I have written on this before but I don’t think you can hear this advice too many times!
Infant and child modeling becomes a very popular, but increasingly controversial area.
To begin with, ask yourself a few questions about you and your child-
Can I afford to have my child in this industry? With the price of gasoline today you could spend a lot of money going to and from auditions. You can only take the child that is auditioning to the audition so can you get child care for the siblings (if you have other children)? Also getting pictures and resumes printed cost money. When your child is older you will probably have to get a flipper for them (fake teeth) so their smile is perfect.
Are you sure your child is cut out for modeling? Your baby may be gorgeous, but can they handle the stress of modeling and especially the stress of strangers handle with your without you. Also remember that casting rooms can be crowded and filled with lots of other children who are making a lot of noise.
Can you handle the rejection? Your child is going to “not get the job” more times than they “book” the job.
Do you work outside of the home? If so, do you have extended family that can take the child on auditions? Most, if not all, auditions are during the day on weekdays.
Can your child (and you) handle their daily routine disturbed? Are they involved in a lot of activities and can they handle being distracted from school, club activities, team sports, family and friend?
Does your child handle travel well? This is usually short trips to and from auditions but some children do not handle being “on the go”.
Does your child handle change with a good temperament? Naptime, feeding time, these are all things that may get disrupted for an audition or for shooting.
Some web resources that might help you:

http://www.modelingscams.org/childmodelingscams.html

http://www.baby-place.com/infant_modeling.html

http://www.babycenter.com/dilemma/baby/babydevelopment/1358648.html

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/model.htm

“”There is not a whole lot of [child] modeling work available outside New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Dallas, so make sure that an agency does not give you false information about who their clients include.” — Parents Magazine”

“You need to be able to travel to shoots and meetings on very short notice — sometimes a few hours. Only people who are local can do that.” — Margaret Pelino, booking agent, Ford Modeling Agency, Manhattan”

Some more tips:

Don’t spend a ton of money on a portfolio, because infants/toddlers and pre-school change too quickly.

Get a couple good photos every 3 months or so. You can do these yourself and have them reproduced (or if you have a great printer you can do them yourself)

Make sure you check out the agency with other people in your area or on the Internet. Most legit agencies/managers have websites that you can look at to see who they represent and what those clients are booking.

Ask for some references from other parents whose children are represented by the agency. Do not ask the agent for referrals as no reputable agent/manager will give out personal contact information on their clients.

There are lots of sites were you can ask other parents about a certain agent or manager.

Good luck!

Tags: advice, child modeling, infant, kids acting

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 pm and is filed under Modeling-Acting Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.