Toddler Modelling

PapaJas

Hi

I have a 16 month old son who is cute as a button. Obviously i would think this (!) but I get stopped all the time in shops and generally when we're out and about by people saying how gorgeous he is. I was wondering whether he would be photogenic enough to earn some money from modelling? I'm due to be made redundant next month and need £1k per month just to pay the mortgage, council tax and bills before we can even buy food to eat. Have been a MSE visitor for a few years so have trimmed my expenditures down to the bare minimum. Obviously I'm looking for work but am getting increasingly concerned about the availability of jobs that pay a living wage in my area, and that I'm qualified to do. So when I see the toddlers modelling the clothes in the Next catalogue, or playing with toys on the ELC website for example, I think 'my son could do that!', although it is hard to get him to stay in one place for more than a few seconds sometimes ) . Has anyone had experience of this or know how to go about looking into it?

Any constructive advice or criticism gratefully received.

Thank you

Browntoa

friend of mine did this , only ever got 2 jobs and that was because they knew the person who was setting up the ad campaign

very very competetive , very hard to know which are real agencies and which are scams and you would have to be extremely lucky to hit £1000 a year

LittleCharlie

All parents think their kids are cute.

The shots on websites and so forth (like the kid playing with blocks) are usually stock shots. They're supplied by photographers to agencies who then sell the images on the photographers behalf. This is what I do as a photographer. I don't usually pay my models though, I give them prints in return (because all kids are cute, right?).

Kids in catalogues either come from agencies (specialist child model agencies, extremely hard to get into, never pay a fee up front and you need to live in a very major city, London Birmingham Manchester etc) or they're a friends kid that the photographer knows.

It is highly unlikely that you will find paid work for your kid as a model. You may also need to investigate your local authorities rules on child labour, sometimes you require a license that you have to pay for.

ramellous1

Surely any money your son earns would be his, right?

custardy

ramellous1 wrote: »

Surely any money your son earns would be his, right?

exactly!! put it towards his board and lodgings and when that runs out bill him for the rest when he turns 18 :rolleyes:

samjackjord

My son did this until he was 4 and he loved it. He made nearly £3000 and it is all nicely invested for his future. All the money you will make is chaperone fee and travelling. The assignments are few and far between, you get to see the same faces all the time as they are usually at a drama school of some sort. My son was spotted in the trafford centre and also on holiday in spain and he has done travel brochures and catalogue. It is a really tiring day for them and if he wont sit still they will just send you home unpaid its that brutal. Dont get conned with the agencies that you pay money too no matter what they say it is a con, my friend found out the hard way after paying £200 for a year and getting nothing. Good luck, but I don't think it would be right for you to keep the money he was getting paid you do do it!

ethansmummy

Hi my son does this through Scallywags. They do ads and also photographic modelling for Mothercare, Next, Tomy, ELC etc. Their website is https://www.scallywags.com

Mummy2K

My son was signed to 2 agencies for 18 months after many promises of work. He never received any work. Be aware that any monies are paid to your child. All I got from the agencies at the end of the contracts were 'upgrade your model page for only £xxx'. Hmmmm....

tiddly_widdly

Pretty much the same comments from me as from the others. Your childs money is definately theirs Im afraid.

robt_2

There is something quite not right about this.

It could be compared to forcing your sister into prostitution and keeping all her earnings yourself?

Sazzyukrafc

I used to model and occasionally still do some work, although much different to toddler modelling (lads magazines - not adult or anything like that). I earn around £30 an hour.

As mentioned above many published photos are actually stock ones where the photographer has submitted the pictures. The model will likely have not been paid, but given the pictures for their portfolio and signed a release form.

I believe Scallywags is the main child modelling agency, but again it's very tough to get into. It doesn't all depend on looks either, if your child won't behave, do as their told or stay still, then they will be told to go home and they won't get any jobs.

You will only get travelling expenses paid as a chaperone.