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my ds's agent has been contacted asking for my ds to audition for a short, am i to assume it is unpaid? is it normal for unpaid short films to be cast through agents via spotlight, or is there any chance that this is a paid job? as i have to be somewhere else that day i will have to get a chaperone to take him, and with that and train tickets costs really start to mount up..... i have contacted the agent to ask if it is paid and for the filming dates but have not heard back yet, any ideas?

It depends sometimes they do pay as not all shorts are student films but if not guessing you might have to rethink - let us know - fingers crossed

My agent contacted us ref film part, I asked if it was a student film and they said no. However when I had all the details it was no pay, over 3 days of school and no casting fees either!
Unfortunately costs do mount up and we had to say no.

I have had this a few times but agent has asked fir Chaperioning money for me as it's not really aceptial to expect an adult to work for free they said they would give me the money so turned out ok they where really nice films.

Since you've mentioned that someone has contacted your agent (rather than the agent making a submission), I would think it's quite likely to be unpaid. This has happened to me via my agent quite often and my agent has contacted me to find out what I think. It would be very unusual for me to say "yes" to unpaid work these days, though I know that it is often of interest to some actors for experience or showreel experience. My agent would generally not be very keen for me to do it (for obvious reasons!).

I've been involved in a couple of short films where I've been paid (though not a huge sum). It is becoming (frustratingly) more common to see unpaid work going through Spotlight. I don't think you should ever be afraid to ask very early on for all the details about pay and/or expenses. To be honest, your agent should tell you immediately if it is unpaid and should ask you whether you are interested (unless you have already discussed this, and you've said you're happy to consider anything). There is nothing in it for the agent if there's no pay (unless you pay the agent a fee for representation, in which case, getting more credits on your CV will be of interest to them, whether or not you get paid). My agent would never, ever put me forward for unpaid work without asking me.

It is quite often possible/acceptable for an agent to negotiate on your behalf (that's what you employ them for) so don't be afraid to say what you would find acceptable. Turning down an unpaid "opportunity" does NOT get you a bad reputation in the industry.

My dd has done four paid short films so they do exist. One of them was via Spotlight - they searched Spotlight profiles and then contacted the agents of those they wanted to see and then the same producer contacted me and asked her to do another one. The other two were both student films but paid student filmes (yes they do exist). They were all only paid at between £50 and £60 a day and no chaperone fee but still better than nothing.