Lack of information from agent re understudy job.

[olipops]

We get to a shoot for a promo and then told my child is the understudy. Is this normal practice? Would my agent have known this? My agent told me that there were two children cast i.e my child and another so wasn't sure how much my child would be used. My child wasn't used. Has this all been a waste of time? I am slightly upset that I removed my child from school unnecessarily. Also, is it bad form to ask how much my child is getting paid for a job? Agent never willingly informs me and I am not quite sure how I should tackle this without sounding as if all I care about is the money which of course it isn't, but surely I should know all this info upfront? Agent is proactive about getting child castings etc but it is the constant drip feeding of information afterwards which is causing me concern.

[xebonykissesx]

I'm not sure how normal it is to have an understudy for a promo shoot, although it sounds unusual to me, i think other more experienced people on here will be able to inform you. Regarding payment however, agent should be upfront about this as well as the amount they take. It isn't all about the money, but at the end of the day, if it's a paid job, you should have an idea of how much your child will be getting paid for that job! I would assume that your agent will get all details of the job initially including payment and should pass that information on to you. It sounds a little bit strange that they don't, but when they submit your child for a job next time I would just suggest emailing back with a few things you have questions about including how much is the payment for this job? I don't think you will sound like it is all about the money, because agent is working to get your child paid work so of course you'll want to know the payment just as they will.

[missmoneypenny]

It is common for a child to have a back up - my kids have always had back ups on commercial jobs, but you absolutely should have been told your child was back up. I agree with you - I wouldn't be happy to use up a school day either. Sometimes you can say you will do back up from home - so you carry on as normal and, if they are needed, make a mad dash! I have known kids do this, but I guess you would need to be fairly close to the shoot! I do think back up is a job you wouldn't want to do more than once though - I don't think (on the whole) they are treated as well as the main children and that is pretty bad I see this was a promo, so imagine similar to a commercial. Also you 100% should know what you are being paid and don't be afraid to ask - it isn't all about money, but that is something you need to know

[fartoomuchtodo]

I always want to know how much my DS is getting paid (and so does he!). No it's not all about money but we spend a fortune travelling to auditions, getting headshots etc so earning pay some of this back. Your agent should tell you - if they don't just ask. They take their cut so its in their interests to get the best deal for you and they wouldn't work for nothing would they?!

[paulears]

Do you not get a contract to sign? Without a contract, nothing is guaranteed, and the status of the contract always includes "perform as....." somewhere.

I assume they still paid you? It's rather unprofessional to offer work as one thing and then downgrade it - after all your decision to do it was based on the 'whole', not just the money.

[Irishdancer]

A lot of company's don't even tell agent that your child is stand in child because they are worried that you will turn it down. Have had this with my dc so when ds was younger and got a call from agent saying DS had got the part I asked agent to talk to company to make sure that Ds was the main boy and not stand in as did not want him to take time of school just to sit around doing nothing all day. Stand in gets the daily fee the same as main child just dose not get the buy out fee. If child has not done any thing before then a good experance if they do use them to stand in for main child when they are off set but usually stand in child sits in a room doing nothing wile main child gets all the attention and stand in child is just not taken any notice of which is not a nice feeling.

[lollypop]

Yeah back up is normal, but really not much fun for the kid. I think it's a bit mean of them not to let you know you are back up. We have always known, so at least we can explain the position to DS so he knows exactly what to expect on the day. Your child should be congratulated though on getting the role as back up - it's still a big achievement.