As streaming platforms have become one of the primary ways viewers consume content, from movies and television series to other forms of media, their influence also extends into the child performer market. Read below to learn how the rise of streaming platforms has changed the kid acting field and what is coming next.
- More content, more opportunities. The content arms race of streaming platforms means increased demand for kid actors.
- Social media has become another tool for actors. The previously reclusive profession now looks for social media presence from its performers.
- It is only the beginning for streaming platforms. With no signs of slowing down, the platforms will also continue to push kid acting trends forward.
Increased Demand For Kid Actors
One of the main things that the 2010s will be remembered for, entertainment media-wise, is the fact that this decade was the victory lap of streaming platforms. What started at the end of the 2000s, with the launch of Netflix and Hulu, has been picking up at a rapid pace that has shown no signs of stopping well into the 2020s, with dozens more streaming platforms arriving, merging, and otherwise flooding the market. Seemingly every media conglomerate and film studio has been creating their own exclusive streaming platforms, providing viewers with endless hours of old and brand new content. With so many streaming platforms in direct competition with each other for subscribers, the fight for content rights, including television series and movies, has never been fiercer.
With so much new content popping up across streaming platforms in every genre, as a result, there are plenty of increased opportunities within the job market for kid actors to try and get gigs. The numbers speak for themselves - a streaming platform can produce over 4,500 hours of new exclusive content per year.
Even more so, streaming platform content aimed at kids or teens as their main audience constantly puts up higher-than-average ratings, as well as high retention rates due to younger people rewatching content more frequently than adults.
Social Media Presence Matters Too Now
Streaming platforms are not limited only to television - social networking sites such as YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, and others are massively popular with new viral content creators popping up within those platforms virtually every single day.
There is a clear correlation between the two types of streaming platforms - once a YouTuber becomes successful in the long run, they are likely to receive a lucrative opportunity for content creation to venture into one of the television-style streaming networks. One of the best examples for this is Jimmy Donaldson, better known as Mr. Beast, who became the most subscribed YouTube content creator with a record over 444 million followers, and signed a $100 million deal with Amazon to create a show for their Prime Video.
While not every kid actor has to be a social media content creator, it is a new and easily accessible opportunity to showcase their acting talents and personality at their own pace and environment. Even if the child ultimately does not end up becoming a viral content creator with a massive follower amount, it is a good way to expand an acting portfolio with minimal resources before they succeed at casting calls and actual acting gigs start to come their way.
Brand New Opportunities Ahead
Streaming platforms are not going anywhere in the foreseeable future, and the race for most hit content is highly unlikely to slow down anytime soon, either. This means that kids and teens will increasingly have even more new and diverse casting opportunities to apply their acting talents to.
Unlike cable television networks in the previous era of home media, streaming platforms are also operating and are easily accessible in the majority of the rest of the world. Due to this, the streaming platforms are investing in original content that has target audiences from varied backgrounds. That is one of the main reasons why, currently and going forward, kid actors from diverse backgrounds and bilingual skills are also in an increasingly high demand. The multilingual skills of a child can also become useful when an opportunity of a casting call appears for joining a project creating voiceovers for different regions in-house for the respective streaming platform.
Besides just films and television series, increasingly popular for streaming platforms is the mockumentary genre, which portrays seemingly real events in a documentary style but is typically mostly fictional and acted out the same as it would be in other forms of media, is acting platforms. Streaming platforms are also putting heavy focus on animated content, continuing the trend of kids receiving more voice acting and motion capture opportunities than ever before. Finally, there are also short films and other short-form original content appearing to appeal to younger audiences who prefer to consume their media the same way they browse social media. It is yet another way aspiring kid actors can get to new opportunities due to the increasing influence of content from streaming platforms.
As mentioned above, the content on streaming platforms is globally accessible. That potentially means kid actors are now receiving increased exposure compared to previous generations, thus potentially fast-forwarding their opportunities for acting gigs in the future.
