When parents first get their child started in the entertainment industry, they are deluged with information regarding work permits, labor laws, and the infamous Coogan Law. KidsInTheBiz.com will deal in-depth with the Coogan Law in a future article, including how to open an account for your child. For now, however, let’s take a look at the millions of dollars waiting to be discovered by past and present child actors.

You may have seen the reports on the news for “Unclaimed Money” web sites that are run by the state. By visiting these sites, you can search for money and property that was seized by the state because they didn’t know how to contact the person who was entitled to it. This is similar to the Unclaimed Coogan Account database.

In its simplest form, the Coogan Law was enacted to put aside a percentage of a child’s earnings from their show business career into a special bank account that was “untouchable” until the child reached 18 or 21 years of age. Unfortunately, for the first 60 years of the law’s existence, it mainly applied to long-term, multi-picture contracts which became fewer and fewer. It did not cover commercials, day players on episodics, or any small roles.

The law has been revised several times, and as mentioned, we will be featuring a series of articles on the new law in later articles. It is complex, and full of language that can be confusing. It was because of this confusion that millions of dollars in Coogan Accounts lay abandoned and unclaimed.

The Actor’s Fund of America has been charged with providing a database for the unclaimed Coogan money at its web site, http://www.unclaimedcoogan.org. By providing any part of a name, you can search the database for funds held by The Actor’s Fund, and also submit claims for the held money.

Several famous child actors can be found in the database – the result of Coogan Accounts being set up at a time when their career was just getting started – and then forgotten. The best way to make sur eyour child’s name never appears on this list is to keep your contact information with your union current, and to be informed about the Coogan Law, and when you need to start an account.

An article about Coogan Accounts will be available on this web site shortly.

Whether they are in the Screen Actors Guild or not, people have a tendancy to move. While SAG members always remember to forward their postal mail, oftentimes they neglect to notify their union of their new address. After six months to a year, the mail is no longer forwarded by the post office, and the dues letters and correspondence stop.

Including their residual checks.

What are residuals? Basically residuals are further compensation paid to performers for the re-use of a motion picture or television program they have appeared in. Performers are entitled to residuals if they are classified as a principal performer, which includes singers, stunt coordinators, pilots, dancers under Schedule J and other performers designed under the principal agreement.

Residuals are paid to those performers ever 30 days after an airdate for television non-syndicated airings, four months for syndicated airdates and shows that are under basic cable agreements are paid quarrtlery. A full list of residual due dates can be found at www.sag.com.

If you think you are due residuals, but have let your membership in the guild expire, or have not kept up your contact information, you can search the SAG Unclaimed Residuals Database for your name. If your name is found, it will give you precise instructions on how to fill out the paperwork to claim your due residuals.

The number one lesson is:

Keep your contact information with your unions current!

This article is the first of a series of book reviews I will be presenting throughout the year. There are so many books on acting technique, career, and getting into the acting business, having someplace that is free of paid editorial reviews is highly needed. So, why not here?

There are only a few books that have stood the test of time when it comes to acting technique. One is Audition by Michael Shurtleff, and one of the other most prominent best-sellers is A Practical Handbook for the Actor.

The book is co-written by Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previto and Scott Zigler. It is based upon a series of workshops by acting coach David Mamet.

The book emplores the reader to consider what is in the actor’s control and what is not. Worrying about the success or failure of a play or motion picture is futile, the authors explain, because as long as you control the things you can, the rest is simply out of your control and will happen if it means to happen.

Likewise the authors do not believe in the word talent, adding it to the list of things outside of the actor’s control. The moral of the book is put forth in its opening pages: the job of the actor is to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances in the production.

There is a reason this book is used in theatre classes ranging from art schools to college campuses – it works. The lessons in the book will teach actors to find the truth in the scene they are performing and to identify the specific actions in the production and why they are doing them.

A highly recommended book, and a steal at $9.95 on Amazon.com.

Buy A Practical Handbook for the Actor now.