LOS ANGELES — Natasha Bass beams with pride as she watches a video of her 9-year-old daughter Joylynn's acting endeavors.
“She's been acting for about a year now,” Bass said. “She wanted to have her own YouTube channel because she wanted to be famous, but I suggest a more traditional introduction to the industry.”
Joylyn has aspirations of appearing on her own show on a major network, and her mother is very supportive of that dream. But Bass, who is new to the industry, feels safe, especially in light of the thought-provoking documentary series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which shed light on allegations of abuse and misconduct on set. We acknowledge that there are concerns. of the famous children's television show.
“Am I doing the right thing? Because I want to support her dreams. But is this the right environment for her? How can I protect her?” He voiced some of his thoughts.
Haydn Jones, head of youth and young adult talent at Lux Talent Agency, emphasizes the importance of parents like Bass making informed decisions.
“Know who you pick as a team,” Jones advises. “When you're looking for representation on the management side or the talent agent side, you're interviewing us as much as we're interviewing you. So your comfort level. Your family's comfort level is important, and so is your family's comfort level.”
Jones emphasizes that reputable agencies often have relationships with productions and strive to vet them before facilitating talent auditions. Additionally, California requires a studio teacher to be present on set when children are working, and requires parents to be in the presence of young talent.
Jones suggests parents should pay attention to the projects their children are participating in, starting with the audition process.
“What kinds of projects will your young talent be auditioning for?” Jones said. “And if it's relevant to the content, and it's mature, and it's more mature than others, it always becomes a conversation about whether or not I would be comfortable auditioning for this project.”
Bass believes this generation of young actors has an advantage.
“What I like about this generation is that they have so much more power than I do,” Bass said.
She also notes the importance of intuition and communication for parents in the industry.
“It’s so important to listen to your intuition as a parent,” she said. “Being there to let people know you're there for the child, having open communication and asking questions, because you don't know what you don't know until you're in the situation.”