If your child wants to be an actor

Parenting expert Robin Nassif's helpful advice for parents on what to do and how to help their children who wish to pursue a career in acting.
Advice for Parents with Children Pursuing Acting | Kids in the House
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If your child wants to be an actor

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If your child comes to you and says, "mom, I want to be an actor," I think what you need to do is find out if they've just been watching TV and want to be famous like one of the kids on TV, or if they really have to a desire to study acting and make it their passion. Once you've determined that it is their passion, I would find the best acting school that you can find in your neighborhood, get them involved in school plays, get them involved in community theater, and have them start taking classes. If you live in a greater metropolitan area, there are improv classes, there are scene study classes, there are cold reading classes. And you need to get the training so that when you have the opportunity presented to you, the kids will be ready and they'll know what they're doing. One resource that's become available to kids recently that are trying to be in the business is casting director workshops. This is an opportunity for kids to get in front of casting directors that are working casting directors that are doing projects ongoing. The casting directors teach the classes and they remember the kids so that hopefully they can bring them in to read for parts that they're casting. It's an incredible situation. You're killing two birds with one stone. You're learning from a casting director who's seen a million actors. And also you're getting in front of that casting director to be seen for parts they're casting in the future. The way a talent agent can help your child is they can point you in the direction of the casting director workshops you should be taking. They can find you a photographer that will shoot your child and find their personality, which is what you want a photograph. They can help you find the best acting class around. And just counsel you about your child at any given time. I don't encourage my parents to reach out to me every day. But if they want to reach out to me once a week with questions, my email door is always open.

Parenting expert Robin Nassif's helpful advice for parents on what to do and how to help their children who wish to pursue a career in acting.

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Robin Nassif

Youth Talent Agent

Robin Nassif started her career at Norman Lear's Tandem Productions, where she cast the series Facts of Life, One Day at a Time, Silver Spoons, and Square Pegs with her partner Marc Hirschfeld. In 1984 she became Manager of Casting at ABC. Some of the shows she supervised and helped cast in that position were Moonlighting, Wonder Years, Twin Peaks, Growing Pains and Full House. In 1988, Robin was promoted to Director of Casting. In the next eight years, she supervised over 150 pilots including Roseanne, Home Improvement, Boy Meets World, and Drew Carey. She set up many showcases for ABC executives to introduce them to the talent of Kevin James, Tim Allen, Ellen DeGeneres, Jon Stewart, Will Ferrell, Rosie O' Donnell, and Adam Sandler, among others.In 1996 Robin formed her own casting company, Nassif & Baca Casting. In the next 12 years, she and her partner Patrick Baca cast Halloween 8, L.A. Law: The Movie, Strip Mall pilot and series for Comedy Central, Stargate: Atlantis, and Alligator Point pilot for NBC. She also headed up reality casting for Columbia Pictures TV, placing the leads on many reality shows including Ripley's Believe It or Not.In 2009, she took a position heading up the Youth Division at Diverse Talent Group. She had 8 test option deals in her second pilot season, and placed series regulars on So Random, The Jada Grace Show and Clue, as well as many SAG features including Red State, Spiderman and Project X. Robin now heads up the Youth Division at Media Artists Group. She has 4 actors testing for series presently, and 5 actors as regulars or recurring on series. Many others are booking roles in SAG features, The Lost Medallion being the most recent.  

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