How long has Bizzykidz been established?

Bizzykidz began in 1996 and has since grown to become one of the largest and most successful child agencies in the UK.  Our commitment to our children, parents and the industry, coupled with friendliness and professionalism, has helped us develop a reputation as being one of the most efficient agencies in business – as quoted by many of our parents and clients.

Bizzykidz (a part of Bizzy Agencies LTD) is registered with Companies House and is also a VAT registered company. Bizzykidz are also a Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) regulated Agency.

How do I know if an agency is reputable?

The length of time an agency has been in operation would normally indicate how good the company is, however, there are many other ways to find out if they are reputable, or not.

The first thing you should do is speak to the agency directly. If they are not willing to answer your queries, then an agency that does not have time to speak to you should be avoided.

The majority of clients request a model book from agencies, so an agency that does not produce one of these will normally be restricted in the amount of work they obtain for their children.

A fully established agency would not advertise to potential applicants in newspapers, or by any other means. They would never hold ‘seminars’ in hotels, nor would they offer a service of obtaining so-called ‘contracts’ with ‘leading agencies’ once you have joined. Any agency that offers these services to applicants should be avoided at all cost.

If an agency is obtaining work for their children, then the client would be using them, it’s as simple as that. Leading child Casting Directors (a list of these can be found under casting directors on www.castweb.co.uk) use only good agencies and would know if the agency you are querying is reputable. If they have never heard of them, the chances are that no one else has!

Bizzykidz have secured countless assignments over the years for many of their children, including Vodafone, BT, McDonalds etc. If a parent were to call one of these clients, however, and ask if they have used Bizzykidz, or know of them, they would most likely say no. This would be due to a Casting Director being the person that actively seeks the children from an agency by holding auditions, on behalf of the ultimate client. It is therefore not recommended that a parent calls a client for recommendation, but a Casting Director instead.  Bizzykidz do, however, secure many assignments every day, which come directly from the client and not via a third party. (including The White Company, Hackett, John Richmond, Radio Times Etc)

Every question that we have been asked by a parent is covered on our website. Should you have any further queries, please call us and we will be happy to address your query.

Does Bizzykidz accept everyone that applies to join?

Is there a fee to join Bizzykidz?

Bizzykidz do not charge a yearly fee to represent a child. Upon joining, there is a large amount of work involved in setting a child up with the agency and that work is carried out by an independent company that charges for this service. The work includes the design and inclusion of the child’s on-line portfolio, together with design/print/distribution of all model cards and header sheets for that child.  Parents are expected to meet these costs themselves, which is explained below in full detail.

Bizzykidz do not charge to be ‘represented’ by the agency. The small fee applicable is therefore a set-up cost and is not a joining fee.

Bizzykidz earn 20% commission on a child’s earnings that are secured through the agency.

Are there any further costs to be expected once I have joined Bizzykidz?

No. Bizzykidz do not charge yearly fees for administration, or any other service. Inclusion in our model book is also offered without charge, subject to the agency being supplied with suitable professional photographs.

What do I have to do once I have joined the agency?

Following assessment, if a child is accepted, the parent will receive a letter of acceptance from the agency'. Following a child actually joining the agency, the parent will receive a letter which includes full instructions on how to access our secure website (using their unique password) and subsequently view their child’s portfolio, full details concerning what happens next and full licensing documentation. This letter requests a copy of the child’s birth certificate, the parents' signature on a licence application form (supplied by the Council) a declaration of good health for the child and a school approval letter (if applicable). Please note that this is a legal requirement expected of ALL agencies in the UK and no child can be submitted for work without the agency having these documents on file. The letter we send parents after joining is extremely straight forward and easy to follow.

Once the child is then fully established with the agency, the parent then only needs to keep the agency informed of new height measurements, supply us with new photographs when necessary and inform us of any other changes and unavailability dates thoughout the year.

UPDATES

Babies 0-12mths should be updated monthly
Babies 1-3 years should be updated every 2-3 months
3-17 yr olds should be updated every 3-6 months
Parents should also check a child’s height against our website details periodically inside of these guidelines, to ensure that they have not grown considerably since their last update, as we need our database to be accurate when sending children to clients (THIS IS CRUCIAL/IMPERATIVE).

There is nothing more a parent need do, other then ensure they keep their mobile phone switched on at all times and put the answer-phone on at home when they are out. A child’s booker must be able to reach a parent at all times.

Do Bizzykidz charge assessment fees?

Bizzykidz are approved by and regulated by the DTI and do not have a policy of charging a fee for assessing a child.

As the majority of our work involves ‘normal’ children, we need all types of children to offer our clients. The child’s location, age and other criteria, in comparison with the other children on our books and the clients demand, are what are mostly considered when a child applies. If a child is accepted based upon these important criteria, they will be invited for a free assessment shortly after joining, where our bookers can then assess the child’s suitability for either TV or modelling work, or indeed both. Some children can be extremely outgoing and fantastic candidates for TV work, but not comfortable in front of a still camera, whilst others are extremely photogenic and love the camera but may be rather intimidated in a TV environment. Throughout the time that the child is with the agency, we do all we can to develop a child, with the aim of them becoming suited to both sides of the industry.

Although we do not charge for our assessments when carried out for those that are with the agency, it should be understood that, as we receive many applications a week, we do charge a fee if a parent wishes to be interviewed prior to acceptance. The agency need to allocate a member of its staff to this duty and we therefore cannot do this free of charge, especially as we decline many applicants and on a daily basis. We therefore do offer this service, if requested, with a charge of £25 being applicable. This fee must be paid in advance to the agency (either by credit card over the phone for immediate appointments, cheque in the post - allowing 7 days for clearance before appointment date, or cash on the day). At your appointment you will be shown evidence of work, be able to view our offices, meet the staff members and we will take a photograph in support of your application. Your child will then be assessed by our Intakes Dept, who will write to you within 7 days from your appointment with a result.

How do I supply photographs to Bizzykidz for the Look Book and how much will it cost?

There is no fee charged for any child to appear in our Look Book, it is however, a professional book, so can only include professionally taken photographs of the children.

Bizzykidz are not a photographic company, but due to popular demand, we have made arrangements with a local studio who arrange sittings for those registered with the agency at half their normal rate. This is not compulsory, however, you have one of four options available to you
1) Supply your own professional photographs to the agency (please note there is an £18 production fee if using your own photographs from another studio, as our production department will need to edit them to make them suitable and the same as the other photo's in the book)
2) Attend the next available sitting with our recommended studio (for which you will be sent an invitation to just after joining)
3) Choose to not go in the Look Book at all and only be viewed in our on-line directory.

Our staff always attend the shoot, where we meet the children/parents and carry out our detailed assessments. The fee (currently £65) is payable to the studio on the day and Bizzykidz staff always attend to answer any queries and to meet the children. (for babies, it is advisable to wait until your child is at least over 10 months, as they are constantly changing and may prove expensive for the parent)

Is it illegal for agencies to charge upfront fees?

This is a subject which has been widely misquoted in internet chatrooms and other so-called sources of information for many years.

An agency not charging upfront fees is relevant to adult agencies and not to child agencies. A child agency needs to promote a child and advertise their models to its clients. Most, like Bizzykidz, will have an on-line directory, whilst all agencies need to create header sheets on demand for their clients and also provide model cards for their children. Bizzykidz would not charge for these services if they were done in-house, however, they are not, so we merely charge the parent the fee which we ourselves are charged. That fee is currently £120 for set up, then there will be no further payment to the agency up until the child reaches 17 years of age.

What type of work should the children with Bizzykidz expect?

Roughly 60% of our work is commercial / TV, with the remainder being photographic modelling. We receive anything up to 20 queries a day from clients and subsequently submit a minimum of 20-30 children out for audition every day. We have contracts with clients and also have long standing working relationships with Production Companies, Advertising Agencies, Casting Directors and Photographers from all over the UK. For a list of our clients please see our ‘client list’ link on the home page

Can an agency guarantee work?

Any agency that guarantees work to any of its models should be avoided. An agencies duty to its clients is to create a full and varied portfolio of up-to-date models, then to advertise the agency (therefore its models) adequately to the industry. Bizzykidz currently advertise in almost every directory that is used by clients when seeking a model agency.

No agency can know what particular assignment is going to arrive on their desk from one day to the next, so needs to ensure that they can supply whatever the client is asking for, hence the reason to produce a full portfolio upon demand. If a client asks for a selection of 6 month old babies, then, naturally, teenagers could not be considered for submission, and vice versa. The client therefore makes the decision as to what they are looking for and not the agency. Likewise, once the agency has submitted a selection of children to the client, the choice as to which of those children are actually selected is down to the client and not the agency. This is why no agency can guarantee work to any child that it represents. A reputable agency will only accept a child if they feel that the child would be a valuable asset to their portfolio, but should not be blamed if the client does not confirm them whilst with the agency.

How do Bizzykidz promote my child?

BIZZYKIDZ ONLINE DIRECTORY Bizzykidz Agency are fully computerised and equipped to present our children by way of both model cards/brochures and also by way of our website and in our Look Book. This way your child's details can be updated as and when necessary throughout the year on our website, so keeping the client informed of their progress and thus avoiding any unnecessary commercial castings for children that have changed somewhat since the Look Book first went to print. Due to technology, clients are increasingly using the Internet for up-to-date measurement details when searching for children. This technology enables us to access a far greater volume of client for your child, both nationally and internationally. Please note that we exercise the strictest of security measures when taking bookings for children through our website and that generally the site is used as an up-to-date reference for our already established clients. We do not display any details on our website, other than age, height, hair colour, eye colour, skin colour and name. Our child portfolio is also protected by a secure access. Should you have any concerns about this facility please speak to one of our staff. Our children are only accessible on our website with the use of a username and pincode. This is only issued to established clients and parents of children that are displayed on the website.
Web design payments are not refundable once work has been completed on a child’s portfolio

LOOK BOOK Bizzykidz also promote their children in their Look Book, which is posted out to all their clients and upon request to new clients throughout the year. Our newest version has a facility for adding additional pages into it, which means that all newcomers to the agency can be offered a place, with the new pages for that child being sent out to all those who hold our book, for them to insert into the necessary place. This is also very helpful when a child has a severe haircut etc, or changes in appearance somewhat, as new photo’s can then be sent to our Production Dept, for them to print replacement pages of that child to be sent to the clients.

PRODUCTION MANUALS All reputable agencies will advertise in Production Manuals, of which there are many to choose from. These publications, which are available to and used by their clients as a reference when seeking stylists, agencies, etc, are often referred to as a client’s "Bible" and all good agencies would advertise in one, the majority of, or all of those that are available to them. Bizzykidz currently advertises in every publication that is known to the agency and looking to increase that number every year as new publications are produced. A few that we are currently in include, The Knowledge, Contacts, Kemps, The Creative Handbook, however, we advertise in many more too. Those that we do not advertise in, but may have done in the past, have proven to not generate enough work as they are not primarily used as a search tool by our clients.

WEBSITE Bizzykidz advertise our website in every way that we can, in order that we are seen ‘first’ by our clients. Although we have an already extensive database of clients that use us regularly, as with any efficient company, are always looking to extend that list.

How long before my child will get work and how many assignments should I expect?

This is an impossible question to answer and any agency that does promise a figure should, again, be avoided. As explained in ‘Can an agency guarantee work?’, no agency can know in advance what assignments are going to come in the next day, or even that day. Although they may be involved in campaigns that have been planned for several weeks, or even months, the general rule of thumb would be that a client will simply call the agency and ask for a selection of children to be submitted to them by return, then they will make a selection from that list and inform the agency. In our experience, some children can start working immediately after joining the agency, whilst some may be slower than others and then become very busy. Some may work periodically throughout the year, whilst others may have larger gaps in-between assignments. The fact remains that an agency earns commission when a child is working, so will always submit every child on their books for every assignment they are suited to, in the hope that they are selected. After all, this is how the agency earns their money.

HOW DO I KNOW IF BIZZYKIDZ ARE A BONA FIDE AGENCY?

1) Bizzykidz have been established since 1996
2) Bizzykidz is listed with ALBA as being a reputable agency
3) Bizzykidz do not charge yearly fees
4) Bizzykidz is approved by and regulated by the DTI (Dept of Trade & Industry)
5) Bizzykidz is registered with Companies House as a Limited Company
6) Bizzykidz is a VAT registered company with Customs & Excise
7) Bizzykidz has a very large client list (a sample of which is published on our website)
8) Bizzykidz has a fantastic reputation amongst clients within the industry
9) Bizzykidz uses every means known to them to advertise their agency and models to the industry
10) Bizzykidz have their own purpose built offices, called Bizzy House

That certainly speaks for itself!

Debi Clark, Director of Bizzy Agencies Ltd, has comprised The Comprehensive Guide to Child Modelling. This information booklet is extremely informative and covers Child Licences, Regulatory Bodies, Agencies, how to avoid unscrupulous agencies, child income tax, how to apply to an agency correctly, buyout/repeat fees and usage rates, what to expect at an audition/assignment and much, much more. Every question we have ever been asked by a parent is covered in this informative guide and can be obtained immediately by paying on-line for only £3.50. CLICK HERE to obtain your own copy.