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WORK PERMIT INFORMATION

The work permit is a necessity, as children cannot work without it. Please get it as soon as possible as I would like to be able to send you directly to a job. They will not allow you on the set without one. Notify your agency as soon as you get it for your children and then send your agency a copy of it. Please do not send the original. You need it when you go to the set. Work permits must be renewed every 6 months. You need to send copies of each work permit you receive.

You need to take a birth certificate with you or something from the hospital stating that the child was born for children under school age.

For children over school age you need to send a copy of their report card during the summer months or get the school to sign the application during school term. It can not be dated over a month old when you send it in. All school age children must have a C or above to be able to get a permit.

Please be aware that this information can change  without our knowledge. REFER TO LABOR DEPARTMENT LINK BELOW AND PLEASE GET THE FRESH FACTS FROM THE LABOR DEPARTMENT:)

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=labor+department+los+angeles&fb=1&gl=us&hq=labor+department&hnear=0x80c2c75ddc27da13:0xe22fdf6f254608f4,Los+Angeles,+CA&cid=5065899742083961301

The rules above are in force to protect the child from abusive work situations. Because of these rules, they usually hire more than one baby for a principle role. These babies, therefore, are hired normally as extras to upgrade to principle on a commercial shoot. Please look at the booking as a paid call back. We do not know which of the babies are in the commercial until we see the actual commercial. They will normally only hire identical or look alike multiples for theatrical shoots.

               GETTING THE JOB

YOU MUST TAKE the following to the set with you:

1. Diaper bag for each child that still needs one, 

2. A work permit (they will send you home with out it), Coogan trust account information, copy of birth certificate, and Social Security card.

3. Toys, food, changes of clothes, homework for each day they are to work . 

4. The production company will provide breakfast, lunch, and/or Dinner for you, if you are working on location, but they do not have to, if you are working at a studio.  There will be snack tables available at all times for between meal needs.  

5. A school age child must get the school work he/SHE will be missing, while on the job, from his/HER teacher, so that the set teacher can help him/HER with it. 

6. Bring something for you to do, as there is a lot of waiting around, and please do not complain about waiting. They are paying your child and you thru the child's wages.  ( knitting, books, school work, etc)

7. If you want to take pictures on the set, please get permission from the set teacher or Assistant Director

8. To obtain a copy of the commercial or print job, You must ask the teacher on the set to tell you who the person on the set is that you need to talk to in order for you need to get a copy of the commercial or a tear sheet of the print job.  You must get this information before you leave the set.  Generally, it will be too late after you leave the set.  

9. Get a copy of the contract and sign in sheet for your records.  
   

10. "BE NICE"

11. THERE MUST BE ONE PERSON ,WHO IS OVER 18, TO GO WITH EACH CHILD   IT IS A MUST.  NO YOUNGER SIBLINGS MAY GO.  IF THE ADULT IS NOT THE CHILD'S GUARDIAN YOU MUST WRITE A LETTER STATING THAT THE ADULT GOING WITH YOUR CHILD IS YOUR CHILD'S  GUARDIAN FOR THE DAY.  

Trust accounts are a must.  A minor’s legal guardian must start a Trust account for the minor before he/SHE will be allowed to work.  These New laws are going to be in forced, starting January 2000 and you must have a trust account started with proof of the account to take to the set (ONE COOGRAN ACCOUNT PER CHILD:).  This is a new law so agents, casting directors, managers, and production must try to conform to the law.  Some confusion might arise as to what you must take with you to the set to prove you have a trust account open. The producers are saying that you must have the information mentioned below with you at the time you go to the set. 

some the information that was given to us for your reference: (Please use it as a guide line) 

1)  Section 6752 of the Family Code states that the child’s parent or legal guardian must put up a minimum of 15% of the gross earnings of the minor in a Trust account or other savings plan, until the minor is legally 18 years old or is emancipated.

2) The parent or legal Guardian must show proof of guardianship, by presenting a birth certificate or a legal document from the courts granting permanent guardianship.  They will then be considered the trustees of the account.

3)  The 15% will be deposited directly from the employer within 15 business days into the minor’s trust account.

4)   The 15% can be changed upon petition to the courts by amending the order.

5)   You must provide the minor’s employer with a true and accurate photocopy of the trustee’s statement of the trust account, at the time of the job.

6)   The trust can be established at a bank, savings and loan institution, credit union, brokerage firm, or company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.  The trust must be established with in 7 business days of the contract being signed.

7)   No withdrawal may be made until the minor is 18 years old.  You then must present a birth certificate to the institution to prove age.

8)  The trustee shall provide, within 10 business days after the minor’s contract is signed, a written statement showing the following: name, address, and telephone number of the financial institution, the name of the account, the number on the account, the name of the minor beneficiary, the name of the trustee or trustee of the account, and any additional information needed by the minor’s employer to deposit into the account the portion of the minor’s gross earnings. 

9)  The trustee shall attach to the written statement a true and accurate photocopy of any information received from the financial institution confirming the creation of the account, such as an account agreement, account terms, passbook, or other similar writings.

10) If the trust is established in the US. It must be in a financial institution that is insured by one of the following:  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), or the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) or their respective successors, or with a company that is and remains registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. 

11)The trustee may transfer funds between accounts or another savings plan at the same financial institution or company, provided that the funds transferred shall continue to be held in trust.

12) The trustee may transfer funds to another financial institution or company as long as the companies or institutions abide by the same guidelines as above.

13) The trustee may use all or a part of the funds to purchase investment funds offered by a company registered under the investment Company Act of 1940, provided that they are equity securities,  the investment fund is a broad-based index fund or invests broadly across the domestic or a foreign regional economy, is not a sector fund, and has assets under management of at least two hundred fifty million dollars: or government securities and bonds, certificates of deposit, money market instruments, money market accounts, or mutual funds investing solely in those government securities and bonds, certificates that have a maturity date on or before the date upon which the minor turns 18 years old. Any proceeds accruing must be re-deposited into that account or used to purchase more similar securities, bonds, etc. that abide by the above-mentioned guidelines.

14)  Some banks and investment firms that are doing the trust accounts:

a)      Pain Webber

b)      Morgan Stanley

c)      Dean Witter

d)      Wells Fargo  (WFI account)( $1 initial investment required and no fees or minimum needed)

e)      City National ( requires $100 to open and a minimum of $1000.00 in the account in order not to have a service charge of $9 quarterly)