Licensing

Ask each other for help and advice!

Moderator: busybusybusy

Post Reply
swanny
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 116
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:39 am

Licensing

Post by swanny »

Can anyone guide me- sometimes on KCCP and StarNOw etc there are jobs offered where it doesn't seem that those offering the jobs realise about kids licensing. They either don't know or clearly haven't left enough time. What do you do? If the job is out of school hours/weekend do you do the job anyway?
I'm swanning around trying to get the hang of all this! Thanks for your help!
lollypop
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 217
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2013 5:58 pm

Re: Licensing

Post by lollypop »

We license everything - our council policy is that you can be unlicensed if the role is unpaid, out of school hours and you have not performed at all in the last six months. We always have performed so would never qualify for exemption from licensing.

Plus, and more importantly, I hugely appreciate the support of the council. We have on occasion been asked to perform on very unreasonable terms and also unlicensed, including by some people who really should know better one, including one which uses this forum which was very shocking. The council's support in these sitauations has been great.

Plus, as my council knows I trust and respect them, I also find them very supportive when I need a quick turnaround.

So in my view, work with the council - they are trying to help and protect our kids.
mum2two
BRIT Award
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:58 pm

Re: Licensing

Post by mum2two »

I'm interested in this too - so does it mean that if i were to apply for a job via kidsccp or similar the people advertising the job would arrange the licence? I was under the impression that was the job of the agent but the council say that if it was us doing it without an agent it would be down to the production company.

Sooo, if you do apply without agency representation is it easy enough to sort?
User avatar
missmoneypenny
BAFTA Award
Posts: 878
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:18 pm

Re: Licensing

Post by missmoneypenny »

My children all have agents but I have always tended to end up sorting the licence. The production company is required to be more involved now than they used to be a couple of years ago but unless they are used to working with children they are likely to be fairly clueless! (sorry to the few that are on the ball!) Best to find out exactly what your LEA requires time wise and be sure they have all docs except the parts 1 and 2 - which you and production will fill in for each job.
ScoobyDoo
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 2:06 pm

Re: Licensing

Post by ScoobyDoo »

Don't know if any of you saw the story in one of the papers yesterday about the 9 year old who got a great commercial and last minute they had to drop him because he didn't get a licence, poor lad cried for 3 days. The story intimated that the school had refused to let him go, but it turned out that it was the mother who had not taken the paperwork to the school for them to deal with, therefore licence was never requested. Always err on the side of caution and get a licence, it doesn't cost anything and in our experience the local authorities will really pull it out of the hat and turn it around overnight (if they know you already).
User avatar
missmoneypenny
BAFTA Award
Posts: 878
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:18 pm

Re: Licensing

Post by missmoneypenny »

Oh poor lad - those stories are so sad. I agree re getting to know your LEA and the person is responsible for producing the licence, it makes a big difference. Please know that not all LEA's are able to turn them round overnight though - my LEA always says 7 working days - they almost always get it to us before that but if we apply with less time than this they will say no. I do hear that some will do next day but this is not the national experience so it is important that productions learn to allow the time - students at film school need to be taught this too and I believe this is now the case at some, hopefully this lack of knowledge is now improving. Many of the LEA's are now following the same timescales so the ideal would be they all requested the same amount of time to produce the licence, taking away the infuriating experience of someone with a quicker LEA bagging the job!
TalyaB
BAFTA Award
Posts: 997
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:22 am

Re: Licensing

Post by TalyaB »

I agree that not all will licence quickly. An agent approached us about taking DS on for voiceover work only, but said that licences were generally required at short notice, i.e. in a couple of days. I had a chat with the woman at Herts CC, and she said 7 working days was the minimum she'd commit to, so the agent said that wouldn't work. She said she had no problem with other councils.
ScoobyDoo
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 2:06 pm

Re: Licensing

Post by ScoobyDoo »

Yes Miss Moneypenny I agree, our LEA says 21 days, but I think because we are nowhere near London they probably have a much lighter workload! (the only small advantage we have). I also think that we have always worked hard to build a relationship with them and that although they do not normally swing them around in 24 hours, they did do it for us last week, but I think that is only because they have done a few licences for DS and they have a good idea of what he is up to (again probably due to not having a massive workload!).
Post Reply