Child Actors On Location

What happens if a role requires a child actor to go on location?

They will need to travel with a guardian. They need to bring their work permit, all their information, and their school books. They will go on location with production and travel with their guardian. It's the same thing as being at home but you're on location.

Do the parents have to travel with the child actor and stay on location?

Either a parent or the assigned guardian that the parent sends has to travel with the child actor. This can be a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a cousin or somebody that the parents have entrusted the child's welfare to. And that person will have to travel and house that child whilst away on employment. Production will typically pick up all travel related expenses as well as the guardian will be paid for their travel, their hotel, and their food.

How can a parent designate a guardian to accompany their child on location?

It could just be a letter. It could be a certified letter if it's not the parent going, that is the same thing you would give a person traveling with your child on a commercial carrier, " I designate this person to be the legal guardian of my child on this date", and you can have that certified or notarized.

Does the production provide chaperones for child actors?

An emancipated minor is someone over the age of 16 who is qualified to work as an adult where you don't have to have your parent come to set. That's typically kids who start working so much and have already been working so much that their parents trust them enough to know what's going on. They'll still have to have a social worker on set in most cases, and if the kids are young enough or the producer feels that it's important then they might have a chaperone there to keep an eye on them when they get wrapped, and if they're on location, who goes into town with the kid. You might have something like that, but that's a very specific situation.

What is an 'emancipated minor'?

Emancipated minor is a child over the age of 16 who has applied for and qualified for the right to work onset as an adult. For this, you need to have your parent's permission. You have to qualify from school, and maybe even graduated early. Children that typically work a lot, end up applying for that right because then they can work as an adult.