NotaPushyMum.Com

My daughter was "invited" to audition for the above agency on Saturday 18th Feb and was told that she had been selected from 700 applicants - I'm very sceptical about that but nevertheless it is her dream so we booked tickets and went along.

At the audition we were told that we would find out by Tuesday (today) if she was successful and that they would choose approx. 12 successful people.

Ive just received an email to say that she got in - she is going to be over the moon when I tell her but I dont know if this is all just one big con - I would be very interested to find out if there are just 12 kids selected or do they get everyone on their books. I dont want to stand in the way of her dream but we live in Northumberland so its not exactly easy or cheap for us to get down to London for any casting which may happen to come along.

Any opinions, information would be great thanks - as you can tell this is all very new to us

Worth doing a search for Acting Kidz on facebook (try Acting Kidz audition as well).

Also have a search on here. They are ridiculously expensive imo. My DD is auditioning for an agency soon that is pretty selective and they only charge for Spotlight and headshots. Acting Kidz don't even mention the standard £98/ year Spotlight fee.

I've been doing a fair bit of agency research in the last 6 months and worth checking the difference in what is posted on social media by different agencies. You can quickly spot the ones that are consistently getting a decent range of children cast in a wide variety of things (theatre, film, tv, tvc etc). Not all agencies post about child clients - some it's a very much behind closed doors, which is totally fine. But... if an agency does put children on social media then it should show a degree of success... AK doesn't seem to have had any children auditioning for the West End shows in the last 12 months.

Most agencies will expect you to go to castings, and turning auditions down will not make you popular - the majority make their money via commission in your earnings. Casting Directors are not happy when children they have selected don't show up, agencies can only submit so many kids and so it's probably not worth being on their books if you are not up for the often last minute slog to auditions.

Good luck with your decision but think carefully!

A lot of reputable agencies DONT make you pay for headshots only Spotlight. This is quite a grey area. We are with a fabulous agency who charge nothing apart from the yearly spotlight fee, yet there is a big agency charging for everything including admin fees which in my mind is a no no especially as my Agency gets the same breakdowns as every other agency. I have been with an Agency that charges for headshots etc and the photographer was crap and expensive ( it was with a big reputable Agency) and I get my sons headshots done now for half the price by a fabulous guy who I have picked.