Showbiz Kids

I found this movie quite interesting as it interviewed several former child stars as they discussed their experiences in show biz at a young age.

The documentary covers a lot of familiar territory we have heard before. It does a great job of pointing out some stage parents who may have pushed their kids into show biz to live vicariously through them, how the constant interviews consume so much of the family's free time and how odd it seems that the kids would spend most of their time working instead of having a childhood.

It goes further discussing the pitfalls of fame and the effect it had on many young stars such as the uncomfortable invasion of privacy and problems finding true friends. It mentions briefly the exploitation that young stars could be exposed to. It mentions the effect that negative film reviews have on the child star as criticism can be taken personally. The film doesn't use this example, but think of Star Wars - The Phantom Menace and how Jake LLoyd was personally pointed out as the cause of the film's failure. The movie could also have mentioned the effect of overly positive reviews - i.e. When the stars believe their own press.

There are a few points where the film could have gone further that would have improved the movie; why do some become successful adult actors while others don't (think Freddie Highmore vs Corey Feldman)? The movie points out many child actors who run into problems later in life. The film could have addressed the issue of how Hollywood might, or might not be the cause of these kids problems. They don't bring up other factors, such as familly life, that would have an effect. Many child star's families had serious issues before getting in to show business, which the film doesn't touch on (when it could have gone in to more detail). Corey Feldman details this in his autobiography, which isn't covered in the film.

The interview with Todd Bridges mentions his family got torn apart by greed over the money coming in. I'm sure there could have been many other examples of how the money from show business and its influence on the family and young star could have helped the movie quite a bit.

A final topic could have been brought up - what about former child stars who felt it was a more positive than negative effect ?

Otherwise, the film is a somewhat insightful look at child stardom.

It was still interesting to hear some of the stories. I think Evan Rachel Wood, Mara Wilson, and Milla Jovovich were probably the most interesting because I'm the same age as Milla and I remember when she first came on the scene. She was gorgeous and to hear her talk about older men coming at her was not a surprise, but still sickening that they would take advantage of a young girl. Mara Wilson there was something different about than the others with how she talked. Then Evan Rachel Wood doesn't give AF. She is brutally honest. They all had stories like film critics and such trashing on the performance of a child which made me think of Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker in the phantom menace and the way people unfairly piled on bashing a young kid when yeah he was not great, but he was far from the issue with that movie. So you're not going to get a finding Neverland experience and thank god because that was hard to take. You will get a inside look at many different views on how they were treated by family, fans, critics, etc. I enjoyed it. I also had no idea that Cameron Boyce died over a year ago. I didn't know who he was, but he did seem like a positive guy so that was depressing to learn. Bottom line is this. I never felt like shutting it off. It kept my interest.

This is really well made with a variety of real child actors always wondered what happened to the "Matilda" girl. She is unrecognizable.

The film cover many subjects equally like mental illness, family, school, stress, money, do they do this for their parents and of course child abuse. But i think they covered every topic really well usually these things focus almost only on child abuse but even a kid that was never abused it could be hell for many other reasons.

Felt kinda sad for the little boy going to all these auditions, he clearly dosen't have the fire in him, it's more than just liking to act goofy it's a serious craft i don't think he realizes that. His mother that says next to him that if he dosen't do it she basically failed as a mother..jesus pressure much..

On the other way felt really happy about the little black girl and her mother she really look passionate and have that thing where you know it will work out for her.

This film really shows the emotional toll that child acting takes on people.

"Showbiz Kids" is a fascinating documentary from Alex Winter (of "Bill And Ted" fame). An insightful, sometimes dark and deep look into the world of childhood stardom. . In this documentary, former child stars discuss the highs and lows of children in show business. . Featuring interviews with some of the biggest stars then and now, "Showbiz Kids" teaches us of the real troubles child stars face when growing up in a toxic Hollywood environment. It's a subject most of us ignore as we enjoy being entertained but, the majority of these stars are damaged. Overall a good doc that should catch the attention of everyone looking to dive into this specific subject. . Follow @snobmedia for more reviews!