We are super honored to hear from JB’s amazing parents, Jamie and Niccolla Brown. We asked Niccolla to share some of her best advice for parents of young actors. Here is what she has to say:
Hey Niccolla, thank you for taking the time to speak with us! What advice do you have for parents of new young actors just getting started? We would suggest that parents are ready for the number of auditions that might come in all at one time, and the financial responsibility that comes with that. We would also suggest doing your research and finding a good agent. That is practical advice! How did you find an agent for Javian? To find JB’s agent we interviewed with 5 – 7 representatives and included him in the interviews. We were looking for a good match with an agency that we could trust and would have JB’s best interest in mind. After the interviews, we did our online research and asked other people we knew in the business for their feedback about the agencies we were interested in. Luckily, we had a family friend whose daughter was with the agency we decided on. Is there any system, tool, or advice that you have found to be especially helpful? We find that using Google and the SAG-AFTRA websites to research things that we do not know to be very helpful and informative. We have also found the Actors Access site to be helpful in finding details about potential projects, and to upload auditions. That is awesome. What about rewards? Do you have any stories about JB experiencing a feeling of success? Yes. We have two experiences where JB’s acting talents were rewarding for both of us as parents, and him as an individual. The first has to do with his football coaches showing his first project (a commercial) to the entire football team. It was cool to see JB beaming knowing that his teammates were impressed. The other experience is the amount of money that he has earned in such a short time. We have allowed him to purchase a couple of things that he wanted, and it has been rewarding for us to see how prideful he is about earning his own keep. Tell us what makes it all worth it? Why do you keep going, even when things get hard? The fact that he loves doing it makes it all worth it and encourages us to keep going. |