I think it’s every parents dream to see their child on the side of a box of Huggies or Pampers. Am I right? But how do you do this?
Avery has a natural knack for modeling. It may have something to do with me snapping a million photos of him a day but he’s a natural in front of the camera.
I got a call from a friend over at HLN that they were looking for baby that was Avery’s age to appear in a segment featuring baby tech. The segment would be short and sweet but would appear on both CNN and HLN during their morning programming. That’s national tv we’re talking about. This was the most exciting thing to me!
After saying yes a thousand times, the producer for the segment reached out next and gave me the layout of how it would work, timing, and what they needed from me to prepare for the shoot.
I made sure that I had everything ready to go and set up the time for the crew to arrive at my home after I got off from work to film. Our little home was filled with lights and equipment and it’s was go time. We filmed the segment for a couple of hours and then they all headed out to begin editing.
The show aired pending breaking news. I told my entire family and my friends about it. We all woke up early to see the segment live and many of us recorded it. You can see the segment here.
That moment sparked the idea for getting Avery into modeling. I started searching agencies but there are so many scams. Be ware of any agency that makes you pay for lessons, sessions, or any of that. That is a scam.
I wanted to go the agency route and get representation for Avery but after reading reviews, I didn’t know who to trust in my area.
I found credible agencies in NYC and California but all of them want you to be within a close radius to their offices. The reason is because in this industry, a lot of times you will get booked for a gig at the last minute. If you live out of town, it is likely you will not be able to make it in time. Everyone has a unique look and features that brands specifically want. When an agency books you for a job, their client was sold on you and is expecting for you to show up. If you can’t, you will likely burn your opportunity with the agency. That’s why it’s important to find an agency near you.
There are several agencies that provide listings of the work that they have for free. I would tap into this. They will try to get you by making you pay to be listed on their site as a premium user but just sign up for the basic free account to see if you like it first. Remember, don’t pay for anything.
When you’re submitting your child for jobs, they would like to see a few photos of your child. These are usually headshots as well as full body shots. I take all of Avery pictures and for his most recent gig with Baby Einstein, I submitted regular photos of him lounging around our home.
You’re probably thinking but Crystal, you know how to take professional photos. Sure, I know how to take quality photos but these were in no way shape or form industry standard headshots. They were not shot against a white background or anything that would qualify them as headshots.
Each entry that you make for your child’s modeling career may have different requirements. I’m not saying that you won’t ever need professional headshots but I’m telling you that I didn’t and when the time comes that I will, I will just stand him against one of the many white walls in my home and call it a day. I suggest you do the same unless you are given clear instruction on why you shouldn’t and it’s legit advice and not just someone trying to make a buck off of your ignorance. I know that sounds harsh but the people who will do it is what’s harsh. Buyer beware.
When Avery was selected for Baby Einstein, the shoot was maybe a week or 2 later and it was during the middle of the day on a work day. Again, if you can’t make the time commitment, don’t sign your baby up. They will just get mad at you for making false claims of your availability. And the baby modeling opportunities that I’ve seen give you the availability up front so you know what you’re signing up for.
There are labor laws for babies. They can’t work more than 2 hours a day or something like that in the state of GA. Also I think the 2 hours has to be spread out into 10 minute increments or something like that. So plan to be on set for maybe 2-3 hours max. There should be refreshments there but of course don’t rely on that. Bring your babies snacks from home and a bib if he/she is a messy eater. Wardrobe is usually provided but most brands have a certain aesthetic that they are going for and may not have several looks for your child if they mess up their clothes so try to keep them clean during their shoot. Also, I would bring something to keep them entertained but they should have toys on set for them to play with.
After the shoot, we saw Avery’s photographs directly on the Baby Einstein website and a few months later we started seeing them popping up sites like on Target and Amazon.
Many people asked me if Avery got to keep the toys. The answer to that is no. The toys that Avery was paid to play with were toys that were new to the market. They barely wanted us to have cellphones out on set so they definitely weren’t going to let us take the toys home. I didn’t even know the names of the toys until I saw them online. They really wanted to protect the announcement of the toys as much as possible and I totally understood that.
Just The Kings 