Chilli Kids agency

[sXOX]

Hi, i was just wondering if any one had any experiences or is on the Chilli Kids Agency? thanks! x

[sapphire]

DD who is now 17 has been with Chilli Kids since August last year ... she has been put forward for some major roles through them. Viv Darlington is lovely ... very approachable and will happily answer any questions you may have.

[sXOX]

thanks v much sapphire! The website suggest its mainly a modelling agency, would you say that a lot of the jobs are for tv/film aswell then?

[sapphire]

DD has been put forward for a mix of commerical, film and TV work .... not got anything yet, but she has certainly has some good opportunities! Check out the Facebook page for Chilli Kids for an idea of recent castings/bookings!

[sXOX]

that sounds really great, ive been accepted by them so i was just trying to dig up a bit of info
one final question, are all of the castings in london? as i looked on the email they sent me and it said they were based in the midlands - i definitely couldnt get up there for castings!

[sapphire]

It depends on the job! They seem to have a mix of London-based and Up North!

[sXOX]

oh okay, aslong as theyre not all up north thats great do the agency use Spotlight?

[francescasmum]

Hi sXOX, my dd is with chillikids and I totally agree with sapphire, viv is lovely and very approachable. We are from Yorkshire and dd has had several auditions in Leeds/Manchester and Birmingham but the majority are in London, and the call backs have all been in London. Many of the auditions up north have had London options too! DD is in the current Chessington ad, got through Chill kids.

[tikto]

Hi,
I have no personal experience with them but I do know quite a few people who are not happy with them as it seems like they only put forward certain kids. If you look at the f/b page you will see that the same kids get castings/jobs. Sorry to put a downer on it.

[sXOX]

hi tikto, i looked at the fb page and i see what you mean! so do the agency put forward certain kids as opposed to the casting director choosing?

[janine]

sXOX! Have PM you!
Sapphire can I just ask, I understand that you have been submitted for castings, but has Ck secured you any castings ??

[tikto]

Hi, I am not really sure but I think what I understand is that you get casting calls emailed to you and you have to say whether you want to be submitted for it or not and then it is all in the hands of the agency but according to my friend only a couple of kids from it get castings so makes you wonder?

[pg]

I don't know anything about Chilli Kids, so I definitely won't join in any debate about how "good" they are, but I do want to flag up the following point:

An agency cannot normally "get" castings for anyone. An agency can decide who they will submit for a particular casting, but it would be a very odd agency that didn't submit available clients who were suitable for the casting. What would be the sense in that? They will submit the clients they think are most likely to be called in, and therefore stand the best chance of getting the job (and earning money for the agency). This could well be the same client time after time.

It is also true that casting directors may ask to see the same client time after time. Just because the same clients keep getting jobs does not necessarily mean that the agent is employing any kind of favouritism (though I suppose they might be).
Casting directors and directors and producers have favourites, certainly. Some actors are "flavour of the month" for a while and of course this also means that an actor becomes more experienced and often thus more employable.

An audition is not normally within the agents gift, so not getting called in does not mean the agent isn't trying!

It is not a fair business and not everyone gets a turn...

[sapphire]

The way it works is that Viv lets us know of any castings which DD is suitable for and then if we are available for the audition/proposed filming dates, she will submit DD's details. DD's previous agent would submit without checking availability and then get annoyed if we couldn't make it, so personally I prefer the CK approach and I do appreciate knowing what opportunities are out there and what DD has been submitted for. As PG says, that's all the agent can do. An agent can't guarantee castings or jobs! It's up to the casting director who they choose to see. DD has not got any castings yet through CK, but then '17 year old female' is a rather competitive and congested part of the acting market! I do know that without CK, she wouldn't have even known about some of these opportunities though! It's true that some of CK's kids are more successful than others, but then I suppose you are more attractive to casting directors if you already have had a professional job or two ... Hope this helps!

[francescasmum]

totally agree with sapphire, it's nice to know what you are getting submitted for and not just have an audition thrust upon you the night before! Also this way you know how many submissons you have as other agents don't usually tell you this information, you only find out you were submitted if you get an audition or if you ask for a list (then they don't always oblige!). The more my films/ads etc dd does the more auditions she seems to get.
I would suggest you try to get some experience (maybe through starnow or such sites) which will make you look more 'attractive' to casting directors.
It's true chillikids (or any other agent) can't force casting directors to see someone, the more people they submit the higher the chances that someone on their books will get an audition, so it wouldn't be sensible to only put one or two names through, especially if it were the same names, as casting directors would think they were the only people on their books, Cds like to see veriety.