Founder's Story - Unveiling the Truth: Kelleen Torres on Safeguarding Child Actors from Exploitative Talent Scouting | S2: E40

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

This is brought to you by BiOptimizers, whom I LOVE their MAGNESIUM BREAKTHROUGH product has helped me sleep better, stay focused, and feel all-around healthier.Check out their products at http://bioptimizers.com/danrobbins use promo code FOUNDERS for 10% off any order.Kelleen Torres, founder of California Kids Talent Connection, sheds light on the essential steps parents must take to safely navigate the entertainment industry for their children. With years of experience, Kelleen shares insights on avoiding scams where companies falsely promise stardom and exploit parents financially.Kelleen explains how California's Talent Scam Prevention Act aims to protect families, highlighting recent legal actions against fraudulent practices. She advises parents to rigorously research and question the legitimacy of auditions, treating them as serious job interviews. Ensuring a safe environment for child actors, she underscores the necessity of parental supervision on set, advocating for a vigilant, community-focused approach to protect young talents from potential abuse.Our Sponsors:* Check out PrizePicks and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: www.prizepicks.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hey everyone, welcome back to Founders Story. Today's going to be a very fascinating topic. I wanted to learn a ton about just because this industry fascinates me. So I wanted to bring in Kelly Torres. She's the founder of California Kids Talent Connection. We're going to dive into all the things that parents need to know about their kids in the entertainment industry. I'm sure there's a lot of ups and downs, Kelly, that you've seen along the years, but why did you want to get into this business? Well, initially,

the scam aspect. Parents thinking that their child's going to be a star overnight. That's not going to happen. Parents have been scammed from companies holding auditions and saying, oh, bring your child in and your kid comes in in the hopes that they're going to audition for a big network like Disney. And then they come back with a bait and switch and they say, oh, Timmy's great. You just need to give us a couple thousand dollars for headshots, for classes. And then they sell you showcases. And those are actually all against the law in California. And the public does not know that selling access to agents or managers or jobs is against the law in the state of California. So why do you think it's become so rampant and such a thing? One, unfortunately, it's easy. Parents that live vicariously through their children,

that's a big red flag. And that happens a lot. It's not just in entertainment, that's in sports as well. That's a fad that's never going to go away. Those are parents are very biased about their children, their child's the best, this and that, their child's talented. And scam artists feed off that. It's, it's unloving and cruel and a terrible thing, but it's not going to stop. Fortunately, California does have specific laws. They have a Talent Scam Prevention Act that prevents these things. If you haven't heard, Barbizon just got sued finally for fraud, promising things that they did not deliver any shape or form. And again, in trouble for selling

access to agents with their showcase. So if parents want to make sure that they don't fall into this trap, what do you suggest that they do? One is research is, you know, if you do see the word audition, what is the job? You got to remember, I always tell parents the word audition, unfortunately, only in the state of California legally needs to have a job attached to it. So ask what's this job for? If they don't tell you anything and they tell you our interview is free, all interviews are free. Who charges for interviews? Look at it like that. I'm always telling my parents that. Look at it like a regular job interview. If you don't have any information on it are you going to go you shouldn't go why are you going to waste your time and your

child's time i'm very curious on what happens to children when they go into the entertainment industry it seems like we've heard so many stories i'm sure there's tons of positive stories i think we always just hear negative things, right? Because it makes the news. So, you know, some of these child stars, and it seems like many of them have a tumultuous growing up or when they're an adult, they have a lot of things going on that might not be very positive. But what do you see? When you think about it, you think about every child that you went to school with growing

up. There's always a few that fall off everywhere, have addiction issues, have mental health issues. That's with every child. But these children are in the spotlight. That's what makes them different. Parents need to hold themselves accountable. And if you have a good parent, a good stage parent, your kid's going to come out fine. There are plenty of good stories with children, but you know, everybody likes a bad story.

Unfortunately, that's just the way that business works. With children in the entertainment industry in California, a parent has to be within sight and sound of their minor child when they're on set. So a parent's with them. It's these parents that trust and parents can get groomed as well. Parents can get groomed as well, just like children do, that they're going to have this adult figure that they think is a new family friend and then winds up abusing their child. So with going in there, you need to just have these open eyes and have that old mentality of a village. Watch out for everyone's child. Every child is your child. And a lot of parents get self-centered and they're not worried

about, pardon me, that other kid. That other kid is your kid. You see something, you say something. And a lot of stories that people hear, these happened a while ago. These happened like 20 years ago. Or when people bring up Shirley Temple, that's literally almost 100 years ago. Things have changed. There are so many strict laws even to hire a child to work. That production company has to have a permit for that. Even on small student films, you have to have a permit. You have to have a studio teacher on set, which acts like a welfare worker. A lot of parents don't know these things, that it is safe. You need to be with your child. Your kid could go play baseball by themselves. And you know how often you hear about abuse in sports. You're not there. Here in this industry, this is a business. This isn't just

fun hobby. This is a business. Your child is earning money. You need to be with your child. We don't have any, anybody tell me any other industry or, you know, Girl Scouts, nothing, nothing is like that. Nobody. But in the state of California, that is what the laws are. We will return to our show shortly. But first, let's talk about today's sponsor, Magnesium Breakthrough by BioOptimizers. Did you know four out of five Americans don't get enough magnesium? Crucial for over 300 biochemical reactions in your body. Here are signs of magnesium deficiency, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, muscle cramps, high blood pressure, and even constipation. I know I suffer from a few of these, but many supplements don't work well because they use

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Offering seven forms of absorbable magnesium, Now back to the show. That's biooptimizers.com backslash D-A-N-R-O-B-B-I-N-S for a special offer. And make sure you use the code FOUNDERS, F-O-U-N-D-E-R-S, FOUNDERS, and you get your 10% off. So check out biooptimizers.com to learn more. And back to the show. Well, it's great to know that there's been a lot of regulations, a lot of changes, a lot of things in place to help mitigate these issues, which is, I think, great news. And it seems like California is really taking the lead on this, and hopefully other states will as well. I'm curious about the money, the money piece. So as a child, in your experience, as a child's making money, obviously the parents need to

control that money. Do you think dynamics then change? Or have you seen, because I think we hear about these stories too, where a lot of these dynamics start to change once the child's making money, the parents then control the money. Yeah. So California, along with several other states, it's not federal, but there's different names for different states.

But California has a Cougan account. Uh, so that is basically a trust account that 15% of the child's earnings need to go into that account. They cannot touch it until the child is 18. Unfortunately, the parents do touch that money, but there's only a safeguard for that 15%. Parents are welcome to use the money for travel, hotel, uh, you know, for, uh, housing. They can, it's just don't touch it, but they do. Um, you know, but, but the children do have that 15%. By law, it is all the child's, but only that 15% is put away. And then parents also need to remember, you're not just with that money, that money's being put away for your trust account, but you're also going to have to give your commission to your agent, your manager.

Let's say you hire someone for public relations. These things are all and taxes. Children do pay taxes. Parents forget that. Yes, children pay taxes. So a large sum is taken out of the money. Got it. I think there's a lot of intricacies that go into this because like you said, this is a business and it's a big business, so it needs to be handled in the right way. Is there a place for parents to go where maybe they can network with each other and learn about these things? Oh yeah, absolutely. One, they come to me. I do help parents with that one. A lot of parents have, who should I go to for my taxes, things like that. What bank should they open this account?

How much do they have to have? I help parents with all of that. But when they get really stuck, I always help them, you know. It's a really good community, believe it or not. Parents are really good to one another when there's actually a couple of Facebook groups, you know, but I always tell my parents, please just deal with someone you know and trust because you got to have that shield of your own protections. Because again, just because your child's in the business and they're getting work doesn't mean that the scam artists aren't

going to still pop up around. They sure do. Let's talk about your program. I know you used to do it in person. I think that's what you had mentioned. And now that you can do it virtually and more people can access it from all around the world. Tell me more about it. Yeah. So now I have an online course. So I start with getting children started with their entertainment work permits, which they cannot audition for anything because that's a work permit, but it's different than your standard work permit. It's an entertainment work permit. So they're going to have to get clearance from their doctor. They're going to have to get clearance from the school. They gonna have to get clearance from the school they're gonna have their parents submit all these things these things take time

not very long usually about two weeks so i help them in that process um i get their state permit and if they're out of california i have them get the californ California permit and their state's permit. After they're approved, then they take my course, which is directed at parents, go over laws, rules, regulations, scams, and how to avoid them. And I also help them with if they even need an agent, because you could absolutely get work for your child without one. And then things like management, photographer, things like that. I helped parents with all of that in one place. Yeah, just thinking about it, I thought it was like you just do one or two things. I didn't realize there's so many components and pieces of the entertainment industry.

Very, very, very many. So I can imagine going at it by yourself can be very complicated. And if you make a mistake, it could be really detrimental, maybe money wise or for the future of your child. So you want to make sure that you're really following along and have someone like a resource. So if people want to find out more information, how can they do so? They can go to my website, send me an email, give me a call. You know, if they're already clients, I have, I have clients that already have children working obviously, but they hadn't been with me for a while, but I've never like said, Oh,

you know, I don't really have a specific timeframe. Pretty much you're my client once, you're my clients for forever. You know, so I have parents that have kids that are aging out and wondering what to do and, or they're on set and wondering how they could, you know, something with a contract, you know, should I talk to my agent? Should we do this? Should we do that? That's what I help parents with as well. And it's calkidstalent.com? Correct. All right. Well, Kelly, thank you so much for today. Very fascinating. I can't wait to learn more about this industry. It's very interesting to me. And I hope that you continue to make a positive impact into so many lives. So thank you

for all that you do because we are all here about impact at Founders Story. And thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you for tuning in to Founders Story. Keep exploring, keep dreaming, and join us next time for more inspiring entrepreneurial journeys.