What Happens When Your Child Is Auditioning for a Kid Commercial?

Auditioning in Hollywood, Image via Wikipedia

I remember the first time my daughter was going to be auditioning for a kid commercial in L.A. She had auditioned for commercials in the  Southeast, but I knew auditioning for a kid commercial in L.A. would be different, just like everything else in L.A.

Her first L.A. commercial audition was down in Hollywood, so driving to the commercial audition and finding the exact location was stressful enough. (See Will You Like Driving Your Child to Acting Auditions? for more on this topic.) Then I had to find legal parking within a reasonable distance from the audition location,which is not usually an easy task either.

After parking, we walked to the audition, crossing busy streets along the way. I carried a case with headshots and resumes, the audition details, and other necessary information, along with a hair brush and accessories, snacks, water, and a few games and activities. I held my young daughter tightly by the hand.

I really did not know what to expect or what to do when we arrived at the commercial audition. Her talent manager had given me a few quick tips, but he certainly did not cover any details.

The whole process of auditioning for a kid commercial did not get much easier until we’d gone to at least four or five commercial auditions.  While no two commercial auditions are exactly the same, there are many similarities.  So after you go to a few of them, you do get the basic drill down, and it becomes much less stressful and more fun.

So, What Typically Happens When Your Child Is Auditioning for a Kid Commercial?

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Are Dental Flippers Necessary When Child Actors Lose Teeth?

Dental Flippers by Dr. Smith

If your child loses a tooth, a talent agent or talent manager might recommend that you look into dental flippers.

Of course, if you are just trying to start an acting career for your child, you may not even know what dental flippers are.

As we were driving from South Carolina to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career for my daughter, I heard a scream from the back seat.  I turned to see what the problem was and saw blood on my daughter’s hands and face.

I was relieved to discover that the blood was just from my daughter’s front tooth!

One of her front baby teeth popped out when she bit down on a piece of gum. The tooth had not even been loose, so it was unexpected and resulted in a lot of blood.

I soon started to think about how losing her front tooth might affect her acting career.

I knew it was probably not a good thing, but how bad was it?

It seemed silly to be worrying about a natural event like losing a tooth. But a front tooth can make a big difference in how a child looks, especially in photographs.

My daughter was young-looking and fairly small for a six-year-old, but with a missing front tooth, how could she pass for a three or four-year-old?

How would her manager feel about it?

When we first visited my daughter’s talent manager, he noticed the missing tooth right away.  I asked him if it would be a problem.

He seemed a little disappointed, but told me not to worry about it.  He casually mentioned that a flipper would fix it, but that I did not need to spend the money on one unless the topic came up.

Losing a tooth is pretty common for a six-year-old, though some kids don’t lose them until they turn seven or eight.

Would a missing tooth affect my daughter’s ability to get a talent agent?

Since my daughter got a talent agency without any problem with the missing tooth, I did not think much more about it.

But when we visited someone about print work, the agent pointed to her mouth with a loud sigh and whispered to the other agent about it.

At that point, I decided to look into dental flippers. I soon had the information I needed, and off we went to get one.

So, “Are dental flippers necessary when child actors lose teeth?”

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How Much Does It Cost to Join Screen Actors Guild?

Screen Actors Guild on Sunset, 1956, Image by James Herman via Flickr

We paid for my daughter to join Screen Actors Guild before we absolutely had to do it.

She was still in ‘must join‘ status at that time (see ‘How Do You Qualify to Join Screen Actors Guild?‘ for more info on that topic).

Her talent manager urged us to go ahead and join Screen Actors Guild for a very good reason.

The SAG initiation fees were about to go up, and we could avoid that increase if we went ahead.

So I went to the Screen Actors Guild Office on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and paid the initiation fees.

I got some grief from a few people who said we should have  waited until we absolutely had to join. I hoped I would not regret my decision.

It turned out I was really glad we went ahead, because she would have had to join a very short time later.  And by then, the SAG initiation fees had gone up, so it would have cost us even more!

The current initiation fee for joining  SAG is no small sum of money.

So, “How much does it cost to join Screen Actors Guild?”

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How Do You Qualify to Join Screen Actors Guild?

Shortly after we arrived in L.A., some parents told me how important it was to join Screen Actors Guild. They used a lot of terms like ‘Taft-Hartley‘ and ‘must-join‘ that made absolutely no sense to me.

We were told that it would be hard for my daughter to get auditions if she did not join Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

We were also told that it was getting harder to get into SAG. Someone even told me that if we were new in Hollywood, we might as well go home because no one new was going to get into SAG. Well, maybe it was not in those exact words, but that was the gist of it.

Well, the fact is, you can’t believe everything you hear “on the street” here in Los Angeles.

There is a little bit of truth in what I heard, but for the most part it was a lot of hogwash. Perhaps it was a lack of understanding or perhaps it was just parents of other young actors wanting some of us newbies to go back home where we belonged. And I ‘get’ it.

There are about 120,000 Screen Actors Guild members worldwide. The competition is pretty fierce for SAG jobs.

I soon learned more about the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and realized it was not quite as grim as it seemed. So, how do you qualify to join Screen Actors Guild?

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How Do You Prepare for Talent Contests such as AMTC?

When we decided to participate in one of the big talent contests known as AMTC, we felt a combination of excitement and fear.

We were excited about attending, but at the same time, we were not 100% convinced we were doing the right thing. And we’d paid quite a bit of money for it.

If you are still trying to decide whether to attend talent contests such as AMTC and IMTA, refer to my previous posts on Talent Contests and AMTC.

With AMTC talent contests, the sponsoring agency typically provides training for the contestants. Millie Lewis of Charleston, my daughter’s talent agency, was our hosting agency.

Training Classes

We attended weekly sessions at Millie Lewis of Charleston for coaching in commercial, sitcom, monologue, runway, for a group runway event, plus for other competitions.

Each class was several hours long. After getting some initial instruction, the children performed and were critiqued by the instructors.

I always thought the young kids should have gone first and moved to another room to continue working with parents. They often got tired from standing or even sitting for so long,  and some became disruptive.

The Millie Lewis teachers and consultants only had so much time to spend with each child during a class. So I knew the ultimate responsibility for preparing my five-year-old daughter was in my hands.

Additional Preparation

I spent a great deal of time reading the materials and trying to understand all I could about the event. I asked questions about items that were not clear to make sure I understood.

I also spent many hours finding clothing, putting together costumes, editing music, and working on choreography, in addition to rehearsing with my daughter for the various competitions.

We worked with consultants at Millie Lewis to decide on clothing, hairstyles, and makeup for the events. We scheduled a photography session with one of their recommended photographers (not mandatory, but suggested).

We paid for a haircut at their salon, a hairstyling and makeup session, and the photography session on top of the fees paid for the training and attending the event.

If you’ve paid for your child to attend AMTC or one of the similar talent contests, you are probably wondering, “How do you prepare for talent contests?”

You should do the following things:

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What Can Musical Theatre Do for Your Child?

My daughter loves doing theatre, and in particular, musical theatre.  She just performed as ‘Belle‘ in “Beauty and the Beast” this past weekend in a community musical theatre production.

She has been in eight community theatre productions over the last two years. This has kept both of us very busy.

The last several weeks have been incredibly busy with almost-daily dress and tech rehearsals.  Parents were busy helping with costumes and props, and assisting at rehearsals and performances.

I, for one, am glad to once again have time to fix a healthy dinner for my family and catch up on laundry, bill-paying, house cleaning, sleep, and all the other things that I’ve neglected over the last few weeks.

Yesterday, my daughter said, “I feel sad that it is over.”  I feel more relief than sadness that the show has come to an end, but I do understand how she feels.

For more than two months, she shared most of her time outside of school with these other kids, teens, and adults. They lived and breathed “Beauty and the Beast” as they sang and danced and acted, all working together to create this beautiful show. And through this experience, the cast members formed special bonds with each other.

As a 12-year-old ‘Belle,’ my daughter experienced something truly wonderful that she will always treasure. As she stood on the stage for a “Meet and Greet” session with the audience, young children gave her flowers and cards and posed for pictures with her.   To those children, she was ‘Belle,’ and that experience brought my daughter great joy.

Sure, there were frustrations and disappointments.  ‘Maurice’ and ‘The Beast/Prince‘ were not feeling well for the shows. And one of the shows was rained out as the performances are in an outdoor amphitheater.

But for the most part, those will not be the things my daughter remembers. What she will remember is the friendships she made and the incredible experience of being part of this show.

In case you are wondering, “What can musical theatre do for my child?” please continue reading.

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