Does a child actor get paid for being 'on avail'?

Does a child actor get paid for being 'on avail'?

Gabrielle Schary (Casting Director) gives expert video advice on: What should a child actor wear to an audition?; Do parents accompany their child to the audition?; How should a child actor behave during an audition? and more...

No. You are not paid until you are booked. Professional courtesy dictates that if you give your avail, you honor that with a right of first refusal. For example, if I put little Jimmy Jones on avail for Hershey's Chocolate next Wednesday, but I don't think that I will be able to book him until tomorrow, or maybe the next morning, and he goes out and does another interview with another casting director, and they want to book him for next Thursday, say on Burger King, and he just goes ahead and takes it without giving us the courtesy first. "Hey, I have a Burger King role. Do you want me for Hershey's? Or, I'm going to take this Burger King." If he and his representation, his agent, his parents, don't give the casting director the right of the first refusal that they gave as an avail with their word, they won't be trusted the next time to be professional. If they were to call and say "Look, I need to know. I don't want to lose this other job", then it's the casting director's responsibility to either book him or let him go. You can't keep somebody from getting another job, but you just have to keep them in order.