This will probably be one of my bluntest blogs ever so lets get straight to the point–I hate the shows Toddlers & Tiaras, Dance Moms, and every other show that has to do with talentless parents forcing their children to live out their failed dreams on national television. With that being said–on March 10, 2012 Dayton Fashion Week will be hosting a casting call for children ages 4-14 at De’lish Café located at 139 N. Main St. in Downtown Dayton from 10a-1p. We are asking that participants bring at least one can good or non-perishable food item with them to the Casting Call for the Dayton Food Pantry—this is not required to be seen but it will be highly appreciated.
When we first thought about adding a children’s runway show to Dayton Fashion Week both Junda Morris-Kennedy(the CEO of DFW) and I cringed at the notion of having to deal with the parents—so much so that we actually decided against the show at one point and opted to do a Hair Show instead. But then we were introduced to Dayton based designer Cheree Cantrell and her kids clothing line Cupcake Couture which made me want to run out and have a baby so that they could wear her clothes! Long story short we decided against doing the Hair Show and on Thursday July 26, 2012 Dayton Fashion Week will present a Kids Fashion Collection Show featuring designs by Cupcake Couture and AM Victorious! Here are a few tips on how to prepare for this casting call.
Act Your Age
This is a kids casting call, I want to see kids acting like kids, dressing like kids, and looking like kids in there photos. Again the photos DO NOT need to be professional we will need a clear head shot and a body shot in their everyday clothes. This is open to children ages 4-14 the only requirement is if your child shows up with false eyelashes, “flippers” or false teeth, spray tans, more makeup than Tammy Faye Baker, hair bigger than Dolly Pardon’s, pant to their ankles like Lil Wayne,and dressed like Beyoncé—your child WILL NOT be allowed to participate in our casting call.
During this casting call not only will the kids be in the spotlight but we will also be watching the parents as well—Parents if you come in with a bad attitude–your child WILL NOT be allowed to participate in our casting call because we will be working closer with the parents then we will be with the children and we don’t have time to deal with problematic parents—so in the words of Prince– parents “act your age not your shoe size”. We want this to be a fun and playful environment both during the casting call and the actual runway production.
Safety First
All participants must have this signed release form http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1101602765664-514/DFW+model_agreement.pdf.(Please Disregard the height and all black attire requirement we did not have time to update this form from our adult casting call). All participants for the kids casting call MUST BE ACOMPANIED BY A PARENT OR A LEGAL GUARDIAN THAT IS AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE! There will be NO exceptions made to this rule. This is not us trying to be mean or single anyone out THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE!
Another safety issue that I must address is this—During our first casting call for adult models. We had several “scouts” for other “agencies” show up to our casting call unannounced and uninvited to do some recruiting. Not only does this show a lack of professionalism on their part by piggy backing off of our event but it also poses as a safety risk for participants. So to avoid this from happening again during this casting call we are not allowing spectators in the building—ONLY PARENTS/LEGAL GUARDIANS AND THE PARTICIPATING CHILD WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE BUILDING—no aunts, cousins, neighbors, and etc will be allowed. Parents if anyone approaches you outside of the building about signing up your child to an agency or gives you a card for you to call them about some great opportunity for your child to model please report this to us immediately. Last year I took my little sister Portia to the America’s Next Top Model Casting Call at The Greene and there was an Escort Service handing out cards to participants. Let’s face it there are some sick people in the world and We CAN NOT guarantee anything to you about these “scouts” but I will ask you to ask yourself this question. If this person is representing a reputable agency why do they need to lurk outside of another casting call to find talent? If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email us at info@daytonfashionweek.com.
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