I tried to search this out, but couldn't find anything...can someone who is more familiar help me out?

My child was on the set of a daytime soap opera as an extra for almost eight hours. No food was provided by them and they only gave them 4 or 5 five-minute breaks during the actual shoot which was about 3 hours.

Isn't that a little rough? I could see maybe not treating adult "extras" to food and the like, but there were about 25 children there, and tons of complaints along the way...from both the parents and the children, but only to each other. Everyone was afraid to say anything.

Shouldn't they have handled it a little differently? Or is that normal procedure?

Thoughts?

You should bring your own food ie sandwich etc. The craft table is only for very light munching. Or bring your own snacks/water.

You are supposed to get a break for lunch. Food not always provided but there has to be some way everyone can GET food, like an on-site eatery or the like. Never be afriad to speak ip. If you hit 6 hours and haven't breaked for lunch, as far as I know the law in any job dictates you must stop for lunch. This is all I know. If you DO work past 6 with no lunch break, there are penalties to be paid, at least on SAG shows. I would think AFTRA the same. I would think with children, it would be even stricter.

Oh, and you SHOULD be advised in advance if there will be no food so you can bring your own.

Thanks, wish I would have known in advance there would be nothing there for them. Next time.

Craft table? lol...nope. They had a bowl of fruit at the front desk, that helped.

We were there from 1 to 8:30, so I REALLY think they should have done a little better for these kids.

In what state did this film? What age is your child? That makes a difference in the amount of hours they can work.
Extra usually are fed but many times are supposed to bring food/water. There is a mandatory break for lunch. State Law. You were probbly in holding for a very long time.

This is why alot of people do not let their children do extra work. They are not treated very well.

You are supposed to look out for your child, something should have been said if your child was there for 8 hours with no food. So YOU really should have done better for your child, don't ever expect someone else to.

This was a lesson learned for you. I'm sorry it happened to you and your kid. It's brutal how some children are treated, hopefully, you have now learned to speak up. Some dimwit was handling the extras, but if you had asked who the "real" person in charge was, there is no way they would have let what happened to you, happen. This is a process for both you and your kid, and once you learn that it's not all fun and games, you may decide that this isn't the right path for you. Unfortunately, my dd went through a similar incident, yet she still wants to go out there and audition, etc. I hate it sometimes. Good Luck!

Some really good points above, guess I just have to plead ignorance. That and the fact that there were 20 other parents there that seemed to have no clue what was going on either.

From being on the few movie sets that we've done, the one thing I always saw was that there was a ton of food at all of them...so of course that's what I assumed going in. Now I know better.

They had lunch on the set at 1:00pm, which was our call time...so while everyone was eating, all the extras were in costume and make-up. Also, we weren't there for a full 8 hours...it was 7 1/2, which I also imagine gets them around feeding anybody, or giving them a 1/2 hour break at some point...

Ya live and ya learn...

Exactly.