Yul is in a Korean Commercial!

In this video we talk about how Yul was selected to be in this commercial, the process and the actual day of filming. It was our first experience of baby commercial filming and we learned a lot! If he gets another commercial we will be more prepared!

We’ve had questions from people about how to get their baby into commercials but we can only explain our process. We aren’t deliberately signed with an agency but we have agencies contact us and work on our behalf. They take a cut of the payment but we don’t sign exclusive contracts with them. Hugh also now works for a management company who can negotiate for us next time. The most we’ve done is have an Instagram account for Yul (which is here). This Instagram account is mostly for people who follow us and want to see more of him, as well as for family around the world, but is also a good place to showcase his professional photos.

All opportunities have been through the Instagram account, and there have been a bunch we have said no to. Although we knew he’d be good on camera we didn’t want to shop him around to auditions and become stage parents. We wait for opportunities to come to us and then decide which ones to take. There are talent agency sites in Korea where people can upload a photo of their baby and apparently companies or agencies can look through the photos and select what babies they like. But these sites seem to have pages and pages of baby photos and often have fees, which to me seems like a rip off. I think people working for agencies that are finding babies and kids for commercials are usually on Instagram looking. So a good Instagram account seems vital, at least in our experience.

The other things to consider is whether your child is good around a lot of people. Yul is very comfortable with lots of people and did a good job, but it will be overwhelming for most babies. A baby needs to be very easygoing and comfortable in unusual situations, otherwise it will be stressful for them. Your child’s comfort and security should be the most important, so it’s not good to put them into a situation they don’t enjoy, even if you are certain they have star potential. Getting a baby to smile at home is very different to getting your baby to smile in front of a huge camera and lots of people.

Another thing I didn’t get to mention in the video is that even though it’s a baby commercial, it doesn’t mean the space will be set up well for babies. We know for next time to bring mats and bedding and many many toys. And you may be in the same waiting room as the other families! A sense of competitiveness is just going to make it stressful, so being nice to other parents and kids is the best option. It was originally only going to be one baby in the commercial, but they couldn’t decide between Yul and the little girl. Her parents were lovely and we were really happy that she got to be in that commercial too. We all bonded on the day of filming and keep in contact. But, there will also be stage mothers/fathers around as well so you may have to brush off any rudeness of competitiveness from those types.

If you have any more questions please ask them here to over on YouTube!