Lion King child actors protected

Child stars will be protected from nudity, swearing, smoking and 
drinking under a groundbreaking new policy that places the welfare, safety 
and education of performing children at the forefront of Disney's 
productions.

The kids on the cast of Disney's Lion King will have accredited 
chaperones to ensure that they are supervised at all times and are not 
exposed to inappropriate behaviour under a new agreement that looks set to 
become best practice for the entertainment industry.

Disney Theatrical and the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance worked 
collaboratively on the Working With Children: Care Policy as part of the 
first collective agreement for theatre workers in commercial theatre in 
Australia.

"One of the major issues we were concerned about was the children — in 
particular the new younger performers — were very safe when they were on 
stage. The focus is on protecting them at work and protecting those around 
them", says Michel Hryce, Director, Live Performance and Theatre at the 
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

The kids loved being the centre of attention at the launch of the policy at 
the Capitol Theatre in Sydney on September 10. It was the first day in the 
theatre for the performers, crew and orchestra players who are now counting 
down three weeks to the opening of the Lion King.

Hryce told the child performers that whilst they were still dreaming of a 
part in the Lion King, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Disney 
USA and Disney Australia, were hard at work making sure that this 
production would be the best in the world.

Hryce on behalf of the MEAA welcomed the imported artists and child actors 
to Australian Theatre and to the MEAA family.

Already the new policy is attracting interest from other performing arts 
companies.

"The MEAA put out a bulletin saying we were finalising this and the 
Australian Ballet has already called for a copy of it to look at to look at 
things they could adopt for their use."

There are two casts of four performers for the child parts in the Lion 
King, working four shows a week. The new agreement allows the children to 
continue their school tutoring and addresses non-acceptable behaviour; with 
a process for reporting, investigating and resolving the issues surrounding 
such behaviour.

The care policy builds on the Juvenile Code of Practice from the Lion King 
performers enterprise agreement.

"It will ensure that the child actors on the production have the best 
experience whilst they are involved", said Mr Hryce. "It will also ensure 
adult performers will enjoy working with their child peers."