As a child’s modeling or acting career begins to take off, it is time for parents to consider bringing a professional into their budding performer's fold — a talent agent. Choosing the right person to represent the kid requires quite a few well-thought-through steps. Learn about them below.
- A talent agent is not required immediately. Parents should wait until the child is really serious about pursuing acting or modeling before searching for one.
- Parents need to take their time with the choice. There are plenty of talent agents but only a few will fit the vision of their kids' performative career goals.
- Avoid long-term contracts. Parents should prioritize keeping their child’s opinions open for the future.
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Realizing The Necessity For A Kid's Talent Agent
The moment a kid and their parents start to act upon the aspirations of trying out acting or modeling should not be the same time to also start searching for a talent agent. Matter of fact, the right time to find a reputable kids talent agent won’t be for quite a while after the idea of the child trying out performative arts sparks in the family.
First of all, the kid should make their first steps in the chosen field. From gaining a clear understanding of the fundamentals of modeling or acting, including how to perform at auditions in front of the casting directors, to receiving training in the respective performative art craft, and also actually gathering some credits, no matter how major, for their portfolio, up to the point of which a child ideally should have a clear opinion about how seriously they wish to pursue these aspirations further. Following the initial pursuits, parents surely will be able to tell if their kid desires to continue to model or act further.
If the child is ready to pursue modeling or acting further, and the parents are willing to support them along the way, it is time to search for a talent agent.
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Evaluating Kid Performers' Strengths And Setting Their Objectives
Before starting to search for a kids' talent agent, it is important that parents have already clearly evaluated what exactly their aspiring performer wants and needs. Some kid models and actors are more outgoing and social, while others are more introverted and may need a bit of extra encouragement when first arriving in new environments and working with new people.
Similarly to their personality, the type of gigs a child might prefer in their modeling or acting gigs can also be different. One kid model might prefer being photographed, while another can enjoy the action of walking on a catwalk more. Meanwhile, a kid actor will surely have at least a slight preference towards performing on a theater stage or being in front of the camera for movies or television series. And that is not even counting various individual performers' preferences, such as prioritising roles that include dancing or singing, or doing voice acting, appearing in shorter projects such as advertisements, etc. If the kid desires gigs that are not their strong suit, it is important to evaluate what they need to improve upon to put them in the best position for successfully making it through the casting call and auditioning process.
Since this won’t be only a one-sided decision by the parents and their child, the process will also require a modeling or acting portfolio if there is not one created already, because talent agents will also need information to evaluate if they wish to represent the potential client. A portfolio for talent agents is the same as the one that would be submitted for the casting call application, including the basic information about the performer, description of their prior experience, training, and relevant skill set, their professional headshots, and other important information or footage.
All of this is necessary for parents to be able to make informed decisions about the following, and later allow talent agents to do their best to represent their kid clients' interests in pursuing modeling or acting gigs.
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Researching Potential Talent Agents And Creating A Shortlist
Once it is clear that the child wishes to continue their pursuits of modeling or acting, and parents have an idea of what their kid needs to succeed with their aspirations, it is a good time to start searching for potential talent agents that may be suitable to represent them.
The truth is that there may be an overwhelming amount of options at first, so the first thing parents should do is research how reputable the ones they are looking at are. It can be by not only browsing online but also through referrals from the experiences of other kid performer parents, as well as industry professionals, including acting or modeling coaches, casting staffs at auditions, and networking when attending events for parents whose kids are pursuing performative arts as such events are also attended by talent agents who are searching for new talents to represent themselves.
Besides the fact that the talent agent ideally should be experienced at working with children and teenagers, it is essential that parents research their prior work reputation. Thankfully, it should be easy to examine the information about the given talent agent online, as well as assess their track record of representing young actors or models, including securing continuous gigs for their clients, successfully negotiating contracts, and handling the audition process.
Amongst the factors that any reputable talent agent should be regulated by the respective field's labor union, such as SAG-AFTRA for acting. No reputable talent agent for kid actors or models would charge more than 10 percent of their required commission from earnings of a gig, as well as would not ever demand any sort of upfront fees for their services.
Finally, the human relationship aspect also matters. If everyone involved feels they could be on the same page and will be able to find common ground in terms of what is best for the kid actor or model’s career going forward, the respective talent agent could be the right choice.
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Finalizing The Legal Aspects Of The Cooperation
The cooperation between a talent agent and their client is always contractual. If following the parents' inquiry, the agent offers their representation, it is time to carefully read every section of the contract. It is recommended to also seek legal counsel to ensure the contract will be in the aspiring kid actors or models' best interests in the long run.
Speaking of the long-run plans, it is highly recommended to avoid locking into multi-year representation deals for children. Ideally, the contract should also feature a clause that allows to sever the agreement to be severed prematurely after a specific time period, for example, in six months, it the case of either party is unhappy with the results of the cooperation, e.g., no progress has been made with presenting acting or modeling jobs to the kid performer during that specific time frame.
One of the keys to success when working with a talent agent is maintaining communication and productive relationships overall. As long as parents are clear with the goals their child wishes to achieve with their acting or modeling career, and the agent is excited about the kid’s prospects and ready to put the work in to achieve them, it should be a success story for all sides involved.
