\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Welcome to magical, exciting yet sometimes frustrating<\/em> experience of PILOT SEASON<\/strong>. Whether you\u2019re traveling to Los Angeles for pilot season for the first time or the fifth time, auditioning via tape from the comfort of your own home or simply CURIOUS<\/em> about what this journey entails, my\u00a0top 10 tips for Pilot Season will\u00a0make the process more understandable and manageable. \u00a0Here we go\u2026BUCKLE UP!<\/p>\n 1) Come to Los Angeles for pilot season Prepared. <\/strong>Make sure you have everything set up in advance. You should have the following secured prior to your arrival:<\/p>\n 2) Don\u2019t bring your child actor out\u00a0to Los Angeles for pilot season expecting to book.<\/strong> \u00a0Realistically it takes at least 2 years just to get your feet wet and have casting directors familiar with you and your work. Establish yourself in your hometown market before you make the trek to L.A. \u00a0Make sure you child is on his or her A-game at home, booking those choice jobs in a smaller market before being\u00a0thrown into the huge, highly competitive Talent Pool in LA. \u00a0A week or two is simply not enough time. Sometimes callbacks don\u2019t come for a couple weeks and then\u00a0testing may not be for a couple weeks later. \u00a0Pilot Season is Generally Mid Jan to Mid April ending before Upfronts Presentations Mid May. Nickelodeon & Disney cast pilots YEAR ROUND as do some of the Cable Networks.<\/strong><\/p>\n 3) Know the FACTS about Pilot Season<\/strong>. \u00a0About 120 pilots are filmed for Pilot Season with Only five percent\u00a0getting the green light for Full Series Order<\/strong>. Most producers and networks want established names with a fan base because it increases their chance of being picked up. Of the shows that are made into full series,\u00a0most\u00a0don\u2019t stay on the air. \u00a0They are cancelled mid season, without even showing all the episodes, in hopes that Hulu will pick up and air the remainder. MANY shows recast lead roles after they shoot the Pilot or they often book a character as a \u201cGuest Star\u201d then when the show is picked up they recast.<\/p>\n Learning the art of a good self-tape is key for Pilot Season audition submissions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 4)\u00a0If you self-tape for auditions make sure your child\u2019s tapes are Professional Quality<\/strong>. \u00a0This means, tapes should have excellent lighting and sound and should be shot against a solid, light background. Do not have the attitude that if they get the callback THEN you will make a professional tape\u2026that won\u2019t work. Your child needs to be off book (have the lines memorized) and the reader needs to read softy with the eye line being the reader, not the camera. Learn how to compress and upload your tapes, as casting directors\u00a0will NOT open password protected accounts OR wait hours for downloads to open. If you are submitting tapes then you need to be ready to come to Los Angeles as soon as a Callback comes in, you may have little to no notice but to jump on a plane. \u00a0If you are not prepared to come for callbacks, DON\u2019T TAPE. \u00a0If you are self-taping you need to be prepared to pick up your own travel expenses for the callback unless it\u2019s a situation where it\u2019s a nation wide search and they are willing to relocate someone. Occasionally for kids networks ..very, very rarely for Network pilots.<\/p>\n 5) Your child needs to be VERY prepared for every audition<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait until the callback to get offbook, because if your child is not prepared that callback probably will not come. Casting Directors are not sympathetic to the fact that kids have homework, dance class, football or 5 other pilot auditions. They are taking the time to see your child so YOU need to take the time and effort to make sure your child is prepared for that opportunity.<\/p>\n 6) Be prepared for your child actor to have multiple auditions and\/or callbacks to occur in one day<\/strong>, and likely, not located anywhere near each other. Have the car packed with wardrobe, pictures, resumes, office supplies, snacks, WIFI for in car coaching and anything else you need to have your child ready for last minute and same-day auditions.<\/p>\n Few pilots will have as many roles for child actors as say, \u201cModern Family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 7) Be aware that not every pilot season is child actor friendly; this year could be very \u201ckid-light\u201d or very \u201ckid-heavy.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 There is no way of knowing in advance unless you are friends with A LOT of TV writers! \u00a0Some years writers favor one age group over another or some years there are\u00a0more roles for girls than for boys. Again we have no idea what to expect until we are in the thick of it.<\/p>\n 8) Don\u2019t participate in waiting room Gossip!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 9) When your child is ill, STAY HOME.<\/strong>\u00a0 No-one, including casting directors, your fellow actors and their Hollywood Moms, want your germs! \u00a0Be aware when your child ill, overwhelmed or just needs a break. If at any point the audition process becomes too much, you must LISTEN to your child. \u00a0Not all kids are cut out for such a rigorous, high stress, crazy competitive environment full of more rejections than celebrations. However when you commit to your agent that you and your child are going to do this and you start turning auditions\u00a0down it will make them question\u00a0why you are here. \u00a0After all, the whole point of pilot season is to be seen by as many Casting Directors as possible on as many projects as possible in hopes for the right fit. \u00a0Really give this decision a lot of fore thought and communicate with your child to make certain they are ready, not only with their acting chops but emotionally!<\/p>\n 10) Keep super organized, it\u2019s going to get hectic!<\/strong> \u00a0 Keep a log of all your child\u2019s auditions, wardrobe, sides with notes etc. Be honest with your team about which roles you are willing to accept in regards to questionable subject content as Pilot season can be VERY edgy. DON\u2019T go on audition then back out. Be open and honest from the get go!<\/p>\n And here\u2019s a bonus tip!<\/em><\/strong> STAY POSITIVE & SUPPORTIVE and remember, your child is working so hard! Don\u2019t ask your child as soon as they walk out of the audition room, \u201cHow did you do?<\/em>\u201d<\/i>\u00a0Instead, ask your child how she\u00a0feels<\/em> about her audition experience. \u00a0Don\u2019t count minutes or compare the amount of time spent\u00a0in the audition room with what others did or did not do. Why? It doesn\u2019t mean ANYTHING<\/em>. \u00a0One actor\u00a0could be in the room\u00a0for 20 minutes, doing the scene over and over and not get a callback, while \u00a0another actor may\u00a0walk in the room, not even complete his scene and have a callback before he gets out\u00a0to the car! \u00a0Don\u2019t be negative or overly critical. This should be a fun, memorable and enjoyable experience for your child; because after all, they are CHILDREN. Best of luck to all!<\/p>\n ABOUT<\/strong><\/p>\n Cheryl Faye<\/strong> with her then student, HMB kid and child star Merit Leighton<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Beloved Casting Director and Children\u2019s Acting Coach Cheryl Faye<\/a><\/strong> began her career in entertainment herself as a young teen. \u00a0She graduated to a career in casting on the Feature Film \u201cFatal Beauty,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>\u201cReservoir Dogs,\u201d \u201cNightmare on Elm Street,\u201d and\u00a0\u201cHeathers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Faye eventually became a highly sought after acting coach for professional child and teen actors in Los Angeles, and even directed multiple promos for Disney Junior on the Disney Channel. Sadly, our tight-knit HMB community lost Cheryl on September 9, 2018. She will live on in the hearts of this generation of child actors, forever.<\/p>\n Comments are closed.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Child Actors! These are your Top 10 Tips for Pilot Season Welcome to magical, exciting yet sometimes frustrating experience of PILOT SEASON. Whether you\u2019re traveling to Los Angeles for pilot season for the first time or the fifth time, auditioning via tape from the comfort of your own home or simply CURIOUS about what this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7072768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233557,164501,233558,233559,135570,233560,233561,210555,233562,233556,135572,233563,233564],"tags":[233565,13126,233566,233567,2301,233568,233569,233570,233571,1042,233572,1298,3535,213,233573,233574],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7072767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acting-coach-cheryl-faye","category-auditions","category-casting-director-cheryl-faye","category-cheryl-fayes-top-10-tips-for-pilot-season","category-child-actors","category-child-actors-pilot-season-auditions","category-child-stars","category-how-to-become-a-child-actor","category-how-to-handle-pilot-season-for-child-actors","category-pilot-season","category-the-buzz","category-top-10-tips-for-pilot-season","category-what-is-pilot-season","tag-acting-coach-cheryl-faye","tag-actors","tag-casting-director-cheryl-faye","tag-cheryl-fayes-top-10-tips-for-pilot-season","tag-child","tag-child-actors","tag-child-actors-pilot-season-auditions","tag-child-stars","tag-how-to-handle-pilot-season-for-child-actors","tag-pilot","tag-pilot-season","tag-season","tag-tips","tag-top","tag-top-10-tips-for-pilot-season","tag-what-is-pilot-season"],"yoast_head":"\nChild Actors! These are your Top 10 Tips for Pilot Season<\/h2>\n
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