Tips From a Parent of a Child Actor: How Your Children Can Make Money in Hollywood

Your Kids on the Silver Screen?

With a good management company behind you, your child could be making quite a nice living in the entertainment world. I would strongly suggest, however, if you have any interest in putting your child on the small or big screen, you learn the business of Hollywood to protect the welfare of your son or daughter. Watch out for those scams which require you to pay hundreds of dollars up front.

Before you get that agent or manager (again watch out for those scammers), your best avenue for your child might be to work as a background actor--an extra, if you will. Here is where you'll pick up the knowledge, even a little bit of wisdom, and your son or daughter will gain an intense education and appreciation for the art of acting.

So let's begin this journey, shall we? An average paycheck runs around $126 per day including a gourmet breakfast, an enormous amount of amazing snacks all day, and lunch. Trust me when I say that you seriously need a workout schedule because one could gain ten pounds a day. The food is fabulous and there's plenty of it. In any case, certain children who have that "special" and unique look can make more than the base pay, and body doubles may add another $50 on top of that.

Then later on, down this path of "almost famous," if you decide to join the unions, SAG or AFTRA, or SAG and AFTRA, your child's paycheck will likely double. Both unions, of course, aren't cheap to join but well worth it--medical insurance and other benefits included. There's a one-time membership fee of $1300 for AFTRA with a minimum of $63.90 annually, and it will set you back $1600 to join SAG, also with annual dues. The latter will raise its membership fee to $2200 on February 14^th, 2007-happy Valentine's Day.

So how or where should one start? It's not as hard as you might expect. To begin with, get your child registered with a reputable management company. We have worked with the Burbank-based Kids Background Talent in Southern California. They promise you at least one job per month, though we work at least three times a month with a few call-backs.