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And just a reminder: make sure if your kid is doing any runway -- paid/unpaid/for pay -- in NYFW, be sure you have your permits on hand and proof of trust account!<br />
<br />
For any comments, respond here or on my Facebook page, The Bizzy Mama. You can reach me by email at TheBizzyMama@gmail.com and check out some of my daughter's work on Instagram. And pets.</div>
Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2730736892866780100.post-4220750514211090442016-01-02T14:12:00.002-08:002016-01-02T14:12:57.822-08:00Quick ClarificationJust want to let you all know -- since I have many new readers -- I receive absolutely no money, services, or goods for my blog or anything I post. If I did, I would tell you. I have been accused of receiving something in exchange for "promoting" East Coast Starz in my last post and I did not nor would I accept anything in exchange for their mention. I know people who have gone to their events and have been very happy with the experience, and that is why I added them into my post. I attended with my daughter about a year and a half ago but she came down with a fever after we were there only a couple of hours so we left -- but I can say for certain that there were a ton of girls and their moms (and siblings) having a blast.<br />
<br />
So, no, sorry, nothing in exchange.Mama Dihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875676539057634148noreply@blogger.com0