Showbiz Kids

"Showbiz Kids" (2020 release; 94 min.) is a documentary about kids achieving childhood stardom in Hollywood. As the movie opens, we are informed that each year over 20,000 kids audition, but that 95% of them never get offered a role. We then go to the 1920 as we watch Diana Serra Cary (a/k/a Baby Peggy) become a breakout star before she is 5 yrs old. The movie then shifts to today, as we get to know a (10-11 yr. old?) boy from Orlando, Marc Slater, and his mom Melissa, making the rounds in Hollywood to try and land an audition and then an actual role. From there the movie takes us to Henry Thomas, who starred in "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" and now looks back on his childhood years in Hollywood. At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Alex Winter, who of course himself achieved early Hollywood fame in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" in the late 80s and nowadays frequently makes documentaries. In this film he examines the long shadows of early Hollywood fame and fortune. While a slew of child actors and actresses are featured, the movie really focuses on 4 individuals: Henry Thomas, Wil Wheaton ("Stand By Me"), Evan Rachel Wood ("Thirteen"), and Cameron Boyce (multiple Disney TV shows). The common theme is undeniable: most of them didn't ask for it and/or were pushed by ambitious parents who saw their talented kid as a ticket out. "It's not a normal experience", comments Thomas. Wood goes further than that and laments the lost childhood she'll never get back, not to mention the poisonous environment that Hollywood is for young kids (fertile ground for sexual abuse, among other things). Saddest of all in this is of course watching Cameron Boyce, knowing that Boyce passed away last year resulting from a complicated epilepsy. Boyce observes: "Do you want to be my friend for being a friend or because I am on TV? That is tough to figure out as a kid." So true. Equally sobering is to see how few of the childhood stars can make the transition into an adult career (there are of course exceptions such as Jody Foster, Natalie Wood, Judy Garland, etc.). But the overall tone of the documentary is very clear, and should be a warning sign to any parent seeing stars in the sky through their kid.

"Showbiz Kids" premiered on HBO this week, and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. If you have an interest in film or in Hollywood in general, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

"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!

Really interesting and genuine interviews however there are no follow ups, no expansion the presented subjects and anything interesting is a one liner. Love the people and ideas presented in this film and I wish the filmmakers hadn't failed to weave and creative a more compelling piece.

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.

This really was a pleasant surprise, and I found it to be quite insightful. With the exception of Jada Pinkett Smith, I found the former Showbiz kids who participated to be very direct and forthcoming without all the drama. I was particularly impressed by what Evan Rachel Wood had to say, and she was extremely articulate. I really wonder how many former child stars were initially interviewed for this movie, but were then cut because they weren't very forthcoming about their experiences. It can't be that these were the only people they interviewed, and they all just happened to be so interesting and forthcoming.