Minor release form

What this is about

Shoots with children sit under two protective layers at once. The consent layer: custodians sign, and where custody is shared, one signature is not enough — plus the child's own view gains weight with age. The protection layer: German youth employment law limits hours and times for children working in productions and can require approval from the supervisory authority, with school attendance untouchable. The release form documents the first layer and should reference the second, so the production can prove both were handled.

A template is the starting point, not the goal: once it has been filled in by hand twice, it is worth asking whether the document should come out of the plan instead.

What runs differently here

In planning terms, that means:

• Signature blocks for all custodians, with a declaration covering the custody situation, because a missing second signature invalidates the consent
• The usage scope in language parents accept: which film, which channels, how long — narrower is easier to obtain and usually enough
• A reference to working time rules and any required authority approval, with the responsible production contact named
• Set conditions in writing: accompaniment, breaks, a child-appropriate explanation of what happens, and the right to stop at any time

Step by step

This order gets you there fastest:

1. Clarify the custody situation first and route the form to every person who must sign, well before the shooting day.
2. Check the youth employment rules for the child's age and the shoot's hours, and file for authority approval where required.
3. Write the usage scope no wider than the project needs — parents sign faster for a defined film than for a blanket grant.
4. Plan the shooting day around the child: short blocks, real breaks, school untouched, a parent or trusted adult in sight.
5. Explain the day to the child in their language before the camera appears, including that stopping is allowed.
6. Keep the signed forms and any approvals with the project records, since these are the documents an audit will ask for.

Common pitfalls

What most often goes wrong in practice:

• One parent signs, the other objects after publication — shared custody was never asked about
• An adult shooting day with a child in it, instead of a child's day with adults around it
• Usage worded so broadly that parents refuse, when the project only needed one film on two channels

With TillyGen

Because TillyGen plans scenes with their cast, shooting days involving children are visible early — short blocks, school hours and approval lead times can shape the schedule instead of colliding with it.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.