SAG-AFTRA responds to calls for more child actor safety protocols following Quiet on Set docuseries

SAG-AFTRA has responded to calls for additional safety protocols for child actors in the wake of Investigation Discovery's recent five-part docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. 

“The Union takes young performer safety very seriously and devotes considerable time to advocating for important legislative protections for minors and administering contract requirements for young performers,” SAG-AFTRA's chief contracts officer, Ray Rodriguez, told EW in a statement. “We give priority to complaints involving minors, maintain a constituent committee of young performers, and help to fund and administer programs like ‘Looking Ahead’ that educate young performers about life as a child actor.”

Rodriguez continued, “In addition, SAG-AFTRA’s most recent agreement requires background checks for any teacher or welfare worker (or other individual assigned to perform the same duties as a welfare worker, such as a child labor coordinator) who is engaged by the Producer to supervise or teach minors employed under the Agreement. Additionally, we have authorized Producers to demand background checks as a condition of employment ‘for any person working in close proximity to one or more minor(s), other than a minor who is that person’s child/ward.’”

The union's statement comes after The Amanda Show writer Jenny Kilgen, who appeared in the docuseries, which explores the toxic work environments that Nickelodeon cast and crew members say they experienced in the late 1990s and early 2000s, published an open letter late last month in which she requested that the actors’ union “take action to initiate and institute robust child safety protocols to protect young actors.” 

SAG-AFTRA has several safety protocols in place for young actors, including their Safer Set emergency hotline, which can be used to report any safety issues that performers may experience while on set. It also has a reporting tool that can provide referrals for members seeking therapeutic, legal, or law enforcement assistance. The Safe Place app offers additional resources as well.

California law states that individuals who are required to register as sex offenders are prohibited from representing or providing any services to child performers who are working within the entertainment industry. People who work with child performers are also required to register with the state’s Department of Industrial Relations and must undergo a background check in order to obtain a Child Performers Services permit. However, crew members are not subjected to background checks if the minor is accompanied on set by their parent or guardian. 

In her letter, Kilgen urged for more safeguards for child actors both within the union and at the state and federal levels, writing, “It’s my hope that this action will address, and help to dismantle, the current industry power dynamic which seemingly exists to protect the financial well-being of the studios and networks, often at the expense of the emotional, psychological, and physical well-being of the children they employ — a dynamic where predatory behavior is enabled, and parents are too often sidelined.”

She specifically listed several guardrails she'd like to see the union implement, including “mandatory background checks, appropriate training for adults, transparency of investigation and reporting policies, and free access to mental health providers throughout the employment cycle (and when necessary, after).” She also suggested establishing a “special task force” with the “express purpose of improving child safety and welfare in the industry.” 

“Children deserve working conditions free of predators and the fear of retaliation," she wrote, "and, unfortunately, the essential structure does not appear to exist.”

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is streaming now on Max.

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