The Questions Parents Ask Us Most — Answered Honestly
By the FAM | Florida Family & Kids Casting Experts
If you are new to kids and family modeling or just getting started with The FAM, chances are you have questions. Good ones. The kind that deserve real answers rather than vague reassurances. We have pulled together the ones we hear most often and answered them the way we would if you asked us in person.
How does it actually work?
When you submit to The FAM, all the information you provide including contact information, names, ages, photos, and sizes all go into our system. That is your profile and it is what we work from.
When a brand comes to us with a confirmed project, they give us a brief. That brief outlines exactly what they are looking for: age range, look, family structure, location, tentative shoot dates, and sometimes very specific details about the energy or dynamic they want. We go through our network, identify the talent who are the strongest match, and put together a shortlist to present to the brand.
We submit that shortlist to the brand to see who they are most interested in. If they indicate interest in your family or child, we reach out to confirm your availability and let you know you are being considered. The brand then makes their final selections. If they choose your family or child, we coordinate the booking details from there.
That is the process from submission to booking. It is brief-driven, selective, and moves at the pace the brand sets.
Why did we not get booked after you asked about our schedule?
This is one of the most common questions we get and it makes complete sense to ask. When we reach out about your availability, it means you have been shortlisted and the brand has indicated interest in your family or child. That is a real and meaningful step. It means someone on our team looked at the brief and genuinely believed your family was a strong match, and the brand agreed enough to want to know more.
But brand interest is not the same as a confirmed booking. The brand still has to make their final selections from everyone they expressed interest in, and there are a few reasons a family might not move forward from that stage. The brand may have chosen someone whose look was a slightly closer fit for that specific project. Your availability may not have aligned with what the shoot required. Or they may have simply gone in a different direction for reasons that have nothing to do with your family at all.
Reaching that stage is a good sign. It means you are in the right place and on the right radar. Keep your profile current, stay responsive, and know that another brief is coming.
Do I need to do anything else after submitting to get bookings?
Technically, no. Once your information is in our system we have what we need to start submitting you for briefs that are a match. You do not need to follow up, check in, or do anything to stay active.
That said, here is the honest answer: what you can do is make sure you always have clear, current digitals and invest in your portfolio.
We regularly see families ask this question while their child or family's only photos are a few casual snapshots. Enough for us to see who they are, but not enough to show range and reliability yet. While these images can be a good place to start, and we will work with those families and go to bat for newer talent when the fit is strong, other families in our network are updating their digitals regularly and investing in professional portfolio headshots and lifestyle content. When a brand is comparing submissions side by side, that difference is visible and it matters.
We offer portfolio content opportunities through photographers in our trusted network, specifically so our families have access to the right kind of content without having to figure it out alone. These sessions are optional and nobody is required to participate, but it is worth noting that families who invest in their portfolio tend to get submitted to more briefs and get taken more seriously by brands. That is just the reality of how it works.
Why do we have to pay for headshots? I thought you would provide those.
This is a really common misconception and it is worth clearing up.
Professional headshots and portfolio content are not something casting companies or modeling agencies typically provide for free. If one is offering to, it is worth asking how that cost is being recovered somewhere else in the process.
Most reputable agencies and casting companies will recommend that you get strong portfolio shots if you do not have them or if yours are outdated. This comes from a genuine place — a stronger portfolio helps you book work. That is reasonable guidance, but it should only come after they have expressed genuine interest in adding you to their network. It should never be presented as a condition of applying or being considered in the first place.
In situations where an agency offers to cover the cost of photos upfront, it is worth understanding what is actually happening. Those costs are typically recouped through commission on future bookings. You are still paying for them, just out of your earnings rather than your pocket upfront. If an agency is offering this, it usually means they see strong booking potential and are confident enough to front the investment. This is great! Just keep in mind that your earnings are being shared with them on every booking, not just until the photo cost is covered, but indefinitely for as long as you work with them.
How casting is different
As a casting company, we do not charge commission on any work you book through us, which means the cost of a portfolio session is straightforward and entirely yours to decide on. There are no strings attached and no ongoing financial relationship built around it. What we do instead is give you access to trusted photographers at rates that make sense for this purpose. You invest in your own portfolio directly and keep your earnings entirely. For many families this ends up being the better path in the long run, even if it does not feel that way at first glance. Think of it like any other investment in your child's development. A dance studio does not provide your child's recital costume for free. A gymnastics program does not cover competition fees. Portfolio content is the same kind of investment, and unlike many children's activities, this one directly supports real, paid work opportunities on the other side of it.
Can both of my kids be submitted, or just one?
It depends entirely on the brief.
Some projects are looking for a single child of a specific age and look. In that case we submit the child who fits, not both. Some projects are looking for siblings, a family unit, or multiple children together, and in those cases having more than one child registered with us is a genuine advantage because we can submit the whole group.
When you register multiple children, each one has their own profile in our system. We look at each brief individually and submit whoever is the right fit, whether that is one child, both, or the whole family together. Having multiple children registered does not hurt anyone's chances. It simply widens the range of briefs your family is eligible for.
Can I see which briefs my child is being submitted to?
We let you know when it matters, which is when the brand has indicated interest in your family and you are being considered.
Before that point, sharing every brief your child is submitted to would create a lot of noise without a lot of purpose. Submissions happen regularly and most of them resolve without your child moving to the next stage, not because anything went wrong but because casting is specific and competitive by nature. Knowing about every submission before there is meaningful news does not help your family and can actually create unnecessary anxiety around the process.
When the brand indicates interest and you are being considered, you will hear from us. That is the moment it becomes relevant and that is when we bring you in.
How do we get paid, and how much?
Payment details and rates vary by project and we share that information with you at the time of booking so you know exactly what to expect before you commit to anything.
What is consistent is this: the brand or production company is the employer of record on every project. They set the rate, they issue the payment, and they are responsible for the compensation agreed upon for the shoot. Our role is to facilitate the booking and make sure you have all the information you need going in.
We do not take a commission from your earnings. What you are paid for a booking goes directly to you. The specifics depend on the project, the brand, the usage, and the scope of the shoot, and we will always make sure those details are clear before your family commits to anything.
Does my child need experience to get started?
No. We work with families and children at every stage, including the very beginning. Natural, well-lit photos and a completed profile are enough to get started and be considered for briefs that are a strong fit. The clearer and more current those at-home photos are, the better your chances across the board in those earlier stages. Keep an eye out for our full guide on how to take great at-home digitals, coming soon.
Experience does make a child more versatile and more competitive over time, both because they become more comfortable on set and because their portfolio grows with each booking. But it is not a requirement to walk through the door. Everyone who is booking regularly started somewhere, and that somewhere is usually exactly where you are right now.
Ready to Submit?
If you have more questions we have not covered here, reach out. We are always happy to talk through how things work before you submit.
At The FAM we work with real kids and families across Palm Beach County and South Florida. Getting started is straightforward and there are no fees to apply or be submitted for castings.
