In this last-minute industry, communication is key! Sometimes, we will receive a brief at 2pm, for a great, well-paying, high-profile job in London – but the casting is being held the next day! Eek!

Everyday, we get a whole host of briefs, and if they are local, we tend to just submit children for the jobs – it would take us hours to check availability for them all! However, if the job is in London, or if the client/casting director have specifically asked that the children be available for certain casting/shoot dates, we will check availability to make sure that no one’s time is wasted.

Of course, this can be very time consuming! With so many great children on the books that could be perfect for a number of roles everyday, we have to have plans in place as to how we are going to do this effectively!

Texts

If we need to check availability for several children, very quickly, we will send a text with very basic details, asking for confirmed availability. The few details we do include are usually all we have been given at this stage, but hopefully they are enough to help you make a decision as to whether you will be able to make it if needed. This text does not equal a confirmed casting or job! This is usually the very first step before we even submit a child to a casting director when the job is in London.

We never send these texts to the entire agency, so if you do receive a text, please don’t ignore it, thinking it’s not for you – it will be!

We are usually on a very tight timeframe with these, so the quicker you can reply – the better! It is important that you put your child’s name at the end so we know who the ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ is in reference to, and if you have multiple children, you can reply for them all on one text.

We know how busy your days can be, so we find that for quick replies, texts are best! We usually require a reply within 30 minutes (maximum) of having sent the text out.

Email

We tend to use email when we have something longer to say or ask, or when we are confirming details for a casting or shoot. We like to be able to have these email threads in order to check details, especially if a different member of staff ends up picking it up – this way they can catch up on the previous correspondence and be up-to-date with what’s going on!

Emails are also a great way for you to send us any questions you may have, documents or updated photos. For example, if your child loses a tooth, it’s always good to have a few pictures showing this, so we can show casting directors if needed.

Phone Call

We make and receive a lot of phone calls everyday! From casting directors and photographers, to parents and people who want to come on to the books – the phone is always ringing!

When we want to tell you good news, such as confirmed castings or jobs, we will usually call you; in fact, it’s one of our favourite parts of the job! We will, of course send an email with the confirmed details for you afterwards but we love hearing the initial excitement.

Phone calls are often useful when checking information, availability for one or two children, or make arrangements for future jobs. We tend to show up on caller ID as Unknown Number, and most of the time, if we don’t get through, we will leave a message.

If we are trying to call you, it’s really important that we can get in touch. Of course, sometimes answering your phone just isn’t an option, so if you have a back-up number (Mum, Dad, Gran, etc) we always appreciate that! Be sure to check your voicemails often as we’ll usually only have a small window to confirm a casting.

Carrier Pigeon

It hasn’t ever gotten to this point, but it’s useful to keep our options open!

It’s important for two-way communication. For you to be able to get hold of us and for us to be able to get in touch with you. We need to know when you’re off on your holidays (but please don’t rub it in too much!) so we know not to submit your child for anything during that time. We need to know about growth spurts, brace fittings and radical changes of hairstyle. In turn, we will let you know when something super exciting comes up and is confirmed!