How to get my child in a commercial

How to Get Your Child on TV and Movies

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Child Background Actors on Jane the Virgin

Want to get your child on TV shows and movies? Central Casting casts minors from 15 days old to 17 years old to work in movies, TV shows, commercials, and many other productions. Here’s everything you need to know about registering your child and getting on set.

What kind of roles for kids does Central Casting cast?

We cast children to be Background Actors and photo doubles. A Background Actor (also called extra, background talent, and atmosphere) is someone who performs in a show in a nonspeaking role, usually in the background. They’re students at a school, friends at a birthday party, and players on a soccer team.

A photo double is a person who appears on screen when an actor’s face does not need to be shown. There are strict rules for how long children can work, so many productions will use a photo double to take a principal child actor’s place when he or she does not need to be on camera. This allows the crew to keep filming while the principal actor is fulfilling their school or other requirements.

How can my child become a Background Actor?

To get your child on TV shows and movies, the first step is to register them with Central Casting. We hold registration sessions for minors every week in our offices in Los Angeles, New York, Georgia, and Louisiana. Choose your location on our Kids Sign Up page for detailed information on the registration process in each office.

When you and your child come to registration, you will fill out an I-9 form on their behalf. Part of the I-9 process is having the correct documentation. Read through our minors I-9 required documentation packet before coming to registration so you know what original unexpired documents you need to bring with you.

Your child will also take a photo for our casting platform. This is the photo Casting Directors will see when they look up your minor’s file. Keep in mind that Directors, Assistant Directors, and other members of production may see this photo during the casting process, so make sure your child is camera ready when you come to registration.

Does my child need a work permit?

All children will need a work permit in order to work on set. The work permit process is different in each state; if you have specific questions about your state’s requirements you can contact your Central Casting office.

Los Angeles

To obtain a work permit, a parent or legal guardian will need to fill out an entertainment work permit application with the California Department of Industrial Relations. In order to receive a work permit, you will need to show proof of the minor’s age and have the child’s school verify that the student has good grades and attendance.

California requires minor entertainment work permits to be updated every six months. Central Casting will need these updated permits on file for your minor to be considered for work.

New York

To apply for a work permit it New York, a parent or legal guardian will need to fill out the child performer permit application from the New York Department of Labor. To be approved for a work permit, the state requires a note from the child’s school, a doctor’s visit for the minor, and for a trust account to be set up for the child. Once the Department of Labor accepts the application, it usually takes about a week for you to receive the work permit.

Georgia

In order for Central Casting to obtain a work permit for your child, they must be issued a certification number from the state of Georgia. You can obtain a certification number by filling out a short form on the Georgia DOL website. Bring that certificate number with you when you register your child at our Atlanta office. If you are already registered with Central Casting Georgia, send your child’s name and certificate number with the subject line “GDOL Certificate” to [email protected].

Louisiana

Work permits are issued per project and must be approved five days before the child’s first day of work. In order to secure a work permit for the child, Central Casting will need the following documents on file: parental consent form (part of the packet you fill out when you register your minor), a copy of the minor’s Social Security card, and a copy of the child’s birth certificate or state issued I. D. These documents are used to verify the minor’s date of birth.

Minor’s Talent Onboarding at Central Casting Los Angeles

How to find work

There are many tools you can use to get your child on TV. Casting Directors may send you a message, call you directly, or you can look through our job posts. You can find what roles we’re casting for minors by going to the job posts section of your location’s Kids page. In the post, the Casting Director will give information about what they are looking for and give specific submission instructions. Be sure to read these carefully before submitting your minor for any projects.

If a Casting Director books your child, they will give you your minor’s work details. Please write this information down, including the project name, the Casting Director who booked your child, where and when to report, to whom you report, and any wardrobe information. You may receive an additional resource, like a link to a details or wardrobe blog.

Now you know how to get your child on TV and movies. Read our article What to Do When Your Minor Books a Job to learn everything you need to know about being on set with your child.

How do I get my child onto TV?

We figured it was important for her to have some time with other children at some point on a Saturday or Sunday, and she'd always loved singing and acting in school plays so we thought acting classes were a good fit.

From there, Bodhi Rae was asked to audition for the drama school's affiliated agency - and now she's at the point where she's started being put up for various castings.

I should also say that her dad is an actor and signed to an agent, and a few of Bodhi Rae's auditions have come via his agent who's been asked to find a dad and daughter duo for various commercials including ads for big brands like Mercedes.

More like this

I thought I'd put these step by steps in place based on my experiences for anyone who's keen to get their child into the world of TV/commercials but isn't sure where to start. ..

Step 1: start with acting classes

First off, your child does need to enjoy acting and being in the spotlight. Once they get to 6 or 7, you'll probably know if you've got a performer on your hands and from there, you'll want to think about getting them into a weekend or evening acting class.

A couple of well-known chain acting groups that you'll find across the UK are Stagecoach and Pauline Quirke Academy - the one my daughter attends.

Here your child will do classes of around 3 hours, usually on a Saturday - and they'll get to try different kinds of acting like musical theatre, comedy, and film.

Courses usually cost around £80 per month but check with your local branch.

Children are divided into age groups and you'll usually get to attend a show at the end of every term. They might have some script work to do between Saturdays, so be prepared to spend time helping them learn lines and lyrics.

Step 2: find an agency

No actor can make it without an agent, so if you're serious about your child getting into acting, this is the next step after establishing classes.

The good news is that, often, acting academies like Stagecoach and Pauline Quirke Academy have agencies attached and, after a few weeks of attending classes, your child will hopefully be invited to an audition with the possibility of going onto the books if they do well.

If they get accepted, your child officially has representation and this is when you could find the offers start rolling in.

Step 3: get the best head shots

Either when your child goes for their audition with the agency, or when they get accepted onto the books, they'll probably ask you to pay for head shots using a photographer they have chosen.

If you want to provide your own photos in addition, you'll have to fund these and ask that the agency use the images you want them to on their website.

My husband is also a photographer and took the above shots of our daughter (Danann Breathnach Photography) so luckily we didn't have to find the money for these.

But what's vital to know is that the quality of the head shots your agency uses will play a huge part in your child getting castings: their photo is the main thing a director or casting agent will make a decision on regarding whether or not your child gets asked to come in for an audition, so if you are able to spend out on a well respected photographer, I would say it's definitely worth it.

Try to have a variety of shots, too: some close up, some smiling, not smiling, showing teeth and not showing teeth, and so on.

You want your child to seem as 'natural' as possible and for their personality to shine through, so choose the most authentic shots you can to showcase them.

Step 4: get an entry on Spotlight

As well as having your child's profile on the agency website, you'll probably also be advised to put them onto Spotlight, a website used by casting directors to find adult and child talent.

It will cost around £100 per year and you'll need to include head shots and basic information about your child. You can include showreels / voice reels too when you have them.

The contact details you list on Spotlight should be your child's agency, who will pass on any offers of castings.

Step 5: understand what happens at castings

Your child's agency will be in touch if they've been chosen to go to a casting. They are normally at just a day or 2 of notice, and are generally after school hours or during school holidays or weekends, though at times you may need to decide if you're going to ask your child's school for a day's absence if you're taking your child out to go to an audition.

Prep for a casting will vary. Sometimes you'll be given a full script: your child won't have to learn it off by heart but it's definitely good if you have a read through with them before the casting.

At other times, you might just be given the overall synopsis for the advert. And occasionally your child will be asked to talk a bit about themselves: we took Bodhi Rae to a McDonald's TV commercial where the children were asked to take in a number of objects that were special to them to talk about.

You'll be given a set time, and the casting directors will work hard to make sure you're not late in, but take drinks and snacks. Often, you'll be perched in small, sometimes busy waiting rooms so you want to keep occupied.

Your child might do the casting alone – with just the casting director, and, usually, camera person – or with other potential actors, child and / or adult.

You probably won't be told what to wear to a casting but make sure it's comfortable, clean and neat. Smart jeans and a simple, not-too-busy top work well for a boy or girl.

Remember that often your child will be filmed so anything too loud or patterned might be distracting on camera.

Decisions on who will be used following a casting are usually made a few days after auditions. If you haven't heard anything after a week, the chances are your child didn't get the part (they usually don't call if it's a no).

One thing to note is that this is a really time-consuming part of the process, and if you're serious about getting your child into the acting world, you will need to consider how available you'll be to take them around to various castings.

I work in an office from 9am to 5pm so wouldn't be able to get Bodhi Rae to evening castings at all, though I can manage weekends. My husband is his own boss and works from home so is able to take her around to auditions: if you both work full-time, fitting these in could be tricky.

Step 5: if your child doesn't get the part

It's important that, right from the beginning of attending castings, your child knows that there is really nothing personal in how the director chooses who he wants to work with.

Often it's about a specific look / style. If your child goes to a lot of castings but isn't getting any further, you might want to gently ask them how it went to find out where they could do better: perhaps they need to listen more carefully to the director's instructions or be more confident / a little less loud/enthusiastic.

But if they don't get a part, don't make a big deal of it. There will be other auditions – it just didn't happen this time.

Step 6: when your child does get the part

It's pretty exciting to hear your child has been offered a role! Though once your feet are back on the ground, be prepared for the admin that's coming your way including:

information sheets regarding your child's size in clothes, weight, height, shoe size, contact details, as well as passport information if the commercial / show is filming abroad (they often are)
getting a licence: the agency should help with this but you'll need to get permission and signatures from your child's school (usually the head teacher)
getting a chaperone: your child will need a chaperone on set. If this going to be you (yes, you will get paid separately), you will need to confirm your availability, which might mean arranging time off work and finding childcare if you have other kids.

It's worth noting here that commercials are often filmed in school term time, and can mean your child takes 2 or 3 days out to do them.

Make sure you talk to your head teacher and your child's form teacher about what a great opportunity it is for them and why you hope they'll be supportive in your decision to take your child out of school, if that's what you decide to do.

Otherwise it could be a battle you need to fight time and time again.

We've also found on a few occasions that we've been told Bodhi Rae has a part, we've gone to the school, got forms filmed out, sent passport images etc – only for everything to fall through at the last minute.

Getting an acting job is a bit like buying a house: just like you don't own the house until you have the keys in your hand, you don't have the job until you're on set!

So this business can be a bit of a rollercoaster like that.

How much will my child get paid?

This totally depends on the job, and the company. Your child might get a voiceover-only role and be paid around £200 for an afternoon's work.

Or, if it's a big advert like McDonald's, they could get thousands, usually divided into a performance fee and then a repeat fee (usually a lump sum which can be way more than the performance fee).

You should know that usually at a casting you will need to list any other work your child has already been in and if they're on, say, a big commercial running on television, it's unlikely they'll get cast again for the time that ad's running.

Of course, what you do with the money is up to you: we've started a savings account for Bodhi Rae to have when she's 18.

Though we do also give her a small chunk (maybe £20) to buy herself a treat if she wants to, so you may want to think about that.

After all, it's a competitive world and getting a part in any commercial or show is a big deal and deserves a big thumbs up ?

Pics: Getty/ Danann Breathnach

Tara Breathnach is Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums: her daughter has attended Pauline Quirke Academy in Islington since 2018 and has appeared in a number of short films and commercials. Danann is Tara's husband and a London-based actor and headshot photographer specialising in actor head shots including children's photography.

How to shoot your child in an advertisement

Are you a parent of a cheerful and open kid who is not afraid of attention and loves outdoor games and reincarnation? Help your child develop talents. Advertising for children is a great opportunity to show how hard work and desire make dreams come true. To shoot a baby in an advertisement, you need a lot of patience and time, what else? Let's find out now.

Content

The main thing is the photo
Requirements for candidates for shooting in advertising
Children and advertising. How and where to get.
Advertising for children. Casting shooting.

The main thing is a photo

For filming in advertising, you need an acting portfolio. It consists of two parts:

Questionnaire. It contains all the data - age, height, hair and eye color, clothing size. Filming skills and experience, if any.
"Selling" pictures. No make-up, restrained hair, plain clothes. Here, the main thing is to reveal the “I” of a little person, to show strengths, “zest”. To make the photos heterogeneous and reflect all sides of the personality, turn the process into a game. Talk, joke, involve in the shooting so that the baby feels open. If the action takes place in the studio, give the child time to get used to the environment, meet new people; nine0008
Photographs of a child in character. They convey the ability to reincarnate, to play roles. Come up with three to five stories, pick up outfits, accessories and act out a scene.

For the best results, entrust the photo session to professionals. Not only great shots will be a plus - in the studio you will see how the baby feels surrounded by strangers and cameras.

But you can't create a portfolio at once. If you decide to take some photos yourself, remember the following rules:

Do not arrange photo shoots with animals - the main person in the frame is a child, and the pet will take all the attention to itself.
Remember that group photos are best left in a family album.
Mandatory close-up photos, a photo of a wide smile (with teeth), waist-length, full-length, portrait - these are the basics of the portfolio.
Clear photographs.
Do not process photos in editors - photos must truthfully convey the appearance of the child.
Do not invent special hairstyles for filming, makeup - everything should be like in life. Loose hair, a ponytail or pigtail, perhaps a soft lip gloss (for a girl) - a child from photographs should come to the samples. nine0008
Shooting a video clip will complement the portfolio. Write down a poem, song or line from your favorite movie with the future actor.

The last step is to select the best photos. An actor's portfolio consists of 20-30 shots. 15-20 - revealing the character, "selling" photographs. The rest with reincarnations. Typically, casting takes five to ten shots, including the main photo. Depending on the role, choose the best shot from the portfolio for the first shot that conveys the desired mood. nine0003

Ad requirements

Ads for children have quite a wide spectrum. From diapers, toys and chewing gum, to school supplies and sports equipment. Children often get into videos with adults, advertising food, furniture, cars and other goods. For example, an advertisement for mayonnaise with the participation of Dyuzhev, where a charming girl says that "one must dream big."

Of course, more often children play positive roles, but there are a number of exceptions to this rule. Sometimes the children's role is dramatic and serious. Therefore, there are no clear criteria. Except the following:

The child should be open and not be afraid of cameras or people.
Boys' hair is preferably of medium length. Girls appreciate long curls. Such criteria are needed to facilitate the change of images.
Attractive appearance, harmony.
Craving for acting. Let there be no inclinations for this profession, let the child try! Talent is revealed with experience.

Children and advertising. How and where to get.

To get to the casting of advertising for children in Moscow, use the information of portals, exchanges and social networks for actors. nine0077 Register in the databases, apply for participation, the more sites you cover, the higher the chances of success. Children's castings for advertising can be found on the following sites:

"Show media art" - an online job and casting exchange in Moscow for creative individuals of all ages. Information in easy access, constantly growing section "Invitations to TV", where you can leave an application for the role. Use your child's portfolio in the TV/Job Search section, doubling your chances of success. nine0008
Dddeti.ru is a nice and useful service for mothers and children. In addition to tips, recipes, hairstyles and poems, there are current movie castings and advertisements for children.
"Children! Casting" - a portal with free distribution of castings taking place in Moscow to e-mail. Come, register, get notifications. If you meet the selection criteria, send an application and wait for a response.
"Massovki.Ru" - a forum for organizers of crowds and their participants. Movie castings and advertisements for children are in the special invitations section. Click on the appropriate selection and submit your application. Information about payment, type of filming, age of the actor is visible in the subject of the ad, which makes it easier to search and saves time. And on the forum of actors you will find an interlocutor who will help you get comfortable and share your experience. nine0008
Kastingi.com is another casting portal that includes a child casting section where you can apply for a role.

All resources listed are free, so competition is high. To get your baby noticed, use paid bases. And a real step towards success will be preparatory courses and schools for talented children in Moscow:

Names PRO is a developing children's center in Moscow. Lessons in vocals, choreography, drawing, acting, learning languages, working with psychologists and a number of developing, revealing talents lessons. They work with children from 1 to 14 years old. Groups are broken down by age and preferred occupation. Teachers are well-known acting actors, presenters, professional choreographers, coaches and psychologists. The center has a Sunday school. In a word, this is a good start for a film career. You can get a trial lesson by leaving a request by phone. nine0008
"President kids". School of young models and actors in Moscow, whose graduates and students work with popular magazines, modeling agencies and act in films. You can submit your application for training online.

Advertising for children. Casting shooting.

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4 main principles - Marketing on vc.ru

Children and teenagers are not an easy audience segment to run ads on. Digital Producer of the Go Mobile agency Elizaveta Sapozhnikova tells how to develop a creative concept that will be appreciated by representatives of generations Z and A. Bonus: a comment from a representative of the main children's social network Likee.

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Generational boundaries are blurred and depend on many factors. For the purpose of this article, Generation Z refers to those born between 1999 and 2010, and Generation A (“alpha”) refers to children born after 2010. nine0119

Generations Z and A need a special approach - standard advertising formats do not work with them. For a year and a half, my team and I worked on sites where children and teens are concentrated: Likee, TikTok, YouTube. During this time we have:

tried analytical approaches in evaluating their behavior;
analyzed trends and tried to adapt them;
conducted in-depth interviews and tried to understand how children and teenagers influence the decision of parents to buy and why some brands enter their circle of trust, while others do not. nine0008

The main conclusion we have come to is that we do not know the children and adolescents of today at all. Our attempts to use the usual marketing approaches to reach these audiences have failed.

After a thorough analysis of launches, we deduced 4 main principles that we now use when developing advertising campaigns for children and teenagers.

Principle #1. Remember what it's like to be a child

When designing a creative campaign, commercial or integration, the target audience must be the first thing to think about. Moreover, in our case, you need to think about children as if they were your own, with love and care. Conduct a survey or in-depth interview with 3-5 children. At this point, a brave new world of insights, fears, and desires from generations Z and A will open up to you.

As a result of audience research, we identified three main motivations for users to download Likee: entertainment, communication, and the desire to become popular. If we talk about Russian users, we have identified several characteristic features:

1. High activity. The audience from the Russian Federation demonstrates high involvement. According to App Annie statistics, over 90% of users use Likee daily. In addition, they actively watch videos - an average of over 170 videos per day. nine0003
2. Striving for self-expression and fame. On the Likee platform, the audience always finds and creates content that they truly like. Fashion, cosmetics and humor are the most popular categories in Russia. Users create creative content and want to become popular, dream of becoming influencers or comedy stars.

3. Loyalty. United by their interest in content, creators and their fans form an active user community with high loyalty, and also communicate and meet outside of the Likee 9 platform0003
Ellen Yao

,

International Commercial Dep. of Bigo Ads (Likee&imo)

To win the trust of children and teenagers, brands need to support them and push them to develop their talents and inner potential. Show the fullness of the world and prove that you are on their side, without falsehood and ulterior motives.

Building trust with Gen Z and Gen A audiences is hard, but it's even harder to rebuild trust if it's been undermined by a bad marketing message. Therefore, do not make advertising, but make interesting and even provocative content. Do not be afraid to be funny and ridiculous - children appreciate it. nine0003

An example of a typical Likee video, link to the original

Play, give ideas, be a friend to your audience, not a strict parent or "someone else's aunt".

If you can speak the same language with your audience, you won't have to sell your product - people will buy it anyway.

Principle #2. Test creatives before launch

If you've interviewed all the kids in the world and are 100% sure of your creative mechanics concept, you can be sure you're still playing roulette. Even the most talented marketer will not be able to give you a guarantee that the creative will definitely reach children and teenagers. This applies to any advertising campaign, but with children it is even more difficult: they are more flexible and receptive. Therefore, the only way out is to test. nine0003

Before a large advertising activation on the platform, we recommend testing creatives on a small amount of traffic before the campaign launch or launching several variants of creatives at once to analyze the reaction of the audience.

This way you will determine the option that gives the best engagement rates. That is what should be used in an advertising campaign.

Go Mobile Experience

When preparing campaigns for our clients, we always set aside time and resources to test advertising materials. Testing helps to identify an effective creative among several similar ones. nine0003

An important bonus of this approach is that it clearly shows which approaches should be abandoned. For example, for one of our clients, we launched a video in Likee, originally prepared for Instagram. The target audience did not appreciate the idea, so the performance was low.

We used this bad experience to qualitatively and quantitatively improve the effectiveness of subsequent ACs. So, in another project, we made a bet on the loyalty of the target audience to the content of bloggers - and we did not lose. We trusted the vision of the influencer, took into account the specifics of the site, launched the creative and achieved indicators that significantly exceeded our KPIs. nine0003

Principle #3. Hire Generation Z - They Know Better

If you think you're trending and doubt that a 20 year old can teach you anything, then we have bad news for you - you're not trending. Creating content that teens will “ruffle” (it’s such a buzzword, means “laugh”) is really difficult when there is an abyss between you. It's not easy for a brand to get a "loys" (another buzzword that means "like") if it doesn't share and understand the values of its audience. Your attempts to enter their territory look “criminal” to them (if you don’t know this word, go google it!). nine0003

Gen Zers are smart and full of ideas, so don't be afraid to hire them. Be open to their thoughts and suggestions.

Go Mobile experience

In 2020, a 20-year-old employee burst into our Go Special department with a bunch of insights and suggestions. At that moment, we were working on a special project for a client who wanted to launch his own server in the Minecraft game. The new manager was in the know and helped to decide on thematic resources suitable for promoting the client. nine0003

As a result, we saved time on searching for channels to promote a digital product in the Minecraft game, which we knew very little about, and focused on a detailed study of the mechanics.

Principle #4. Adapt Trends

We know that you have already heard about the adaptation of trends and you yourself perfectly understand how important it is. However, the question arises: how to understand that this is a real trend? At what point does it stop being a trend? But how to prepare a campaign if the trend remains so for a short time? nine0003

The fact is that a trend is just a form that cannot exist without meaning. We often see creatives that are made in the trends of the site, but lack ideas and plot.

Adapting trends means taking an idea and wrapping it into the right shape. If you try to come up with the meaning of the video for the trend, then there is a chance that it will not work. If we take an idea as a basis and integrate it into a suitable trend, the creative will turn out to be effective. Below are some successful ad creatives adapted from popular Likee trends. nine0003

7Days promotional video link to original

Dolce Milk promotional video link to original

This approach has a nice bonus! If you have a working idea, it can be adapted to different trends that change each other several times a month. You will save time on production and shoot videos that users will appreciate.

Go Mobile experience

In order not to miss the trends, we: