When Babies Work, Who Keeps the Dough?

Great Debates
1

I received in yesterday’s mail a small flyer from a kiddie talent agency. Seems they got wind of the fact that I recently gave birth to two unusually lovely and photogenic babies;), and they’d be interested in working with us should we desire fame and fortune for said children.

Naturally, given my high opinion of my childrens’ worth, big dollar signs began dancing in my imagination. “We’re rich, we’re rich” my greedier tendencies sang.

Now I don’t know if we’ll pursue this in any form (turns out the flyer failed to mention the $600 “up-front” fee we’d need to pay in order to pursue aforementioned fame & fortune), but when I calmed down it occured to me that I don’t think that I, as Mom, would have any claim to my childrens’ earnings. Sure, I could demand a fee for schlepping them around - but would that be right? Should parents ever expect “payback”?

Thought the minds at SDMB would have a few words on the subject.

2

Your answr will depend on your state. Around here one of the rights of being a parent is the “right to the services and earnings of the child.” Milk 'em while they’re still cute!

3

It’s my understanding that a significant portion of the child’s earnings must go into an account for the child. I’m also pretty sure the parents can use some of the earnings to recoup the costs of getting their child to and from a shoot and any other “modeling” related expenses such as putting together a portfolio.

We considered getting our son into modeling. We did a few casting calls and talent seach things, but he wasn’t really into it so we quit.

4

For more information, Google “Jackie Coogan.”

from the Children in Film Newsletter

Or look at (former child star) Paul Petersen’s organization, A Minor Consideration, for information about recent changes in the Coogan Law.

5

That’s true in California, but not elsewhere. California has “Coogan’s law” named for former child star Jackie Coogan–you know, Uncle Fester. Under the law, a child actor’s earnings are his or her separate property and a minimum of 15% of the gross must be placed in a trust fund to be given to the child when he or she turns 18. All other earnings that don’t come from acting are the parents community property, so it’s best toget your kids into directing. Coogan’s law is only in effect in California; everywhere else, your children are adorable little slaves, subject only to Child Labor Laws.

And on preview, beaten to the punch by Papermache Prince

6

Whoops. Looks like from the link Coogan’s law was recently passed in New York, too. Ah, well.

7

I would add that the situation we are discussing and which pravnik so non inflamatorilly characterizes as slavery, only applies to entertainment. If you have a salt mining prodigy, for instance, you are not entitled to any of such earnings as the child is not allowed to do any such work. :wink:

I used to recieve those sorts of flyers too. I finally came to a conclusion about it. If my daughter ever pursues such things enough to make money, I’d put it all in a trust. the only reason I’d allow her to do anything like acting or modelling while she was a child would be if it were fun for her, and educational in some way. That is, as long as she enjoyed it and was getting something out of it besides money, fine. If it ever turned into or even began to turn into a job, I’d put a stop to it immediately. I believe childhood should be preparitory for adulthood. That is, children should learn how to be good people before anything else.

Part of this philosophy requires that our lifestyle would not be permitted to change while she was still a minor. That is, I’d require that our family continue to live within my means regardless of her income.

Not very original, I know, just MHO.

8

Ah, that scam. Let me tell you how it works. For background, my daughter was a child actor in New York, and her manager, who used to be a child actor, hates these scammers. We visited one of them, under cover, to investigate further.

I’m surprised about the up-front fee. Usually they tell you that your baby who is of course wonderful) needs a full set of pictures for many hundreds of dollars, and, to make it easier, they’ll send you to the perfect photographer. You get $20 worth of pictures (worse quality than Sears) and nothing more. Real agents and managers never, ever, ask for money, and only get paid if your kid works.

Now, all babies are cute, so casting directors don’t go on that. Not all babies will separate from their parents. If you go on an audition with your baby, the production people will take him or her from you, and see if there is screaming. If there is, forget it, no matter how cute she is.

Second, these people say they will send the picture to agents. They will, and the agents will actually look at the pictures, briefly, but unless the picture meets some deep seated need, they will get tossed. (Agents look at all pictures coming in.) You can send pictures yourself, with the same, and probably better, chances.

Third, babies change so fast that you don’t even need head shots for babies. My daughter got her first commercial using a picture a friend took. She then got good headshots. Her manager recommeded a couple of places, but was very careful that we didn’t feel pressured.

When we went to the scamming agent, we were given a contract, which we knew was going to be yanked. So, when left alone for a few minutes, we opened a drawer and extracted a blank copy we took with us. New Jersey law requires the odds of landing a job be given, and this was on the last page of the contract, in small type. It is under 1%.

But even if a kids gets a job, these people were no good. One of the little girls from the Cosby show did originally go through this place. (As they pointed out in a very large point size.) What they didn’t tell you was that as soon as the girl’s mother spoke to others, she yanked the kid from this place and got a real manager. (MY daughter’s, in fact.) In NY a manager gets 15%, and ours, at least, was worth every penny.

OK, sorry for the long rant, but when we left that place, there were a bunch of parents with babies who actually believed them. It was all I could do but to shout “Run!” I know the OP isn’t seriously considering this - but I do have one suggestion. Go to the interview, armed with a diaperful of your babies best product. As soon as they mention the money, throw it at them and run.

9

One minor amplification. If your kid is working a union job (SAG for film, AFTRA for video) there are various union regulations the production must follow as to pay, hours, tutoring, etc. I’m not a tremendous fan of unions, but SAG, at least, is a very good thing. The actor does get paid, on time, and does get residuals. (My daughter got a sixty-eight cent check when a soap she was an extra on ran in Italy.) Now the union is a lot stronger in California. On her first commercial, filmed in Queens, the union rep came by and said “there is no overtime on this set.” (It was all kids.) The experienced mothers laughed at her, and rightly so, since when you have a soundstage for two days, you get done in two days no matter how much ot it needs. My daughter did get a nice bit of extra pay for it, though.

So, on a union job, the kids are not slaves.

10

Wow, thanks for the fascinating replies!

Voyager, that was so informative! That makes sense about the head shots, I know that for adults they are expensive but of course they’d be out of date right away with a baby. During my phone “interview” the woman said 95% of people are eliminated via phone - it’s a great come-on. But if they’re collecting $600, what’s the incentive for turning people away (other than weeding out the truly neurotic)?

And thanks for describing the real-world scenario, I’m not sure that my daughter could handle that - although my kids really like to get out of the house, she has fussed when we’ve been at friends’ places & they’ve held her & stepped away from me. I was thinking if she was just a photographer’s model & I was nearby, that wouldn’t scare her & might be fun, something different to do. Apparently it’s actually work!

pervert, I have to say I agree with you (awfully dignified response for someone with that name ;)). It’s interesting new territory for me, being a parent; lots of new issues to confront.

papermache prince and pravnik - thanks for the links & info! I did know about Jackie Coogan’s cause but didn’t know the details (and didn’t know he was Uncle Fester!). 15%? That’s all? I’d figured it must be at least half, and I thought it was a national law.

11

I bet the people eliminated by phone are those who hear about the $600 and say “screw you” to them. :slight_smile:

I didn’t make this clear in my rant, but my daughter did go to some auditions as a baby. My wife’s roommate in the hospital was an actress who did AT&T commercials, and she recommended that my daughter try. (She had hair at birth, and was so exceedingly cute that the nurses always put her in the front row of the cribs, right near the window.) However, she was not all that good alone, and never got anything, so my wife stopped making the trudge from Princeton to New York.

And it is work, especially for the parent. We did it before cell phones, so we had to check our answering machine constantly, and be ready to drop everything to run into the city for an audition. Older kids have to learn to do homework in the car or train. My daughter got good at changing from school clothes to audition clothes in the back seat on the way to the PATH train. It is expensive also, especially if you have to park in the city. It is also very frustrating - if you get jobs from 1 in 20 auditions, you are doing very, very well. So a kid has to deal with rejection very well.

The main thing is that there is something different about kids who can do this which managers can tell right off, and which you can tell also after being around them for a while. The screen our manager used was to ask the kids to say “I love Cheerios.” That was enough to screen out 98% of those waiting for the open audition.

12

My daughter did a commercial when she was a baby, and was paid a decent amount of money for two days “work”. The two of us had a holiday at the beach on the proceeds. It never occurred to me to put the money away for her: what was mine was hers, and vice versa, I presumed. I decided not to pursue her modelling career - I knew someone whose child was a model, and the child was hardly allowed to play in case she got bruised or scratched. I also didn’t want my daughter’s looks to define her, and I didn’t see why she should be introduced to the possibility of rejection so early in her life.

Also, I was too lazy to ever get around to sending the next lot of photos to the agent.