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Just Disgusted with difficult child...
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 355340" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>We got caught up on the edges of the modelling thing, with easy child 2/difficult child 2. She originally wanted some professional opportunities for her stiltwalking - she was 8 at the time and had almost freakish abilities with her balance. She'd been offered work but had no insurance; the agencies promised us that their insurance would cover her so it seemed the best way to go. Only problem was - the (big name) agency that we went with, often asked so much for her services plus wouldn't let her do any "community service" freebies, she lost a lot of possible work. Then when she DID get paid work, the agency didn't pass the money on to her, we finally had to take them to court.</p><p>Through this, easy child 2/difficult child 2 did some acting, discovered she liked it, did a bit oh photographic modelling (a character shot, so there was no need for anyone to put their hands on her except for her face and hair, which they actually let me do) and worked towards choosing at least a hobby/career in performing.</p><p>The laws in Australia are strict especially with under-age kids, but parents can often be bluffed out of insisting. After all, if you make a fuss they might not let your child work for them after all...</p><p></p><p>The rules here state that for every job where a child is under 18, the parent MUST be with the child. But one job easy child 2/difficult child 2 did (she was about 14 I think), they wouldn't let any parents on the premises. It was a famous TV soapie and easy child 2/difficult child 2 was just one of a group of schoolkid extras. "Portable scenery", we call extra work. She was required to wear their costume which meant she had to change, and I wasn't allowed to be with her. I wasn't even allowed to be on the site, so I parked my car down the road and made sure easy child 2/difficult child 2 had her mobile phone. I didn't know about the law at that time, or I would have insisted. They said they simply didn't have the space to let all the parents stay. And they didn't provide lunch for her, nor had we been warned they wouldn't. She had to ask permission to call me up so I could meet her at the studio gate with food. Again they wouldn't let me in the gate to bring the food to her - she had to run out the gate, still in costume, to get her lunch from me. Very bad form. Despite all this, she actually did enjoy her work that day.</p><p>So a major TV network broke one (several) of the most important rules. I was very unhappy. And her pay for the day - $30 (which was also in the settlement we had to fight for, from her agency). So there isn't big money i this, as a rule. As you would know. There are base rates of pay which are legally binding, but they aren't much, not really. You have to be a big name to get more than base rate, and sometimes not even then. That's probably why our best actors go to the US!</p><p></p><p>And once the child is over 18, it's a lot harder to insist on parental supervision. </p><p></p><p>Also important, and something she needs to know - if an agency or employer feels she is unstable or uncooperative in the slightest, word gets around and work dries up. She would get dropped like a hot potato. That's something I've worried about with easy child 2/difficult child 2 - she's a fine actress and she's motivated, but has an odd combination of very strong ideas about how to portray a role, coupled with (at times) a lack of confidence especially at auditions, and this doesn't get her the roles. When she has been given roles, they're enthusiastic. </p><p></p><p>She was offered a nude role when she was just 18. I was actually present for that audition/interview and we'd already read the script, so we knew one of the roles included full frontal nudity. She desperately wanted that role, but I let her make the decision. She chose to not do it, because she felt at 18 she was a bit too young. She also felt that the full frontal shock effect was not needed, she would be nude for the cameras if necessary but felt the character could be figleafed. So she turned it down, and they gave her a smaller role. The girl who did the lead role was a good actress but not as good a 'fit' in the part. As we expected, the role has led to more work for that actress (it was that good! Not the director doing favours in any way).</p><p></p><p>easy child 2/difficult child 2 has her issues, but at least she has the stability and grip on reality that is needed to cope emotionally with all this. Also she has a good self-image; doesn't let anybody else's opinion of her body get in the way. She knows her strengths and weaknesses. You have to be resilient to do anything like this, and especially modelling. </p><p></p><p>There is the option of petite modelling; I had to chuckle at the "I'm only 6" too short" line. THAT is NOT having a good grip on reality!</p><p></p><p>You can know you're good at what you do, you can know you would have done X better or Y better than the person who beat you at the audition - but there is still a lot of waiting around for the agency to call. We would find no calls coming in for a year or more. Then the agency would call with an audition, curiously just as membership fees were coming up for renewal ("we need fresh photos, we've got the photographer all arranged" and no doubt had their own commission skimmed off the photographer's fees too). So we found an agent who did not insist on an exclusive contract (so I was free to act as agent for easy child 2/difficult child 2 for her own freelance work) but all fees had to be paid by us. he charged commission only (that's the law here) and to make it obvious that he wasn't ripping anybody off, the annual membership fees to the casting books and websites, he got us to organise ourselves. It was optional for him, but without the casting book listings, casting agencies didn't know who you were. Plus easy child 2/difficult child 2 had to take out her own insurance, cheaper now she's over 18. BUT - turned out the previous agent, the one who we had to take to court to have her paid, never took out the insurance they promised they had. Very naughty.</p><p></p><p>If your daughter is insistent, tell her (from our experience) that is is imperative that she join the appropriate union. We would have done a lot better if easy child 2/difficult child 2 had been a member when she had the problem with her agency. So she joined as soon as she left the agency, and the union (Actors Equity) have fought for her (and others in the same cast) at other times when she needed advocacy. She also gets invited to union events which has introduced her to some of Australia's top performers. We've got a great photo taken with David Wenham at one of these events.</p><p></p><p>But she still has her feet on the ground. Currently working in a shop, on the checkout. Despite all her talent, looks and experience. Because people who want to get into this sort of business have to learn to be patient, have to learn to be resilient and have to keep themselves from starving.</p><p></p><p>I agree - from what you've said about her (and her own comment about only being 6" too short) she hasn't got what it takes, not at the moment.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 355340, member: 1991"] We got caught up on the edges of the modelling thing, with easy child 2/difficult child 2. She originally wanted some professional opportunities for her stiltwalking - she was 8 at the time and had almost freakish abilities with her balance. She'd been offered work but had no insurance; the agencies promised us that their insurance would cover her so it seemed the best way to go. Only problem was - the (big name) agency that we went with, often asked so much for her services plus wouldn't let her do any "community service" freebies, she lost a lot of possible work. Then when she DID get paid work, the agency didn't pass the money on to her, we finally had to take them to court. Through this, easy child 2/difficult child 2 did some acting, discovered she liked it, did a bit oh photographic modelling (a character shot, so there was no need for anyone to put their hands on her except for her face and hair, which they actually let me do) and worked towards choosing at least a hobby/career in performing. The laws in Australia are strict especially with under-age kids, but parents can often be bluffed out of insisting. After all, if you make a fuss they might not let your child work for them after all... The rules here state that for every job where a child is under 18, the parent MUST be with the child. But one job easy child 2/difficult child 2 did (she was about 14 I think), they wouldn't let any parents on the premises. It was a famous TV soapie and easy child 2/difficult child 2 was just one of a group of schoolkid extras. "Portable scenery", we call extra work. She was required to wear their costume which meant she had to change, and I wasn't allowed to be with her. I wasn't even allowed to be on the site, so I parked my car down the road and made sure easy child 2/difficult child 2 had her mobile phone. I didn't know about the law at that time, or I would have insisted. They said they simply didn't have the space to let all the parents stay. And they didn't provide lunch for her, nor had we been warned they wouldn't. She had to ask permission to call me up so I could meet her at the studio gate with food. Again they wouldn't let me in the gate to bring the food to her - she had to run out the gate, still in costume, to get her lunch from me. Very bad form. Despite all this, she actually did enjoy her work that day. So a major TV network broke one (several) of the most important rules. I was very unhappy. And her pay for the day - $30 (which was also in the settlement we had to fight for, from her agency). So there isn't big money i this, as a rule. As you would know. There are base rates of pay which are legally binding, but they aren't much, not really. You have to be a big name to get more than base rate, and sometimes not even then. That's probably why our best actors go to the US! And once the child is over 18, it's a lot harder to insist on parental supervision. Also important, and something she needs to know - if an agency or employer feels she is unstable or uncooperative in the slightest, word gets around and work dries up. She would get dropped like a hot potato. That's something I've worried about with easy child 2/difficult child 2 - she's a fine actress and she's motivated, but has an odd combination of very strong ideas about how to portray a role, coupled with (at times) a lack of confidence especially at auditions, and this doesn't get her the roles. When she has been given roles, they're enthusiastic. She was offered a nude role when she was just 18. I was actually present for that audition/interview and we'd already read the script, so we knew one of the roles included full frontal nudity. She desperately wanted that role, but I let her make the decision. She chose to not do it, because she felt at 18 she was a bit too young. She also felt that the full frontal shock effect was not needed, she would be nude for the cameras if necessary but felt the character could be figleafed. So she turned it down, and they gave her a smaller role. The girl who did the lead role was a good actress but not as good a 'fit' in the part. As we expected, the role has led to more work for that actress (it was that good! Not the director doing favours in any way). easy child 2/difficult child 2 has her issues, but at least she has the stability and grip on reality that is needed to cope emotionally with all this. Also she has a good self-image; doesn't let anybody else's opinion of her body get in the way. She knows her strengths and weaknesses. You have to be resilient to do anything like this, and especially modelling. There is the option of petite modelling; I had to chuckle at the "I'm only 6" too short" line. THAT is NOT having a good grip on reality! You can know you're good at what you do, you can know you would have done X better or Y better than the person who beat you at the audition - but there is still a lot of waiting around for the agency to call. We would find no calls coming in for a year or more. Then the agency would call with an audition, curiously just as membership fees were coming up for renewal ("we need fresh photos, we've got the photographer all arranged" and no doubt had their own commission skimmed off the photographer's fees too). So we found an agent who did not insist on an exclusive contract (so I was free to act as agent for easy child 2/difficult child 2 for her own freelance work) but all fees had to be paid by us. he charged commission only (that's the law here) and to make it obvious that he wasn't ripping anybody off, the annual membership fees to the casting books and websites, he got us to organise ourselves. It was optional for him, but without the casting book listings, casting agencies didn't know who you were. Plus easy child 2/difficult child 2 had to take out her own insurance, cheaper now she's over 18. BUT - turned out the previous agent, the one who we had to take to court to have her paid, never took out the insurance they promised they had. Very naughty. If your daughter is insistent, tell her (from our experience) that is is imperative that she join the appropriate union. We would have done a lot better if easy child 2/difficult child 2 had been a member when she had the problem with her agency. So she joined as soon as she left the agency, and the union (Actors Equity) have fought for her (and others in the same cast) at other times when she needed advocacy. She also gets invited to union events which has introduced her to some of Australia's top performers. We've got a great photo taken with David Wenham at one of these events. But she still has her feet on the ground. Currently working in a shop, on the checkout. Despite all her talent, looks and experience. Because people who want to get into this sort of business have to learn to be patient, have to learn to be resilient and have to keep themselves from starving. I agree - from what you've said about her (and her own comment about only being 6" too short) she hasn't got what it takes, not at the moment. Marg [/QUOTE]
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