Kids and Teens Headshots in Los Angeles

A child actor's headshot has one job: show the kid who walks in the door today, at the age they are now. No makeup, no glamour, no aging up. The photo is the easy part. The legal layer is what families get wrong: a minor cannot work in entertainment in California without an Entertainment Work Permit, and under contract that permit is void within 10 business days unless a Coogan Trust Account is attached. This guide covers what is specific to kids and teens; for the general craft, see the complete guide to actor headshots.

How is a kid's headshot different from an adult's?

It is more literal. An adult's headshot proposes a castable identity: the lawyer, the best friend. A child's answers a narrower question, which is what this kid looks like right now. Retouching goes nearly to zero. A scraped knee or a missing tooth is evidence of a childhood. Braces stay. Freckles stay.

Aging up is the most common failure, and the cost is concrete. Style your twelve year old to read sixteen and she gets seen for sixteen year old roles she will not book, because an actual sixteen year old will be in the room. She also stops being submitted for the twelve year olds she could book. One photo, both markets gone. Spotlight says photographers "don't want to age your child up." The reverse is fine: a ten year old who plays six has an asset.

You do not pose a seven year old. You play with a seven year old and keep the camera running while it happens. The second a kid understands they are being photographed, their face closes and you get the school picture face, which is useless to casting. Every good frame I have gotten of a child came from a moment when they forgot the camera existed. - Joshua Michael Shelton, editor

Does my child need a permit to work in California?

Yes. All minors working in entertainment in California must register for an Entertainment Work Permit from the Labor Commissioner's Office. No legitimate agent works around it. Two types exist as of July 2026:

1. The 6-month permit. Free to register and renew, every six months, until the child turns 18. The standard one.
2. The 10-day temporary permit. One-time, new applicants only, $50.00, online, ages 15 days through 15 years. Minors 16 and 17 are not eligible.

The school requirement is what families underestimate. A school official marks the minor satisfactory or unsatisfactory in attendance, academics and health, and the state form says all areas must state satisfactory for the permit to issue. Grades are a work permit issue, not a parenting opinion. In session, an official completes and dates the application. Out of session, a recent report card or principal's letter showing satisfactory academics, health and attendance works instead. Homeschooled minors attach a private school affidavit or verification from the district or county office of education.

One rule is easy to miss: minors aged 14 to 17 must complete the Civil Rights Department's online sexual harassment prevention training, with a parent present and certifying it under oath.

What is a Coogan Account and who needs one?

A Coogan Trust Account, or blocked trust account, holds part of a minor performer's earnings where neither parent nor child can reach it until the child turns 18, because California treats those earnings as the minor's property. From the statutes:

• The 15 percent. Family Code section 6752 makes the employer set aside 15 percent of the minor's gross earnings under the contract. Extras and background performers are exempt.
• Who opens it. Under section 6753, the trustee (in practice the parent) opens the account at a California financial institution within seven business days of the minor signing, then files a trustee's statement under oath.
• The deadlines. The parent gives the employer a copy within 10 business days of employment commencing, and the employer deposits the 15 percent within 15 business days of receiving it.
• The permit link. Under Labor Code section 1308.9(a), the permit is void after 10 business days unless the trustee's statement is attached. One depends on the other.
• When the child gets it. No withdrawals before 18 or emancipation without a superior court order. At 18, the beneficiary withdraws with a certified copy of their birth certificate.

Those clocks are short, so open the account before you need it.

What are the work hours and studio teacher rules by age?

A studio teacher is a state-certified teacher also responsible for the health, safety and morals of the minor on set. One is required on each call from 15 days to a minor's 16th birthday, and at 16 to 18 when required for education. The ratio is one per 10 minors, or one per 20 on weekends and school breaks.

Source: Department of Industrial Relations entertainment industry summary chart, accessed July 2026.

Minors may generally work only between 5 AM and 12:30 AM, and no later than 10 PM before a school day when working more than four hours. Tutoring runs 7 AM to 4 PM for grades one to six, and 7 AM to 7 PM for grades seven to twelve.

One number surprises parents: a child aged 9 to 16 in regular school may work only three hours on a school day. That, not talent, caps booking capacity.

What changes across the age bands?

Young child, roughly 4 to 9. A play session that a camera happens to be in. Keep it short; Spotlight suggests around 45 minutes for under-16s. Casting is buying aliveness and an unguarded face.

Tween, roughly 10 to 13. The hardest band. The face changes month to month and the child is newly self-conscious, so photos start looking like school pictures. Families feel the most pressure to age up here and should resist hardest. Spotlight advises dressing a child their age, or younger if they play down.

Teen, roughly 14 to 17. Closer to the adult process, where the commercial versus theatrical split becomes real. Teens carry the harassment training requirement, and at 16 the 10-day permit closes off.

How often do kids need new headshots?

More often than adults, because the trigger fires faster. The hub's rule holds: update when the face changes, not on a calendar. Spotlight states that children tend to have headshots done more often because they grow and change looks more frequently, and may need a new one once a year.

Treat once a year as a floor. A growth spurt, lost front teeth, braces on or off, or a voice change can obsolete a photo in a month. If the child surprises the person holding the photo, the photo is done.

What do youth agents and casting want to see?

A short list: a natural, fresh-faced child, lit so the eyes are alive, in clothing that does not compete with the face. Spotlight recommends head and shoulders framing and warns against telling a child to smile, preferring authenticity the photographer draws out by directing naturally. It also advises consulting your child's agent on selects, noting the images a parent likes best may look beautiful above the mantelpiece but are not the shots that book castings.

Without representation yet, the photo is one input. Read how to get a talent agent and what talent managers do before you spend, and understand Actors Access, the casting platform run by Breakdown Services, where your child's profile lives.

What should a kid wear?

The general craft is in the session preparation guide. Published guidance recommends two or three tops, ironed and on hangers, in colors that complement skin, eyes and hair; block colors for younger children; no logos or busy patterns. On grooming: nothing. Spotlight is explicit that makeup is not required and not advisable for children, with lip balm or clear mascara a reasonable addition for older teens.

The variable I cannot control is the parent. A kid arrives loose and curious, then reads the tension coming off the adult thinking about what this session cost, and it lands in their face within about ninety seconds. The most useful thing a parent can do in my studio is sit down, put the phone away, and be visibly bored. Casting is not asking for your child to be impressive. They are asking to see who your child is. - Joshua Michael Shelton, editor

What are the red flags parents should watch for?

This section matters most. California legislated specifically against talent scams with the Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act, Assembly Bill 1319, effective January 1, 2010, now in Labor Code chapter 4.5. Its provisions are specific and enforceable.

• Nobody may charge you for an audition. Section 1703.4 bars a talent service from charging an artist for an audition or an employment opportunity. If a company wants money in exchange for your child being seen, that is the scam, and it is illegal.
• Advance-fee talent representation is banned. Section 1702 bars owning, operating, advertising for, or referring anyone to an advance-fee talent representation service. Section 1702.1 covers charging artists for photographs, websites, lessons or coaching tied to procuring employment, auditions or representation. That is the "we found your child, now buy our photo package" model, and pay-to-play showcases are the same.
• Mandatory in-house photo packages are the tell. A legitimate agent earns a commission when your child books and hands you a list of photographers, not one name. If representation is contingent on buying photos from one person, the photos are the product and your child is the mark.
• Fee-related talent services must post a $50,000 bond (section 1703.3) before advertising or doing business. Contracts must be at least 10-point type, and section 1703(e) gives you 10 business days to cancel for a full refund.
• The penalties are real. A willful violation is a misdemeanor: up to a year in county jail, a fine up to $10,000, or both (section 1704). Damages must be at least three times the amount paid, plus attorney's fees (section 1704.2).

The filter is one question: who is paying whom? Agents take a commission from money your child earns. Scammers take money from you first. If a company already has your money, the cancellation right and treble damages are not theoretical, and the Labor Commissioner's Office is where to start.

Legitimate training is different, sold openly as classes. Schools with real youth programs are listed at laactingschools.com for kids and for teens.

Does your child actually want this?

Worth asking out loud, once, and again in a year. Not as a test, and with no right answer attached.

Some kids love it. The set is interesting, the work is play with stakes, and they light up. Some like the idea of it, which is different, and find the reality is long waits, repetition and rejection with no explanation. Some are doing it because a parent wants it and cannot say so, because a seven year old has no vocabulary to decline what an adult is excited about.

The rules above encode a view worth borrowing: California capped the workday, required satisfactory grades, and made studio teachers responsible for a child's morals. A childhood outranks a production schedule.

Watch the car ride home, not the room. Kids perform enthusiasm on demand; what they cannot fake is what they are like an hour later. If it drains them consistently, that is information, and stopping costs nothing that matters. For what this career asks, read acting in LA.