Does anyone know how to starts childs acting career?

[shygirl507]

I use to be a nanny for a little girl who is now almost 13 yrs old. She comes from a family with 5 kids(3 of which are triplets) and her parents don't have a lot of time do devote to her talent. I'm not joking or going over the top when I say this kid is a triple threat. She is an amazing dancer (she's in a dance company at her school and won many national competitions), she can act, and the voice that comes out of her takes your breath away, and on top of all that she has the personality to go with it. I get chills when I listen to her sing or watch her dance. I've watched her grow since she was three and she keeps getting better and she has had no teaching. She's been told since she was a child that she should be put in something b/c she has something special.

The thing is, I've decided to take her on and try to help her out and be the one to take her where she has to go to do this. I'm trying to figure out how I get her into auditions in NY for broadway and how do I find out about them. Also should she get an agent or no? I don't know where to start but I want to do this for her b/c I don't want her to resent her great family for never letting her persue a career in something she is naturaly amazing at. I'm telling you if you heard this kid sing you would be amazed, she puts so much personality and character into it and the songs she sings makes it all the more special. She remember the songs to broadway shows she's never seen in two days and performs them. She can sing Andrea Bocelli (an italian opera singer) in italian and she sounds amazing.

WHAT SHOULD I DO? Where do I start and how should I get her out there.

[winneythepooh7]

I don't know too much about it. I have friends who have adorable twin baby girls who are trying to get them into modeling. All I know is that they will need an agent, it is mad expensive and a lot of it is kind of scam-ish in nature.

[biodork]

I used to have a "manager" when I was younger and was into acting. It wasn't a big deal or anything, basically I was taking acting classes at this place and the person giving the lessons was the manager. And whenever there was auditions for something or movies needed extras she would get calls and send kids she was managing out. Maybe look into something like that? Also, a lot of times auditions are advertised in the newspaper, even if it's just for a small theater. That might be a good place to start.

Good luck!

[mishl982]

Wow, Elyse, I never knew that!

[biodork]

Wow, Elyse, I never knew that!
:)

I was an extra in the movie Liberty Heights and the tv show Homicide: Life on the Street. Don't think I saw myself in them though.

[mishl982]

I've been on tv here and there but nothing exciting! I think my claim to fame has to be when my 2nd grade teacher was featured as teacher of the year or something and they showed shots of his students and of course they got me picking my nose on camera!

[Heroic1]

Anything you can do to make connections will pay off--and keep in mind she has plenty of time. :) Even if she just gets involved in community/local theatre projects, she will meet people (directors, adults with experience) who can point her in the right direction and refer to those higher-ups in New York. The more people she can meet and interact with--the better.

[wordsmith]

Doing a lot of extra work puts you in contact with a lot of people for networking, and is usually fairly easy to get into. There are local kids who go to every cattle call for extras here when there is something filming in Chicago.