Hi, I wanted to share my story with all of you. My daughter Victoria was scouted in Az by Amsel,Eisenstadt and Frazier, as well as Jimmy Villareal(friend and represents Mario Lopez) She was asked to come to LA and meet with them. Yeah!! We were ao excited so off to Ca we went. Victoria was then introduced by Jimmy to her former Manager(out of respect i will leave his name private). He aske us can you move to CA asap we said sure we can. So in the coming weeks we went back and forth from agencies to photoshoots ect. Bobbyball,ACME,Corsa, and a couple others were interested in signing her. We were so excited !! Her manager wanted us to go with ACME and TAG models. So we met for a second time with ACME and TAG and they said as soon as you have a residence out here we will sign the contract with you. We went to Az and packed our bags just as we were going to move we had a family illness come up. We kept in contact with her manager to let him know what was going on. He said no problem take care of your illness then come out. Then the writers strike happened and her manager said no rush work is slow right now. Then the fires happened in areas we were looking to move. Then one day we get a phone call saying that her manager got into some issues and is no longer able to represent any of his clients good luck to you.My husband and i went from this huge high to a complete hault. What do we do now? We were so frustrated. We had to now start completely over. Victoria who is only 9 reminded us of all the things we told her could happen in this business. "Never give up, You may not always get every role,agent or manager but you just keep trying." I guess our kids really do listen to us sometimes. We decided to act on our own advice and she now has and agent here in Az and was cast in a Lionsgate film. As soon as we can we will be back in Ca as well. As Victoria reminded us "If it can happen once it can happen again." She is right. Victoria has dreams of not only acting and modeling but to become a firefighter someday as well and thats so great! My reason for writing this post is not to name drop its to hopefully share my experience with others that may have gone through things in this business as well. Its a rollercoaster ride sometimes. Please dont give up out of frustration it can happen. Please take some time out to enjoy life just as it is right now and know how lucky you all are right in this moment. Its ok to get frustrated in my opinion just as long as its short lived and you learn from it and move on. I am not a professional just a parent with an experience to share. I want to thank all of the parents and industry pros who have helped me with all my questions in the past. I wanted to try and share my story in the hopes it will help someone else through what can sometimes be hard(showbusiness).There are so many talented kids out there just take a deep breath and dont give up. Please know you are not alone in this journey we are all here to help eachother. Good Luck to each of you!

Thanks Melissa Cosner

Thanks for your story, sorry for the emotional rollercoaster you're on! I am curious though, if ACME and TAG said they would sign a contract with you I am confused as to why having a manager or not having a manager would stop them from signing your child. I am not a pro either, but I don't believe you need a manager to sign a contract with an agency. Maybe I just misunderstood your story, but GOOD LUCK HANG IN THERE!

You are correct you do not need a manager to sign with an agency. ACME and TAG want us to live in CA before signing a contract. Before the family situation came up we were able to do that. We are still planning on moving to CA just not as soon as we planned. Sorry if i confused you with my story. I just want to show people that anything can happen at anytime but we never gave up and we hope that no one else gives up out of frustration. Victoria had a manager first and he had a good relationship with some of these agencies(especially ACME ) so he is the one who got us all our appointments with agents. Now we are on our own to do it ourselves. Thats ok though, we are learning so much from all this. I hope i cleared some things up for you. All this happened over the course of a year (AUG 2007). That is why we decided to get an agent in AZ for now and when the time is right we will work on looking for an agent in CA. We are able to commute to CA and AZ so if we happen to find an agent in CA willing to work with us until we are able to move that would be great. There is nothing like a positive attitude to get you through things. I dont think i have ever met a nicer group of people as i have on CIF. Everyone is very helpful. Thank you for your kind words. Your son is adorable! Good luck to you as well.

Melissa Cosner

Melissa Cosner

Well I hope it all works out for you, as long as your child is having fun and you are supsupportive that is all that matters!

Best of luck.

 Hi! Melissa

Thanks for sharing. I am indeed one of those frustrated parents you had mentioned in your heading. I am so sorry for all that you and your family have gone through. It is amazing the lessons our children can teach us. I know from my daughter who has an absolutely wonderful attitude is that if it is meant to be, it will be. As she often says"if it is God's will, it will happen". Talk about getting a 2x4 smacked between my 2 eyes. I think the bible says"out of the mouth of babes", meaning we can even learn from our children. I am quite fortunate that Dominique handles rejection VERY well, far greater than her mother that is for sure!!

I think that as parents where we get so frustrated is in the fact that we know just how hard our kids have worked on taking classes, memorizing their lines, and giving their very best, that as parents we just would like them to be rewarded for their efforts. We were told right from the very beginning by our local agent that if you are a person who does not handle rejection very well, than this business is not for you. Well... it is not my daughter who needs to work on this but ME!

I wish your beautiful daughter absolute success!! God's blessings to the entire family!

Gayle 

First let me say your daughter is not only beautiful but sounds like she has a solid head on her shoulders. Thats great for this business. I want to say thank you for your kind words about my situation, However, I just want to add for everyone that my story was not meant to be a poor me story. The reason I used actual names of people and agencies is to show everyone that even with some of the most reputable names in the business things can happen in a way that you never expected. With every turn we learn from our experiences. I feel that the more we share our stories with others the more we can help eachother out through this sometimes wild journey.

Thank you again

Melissa Cosner

Thank you so much Melissa for sharing your story.  I think it is so important for other parents to know that they are not alone in their ups and downs.  To all of you who have contributed to this thread, it is so refreshing and wonderful to hear that your children have such great heads on their shoulders and such a realistic outlook of the business!    

 Best of luck to all of you!

 Wow!  This is such a great thread. Thank you all for sharing your amazing stories and your positive attitudes.  There is a really great book written by the late Dawn Steel "They Can Kill You But They Can't Eat You".  It's about the first woman to run a major motion picture studio (Paramount).  The book is full of some really great nuggets of wisdom that hold true for anyone working in entertainment (actor or executive).  One of my favorites she got from her friend Jeffrey Katzenberg and it goes like this

"The Theory of Getting Things Done"

"If they throw you out of the front door you go in the back door, and if they throw you out of the back door you go in the window, and if they throw you out of the window you go in the basement.  And you don't EVER take it personally."

The point is:  Keep trying and don't ever give up!  This winning attitude seems to be clearly reflected by the members who are posting in the CIF Forum.  You have to be willing to take risks, make mistakes and face rejection as you move forward toward accomplishment.  You can all count yourselves as "Working" families, because this truly is the work.   

One more nugget:

"If you're in a small pond, find a bigger connection.  Hook up to a large pond, one way or another." 

If you have time, pick up the book, it's a good read. 

Best Wishes and Good Luck to you all!

Toni Casala 

Hi, its me again. I just wanted to share how impressed i was with the littlereddoorkids.com Website! I was reading through the forum and found  some replies from the industry pros at little red door entertainment. They have some great tips and inspiring messages for kids and parents in this business. They are in CA I am in AZ, since i am unable to be out there at this time being able to read some valuable information on their site was great! I would reccomend if you have some time to check it out. They seem to offer great classes with experienced instructors if you happen to live in CA. Thanks Little Red Door Entertainment for alowing those of us that can not be there to get some great tips about this business. Also let me add thanks to all the wonderful responses from parents and industry pros. You are so right, i know i feel better hearing other peoples stories so i dont feel so alone in this, and the book i will have to look for it thanks for the info!!!

Melissa Cosner