Industry
What actually protects a child actor, beyond the contract
Child actors: the parts of the protection system, who runs each of them, the questions to ask a production before signing, and where the money goes wrong.
A child on a set is at work, and the law in most places treats it that way. That one idea explains nearly everything around a young performer: the permit, the tutor, the shortened day, the money held back, and the adult who is there only for the child.
Child actors work inside a system of protections that no single contract contains. This page describes that system as a category. It names no child and no production, but it does name the bodies that set and enforce the rules, and the laws behind them. Read the current version from the body that issues them, because the details differ by country and, in the United States, by state, and they change.
What to take away
- The protections are a system with several parts, each run by a different body. A production that has all of them in place is doing the ordinary thing, not going beyond it.
- The names to knowSAG-AFTRA on union productions; the Fair Labor Standards Act and the US Department of Labor for the federal floor on age and hours; and the Coogan Act for the money set aside in trust.
- Look up the rules from the permit-issuing body for the place the work happens, never from a forum, an agency's website or another parent.
- Nothing legitimate in this field charges a parent to register, list or "discover" a child. That is the clearest single test there is.
The parts of the system
| Protection | Who runs it | What to ask before signing |
|---|---|---|
| Work permit or license for the child | A government labor or local-authority body, whose federal overview of child labor protections and where state rules sit is the place to start in the US. In the US the permit itself comes from the state labor department; California's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement is the one most productions deal with. In the UK it is the local authority where the child lives. | Who holds the permit, and can I see it? |
| Limits on hours, rest and the time of day | Set by the same body, and typically tighter the younger the child | What is the schedule for my child, on paper, for each day? |
| Education while working | A studio teacher or tutor on set, required by the issuing body on many productions, often with a welfare role as well | Who is the teacher, who employs them, and where does school happen? |
| A responsible adult present | A parent, guardian or licensed chaperone, depending on the jurisdiction | Am I expected to be present, and if not, who is? |
| A share of earnings set aside | Some jurisdictions require part of a child's earnings to be held in a trust the child controls at adulthood, an idea whose best known statutory form is summarized in the encyclopedia | How is my child paid, into what, and who can access it? |
| Content and safety | Production practice: adapted scripts, doubles for anything physical, arrangements so a child is not present for material an adult would be | What is my child being asked to do in every scene, and what will they see? |
| Union rules for minors | The performers' union, on productions that have signed its agreement | Is this a union production, and what does that add? |
Every row is a question you can ask a production before agreeing to anything. A legitimate production answers all of them without irritation, because it has answered them before.
The bodies behind those rows are worth naming. In most of the United States the work permit comes from the state labor department; in California it is the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement that issues the entertainment work permit a minor needs before paid work begins. The federal floor on age and hours is the Fair Labor Standards Act, enforced by the US Department of Labor. On union productions, SAG-AFTRA publishes the young-performer rules its signatories must follow, and the educational part is the studio teacher or tutor the production has to supply. In the UK, the local authority where the child lives licenses the chaperone and issues the performance license.
Child actor protections checklist
- Work permit or license
- Hours, rest and time-of-day limits
- Studio teacher or tutor on set
- Responsible adult present
- Share of earnings set aside
What the day looks like from the child's side
Short bursts of work separated by long waits. School on a folding table in a corner. Being asked to repeat the same thing many times without knowing why the last one was not right. Adults being kind and hurried at the same time.
For a parent, the job is mostly watching and boredom management, and it is a job. The page on what a shooting day is made of covers waiting from an adult performer's side. For a child, that waiting runs longer in proportion, and the day is shorter by law.
In series television, the pace described on the page about television production is faster still. That is why the schedule question in the table above matters more there.
The questions to ask, and whom
Questions to ask before signing
- Who is responsible for welfare on set?
- Who holds the permit?
- How does money move and to whom?
- What happens with the child's image?
- What will the child do, scene by scene?
- Is a double used for anything physical?
Ask what the child will be asked to do, scene by scene, and whether a double is used for anything physical. The page on how action sequences are built explains why the answer to the last question should always be yes.
For the rules themselves, ask the issuing body. For money and contracts, ask a lawyer who works in this field. For the standard on union productions, ask the performers' union, SAG-AFTRA, which publishes its own rules for young performers. None of those is the agency, and none of them is the production.
Where the money goes wrong
Because parents want this for their children more than adults want it for themselves, the field attracts people who sell the wanting.
Where the money goes wrong
Legitimate
- When paid
- After the work
- Joining fee
- None
- Registry
- Free
- Photographer
- Your choice
- Course
- Not required
Scam
- When paid
- Before any work
- Joining fee
- Charged
- Registry
- Annual charge
- Photographer
- Must be used
- Course
- Sold as route in
Each takes money before any work exists, and each explains that this is how the industry works. It is not. Representation is paid from the work, after the work is paid for, and a child's representation is no different.
The money that is protected is protected by statute, and one statute is worth knowing by name. In California, the California Child Actor's Bill, better known as the Coogan Act or Coogan Bill, requires a child actor's employer to set aside 15% of the earnings in a trust, often called a Coogan Account. That account is the part of the system a parent can actually check, so ask which trust holds the 15% and who the trustee is.
One further thing is worth saying plainly. The protections in the table apply to a child working on a licensed production. A child filmed at home for an online channel is in a different position, and the rules there are a live area of policy in several countries. Do not assume the two are alike.
When the child wants to stop
It is a job, and the child can leave it. The signs are the ordinary ones: reluctance, tiredness, a change in mood around the work. A parent's role is to notice and to act on it, and a production's role is to make that easy.
On stage, where the commitment is a run of performances, the license itself is usually tied to a schedule, and the page on rehearsal and the eight-show week shows what that schedule asks even of adults.
Common questions
Does my child need an agent before anything can happen?
Not to start. An agent who charges to sign a child is the thing to avoid; one who is paid from work the child books is the normal arrangement, and the same money test applies to them as to anyone.
Who checks that the rules are followed?
The issuing body has enforcement powers; in California that body is the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and federally the US Department of Labor enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act. The studio teacher often has an on-set welfare role, and SAG-AFTRA monitors its own signatory productions. The parent is the one who is always in the room.
Can my child be paid in experience or exposure?
A job is paid. A student film or a community production is a different arrangement, stated up front, with no money changing hands in either direction. A production that asks a child to work unpaid while it pays adults is not the second kind.
What happens to the set-aside money at adulthood?
That depends on the jurisdiction that required it. Ask the body that sets the rule, and a lawyer, rather than relying on anyone with an interest in the answer.
