Chilli Kids agency

[sXOX]

well im glad both of you had such postive experineces with them
janine, thanks very much for the pm you sent, for some weird reason i cant reply to pms?
anyway thanks for the info you sent me, i will definitely follow your advice!

[Jellybabies]

not sure what this is like as an agency as im not on it, but i know they are very selective on the applicants they let it, one of my friends a while ago who is proffessional model and she didnt get in!

[pg]

Do Chillkids make a charge? This is not clear from their website.

I agree that it can be helpful to see what you have been submitted for and, if you don't act full time, it can be helpful to choose which jobs you are submitted for. In my experience this is not how it usually works though, and I think there are good reasons for this:

Jobs can come up at very short notice and require very fast response times (especially commercials). If an agent has to check to see who is available, this will lead to delays. From the agent's point of view it is simpler to know in advance when a client is not available - then they will not submit the client for a job they couldn't do. Most agents will talk to their clients when they take them on and discuss what sort of jobs they might be suitable for.

If Chillikids are leaving it to clients to decide whether or not they are submitted, this suggests to me (though of course I don't know) that they a) have a very large number on their books and b)submit more than one client for each job. Both these possibilities would provide an explanation as to why many people on their books don't get called in for castings.

If you want to act, I would maintain it is a good idea to seek out an agent specialising in this area that makes no charge. The reason for this seems to me to obvious: if the only way an agent makes money from you being on their books is for you to get work, they have a much greater incentive to work very hard indeed to get you seen for work! If you are paying them to be on their books, the easiest way for them to make money is to encourage more and more people to sign up (because work is hard to come by) - this, of course, dilutes the amount of work they can do to promote any one individual client. In my opinion, this way of working means that the agent wins every time they take on a new client and all their clients lose a little.

If you can't get on to the books of an acting agency that makes no charge, it is only at this point that I think you could consider alternatives. It is certainly true that Casting Directors will take applications more seriously from certain agents - but this does depend a lot on what sort of relationship the agency has with the CD. Sometimes, quite small agencies have good relationships with particular CDs and directors.

In acting terms, it is NOT usual for an agent to submit several clients for the SAME role. Most acting agencies will limit the numbers of people in the same casting bracket for precisely this reason. Obviously for commercials this can be different as CDs often see large numbers of people.

In my opinion (always ready to give that ): if you want acting jobs, it is much better to be with an agency that insists on auditioning children or seeing adults in shows/showreels. This is because a CD will, over time, trust this agent to submit only those children/adults that have the requisite looks/skills/experience and will take submissions from this agent seriously.

It's also always worth keeping in mind that, however nice the agent is, he/she is in the business to make money. They are unlikely to spend much time worrying about or seeking out unpaid "experience" and may not have time to devote to you as an individual unless you are "hot property".

Finally though, I would refer people to Golightly's post:
http://www.notapushymum.com/phpbb/viewt ... =8&t=14145

An agent that is the right one for one person won't always be the right one for somebody else.

[kittykatty]

My dd did a short film recently and the director asked me why she was with such a small agent and didn't join a bigger one (she is with Abacus).
They had selected those to audition by going through Spotlight and then contacting the agents so his definition of "small" was not as many children on Spotlight as some
other agents.

Not really to do with this topic but I thought that was an interesting (and slightly worrying) perspective of a director.

[pg]

Hmm. That doesn't make much sense to me! Was this for paid work?

When someone in the profession refers to a "bigger" agency, they generally mean "higher profile" - though it doesn't sound as though this what was meant here. Higher profile agencies may have many more clients, but they tend to have several agents too.

One important thing: if your dd was called in for the audition, then being with the agent you are with was not a deterrent...

I honestly can't see what the director was getting at! If they go through Spotlight looking for (for example) " 8 year old blonde girls with on screen experience", then what possible difference does it make whether they are with an agent with lots of clients or just a few? Unless of course, they were lazy and only wanted to contact one agent and ask them to send in several clients. They'd be on a forlorn chase with "high profile" agents though, because most good agencies really limit the number of actors of the same "type".

I am definitely puzzled by the remark!

[kittykatty]

Yes it was a paid job for 5 days (equity minimum!). They selected about 30 girls from Spotlight but actually auditioned about 20.

The director was lovely and it was just a comment over dinner that he had noticed my dd was with a small agent rather than a big one
and wondered why. He is now fully educated on the reasons and probably wished he hadn't asked.

[pg]

[mumto3]

Hi All, i'm new to NAPM!!! I've been having a browse thru with interest and came accross this post re Chilli Kids!! I have to agree with those that have said Viv is lovely and very approachable!! When she gets a brief in she sends a text/e-mail to check if your child is available for both the casting dates/location and shoot dates/location, then you just reply if you'd like her to submit your child. She will then submit EVERY child whose paerent responded with a "yes". From that point onwards, like with ANY agent, it is upto the Casting Director which children are called for the casting.
My dd has done quite well thru CK yet my 2 ds's haven't had any jobs. I do believe with what someone said about "success breeds success"...and this will be true with any agent. The more paid work a child has had, the more attractive they'll look to a CD...and yes, it can be a catch 22 for the first 6 months of starting out...and i believe a bit of good luck is needed also
As you can view the CK website...you will see that there are not ridiculous amounts of kids in each age range...so they certainly don't accept lots onto the books. I would also say about 75% of the castings are London...but they do get Northern ones also. I hope this helps those considering

[Ellie8989899301]

I have recently applied to CK and they have asked me to send in a video of me introducing myself followed by a monologue. I was wondering if anyone else has done this before and could advise me what sort of thing I need to say in the introduction.
Thank you.

[sapphire]

DD had to do this when she applied to ChilliKids ... she just did the usual, hi, my name is, why she was applying, what her ambitions re. acting where and ended with something unusual about herself, which is that she can speak a little Danish! LOL! Sadly not a skill much required by the UK acting industry

[sXOX]

hi, ellie sorry i cant reply to your pm as my email isnt working!
i havent accepted my place there yet as they said they'd hold it open for about 3 months
i wasnt asked to film a monolgue or anything, perhaps its because im a different age though? im 16, how old are you?

[Ellie8989899301]

I'm 16 too! I emailed Viv with it so fingers crossed. How long did it take before you found out you had got in?

[sapphire]

DD heard quite quickly - within a day or two I seem to recall

[sXOX]

hi again! oh that really odd then, I'm not sure why they asked you to? its probably only recently they changed their system or something? I emailed them my details and headshots in the morning and Viv replied about an hour later asking to see some natural non- professional shots, which i then sent to her, and she emailed back within about 30 mins saying she'd represent me! much quicker than most agencies to take reply

[sXOX]

just a question to anyone kids who are with chillikids, does the agnecy require you to be a member of Spotlight? thanks x