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| Boy & Lori of Gucci Fame! |
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| Elias Luna, one of Santa's freaky elves & Boy About Town |
So before we kick off our indepth coverage of "Child Actors", that very statement is an oxymoron, let me tell ya about my fabulous weekend. Not only did I discover a hot new designer Elias Luna but this hunk with vision had tickets to a tickets to one of this winters hottest parties...Miracle On El Paseo. So of course I invited myself right along! Held on glamours El Paseo (also known as the Rodeo Drive of the desert) benefited BIGHORN BAM which has raises over $770,000 for Cancer Charities here in lovely California! The event was built around a Holiday-themed.The evening had it all it! The 60-foot El Paseo Christmas Tree was illuminated, the Valley’s top restaurants and wineries all threw free food & booze down our throats (special thanks to the staff of Wolfgang Puck's) but most important to Boy About Town was the fact that the event encouraged stores like Gucci, St.John, Bottega Veneta, Ralph Lauren and Optical Shops of Aspen to throw open their doors & host evening shopping with the added perk of everything from music to special deals...quick side note, Lori at Gucci told Boy they are hosting a private sale this Friday night, so if I am MIA you clearly know where I can be found! Stay tuned for more from the effervescent Elias Luna!
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| From This..... |
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| To This..... |
CHILD ACTORS WHAT GOES INTO BEING A STAR
*Subtitled Disney Menopause, thanks Phil for the help* We all have heard the jokes about stage mothers. Ya know the Mom’s that drag their kids from one audition to another around LA or NYC just KNOWING that their little angel is the next Shirley Temple when in fact the kid is more Honey Boo Boo! Well for the thousands of families that do live and breath by a casting agents whim there are those that make a living in show biz and very good one at that. Rico Rodriquez of ABC's "Modern Family" earns $20,000 per episode, and the kid is 15 years old. Clearly not every kid will land on one of the funniest & highest rated shows on TV. But what does it take to land the commercial for Cheerios that will lead to a call for a movie that will lead to a Disney tween sitcom and that will lead to rehab? BUT, before all that happens there is a lot of work that goes into making a star. And like everything that requires work it also requires a good deal of money. So this the behind the scenes story of what it takes to bring a kid from the Christmas pageant in the Midwest to the silver screen. So lets track the story from the beginning.
You have a feeling that little Susie would be a instant hit on stage. And she does love to preform. So what do you do with your little nugget? You find true professional to guide you through the process. You will need headshots…not taken at home by Dad with his webcam, but real honest to god headshots. Shop around. This will set ya back a few coins but if you are unwilling to take this easy and least costly of the many steps in front of you might as well stop right now. An agent is a must! They will want headshots but while interviewing several different true agents they maybe able to steer you towards a photographer that will know what you need. With quality headshots in hand an agent’s job is to find your little bread winner…uhhh, I mean little sweetheart, the right auditions. If ever an agent promises you a set number of jobs or a guaranteed income then you are dealing with a con-man. An agent gets his or her clients into castings and then does everything in their power to land them the gig. The agent only makes money when your little star makes money. That fee is somewhere between 10-15%. And if you bring in a manager there goes another chuck of your kids college/rehab fund. At times managers have been know to charge outrageous fees so state of California passed a law which requires that all child actors paychecks have 15% taken off the top a deposited into a trust fund , known as the Coogan Account, that is off limits until the child turns 21 years of age. And when Leno Helmsly said “only little people pay taxes” she was not talking about the Gary Colemans of the world. The tax man will be taking some of that hard earned income.
But this only matters if the kid in question has the chops to woo the casting agent and gets a job. And lets face people there are only a few places in the world that matter in the world of entertainment…New York, Las Vegas and of course right here in Hollywood. So what do you do if you are in the middle America? Well L. A. is not coming to you, so you gotta move the future mega star to California (or NYC or wherever you are trying to find work). It is not uncommon for a family of four, 2 parents & 2 kids, to split the family down the middle for a while. One parent & the actor will come to Hollywood, rent an apartment and start pounding the pavement with the clear goal of landing a spot that will enable the whole clan to relocated and live the Hollywood dream. And while all this is going on the other parent is back home working to support this dream while also carpooling, running the other kid to baseball practice as well dealing with the upkeep of the lives that the two adults had managed before. The whole team has to be on the same page while the “child actor” goes from one casting call to another. And lets face it people most of the time the answer is no. Add the fact that they are in a strange city and this is a true business where time is money, well for a kid that wants to sing & dance or make people laugh or just wants to be the next Hannah Montana this can all become a bit much. Lots of kids burn out. Some parents burn out before their child does. Sometimes the lack of funds and/or stress on the relationships takes its toll and everyone goes home with some great pictures and an amusing story.
But if everything works in FABULOUS fashion and our mini Brad Pitt lands a job, or two, well then the work really starts. There are laws dealing with the amount of hours a child can work and laws requiring education to be seen to for all child actors. Then there is learning lines, setting up the shots and then the actual work of filming or shooting and don‘t forget promoting yourself & your projects. So a kids day may begin at 4 am but with all the leg work that is involved a day may last 16 hours from start to finish. Have any of you dealt with a kid after they have been up for that long?!? Not cute! Child acting is not kids play. If you think you can hang and believe your little angel can as well then come on out to Hollywood.
If not, well that is why you tube was invented…and just look at Justin Bieber!!!
*Subtitled Disney Menopause, thanks Phil for the help* We all have heard the jokes about stage mothers. Ya know the Mom’s that drag their kids from one audition to another around LA or NYC just KNOWING that their little angel is the next Shirley Temple when in fact the kid is more Honey Boo Boo! Well for the thousands of families that do live and breath by a casting agents whim there are those that make a living in show biz and very good one at that. Rico Rodriquez of ABC's "Modern Family" earns $20,000 per episode, and the kid is 15 years old. Clearly not every kid will land on one of the funniest & highest rated shows on TV. But what does it take to land the commercial for Cheerios that will lead to a call for a movie that will lead to a Disney tween sitcom and that will lead to rehab? BUT, before all that happens there is a lot of work that goes into making a star. And like everything that requires work it also requires a good deal of money. So this the behind the scenes story of what it takes to bring a kid from the Christmas pageant in the Midwest to the silver screen. So lets track the story from the beginning.
You have a feeling that little Susie would be a instant hit on stage. And she does love to preform. So what do you do with your little nugget? You find true professional to guide you through the process. You will need headshots…not taken at home by Dad with his webcam, but real honest to god headshots. Shop around. This will set ya back a few coins but if you are unwilling to take this easy and least costly of the many steps in front of you might as well stop right now. An agent is a must! They will want headshots but while interviewing several different true agents they maybe able to steer you towards a photographer that will know what you need. With quality headshots in hand an agent’s job is to find your little bread winner…uhhh, I mean little sweetheart, the right auditions. If ever an agent promises you a set number of jobs or a guaranteed income then you are dealing with a con-man. An agent gets his or her clients into castings and then does everything in their power to land them the gig. The agent only makes money when your little star makes money. That fee is somewhere between 10-15%. And if you bring in a manager there goes another chuck of your kids college/rehab fund. At times managers have been know to charge outrageous fees so state of California passed a law which requires that all child actors paychecks have 15% taken off the top a deposited into a trust fund , known as the Coogan Account, that is off limits until the child turns 21 years of age. And when Leno Helmsly said “only little people pay taxes” she was not talking about the Gary Colemans of the world. The tax man will be taking some of that hard earned income.
But this only matters if the kid in question has the chops to woo the casting agent and gets a job. And lets face people there are only a few places in the world that matter in the world of entertainment…New York, Las Vegas and of course right here in Hollywood. So what do you do if you are in the middle America? Well L. A. is not coming to you, so you gotta move the future mega star to California (or NYC or wherever you are trying to find work). It is not uncommon for a family of four, 2 parents & 2 kids, to split the family down the middle for a while. One parent & the actor will come to Hollywood, rent an apartment and start pounding the pavement with the clear goal of landing a spot that will enable the whole clan to relocated and live the Hollywood dream. And while all this is going on the other parent is back home working to support this dream while also carpooling, running the other kid to baseball practice as well dealing with the upkeep of the lives that the two adults had managed before. The whole team has to be on the same page while the “child actor” goes from one casting call to another. And lets face it people most of the time the answer is no. Add the fact that they are in a strange city and this is a true business where time is money, well for a kid that wants to sing & dance or make people laugh or just wants to be the next Hannah Montana this can all become a bit much. Lots of kids burn out. Some parents burn out before their child does. Sometimes the lack of funds and/or stress on the relationships takes its toll and everyone goes home with some great pictures and an amusing story.
But if everything works in FABULOUS fashion and our mini Brad Pitt lands a job, or two, well then the work really starts. There are laws dealing with the amount of hours a child can work and laws requiring education to be seen to for all child actors. Then there is learning lines, setting up the shots and then the actual work of filming or shooting and don‘t forget promoting yourself & your projects. So a kids day may begin at 4 am but with all the leg work that is involved a day may last 16 hours from start to finish. Have any of you dealt with a kid after they have been up for that long?!? Not cute! Child acting is not kids play. If you think you can hang and believe your little angel can as well then come on out to Hollywood.
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| Enough Said! |
Stay Fabulous!!
Boy About Town
