the report of the pilot project - International Labour Organization

Report of the Pilot Research Project on Children Working in Cultural and Artistic Activities
son is acting since age 12. He is now a university student, but has a part in a newly starting TV series.
He chose banking as a career just like me.”
While some mothers say “they are not psychologically affected by their children’s acting”, one
mother says the following: “there is violence in some scenes and the child witnesses it; but before
that I tell him this is just a role to be played and he knows well it is.” Here is another example what a
mother tells to her acting child before shooting: “This is just a game; your mother and father does not
change! It is just a game that you have different parents in that fi lm. It will be all over when we leave
this place and take you home with our car...” Another mother says “There is an acting coach, but he
coaches all actors, not a special one for children.”
Parents were asked about the advantages and disadvantages of having an acting child. This question
also had a part relating to pros and cons for the child himself/herself. It is stated that “its material
returns are not so much” while a mother said “she is proud of her child’s success” and another
pointed out the “child likes it and having fun.” As to whether they would like to have their children
continue in this career, responses are as follows: “he wants it very much”... “I want my child to be an
actor maybe for satisfying my own ego, since I wanted it too much but could not”... “acting is a quite
elusive profession and so I want my child to have a more stable career.” Majority of mother say their
children have not taken any training in acting.
While bottle-feeding her baby after a shooting a mother said she didn’t like the meal served: “My
son was a cute baby. We put his photograph on the website of the casting agency. We contacted with
a friend who was then working in the set and the agency had our contract. We play 2-4 days a week.
They treat us fi ne. My son gets disturbed when he is not here. He became the mascot of the crew. They
give us transport. I save what is paid for the future of my baby.” Another mother who is annoyed on
his son’s disorder during a shooting said this was a rare case. She enrolled her son to infant school, but
he could not adapt to the facility. She said she is sensitive about her son’s development. While talking
about working conditions in commercials, she said it is better than in other parts of the sector: “My
son had a separate room with a bed, special meals and a nurse to take care of...”
In response to the question whether children have had any adversity in sets, one of the mothers said:
“Once my daughter had to run in a muddy environment. She fell and came to me crying. At that
moment, a woman in charge of costumes started yelling ‘what a mess is this, what have you done?
What are we going to do with your dresses all in mud? Couldn’t you be more careful!’ and I reacted
her.”
When asked how many days and hours in a week their children spend for shootings, mothers responded
“there is no defi nite period or time”. One of the mothers said: “he can be kept waiting whole day in
the set just for speaking a sentence. We leave home at 6:00 in the morning and return at the dawn of
the next day.” Another mother: “there are cases when we went out for a shooting of just 45 minutes
and others when we had to wait for eleven hours. Once we waited three hours for a shooting and then
learned later that scene was cut out.” There is a mother responding “3-4 hours a day and 1-2 days
in a week.”
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