Film making is a collaborative process. That is what I love the most about it. You are usually making something with a team of people you like and trust. But when working with kids I choose my team with the utmost care. The slightest issue, understan-dable to you or I, has the potential to throw any child off. Especially an emotionally mature or sensitive child that soaks up everything going on around them. So I try to brief my crew on how to best work around children cast, because from experience I can say that crew can easily fall back into familiar patterns of behaviour.

Fade in… beautiful music plays as we see the feet of a little boy, tip toeing down the stairs. In the kitchen, the boy starts to prepare breakfast. His little hands carefully spread jam on a slice of fresh toast. He takes a bite, smiling as if it’s the best tasting sandwich in all the world. Cut to packshot: our jam jar sits in the foreground, with the boy out of focus in the background. Your typical commercial right? This example, just as many kid’s commercials, revolves around the perfect close-up of a ‘box office smile’ from the child. And that’s the shot that gets you hired as a children’s director. To achieve it, there are a variety of tricks in your toolbox. One of them is extremely effective: don’t use the kid at all.

Once upon a time, in a land far far away (also known as Belgium), I shot a Christmas commercial. It was a typically christmassy story about a man helping Santa and getting presents in return. The man returns home to give the presents to his wife, son and daughter. All the children had to do was smile, be happy their father was home, and look excited about the presents. That was the plan. Simple enough, right?

I once shot a commercial in Thailand with a little girl. She was a total sweetheart and charmed everyone on set. To top it off, she was clearly clever for her age and performed beautifully. She was easy to work with and the client was happy. Cut to a few months later, we are shooting another commercial for the same brand, but in Singapore. Of course, the client requested to work with her again. No problem, I say breezily, assuming this was going to be as easy as the first time.