A great child actor shot! |
How Do I Define My Child's Success As An Actor
Success at any age is conceptually elusive and the more you try to harness it, the harder it may be to obtain. This is doubly so when it comes to child actors, and pushing them too hard may have an adverse effect on their career in the immediate future and in the long run.
A purely “you must”-oriented approach to their acting career often teaches them to be nothing more than the cute and confused child and may lead to becoming a similar adult.
In my opinion, the answer would depend on a child’s life goals and where does being an actor fits into. Is it a career objective or one of the sub-goals? Based on a serious analysis of primarily a child aspirations and then parent’s life and circumstances, a child’s “success” could be defined.
Either to be a future successful adult by achieving overall goals of acting, academics and other skills or successful actor to be a primary goal. The answer to this is with you
If a successful actor is a primary goal
5 Major Requirements
1.Professional training
2.Preparations on Headshots, Resume, Showreel, Website, video introduction etc.
3.Intense online and ‘one on one’ marketing and promotional activities for a child’s career
4.Meeting artist coordinators, agents, managers, casting directors, TV channels, running for auditions etc.
5.Am I willing to commit the time and resources (economic/familial/mental) to make this happen?
Answer this to ensure the child’s success as an actor
- Am I willing to meet the financial expenses?
- Am I prepared to face the mental taxation upon the child and the entire family
- Am I prepared to spend time and willing to sacrifice or adjust with my and family’s goals and lifestyle?
What acting will offer my child?
- In fact, acting can have a lasting impact on your actor’s future, whether or not they remain in the entertainment industry.
- Kids in the acting business learn Ownership and responsibility at a much younger age than people who enter the workforce in their late teens.
- In addition to a strengthened work ethic, an acting career will also install adaptability to circumstances- any kid who has been in the acting business knows that things can change by the minute,“One minute you can be in school and the next you might be pulled out to get to an audition". Or you can have the lines that you spent hours or days working on tossed out and get handed completely new material that must be learned immediately…There are endless examples that I give to show that these kids are not thrown off by changes, but rather they learn to accept changes gracefully and go with the flow. As an adult, this is such a valuable resource to have within you—to become a successful adult.
- In the acting business a child learns all the skills to be successful and happy- confidence, how to win friends and influence people, accept rejections, empathy, perseverance, grit, patience, positivity to name few
Will it and how will this change my child’s life?
However positive, your child embarking on career-acting will bear unpredictable shifts in their life, both on a day-to-day and a more on the life span basis. Matters such as sleeping schedules, time for socializing, and dietary habits will all be impacted and should be anticipated. This question creates more questions. Will your kid be OK spending Saturday afternoon at an audition while his or her classmates are all at a birthday party? What about their willingness to travel and wait for auditions or at studios on-set for scenes to be shot? Will they feel the absence of a school and extracurricular activity environment and their classmates when they are working and there are no other children on-set?
What are the types of acting available for my child to be?
The kind of acting opportunities most suitable for your child will vary depending on what they’re most passionate about, but will also be based on what industry types are available in your town or at major center-Bollywood at Mumbai India or Hollywood L.A. The other opportunities are in TV serials, independent and short films, theater, student films, modeling in commercial ads and finally as a voice-over
Undoubtedly, to become a child actor may offer a thrilling career, name, fame, and money, remember this may change your and your family’s life