Advice- Agency, yes/no

[Melaniec123]

Hello all, i am new to this website but having looked through it seems like a great website.
My daughter is 15 and has a real passion for acting, we have recently been trying to find an agency for her,one has said they would like her to get a bit more experience and then they would re-consider, so originally we were going to do this and then try with the agency again, however today I received an email from CK casting saying that they would represent my her, for a fee of £40 and that she had to sign up to spotlight, we understand that this may be the case for all agencies but this agency has not seen her CV, or headshot, we simply emailed them with a query and they invited us to a 'registration day' they said this would consist of a small amount of singing and acting, a small chat, then they would meet all the children and create a profile for them and they would be represented by them. As this is all new to me i really don't know what to make of it, it just seems a bit odd as they don't know anything about my child and most agencies seem quite selective,as the agency that replied to us previously required a CV,headshot,then a short monologue. Has anyone heard of this agency before, or is anyone represented by them, is this the norm for a child actor?? The agency is http://www.ckcasting.co.uk/

[pg]

My immediate reaction is no, sorry. Not if your daughter wants acting work. You need an agency that insists on seeing what she can do before signing her. They cannot possibly represent people properly if they don't know what they are like and will NOT be taken seriously by CDs that cast drama in my opinion.

Also, £40 might not seem like much but I bet that provides a much easier income for the agency than commission on earnings... Up front fees are illegal - you could perhaps mention that to them!

I am sure that you and your daughter can do better than this - the agency that suggested that she should come back to them when she has a bit more experience sounds a much better bet.

[Melaniec123]

Thank you so much,i said yes it may be great having an agent, but not if the agent is not going to represent you properly, think we are going to build up her experience and then try again with the other agency

[francescasmum]

I just looked at their website and whilst it looks very basic you can look at the children on the site and most of them have done quite a bit of work, I looked at the 9-12 age group )just because my dd falls into that catagory) and they have several children who have had lead roles in West End productions and several with film credits, most noticable Gavroch from Les Mis film.
Just a very funny way of getting new clients when those they have seem successful.

[pg]

Very true francescasmum. Perhaps I was too hasty in my reaction. Maybe you could go along to registration and see how you feel - I don't think I would bother, but that's because I think they are breaking obvious rules of good practice. I still think taking someone on without knowing what they can do is poor practice and an upfront fee is still an upfront fee - and you know how I feel about those

[francescasmum]

My reaction would have been the same pg based on what I had read of the experience of melaniec123 and their front page , but I'm a bit nosey and just had to look (possibly even compare ) and was actually quite astonished at the acomplishments of so many of their kids,- maybe I just hit on the most successful age group!

[Melaniec123]

Forgot about this post, just want to say thank you for the advice, we decided to give that agency a miss, and DD has now been represented by another agency that ticked all the boxes