Every single Starfish Kid is important to us, so we like to make sure we’re right for you and you’re right for us. Firstly, submit an enquiry on our website by clicking here & upload one recent photo of your child.

From there, we’ll invite you to book in a 20 interview, either in person or on Zoom. It gives you the opportunity to learn more about what’s involved. We’ll explain how the industry works and how we operate, and also assess if your child would be suitable as a Starfish Kid.

If you’re invited to become a Starfish Kid, we’ll arrange a photo shoot, which gives us what we need to create a profile on our website. This photo shoot is held in our Warriewood studio and takes between 30 and 45 minutes.

Membership fees are due at the time of booking your photo shoot. For more details, view our membership page.

Starfish Kids also invites real families to become members of our agency. If this is something you’re interested in, please read the details above on ‘How do I become a Starfish Kid?’

Starfish Kids has been in operation for more than 20 years and owner, Hannah has a strong background in television and film production. Some of regular clients include Big W, Best & Less, Aldi, Country Road, Marlo Kids, Seed and ABC Kids. Our talent have also worked in television productions such as Vegesaurs, Home & Away, Doctor Doctor, NCIS, Mr Inbetween, F Ward, The Wonder Gang, The Artful Dodger and major feature films such as GO!, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Great Gatsby and Unbroken.

Our clients regularly recommend us and we have a strong reputation in the industry among casting agents, advertising agencies, directors and production houses.

Also view our about page for more information.

You can become a Starfish Kid if you’re aged 4 months up to 21 years of age. We also represent real families of all ages.

We’ve been in business for more than 20 years, so our client list is broad and ranges across the advertising, television and film industries:

• All Australian casting agents
• Advertising agencies
• Production houses
• Television Networks
• Audio Production houses
• Major brands such as Woolworths, Optus, Rebel, Seed, Country Road, Best & Less, Aldi & Big W.
• And the list goes on.

Whether you are interested in modelling, advertising, television or film work for your child, Starfish Kids secures work for our talent across all mediums, including:

• TV commercials & stills advertising campaigns
• Feature Films
• Television series
• Modelling for Ecomm
• Voice Overs
• Short Films
• Online Content Videos
• Music Clips
• Extras Work

No, Starfish Kids is a boutique agency and for that reason, we limit the number of children in each age category. This is to ensure personalised service and is based on a genuine assessment of whether we feel we can secure you work.

At this time, we only represent NSW based children and families.

Yes there are management and photographic fees, these are based on a twelve month contract period, and each age category has different management/photographic fees, as follows:

• 0 – 17 yrs: $550
• Young Adults 18 yrs+: $300
• Families: $200 or $300 (based on the number of family members)

For full membership details and what’s included, please view our membership page.

No, there is no charge for an interview. It’s an opportunity for you to learn more about Starfish Kids, how we operate and the industry, while we assess the suitability of your child.

Yes, we take a percentage of jobs booked to cover our time for representation and booking management. Our rates are as follows for Television, Print & Film Contracts:

• Jobs under $100: 10%
• Jobs over $100: 20%
• Family bookings: flat rate of 15%

When you become a Starfish Kid, we’ll ask you to provide your bank account details for your file. Any money you earn from jobs booked will be transferred directly into your nominated account.

The usual process of payment is that once a shoot is complete we’ll process an invoice and then notify the parent via email once the payment has been transferred into your nominated account.

Payments are only made once we receive moneys from our clients.

We are a boutique talent agency and it’s our aim to secure as many Starfish Kids with work as possible. It’s also our desire to provide personalised service and get to know the children on our books, so we set a limit of 30 Starfish Kids per age group. Currently we represent approximately 600 in total.

We view dual representation as problematic because conflict of interests can occur between brands. It can also cause complicated price wars between agencies, which can potentially lose your child money they deserve. Therefore we do not allow multiple agency representation as part of our contractual agreement.

Unfortunately, no, we cannot guarantee work, although we do our best to secure work for every Starfish Kid where possible. Ultimately it is the client’s decision on talent selections and we don’t have any influence in the selection process.

Below is a brief outline of the process by which your child can get work via Starfish Kids:

• Your child’s profile: your child has a secure profile on the Starfish Kids website and also on Casting Networks, which is a search engine for Casting Agents.
• Starfish Kids receive a ‘brief’: our clients seek ‘talent’ by sending us a ‘brief’ outlining their specific requirements. The brief details the type of job, the type of talent required, what special abilities may be necessary, the shoot dates & talent fees.
• Starfish Kids recommendation: we then submit children who match these requirements to the client for consideration.
• Talent invited: the client then invites their choices to a casting where they will take a photo of the child, ask them to do a quick chat to camera introduction and perhaps some improvisation. In the case of a modeling casting the children will simply have to have a quick photo taken and perhaps a quick chat with the client.
• Shortlisted callback: after the initial casting, shortlisted talent may then be required to attend a recall or callback casting (in television and film jobs).
• Child placed ‘on hold’: if your child makes it onto the client’s final shortlist, they may be placed on ‘hold’.  This means they’ve made it through to the final stage and are subject to client approval.
• Confirmation or release: your child will either receive confirmation of the job or be released from the on hold status, if not confirmed.

Occasionally clients will select kids directly from our website without a casting.

It varies for every child and will also depend on trends in the market place. 

Approximate rates are:

• Photographic & Advertising Rates $100 – $120 per hour + any loading if applicable
• Catalogue Work $75– $125 per hour + any loading if applicable
• Television Commercials $500 – $10,000 + any rollovers if applicable
• Editorial $150 per half day
• Film & Television Series – as per MEAA rates
• Loadings $100 – $5,000 (for billboards, packaging, posters etc

A casting can also be known as an ‘audition’ and does not attract any payment. This is the process by which your child is chosen for a job. Castings are held via self-tape & sometimes in person. 

Castings are often scheduled at short notice. For self-tape castings, the average notice period is around 48 hours. If a child is requested for an in-person casting, school-aged children are usually booked after school, while younger children are typically scheduled in the morning. Castings are generally held in the eastern suburbs or may be requested via self-tape auditions.

Castings are generally conducted in your own time by self-tape so no school will need to be missed. If your child is successful in securing a shoot, most are scheduled during normal working hours (ie Monday to Friday). Parents will need to be available and committed to supporting your child for shoots. Shoots can also occasionally be scheduled on weekends.

Most shoots are within the Sydney metro area, however if shoots are held outside of Sydney, (either interstate or internationally) the client will pay for all travel and accommodation expenses.

Starfish Kids takes your privacy seriously and all of our talent’s personal details are password protected and made available only to those with our express permission.

Yes, there are. Please view the Children’s Employment Regulation Information for Parents and Guardians.