Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Re: Child Stars in Hollywood

5 minutes an hour is the rule for filming. That is why they use twins or triplets.

Re: Child Stars in Hollywood

There are numerous protections for minor performers, some of which were passed by legislation, others of which were established by the various guilds and unions. For instance, there are limits upon how many hours a minor can perform in a day, requirements that they receive on-set education to replace schooling they miss, provisions that portions of their compensation be held in trust for when they reach maturity, requirements that they not be requested to perform certain dangerous or explicit activities, the list is endless.

Like other child labor codes, the rules are there to prevent children from being exploited, or being taken advantage of. Most of the rules came about as a response to some previous egregious action. For instance, the industry is replete with anecdotes of child stars growing up only to find that every dime they made was frittered away by unscrupulous managers, advisors and sometimes even their own parents. In response the Legislature enacted a law stating that a portion of the child's earnings must be put away in a special trust fund that NOBODY (including the child) can touch until the actor reaches a certain age.

Generally, society seeks to "protect" children. The Child Labor codes prevent children under 14 from working in just about evey other industry. We want to make sure that children's education and proper rearing is not compromised for other's financial gain. The legislature , howwever, recognized that it would be impossible to make films that didn't involve children under the age of 14 from time to time. Thus we have reached a compromise. Children are allowed to work in the industry, but their working conditions are highly regulated and closely monitored.

Re: Child Stars in Hollywood

I've dealt with the trust accounts before, and know there's legislation and union rules to protect minors from labor and financial abuses, but I couldn't tell you much more than that. A good place to start, if you want to research this, is West's California Annotated Code, which should be in a local law school's library, or perhaps a federal courthouse law library. The annotated code will guide you to the California provisions regarding the trusts and will give you the legislative history behind the codes, along with other articles/cases dealing with the issue.

My limited experience with them has made me realize the trust accounts are a good thing, because without them, the family could spend most or all the earnings and the child actor wouldn't find out until he/she turns 18.