Pre-Production
The Comprehensive Guide to Child Actor Laws by State
History of Child Actor Laws
At a “roast” dinner for comedian W. C. Fields at the Masquer’s Club in Hollywood in 1939, the writer Leo Rosten said, “The only thing I can say about W. C. Fields is this, any man who hates dogs and babies can’t be all bad.” This joke, recounted in his book, The Power of Positive Nonsense, reflects an oft quoted quip from Fields to “never work with children or animals' presumably because they steal scenes. However, what is troublingly true about that time period is that the stealing off screen was happening to the child actors themselves.
Hollywood had many bankable child stars who lost fortunes in the 1930’s including Judy Garland, Shirley Temple and arguably its greatest child actor, Jackie Coogan. Coogan was discovered by silent film star Charlie Chaplin after a period of emotional and artistic turmoil for the comic genius. His wife had given birth to a boy with a structural birth defect who died. After a period of grief, his trauma gave way to a creative boom with an idea for his little tramp character becoming a surrogate father to an abandoned child. He found his perfect partner in 4-year-old Coogan. By chance, Chaplin had been watching a music hall performance featuring Coogan’s father who brought his precocious son onstage at the close of the show. Chaplin was charmed and a star was born.
The film, The Kid, was a huge success and Coogan became a world celebrity. He worked non-stop as a child actor and amassed a substantial fortune. However as a young adult he discovered that his mother and new step-father had mismanaged his earnings and he was left penniless. Under California law at the time, the earnings of the minor belonged solely to the parent.
As a result of the publicity of his situation, in 1939, a child labor law was put into effect, to protect future child entertainment performers. As it was inspired by his terrible situation, this legislation was called “The Coogan Law”.
Child Actor Laws
As a producer, knowing the labor standards that protect children in the industry is paramount when considering hiring a child actor for a production. The Coogan Law involves financial protections, but you also need to know the specific labor conditions put in place to protect a child’s well being and safety on set.
The first thing to do is define a child, which you might feel is self-evident. However when you think of a child actor, you may be thinking of someone very young, but generally in most states anyone under the age of eighteen is considered a child under the law and therefore subject to specific considerations. There are exceptions in child actor laws. For clarity, below is a handy table of child entertainment provisions by state provided by the US government.
Child Entertainment Provisions by State
Let’s break down the labor laws you’ll need to adhere to when working with a child actor.
As you can see from the chart above, they do vary per state somewhat, so it’s important to check the child entertainment provisions for the state you will be filming in for definitive rules and regulations.
Work Permit
Since Hollywood is the hub of the entertainment industry, we’ll use the Entertainment Permit to employ minors and the California minor actor work permit as an example. To be clear, the minor actor’s work permit is not the producer’s responsibility, it’s the parent or guardian’s, however you do need to confirm with the talent agencies representing the child actor that they do have a permit before hiring them for any production.
To obtain the Entertainment Permit to employ minors, here are the steps to register:
Complete the permit application online or register by mail or in person.
Proof of your worker’s compensation coverage - one of the following:
A valid workers’ compensation insurance certificate, which must include the complete and correct name of the legal entity that is the insured employer, including fictitious business names and the complete and correct address for each location
The permit will only be issued when a complete application, including a valid worker’s compensation insurance certificate, is received. A renewal application should be submitted 30 to 60 days prior to the expiration of your permit. There are no fees associated with this permit.
For the minor actor’s work permit, this is the information they will provide and you should confirm:
Name, address and age
School Record of attendance, academics and health
Statement and signature of parent or guardian (note that only one parent’s signature is required, but it’s a good idea to get both parents signature to avoid conflicts of interest)
Sexual Harassment Prevention Training requirement completed
Requirements for school age children (grades 1 - 12)
Public/ Private school, on-line and virtual academy: When school is IN session, the application must be completed and dated during the current school session by an authorized school official. When school is NOT in session (i.e., school break, vacations, holidays), either the minor’s recent report card or letter from the school principal on school letterhead indicating that the minor is “satisfactory” in all academic subjects, health and attendance is required.
Homeschool, on-line and virtual academy: If minor is homeschooled, the application must be completed by the parent/guardian and attached to either a current private school affidavit, or written verification indicating that the minor is “satisfactory” in all academic subjects, health and attendance from either the local school district, county office of education or state board of education where the minor lives.
Requirements for non-school age children (15 days through kindergarten).
Photocopy of one of the following:
Certified Birth Certificate
Baptismal Certificate
Official letter from hospital where born
Passport
Child Labor Laws
There are federal regulations regarding child labor that often defers to state law. California for example, has a child labor law pamphlet that specifically addresses entertainment industry child law. It addresses the following requirements:
Work hours while school is in session by age of performer.
Work hours while school is not in session by age of performer.
Concurrent requirements depending on age for parent / guardian present, studio teacher and nurse (if performer is 6 weeks to 6 months old).
No minor may be employed over 8 hours in a day or over 48 hours in a week. No exceptions.
Meal periods are not work time. Workdays extended up to one-half hour for a meal period. Meals must be within 6 hours of call time and/or previous meal period. Teachers may require an earlier meal period.
Travel between studio and location is work time. Up to 45 minutes travel from on-location, overnight lodging to work site is not generally considered work time. Travel between school or home and studio is not work time.
12 hours must elapse between dismissal and next day's call time. No exceptions.
Make-up in a minor's home by persons employed on the same project is work time, and may not begin before 8:30am. 12 hours must elapse between dismissal and the beginning of the next day's make-up / hairdressing.
Coogan Law
As mentioned earlier, California enacted financial protection of child actors' assets by requiring blocked trust accounts or Coogan accounts. At present, five states have trust account requirements: California, New York, Illinois, Louisiana and New Mexico.
What this means is that in these states, the parent will have to supply proof of a trust account prior to receiving a work permit. 15 percent of the minor’s gross wages are required to be withheld by the employer and deposited into the Coogan account within 15 days of employment. The parent must supply the Coogan account number to the employer.
Here are the regional details as provided by SAG-AFTRA:
California: Parents in CA are required to open a “Coogan” Account and it must be opened with a CA bank. A Coogan Account is a special blocked trust fund account found at a bank, credit union or brokerage firm.
New York: Parents in NY are required to open up an UTMA or UGMA compliant trust account. This account is similar to the “Coogan,” but does not differ regarding rules of withdrawal. The account may be opened with any bank, in any state, as long as it meets UTMA or UGMA requirements.
Illinois: Parents of children working in IL are required to open a Blocked Trust Account with any bank, in any state. A trust account must provide, at a minimum, that at least 15% of the gross earnings of the child performer shall be deposited into the account. This does not apply to Background Performers. Please visit the Illinois General Assembly's website here for more information.
Louisiana and New Mexico: Parents in LA are required to open a Blocked Trust Account with any bank, in any state. Parents in New Mexico are required to open a blocked trust account only if their child earns more than $1000 per each employment contract.
Checklist for Hiring a Child Actor
We just hit you with a ton of information and it might be overwhelming to absorb! Bottom line is federal regulations often defer to state law, so the first thing you should do is go to the state website in which you are filming. Kids casting has a wonderful list of relevant websites per state with local child labor laws and permits needed.
Here are suggestions from child advocates Bizparentz foundation of what to address in pre-production when it comes to hiring child actors:
Determine which state laws you are working under. It may be more than one. For example if you are casting out of California, but you are filming in New Mexico.
Determine the appropriate union. Child actors must join unions too and if your production is signatory to SAG-AFTRA, you must follow the rest of SAG-AFTRA’s rates and regulations when it comes to employment.
Determine how old the child you need really is, not how old the character is. Both laws and union regulations vary by age. Many producers find that they can save significant time and money by hiring children that are slightly older, buying them another hour or two of shooting time each day, or avoiding the required three hours of school time by using an actor who qualifies as 18 To Play Younger or “18TPY”.
Plan to get the appropriate permits. In some states, the child work permit and the employer permit are BOTH obtained from the Department of Labor by the employer. These things take time. Do not wait until the day before the child arrives on set to handle it.
Do not cast based on social media and do not expect children to promote your film on their social media accounts. Kids are not even legally allowed to be on social media until age 13 (COPPA LAWS).
Decide who else you need to hire. In California, you may need a uniquely state-licensed studio teacher / welfare worker, but in New York it could only be a wrangler (different qualifications). In some states, a parent is acceptable, but you will need to budget for per diem and travel for them.
Plan to keep kids safe, no matter how inconvenient. For example, a parent should ALWAYS be within sight and sound of their child. Yes, it is an additional warm body on set, but if space is a problem you will need to find a tech answer, such as a live stream nearby. Another non-negotiable? Work hours. Do not exceed work hours for children. These things will protect your insurance and your liability.
Be aware that the child’s money is protected and check with your payroll company. In most states, and in union projects, a trust account is required for child actors. Notify your AD and your payroll company that there is a child working on set and that there will be a trust account deposit. Your payroll company likely has procedures specific to Coogan.
Double check the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Bulletins - several are specific to child actors. These are agreed upon safety industry norms in the motion picture industry for physical safety. If you have an on-set accident, or were to get sued later, there is no doubt these bulletins would be brought into evidence. They cover things like working with animals, stunts, vehicles, weapons, excessive heat and cold and more.
Hiring the Child Actor Wrap Up
Working with child actors comes down to two things really; safety and security. Do your due diligence in pre-production, get all the permits needed and adhere to all that the law requires related to work hours, guardianship, safety and financial stewardship and your production should run as smoothly as child’s play.
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