What Happens When Your Child Is Auditioning for a Kid Commercial?

Auditioning in Hollywood, Image via Wikipedia

I remember the first time my daughter was going to be auditioning for a kid commercial in L.A. She had auditioned for commercials in the  Southeast, but I knew auditioning for a kid commercial in L.A. would be different, just like everything else in L.A.

Her first L.A. commercial audition was down in Hollywood, so driving to the commercial audition and finding the exact location was stressful enough. (See Will You Like Driving Your Child to Acting Auditions? for more on this topic.) Then I had to find legal parking within a reasonable distance from the audition location,which is not usually an easy task either.

After parking, we walked to the audition, crossing busy streets along the way. I carried a case with headshots and resumes, the audition details, and other necessary information, along with a hair brush and accessories, snacks, water, and a few games and activities. I held my young daughter tightly by the hand.

I really did not know what to expect or what to do when we arrived at the commercial audition. Her talent manager had given me a few quick tips, but he certainly did not cover any details.

The whole process of auditioning for a kid commercial did not get much easier until we’d gone to at least four or five commercial auditions.  While no two commercial auditions are exactly the same, there are many similarities.  So after you go to a few of them, you do get the basic drill down, and it becomes much less stressful and more fun.

So, What Typically Happens When Your Child Is Auditioning for a Kid Commercial?

When your child is auditioning for a kid commercial, after you arrive at the casting office, the basic procedures are as follows:

1. Find the sign-in sheet for the correct commercial audition. There are often multiple commercial auditions in the same location, so there may be as many as 9 or 10 casting offices. By each door there is a sign-in sheet with a sitting area nearby.  You need to know the name of the casting director and the name of the product for the commercial in order to find the right sign-in sheet. There may be a sign  with that information on it, or you may just have to look at each sign in sheet (typically on a clipboard) to see if it is the right audition.
2. Look for instructions provided by the casting director telling you what to do.  There may be a paper on the wall, nearby bulletin board, or sitting on the table near the sign-in sheet. If you find instructions, make sure you follow them carefully.
3. Sign in with the requested information, including your child’s name, child’s talent agent, and agency phone number. Do not put your child’s social security number there.You can put “on file” or leave it blank. If your child is in SAG, the SAG number can go there. Don’t put more than your city down for your address.
4. Pick up a copy of the sides (lines) for the commercial audition and have your child learn them, if there are any. If your child can read, let them study them and then you can help them. If they can’t read, you’ll have to teach them to your child. For young children, there are seldom many lines and often there are none or just a couple of words. On occasion, there will be sides for the audition distributed prior to your arrival at the casting office. In this case, make sure your child learns the lines before you go to the audition.
5. Show your child the story board (if there is one) and go over it with them. A story board is a set of very basic sketches providing you with the commercial’s story line. It often shows the facial expressions and dialogue for the proposed commercial.
6. Pick up and completely fill out a size card for your child if there are some out near the sign-in sheet. Find a place to sit in the waiting area with your child to do this. Don’t block the sign-in area.
7. Get a polaroid taken of your child. This is almost always done at commercial auditions, and you need to watch and listen for the camera person to come out to do this, often for a few kids at a time. Your child will either take the picture into the audition with them, usually after a casting director or assistant attaches it to the size sheet, or the casting director may collect them before your child goes in.
8. Listen for a casting director or associate to call the kids over for additional instructions or practice. They sometimes give them instructions or tips about what to do or not to do during the audition. Make sure your child does not miss this.
9. When the casting director or assistant calls your child’s name, send them over to them right away. Tell them to follow the instructions the casting director gives them. They will be on their own at this point as you are NOT allowed to go into the casting office with your child.

What Happens When Your Child Goes Into the Casting Office to Audition?

For commercial auditions, the auditions are almost always put on film. And your child will be asked to stand in a certain place and slate. To slate just means that your child will state his or her name and age.

What actually happens after your child goes into the casting office can vary greatly from one audition to another.

In the simplest case, the casting director may put the kids in a line, have them slate, have them all turn together to the left and then to the right to check their profiles, and then send them out.

More often the children will be asked a few questions and then will perform the lines they’ve been given or the actions on the story board plus any additional things they’ve been instructed to do.  They may do this alone with the casting director and assistants or, more typically, they will  go in with one or more other kids and/or adults.

Usually, the casting director will have them perform multiple times, perhaps until they get a good performance. He or she may ask the kids to change something each time or to do it exactly the same as the previous time.

The casting director may ask your child to pretend to do something or to pretend to eat something, or to play with some toys or some other children or even with some dogs, depending on what type of commercial it is. Sometimes there is real food there to eat, perhaps a cereal, or a cookie or a brownie, or maybe even a bowl of soup.

They may be asked to sing a song or perform some other task, particularly if it was a skill they needed to have for the audition.  They may be asked to act happy or sad or mad or bashful or to pretend that they are sick.

Additional Tips for Auditioning for a Kid Commercial

If you watch some commercials on television and watch what children are doing on those commercials, you can imagine the wide range of things your child might be asked to do when auditioning for a kid commercial. It is a good idea to watch some commercials with your child and have them practice doing what the kids in the commercials are doing to get some practice for commercial auditions.

Avoid being critical of your child when you work with them or rehearse lines with them. You really want them to view auditions as something fun so they’ll show their fun personalities to the casting directors.

Recently, some casting directors have starting using a system called The Casting Frontier, where casting information is kept in an online database rather than on size cards. You can create an account for your child and use it at each audition (where this sytem is being used). A basic account is free, and you can update your child’s information whenever you need to.  If your child does not yet have an account, there will be someone who can help you set one up at the audition.

When your child is auditioning for a kid commercial, don’t allow them to run around or scream and yell in the waiting area before or after their audition. It is annoying to the casting directors when it is noisy, and it makes it much harder for them to do their jobs.

It is also annoying to the other people who are preparing for an audition.

A casting director may remember your child’s bad behavior and report it to your talent agent or not bring your child in to audition again!

As always, your child’s safety is more important than anything else. There should not be any reason for you to be concerned about your child’s safety at auditions; however,  if anything about the audition makes you or your child feel uncomfortable or suspicious, take extra precautions.

If you, rather than your child’s agent, obtain an audition for your child, spend extra time investigating the individuals involved, and don’t be afraid to ask questions of them and others. If a location seems desolate and there are few other people around, take that as a sign that your child’s safety could be in jeopardy and either discuss it with your child’s agent or leave.

It is also a good idea to discuss safety issues with your child, and make sure they know what to do if a situation arises in an audition that makes them feel uncomfortable.

Be sure to sign up for Your Young Actor’s Newsletter for information and tips on this and many other related topics and to get a free mini-course on How to Get Your Child Started in Show Business.

To Your Child’s Success,

Debbie Sikkema