How to Get your Kid's First Acting Agent

Video Transcript

"SCOTT DUPONT: Welcome back. Scott duPont here on Expert Village, the ABC's of ACTING. In this segment, we're going to talk about how to get your very first agent. You're new in the business. Agents are a great way that can kind of gather a whole bunch of job opportunities or castings, auditions, give them to their kids so that you can eventually make money. Now, I know many of these agents very, very well that worked--some of them worked just with kids. Some agents have a children's division. So that's one thing. You want to make sure that the agent you're submitting to has worked with kids before. And what you want to do, what they're actually looking for, they're looking for a nice, clean shot. It doesn't have to be a full bloom color, professional photograph if your kid's really young like 4 or 5. Unless you're in New York or unless you're in LA where they will sometimes there are some agents that work just with babies, they normally don't really work with a lot of kids until about 4 years old because 2 or 3, it's really tough for kids to take direction, work long hours. This is a little difficult; if you have a 2- or 3-year old, you'll understand. So, after 4 or 5, get a nice clean head shot. Get it duplicated. If you have to start out with black and white, if cost is an issue, that's okay initially. And then, what you'll do is you want to get some acting classes that you put on the back of your resume. You want to get some extra work even if it's just one or two times, maybe list a school play or student film. If you have something on the back of your resume, unless your kid just had this unique look that the agent's particularly looking for, your kid's not going to have a chance, because here's why. The agents that I have talked to, they're looking through hundreds and hundreds of these head shots, they see some cute kids they're looking for. When they look at the resumes if your kid's head shot and he has a fun, cute smile looks just like another kid with a fun, cute smile, and they're both about the same age. If this kid has a few little things on the back of his resume, even if it's just extra work, they're going to know that you're taking this seriously you've a little bit invested as far as time and energy into the career of your child, and you're just not going to have a fighting chance. So, that's basically how you kind of start. Mail off to the agent. Don't call them. And what happens is if you don't hear back in a few weeks, a few months, send again, send again, send to a bunch of agents, and be patient. It can sometimes take a little bit of time and hopefully, you will get an agent. That's the end of this segment for Expert Village. We'll be right back."