Note: KiDz HuB(tm) has partnered with Kids Inc., and its new children’s edutainment brand, Safety BratZ(tm) LIVE! KiDz Inc. has an overarching vision to Empower Children with life skills and empowering messages of safety around the world and, through Safety BratZ(tm) LIVE! …carrying out its mission to Educate, Entertain, Inspire and Empower!
David Lestrick is President of Kids Inc., is an experienced evaluator of young talent and has offered to provide tips to young people who are seeking to break into the performing arts. This is the first of what may turn out to be a series of articles containing such information, dependent upon reader interest.
When I was 14, I recorded my first record that was made of vinyl! The younger generation would be familiar with albums used by DJ’s, but probably not the old 45’s used back then! LOL! Parents, of course, know exactly what I mean. The story is similar with most young artists. I had the dream, passion and desire but lacked knowledge, and unlike today, opportunity.
Can you imagine a time when phones were all hard wired in buildings and there was no internet?
Unlike today, when you can run a quick Google search and find out anything imaginable on any topic and with a little technology plus internet access, and you’re sharing your talents with the world! My company Kids Inc. is a 501c(3) Edutainment Company founded in 1990 and works with young talents through our divisions Hollywood Kids Talent, a division that educates parents while packaging and promoting youth to industry, along with our children’s development division, Safety BratZ(tm) Productions.
In casting our upcoming show, I spent over 14 months to hand select the honorary cast for Safety BratZ(tm) LIVE! – Ambassadors for Childhood Safety, Worldwide. http://SafetyBratZ.TV
SafetyBratZ LIVE 2012 Honorary Cast
You can imagine how many videos were viewed, emails and bios sifted through and the number of similarities many young artist have online. Here’s the first tip to really understand. Your videos are your calling card and should represent who you are…not how cleverly ‘auto-tune’ technology is used on your voice. So many young artists have natural raw talent, and if only properly coached, would quickly excel to a level where directors and producers would give them a second look.
When I’m looking for young singers, I’m looking for their real voice. Goodness knows, if you’re a young male vocalist and you’re in the 12 to 15 year old range….expect the unexpected! There is challenge during the voice shift and learning how to control and mold the voice would do all young artists well.
So, as a Producer, my first tip to all young vocalists…work on your craft and perfect it. When you depend on technology to adjust what’s already perfect about you, you’re sending a message that you don’t have confidence in your natural abilities. If you have passion, live out loud! When you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is singing, you are supposed to be a singer. Embrace passion and harness education, remembering it’s still an extremely competitive business driven by time and money. During my search, I did find 12 of YouTube’s most passionate and talented young artists from around the United States who are collaborating to produce a series of children’s safety music videos, public services announcements, interactive gaming, web series and host a safety club for kids around the world — introducing a line of branded technologies we’ll discuss later.
During the casting process there were certain things that made each individual cast member stand out. I’m sure getting tips on how to be discovered, along with tips on effectively using YouTube, and answering the many other questions parents especially have, would be of value to everyone. Myself and a few industry friends invite questions that we will answer for you in forums and in discussion on our upcoming live radio broadcast on the KiDz HuB(tm) Radio Network, where we will be broadcasting a series of short segments with industry tips, news, interviews, promotion and opportunity for young artists.
Here’s one young artist I discovered on YouTube in my search. Allow me to introduce Alex B!, a 12-year-old singer and Honorary Cast Member in the new Safety BratZ(tm) LIVE! production at SafetyBratZ.TV.
Alex B- Shine
A funny story about Alex…
This morning I was on the phone with a colleague preparing the launch of our children’s radio station and he was demonstrating the ease of broadcasting live on the KiDz HuB(tm) Network of radio stations and I received an email from Alex. It happened to be a link to download his new vocal release, In My Head and, within moments, I forwarded the link to my colleague at KiDz HuB(tm) and within 10 minutes Alex’s release was played WorldWide and will now being programmed on KiDz HuB(tm) Network in the U.S. and Jamaica! Technology Rocks!
We’ll share more in our next brief. But, for now, here’s a little note I’d like to share from Alex:
“Hi I’m Alex, a 12-year-old from the Philadelphia area.
I’m just a normal kid who enjoys playing video games, skateboarding, hanging out with friends and of course the girls.
My goal in life is to share my music with the world and you know getting all “A’s” in school is pretty cool too.
My greatest love is being on stage! I’ve already performed in hundreds of shows around Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore with the band Lil Rock.
It’s been an awesome time.No matter the crowd size, big or small, I always bring 110% to my performance.
Please visit me and join my facebook and I’ll join yours! http://AlexB.info
Thanks Everybody!
Alex B.
Thank You Alex for your support of Safety for Children and for being part of Safety BratZ(tm) LIVE! 2012! We look forward to working with you.
That’s a wrap!
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I’ll continue posting great tips and short stories if you’ve found this of value and invite your questions through email: info@hollywoodkidstalent.com
Tell us what types of things you’d like to know…especially parents who need to learn the biz to help your kids. We’’ll answer all questions and help however we can.
Be Well and Be Safe!
Kids Inc.
David Lestrick
President
http://YouTube.com/HollywoodKidsTalent
http://SafetyBratZ.TV
Stay tuned for more information on our collaboration as KiDz HuB Junior Broadcasters brings you live media coverage to keep you up to date with riveting highlights on the new Safety BratZ(tm) LIVE! Ambassadors’ for Childhood Safety, Worldwide. Please check out our partner Kids Inc. and Safety BratZ TV and sign up to participate in helping KiDz HuB to get the word out about kids safety across the world. Lets make the world safer for our kids, our future.
A guest article by David Lestrick