Minors’ Contracts
Employing minors in the entertainment industry presents unique challenges for producers, production companies, studios, and talent agencies. Among the most precarious of these challenges is the potential unenforceability of contracts made with child performers.
Our firm specializes in petitioning the California Superior Courts for review and approval of such contracts so that industry employers, as well as minor performers and their families, can be assured that the agreement is fair, binding, and in the best interests of the child.
Emancipation Of Minors
There are times when it is in the best interests of a minor performer to no longer be legally and financially tethered to their parent(s) or guardian(s).
In such situations, our firm petitions the court on the minor’s behalf to approve the legal emancipation of that minor; thereby allowing them to take full and independent control of their own career.
California Child Labor Law
The California labor laws applicable to minors in the entertainment industry are dense and complicated. The rules regarding minor performers’ work hours, studio teachers, work permits, meal breaks, turnaround times and other issues are often not well understood by employers.
As specialists in this field, our firm advises all manner of industry professionals regarding compliance with such laws to ensure that minor performers are kept safe and their employers are not exposed to liability.
California Coogan Law
California’s Coogan law requires employers of minor performers to set aside a portion of that performer’s gross income in trust.
Much like the child labor laws discussed above, the strict mandates of the Coogan law are often not well understood by the employers charged with implementing them.
Our firm advises studios, production companies, and producers regarding compliance with the Coogan law to ensure that minors’ financial rights are protected and their employers are not exposed to liability.