SYNOPSIS

This co-sponsored event between the Actors Fund and SAG-AFTRA Foundation will explore the parents and young performer’s role in working with agents, PR and casting directors in relationship to social media. Some of the topics that will be explored include how parents determine boundaries, the role of social media when hiring actors, and when is it too much when it comes to young performers using social media for their careers. Come hear about the trends in social media and the impact on a young performer's career and life.

PANELISTS BIOS

Howard Meltzer, casting director
Howard has been casting television in Los Angeles since 2002. He has been responsible for, and collaborated on, numerous series, pilots and made-for-television movies. For Disney Channel & Disney XD, his work includes the series Bunk'd, Best Friends Whenever, Lab Rats, Lab Rats Elite Force, MTX!, Wizards of Waverly Place: Reunion Special, Shake It Up, Hannah Montana, and I’m in the Band, the pilot Girl Meets World, and the television movie Den Brother. His Nickelodeon credits include the pilots Life With Boys, Big Time Rush,The Troop and The Fresh Beat Band and the television movies Spectacular! and The Best Player. His feature films include Lonely Boy and the Los Angeles casting for The Impossible. Howard began his career in New York as a staff casting director at Stuart Howard Associates, where he worked on the casting for the Broadway productions of The Graduate, Fortune’s Fool, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (2000 revival), Elaine May’s Taller Than a Dwarf, Honour, Epic Proportions, Annie Get Your Gun (2001 revival), Fosse, Chicago (1996 revival), Annie (1997 revival) and Grease (1998 revival) just to name a few. Howard has been nominated for 20 Artios Awards for excellence in casting and shared the honor twice for the television series Hannah Montana.

Cindy Osbrink, theatrical agent and owner, Osbrink Agency
Cindy started The Osbrink Agency twenty-three years ago in a one room office. Osbrink is currently known as one of the Top 10 Talent Agencies and Cindy one of the top 15 most powerful agents in Hollywood. Cindy won in 2009 & 2011 for the Youth Theatrical Agent. Osbrink has grown the company into a full-service agency providing the Entertainment and Fashion industry with many visible youth clients in film, television, commercial, voice-over and print. Cindy loves finding and starting brand new talent. She has represented numerous fresh faces of Hollywood which include Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga: New Moon & Eclipse, The Runaways, The Secret Life of Bees), Elle Fanning (Maleficent, We Bought a Zoo, Super 8), Tyler James Williams (Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Go On, Let it Shine, We the Peeples, Everybody Hates Chris), Tyrel Jackson Williams (Lab Rats), Serayah (Empire), David Lambert (The Fosters), Noah Centineo (The Fosters), Aramis Knight (Into the Badlands), Jae Head (The Blind Side, Friday Night Lights), Jake Lloyd (Star Wars), Max Burkholder (Parenthood) Molly Quinn (Castle), Josie Loren (Make it or Break it), Amandla Stenberg (Hunger Games, Columbiana), Kenton Duty (Shake it Up), Blake Michael (Dog with a Blog,(Lemonade Mouth), Colin Ford (We Bought a Zoo, Jake and the Never Land Pirates) Maggie Jones, (Ben & Kate, We Bought a Zoo, Footloose) Kaitlyn Dever (Last Man Standing, Bad Teacher) and Cameron Boyce (Jessie). Cindy’s passion is to find and develop new talent. “The magic is to capture and protect the wonderment of each actor’s unique gifts.”

Jordyn Palos, owner and publicist, Persona PR
Named one of Hollywood's New Leaders by Variety in 2015, Jordyn launched Persona PR in 2010 and has established the company as one of the most prestigious, dedicated, and hands-on independent PR firms in the entertainment industry today. With offices in Los Angeles and New York City, Persona has grown from a dozen clients that followed Jordyn when she left her previous PR job, to over two hundred clients in the talent, music, branded lifestyle, and corporate space. Jordyn’s client list includes a select group of award-winning actors from film and television, New York Times and national bestselling authors, various experts in the beauty and lifestyle space, comedians, production companies, and a handful of musicians. Jordyn holds a degree in Radio, Television, and Film with an emphasis in Electronic Media Management from California State University Northridge.

Angela J. Williams, mother of young performer
Angela has gathered a vast amount of knowledge and experience that spans over 30 years in the entertainment industry as a professional singer, songwriter, literary author, producer, performer, as well as CEO of a literary and a music publishing company. Angela eventually dissolved all of her creative duties to home school her three children. She emerged as overseer and COO of the businesses and successful careers of her three sons, Tyler James Williams: Everybody Hates Chris (CW), Let It Shine (Disney), Go On (NBC), The Walking Dead (AMC), Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (CBS), Tyrel Jackson Williams: Backyardigans (Nickelodeon), Lab Rats (Disney XD), and Tylen Jacob Williams: Instant Mom (Nick at Night). In the midst of balancing all of this, she returned to school earning a B.S. in Business Management and a M.S. in Psychology. Angela is also an ordained minister, speaker, life coach, business consultant and mentor to couples and others in the entertainment industry. She has recently released her second book, My Child is Going to be Rich and Famous: How to Successfully Balance Family, Parenting and Entertainment. She wrote this book to help parents and the kids survive, thrive and navigate through the entertainment industry. Angela is a member of Women in Film Los Angeles and Film Independent. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the Actors Fund’s Looking Ahead Program.

Moderator & Presenter - Pattie Fitzgerald, cyber safety specialist
Pattie is the founder of Safely Ever After, Inc. and is nationally recognized for her work as a Child Safety Educator, Children’s Courtroom Advocate, and author. She provides seminars for adults and kids, focusing on the prevention of sexual abuse and cyber safety concentrating on social media trends affecting the protection of minors. Her school curriculum is now taught in classrooms throughout the United States. Pattie brings her common sense strategies to audiences without using fear tactics. She’s the author of two children’s books, “No Trespassing-This Is My Body!” and “Super-Duper Safety” which are published worldwide. She has appeared on Good Morning America, Dateline NBC, ABC World New Tonight, CNN, MSNBC and The Oprah Winfrey Network. She is based in Santa Monica, CA.

LIVESTREAM & ARCHIVE

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