Optimizing Your Time at Premiere

You got the phone call that you were waiting for… your child was accepted to attend Premiere! You jump, you dance, and you celebrate! But then anxiety slowly creeps in…you start to wonder: What are the industry professionals looking for? What can I do to make my child stand out?

Here are some tips to make your child more marketable to agents and managers.

Your work starts before you pack your bags. The first thing you need to do is get a great picture of your child. The photo should be of your child alone in the picture, close-up, plain background, no hats and no sunglasses, smiling and looking into the camera. The picture should be clear and good quality. A blurry picture taken on your cell phone is not acceptable! You will need 80-100 copies of this photo, in size 8 X 10.

You will need a resume. We realize your child hasn’t worked in this industry before and agents/managers don’t expect to see credits here. What we would to see is your child’s name, date of birth, and your contact info, including phone number and email address. A list of skills i.e. dancing, singing, karate, bike riding, ice-skating, hula-hooping, ear wiggling, backflips, etc. Create a section on the resume for any extracurricular classes your child has taken and for how long. For example: Swimming 4 years, drum lessons 1 year, acting class 2 years. We want to see and know everything your child can do!

You will trim the resume down to 8 X 10 size so that it is the exact size of the picture and staple it FACE UP on the back of the picture. Staple all 4 corners.

PRACTICE your lines for your competitions! The kids who get my attention have their lines memorized and do them with enthusiastic energy. They smile and look like they’re having fun performing. Smile and make eye contact with the judges.

Something you may not realize is that we are also looking at parents. We will have close relationships with the parents of the children that we sign and we want to know that the parents will be easy to deal with. I, personally, do not mind parents stopping me in the lobby and asking me questions. However, I am not too excited by parents, and don’t laugh… who knock on the door to my room to ask me questions or slide their child’s picture under the stall door while I am in the restroom. Trust me we are looking at each and every one of the kids that are presented to us.

The audition process starts as soon as you leave your hotel room. Kids, be nice to your parents and the other kids even when you think no one is watching. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the elevator without my badge and see kids yelling at their parents. We’re watching. We notice how you behave. Assume everyone is a judge, smile and be nice to everyone.

Lastly, relax and have fun! Everyone there is rooting for you and wishing to make this a great experience for the whole family. Enjoy yourself and Good luck!

Do you have a question for Ms. Jackie? Email us your question at webmaster@officialpremiere.com and her next article could be about you.

Jackie Reid owns L’il Angels Unlimited, A Talent Management Company since 1992. They specialize in babies, kids and teens for feature films, television shows, commercials, print and theatre. They are a bi-coastal agency servicing talent for both the NY and LA markets. Like her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LilAngelsUnlimited

The Start of our Journey

Allow me to introduce myself, you will be hearing from me a lot in the coming months!

You and I are going to take a journey. We are going to talk about life as the parent of a child actor. The do’s, the don’ts, the shoulds, and the musts. Things to avoid and things to embrace. I will be your guide on this journey.

What makes you such an expert, you ask?

Well, I’m Jackie Reid and I own a Talent Management company called L’il Angels Unlimited. I have been a talent manager for over 25 years, I was an agent at a SAG-Franchised agency and most importantly have raised two successful children in the industry.

Let me tell you why I love Premiere. I love the fact that I can see so many talented kids in one place and be able to fill whatever category needs I am lacking. I feel like a kid in a candy store with all the choices of talented kids before me. Here are some snippets of some of the experiences I have had with kids that I met during Premiere.

Nathanael was 6 when he caught my eye during the 2 person scene. He aptitude for acting shone through and his smile warmed my heart. He recently shot a huge guest starring role on the television show Royal Pains this week and shot a commercial for Georgia Electric within a week of meeting him.

Manuela is a bouncy and energetic 8 year girl who got my attention doing the commercial competition. She is adorable and when she smiles, she can sell you anything! She has done a national commercial for Verizon, 2 commercials for The Ad Council, and a commercial for The Children’s Health Fund.

Yairalys is a beautiful 11 year old girl who I met at the photo drop. She introduced herself and I saw that she was a local NY girl. She told me that she is bilingual. I was ecstatic to sign her, as I had no bilingual girls in her age group. She did 2 radio commercials for US Bank that very same week that I met her.

Sebastian is an adorable 10 year old boy whom I fell in love with him watching his monologue. He was a natural comedian and his deep dimples flashed when he smiled. Since he signed with us six months ago, he has booked a commercial for Prestige Motors, an ad campaign for Mercedes Benz and the lead in an upcoming episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories.

Brian is a 9 year old boy who I saw doing his monologue. He was so handsome and friendly and I could see how much work he put into that monologue. He has booked a MasterCard radio campaign and a commercial for the Children’s Health Fund.

I could on and on about the great kids that I found at Premiere. There was John M who landed a lead role in an Off-Broadway play, and Juan Jose who booked his very first audition which was a Spanish radio spot for Publix Supermarkets, or Kimberly who can be seen dancing in her Podemos commercial, or Josh who booked his very first audition… a Nintendo commercial.

I could tell you about the 4 kids that are auditioning this week for the Annie movie, and the 3 kids auditioning for the lead in Chris Rock’s new movie or the kids auditioning for the Broadway show Matilda or the ones auditioning for Hasbro, Fanta, AT&T, TNT, Blue Bloods, Bank of America and others this week…. But I won’t. Because they may be next month’s success stories!

Do you have a question for Ms. Jackie? Email us your question at webmaster@premiereevent.com and her next article could be about you.

Jackie Reid owns L’il Angels Unlimited, A Talent Management Company since 1992. They specialize in babies, kids and teens for feature films, television shows, commercials, print and theatre. They are a bi-coastal agency servicing talent for both the NY and LA markets. Like her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LilAngelsUnlimited