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Hi. My name is Trudi Tapscott, and I think that every parent, at some point, is curious
about getting their kid into modeling. And by kid, I refer to children under the age
of 12. And even newborns. People send pictures. They want their baby to be a model, or do
modeling.
I encourage everyone to have their moral code, and my moral code is, I wouldn't encourage
your children to be in a business where their complete focus is on their exterior. For me,
personally, I don't represent children models. I've never worked in a kids modeling agency.
It's not just how a kid looks. It's really whether that kid can adapt and be safe in
that world and not completely focus on getting their picture taken and all of those things.
So, it's a different kind of a thing. Kids are pretty impressionable. So, for me, I never
really was interested in working in that area of the business.
I will say that for parents that want to get their kids into modeling, like everything,
get a great agent. But you need to be near a market, and you're the full-time person
there. They obviously don't go to anything by themselves; you have to drive them everywhere.
You go on a lot of auditions to get a job.
It's a lot of work. Nobody advances you any money for your kid to be a model, so it's
much different than the adult business. And so parents usually become the driving force
for their children in being child models. And if you're a successful child model, they
go by sizes, so usually a kid that's small for their age works more as a model, so it's
the opposite of the adult business.
If a client books babies, they book maybe eight babies on that day because you never
know who's going to be in a good mood. So, you don't know if your kid is going to be
the one that gets it. You go to all the trouble and take everything and you go there and your
baby that day is in a bad mood, or is teething, or whatever. There's a million different things
that happen that a director or photographer have to keep in mind with children.
And you have to keep your children occupied. They don't necessarily know that they're working,
so it's a working thing. There are some excellent kid's agents in Los Angeles and in New York,
and I think that if you don't live in a huge city, you're not going to get huge rewards
from children modeling in the business. The big jobs, the things that matter, all happen
in big cities.
So proceed with caution, I would say. You're obviously concerned about your child and their
welfare. If they're not responding or adapting well, if they don't feel comfortable, if you're
the one dragging them, if they're not excited to do it, then maybe wait, or don't do it
at all. Maybe it's not their thing, but proceed with caution. You can see very early on whether
it's something that they're really enjoying and having a good time, and that's the most
important thing.