Shane Sweet has it all: an adoring public, a six-figure income and a list of acting credits that prove he’s one of the most sought-after kids in Hollywood. But success comes at a price.
Moments after Shane gets home from school, his mother; Molly, loads the 7-year-old back into the car with faxed copies of scripts. In the hourlong drive to downtown Los Angeles, Shane memorizes lines for as many as three separate auditions.
With acting credits from “Married…With Children,” “Hard Copy,” “Cheers” and television movies, Shane has plenty of expeience getting parts. When does he get to play? On weekends-when he’s not doing a charity event, says Molly.
While Molly says that Shane loves show business, she acknowledges that it is hard work. And it leaves little time for the normal pursuits of a 7-year-old.
Millions of parents have considered putting their children in pictures at one time or another; experts say. The reasons range from visions of glamor and fabulous pay, to a genral feeling that their children are the cutest they’ve ever seen.
And now the entertainment business is throwing the doors open to child actors like never efore. Thre is a huge surge in films and television series aimed at, and featuring kids, industry experts say. That’s because producers have found that the film industry’s biggest money-makers are kids’ flicks, ranging from “Aladdin” to “Home Alone” to “E.T.”
Roughly 10 percent of all unionized actors are children under the age of 18, says Barbara Schiffman, founder o the Hollywood Screen Parents Association inBurbank, Calif. Children’s film agents add that casting calls for children, ages 2 weeks to 18 years, are becoming increasingly common.
Show business can provide compelling financial benefits for youngsters with the interest and stamina. A child with a successful career and easily take home a six-figure income, including wages, residual payments and investment earnings, agents say. Even a commercial or two can start a generous college fund. While payments vary dramatically based on the type of job, the child’s experience and whether it’s a union or non-union production, it’s standard for kids in television commercials to earn upward of $400 per day of “set work,” for example. Then, each time the commercial airs on television, the child receives a residual payment that ranges from $50 to $100, says Suzi Smith, a children’s agent with The Talent Group in Los Angeles.
In other words, one commercial that airs 50 times can pay the child actor between $2,500 and $5,000. If the child gets into a TV series, he or she can earn upward of $2,000 a week.
Children also can get valuable work experience that may better prepare them for the post-graduate world, parents say.
However, show business is not all diamonds and glamor. Indeed, it can be grueling work, turbo-charged with rejection. And despite what seems like a generous wage and a handful of fabulous success stories to the contrary, when all things are considered, it’s usually miserable pay.
The average actor, child or adult, earns just $10,000 a year, according to the Screen Actors Guild. Take away the agent’s commission, possibly another commission for a business manager, miscellaneous expenses such as publicity photographs, gasoline and wardrobe requirements, and the net income can be very sorry indeed, experts note.
Moreover few people realize that more than half of an average actor’s time is taken up auditioning for parts that are never won. That’s particularly true for child actors, experts note. It’s common for a child to be rejected for 80 parts before landing a single job, Schiffman says.
And a kid’s acting role is actually a two-person job. Child labor laws vary by the child’s age and location-different states have different laws-but the minor’s parent or guardian generally must attend every audition and every day of filming. If nothing else, the child needs to be driven to jobs and auditions.
The bulk of the work is also in major media centers such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, Smith says. So those who live elsewhere must consider staying in one of these big cities for at least a few months each year. Often that means that the child and one parent must leave home and family for “the season,” Smith says.
Not surprisingly, one parent in a two-income family generally must give up his or her day job to support their child’s acting career. And such sacrifices can skew a parent’s perspective. Often parents are far more disappointed than their children when the child doesn’t get a job, experts say.
“Parents are the invisible partners in this process,” says Schiffman, who has worked in film and television development for 20 years and whose 14-year-old daughter, Risa, is an actress. “It is very easy to get caught up in this, but it is up to the parents to keep acting in perspective.”
Getting started
What should you do if you want to get your child in films, commercials or television?
– Enroll the child in an acting class. This is as much to test the child’s enthusiasm and ability to follow directions as it is to learn acting, says Barbara Schiffman, founder of Hollywood Screen Parents Association in Burbank, Calif.
– If, after a few months of classes, the child is still interested in acting, it may be time to find an agent. Good acting teachers often know agents that they can recommend, but there are also many other references. For instance, the Screen Actors Guild (213-954-1600) has a list of franchised agents available to non-members for a small processing fee. The Hollywood Screen Parents Association also has a directory of children’s agents, which it provides free to members. Non-members are charged $12.50 per copy, which includes postage and handling. (For further information: P.O. Box 1612, Burbank, Calif. 91507-1612; 818-955-6510.)
– Get professional photographs. Ask the agent to recommend several professional photographers for your child’s publicity shots. Portrait photos from an ordinary studio generally won’t do. Publicity photos generally cost between $300 and $500.
– Keep good records. If your child gets an acting job, he or she suddenly becomes a taxpayer who must file an annual return. And since actors are self-employed, they are allowed to deduct a variety of job-seeking expenses. Your 5-year-old is probably not that good at math, so you must keep track of miles traveled to and from auditions, cost of photos, agent’s commissions, etc.
