Before applying, FOLLOW THE 3 STEPS BELOW

 

STEP 1

READ THE CHECKLIST

  • LOCATION You should live within one to 1.5 hours’ travel time of London – most work takes place in central London. We only recruit in the London, Greater London and most Home Counties regions (including Bucks, Beds, Essex, Hampshire, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Northants, Surrey & Sussex).  
  • SOLE REPRESENTATION NCA is a sole agent for child talent aged under 18 years, meaning children cannot join any other modelling or commercial agencies.
  • PERSONALITY Talent needs to be confident, enthusiastic and comfortable in new surroundings and busy or noisy environments. Babies and toddlers should be contented, happy to be held by new people, relaxed in front of the camera.                                                                      
  • COMMITTMENT The talent or child’s parent/chaperone need to be flexible, committed and available for self-tapes, castings and bookings, as they are often given at short notice. Parents of child talent must be available to chaperone their child to castings/shoots.  Castings are often held at very short notice, sometimes less than 24hrs. Castings for school age children are mainly held after school, between 4-6pm.                          
  • COMMUNICATION We communicate self-tape requests, castings and bookings via email and WhatsApp and expect talent to be easily contactable and fully responsive. It's usual for talent to be confirmed for a shoot only a few days before the shooting date. 
  • SCHOOLING If the child talent attends school, the school should be supportive as they will be required to give authorised absence should the child talent secure work. Assignments are frequently held during school time. We cannot represent child talent who can only commit to school holidays or weekends. 
  •  CHAPERONE All child talent must be chaperoned on shoots by their parent, guardian or a licenced chaperone, no other family member or friend can chaperone.                                                                                   
  • COMMISSION  Our commission is industry standard. Child talent 25% for film and TV, and 37.5% for stills (and some overseas shoots) | Adult talent 20% for film and TV, and 33.3% for stills (and some overseas shoots).
  • COSTS Talent Web Directory & Portfolio page fees: Children 5yrs+ £30 per year | Babies & children under 5yrs £30 set-up cost until the child is 5 years old.  
  • PHOTOSHOOTS We expect all adult talent and children aged 5yrs+ to supply the agency with professional photos that follow the agency photo requirements. This enables NCA to gain standardised, professional shots for the talent's promotion. We recommend our agency photographers, although we also accept clear, good quality shots and photos from alternative photographers.

STEP 2

FOLLOW THE PHOTO GUIDELINES - applies to both children & adults

Email 3 photos of each applicant: head & shoulders shot, mid-shot and full-length, taken against a plain background, and the following information to ​apply@norriecarr.com 

  • Applicant's name (first name/surname)
  • Parent/carer's name (if under 18 years)
  • Date of birth and present age
  • Gender
  • mobile number
  • Address
  • Postcode
  • Local authority
  • 3 recent images - No hats, sunglasses, headbands on babies etc, just simple images where facial features are clearly visible.

Due to the large volume of applications, we can only reply to successful applicants. 

STEP 3

IF LONGLISTED

If your application is longlisted, we’ll ask you to complete the agency forms and request a short self-tape intro from child talent aged 5yrs+

FURTHER AGENCY / INDUSTRY INFORMATION

The talent on our books covers a wide range of looks, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

The one thing that all potential talent must have is enthusiasm. On meeting an individual and working with them, it is obvious if they are uncomfortable or embarrassed working in front of the camera. Some castings will simply involve a photo being taken, others will involve some acting and dialogue. At all auditions clients will expect confidence and enthusiasm.

Gaining any level of success involves courtesy, commitment and patience. Talent can attend many auditions before striking lucky. Most in-person castings take place in central London and are normally arranged at very short notice often the afternoon before, (sometimes even the same day) so you need to be flexible in your timetable, professional and reliable. Since Covid, more casting directors are asking for self-tape auditions, these are videos you film of yourself using your mobile phone, instead of attending a live audition.  Self-tape requests are often arranged at short notice.

COMPETITIVENESS

Many individuals think that they could make successful models, which makes the industry extremely competitive.

Of the many applications received we only take a small percentage of people onto our books. We consider every application with care. If we think that the applicant has potential, we will invite them to self-tape.

Once talent is registered with the agency and has suitable photographs, we are able to start promotion. Before clients select an individual for a commercial or photoshoot etc they will ask to see a selection of candidates from all agencies at an in-person casting session or via a self-tape. NCA artists will be competing with those from other agencies as well as one another. At some castings there will be appointment times and the castings will be well organised, at others (West End castings, catalogues) there may be hundreds of people being seen for the same role.

Clients are continually in search of fresh faces and new looks; some people will work steadily, others occasionally and some may never be called for an audition. Unfortunately, no agent can guarantee work.

CHOOSING AN AGENCY

It is important to choose the right agency. Start by choosing an agency that is well known. You can contact any big company (a magazine, fashion catalogue, advertising agency) and ask them for the names of the agencies they use.

SPOTLIGHT MEMBERSHIP 

We strongly recommend and encourage all NCA talent over the age of 5 years to become members of www.spotlight.com – the UK’s premier casting platform.

Spotlight is an online platform where the majority of casting directors post their commercial briefs when casting children for commercials, film, tv and sometimes photoshoots.

Only children who are represented by an agent can be eligible for Spotlight membership, which is why they are the casting community's most trusted source for young performers. Access to Spotlight's online database is only available to vetted industry professionals.