We’re all about celebrating successes here at Bettina Management! So we thought we would recap the crazy, fun, whirlwind year that was 2016, and some of the amazing things our little stars got up to in the last 12 months.

WALKING FOR FASHION ROYALTY

Telstra Perth Fashion Festival is one of the biggest nights on west coast for fashion. It was a Bettina first when we got a request for our very own kids to walk for luxury children’s fashion label – Mischka Aoki, who’s gowns have been worn by many mini-superstars, including none-other than Beyonce’s daughter, Blue-Ivy.

Three lucky girls made it through the casting process and were awarded a spot on the runway for the big night. Keara, Emily and Scarlett did us all proud and worked the runway like they had been doing it their whole lives! With our Perth Talent Coordinator, Gloria, cheering them on from the sidelines it really was a night to remember!

(Photo Credit: Stefan Goslati)

ALLEGRA’S BIG BREAK

Miss Allegra is the hardest working 6 year old we know! She has been working away with our friends at Wellcom Worldwide shooting for Target Australia’s catalogues for the past year, but she always kept her eyes on her big goal – a spot in a TV commercial.

Well one day in February we got a very exciting request, a casting for Allegra for a Target Easter TVC! Allegra and her mum Chelsea popped along to see our friends at Casting Sugar, and then we patiently waited for the good news. Thankfully the good news came and Allegra’s dream came true!

We asked her mum Chelsea what this year has been like for them, here’s what she had to say:

“Allegra has loved working with Target this year, as well as a few other campaigns she booked throughout the year. It can always be a challenge to juggle school and other commitments but Allegra really enjoys working on set with the whole team and it is always great to see the final product. She was also lucky enough to achieve one of her goals in booking a TV commercial, it is always wonderful to see your children work hard and be rewarded. She was over the moon that her dream became a reality and it was an overall amazing experience for the whole family!”

https://youtu.be/4eGo2zfb_tU

JET SETTERS

Who doesn’t love an all-expenses paid holiday! While it wasn’t all lounging by the pool for our talent this year, our kids had some amazing experiences shooting interstate and even internationally for some incredible global brands.

Matching talent can be a casting director’s most difficult job, but sometimes the stars align and everything just falls into place. One of those moments was when a Westfield TVC brief came through for a child version of Australian model, Yaya Deng, and we knew we had the perfect girl. The only catch was – she wasn’t in the right state! But after weeks of casting and no luck, we suggested our girl Achok, and as we already knew, she was perfect! Achok and her mum were flown to Sydney for a few days of shooting, and the end result was simply incredible.
Isn’t it every little girl’s dream to model for the one and only Barbie brand? Well, one little girl’s dream came true when she was cast as the Australian representative in the Barbie – “You Can Be Anything” campaign, and this was just

the start of the good news. Not only would our Maya be part of a truly special campaign, celebrating young girls aspirations and dreams, but she would also be flying with her family to Bangkok, Thailand to film the campaign! Maya travelled with her whole family and our own Talent Coordinator, Jess for a jam-packed week in Bangkok.

The final product speaks for itself, there were certainly a few tears in the Bettina office when we saw this for the first time.

FAMILIES WHO WORK TOGETHER, STAY TOGETHER

This year was the year for families. We had so many kids and parents working on set, killing it as a family unit. Our clients are always looking for real people and genuine connection and what better than a real family to produce this.

The Gerritsen family, originally from Holland, worked for multiple clients and brands, including Australian Country Spinners, Britax Australia, Target and Cengage Learning. They are truly a superstar family; workable, fun, creative and charismatic, all the qualities that we look for and our clients love!
We also had several families booked for regular clients such as Cengage Learning and Britax. A big thank you to all the parents who stepped up to the plate and participated, we know it wasn’t exactly what you signed up for, but you smashed it nonetheless.

AGENCY NEWS

Along with the successes of our wonderful talent, we also made a couple of other leaps and moved premises in two states. After nearly a decade in Alexandria our Sydney agency turned over a new leaf and shifted premises to lovely Chippendale, whilst our Melbourne agency & Bettina HQ moved from Docklands to Southbank; settling into a beautiful building in the creative hub of Melbourne, with many other neighbouring creative agencies, production houses and studios.

What a wonderful year it was. Thank you to the tireless efforts of our Bettina team, our talent, the parents that make it all happen and our clients who have given our talent some amazing opportunities throughout the year. 2017 is shaping up to be even bigger and better!

The Bettina Team XX