How To Get Your Child Into Television, Movies & Commercials; How to Start a Career in Television Movies & Commercials

Concerned parent Melody Hutson turned down an offer for her pre-teen daughter to travel the country western concert circuit as an opening act for some of the industry's biggest names because that was "no kind of life for a child." Instead, she got her daughter meaningful work as a terrified moppet in the R-rated slasher flick Dolly Dearest. That, my friends, is Hollywood logic at its finest. How to Get Your Child Into Television, Movies & Commercials and How to Start a Career in Television, Movies & Commercials are a pair of similarly formatted basic guides to breaking into Tinseltown for adults and children presented by industry veteran Maria Pease (who, incidentally, directed Dolly Dearest). Hosted by Marr Nealon (Knot's Landing, Who's the Boss), both programs offer information on Hollywood necessities (car, apartment, answering service), getting the requisite "head" and/or "composite" shots, joining the relevant unions, becoming familiar with industry trade magazines (Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Video Librarian, etc.), the importance of professional acting classes, the differences between agents and managers, and common pitfalls to avoid. Although both programs interview agents, casting directors, and photographers, the focus of the interviews in the tape on child actors is, naturally, children. Helpful tips, concrete details (viewers will learn some of the price ranges involved for various services), and reasonably good video outweigh the drawbacks of occasional rough editing and interviews which tend to be too long. Better than either Information Hollywood (reviewed in our October 1991 issue) or How to Break Into Acting (reviewed in our November-December issue), both titles are recommended. (R. Pitman)