Diary of a Little Boy’s Big Dream

Jake Sakson is 9. Most of the year he lives with his family in El Jebel, Colo., a tiny hamlet about 20 miles northwest of Aspen where he goes to school, skis as soon as the snow dusts the nearby mountains, plays with his sisters and hangs out with friends. But in the spring, Jake’s world shifts to Los Angeles when he and about 1,500 child actors from around the country descend on the city with dreams of landing a role on a hit show like “Home Improvement,” which brought at least one of its child stars, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, a multimillion-dollar career.

Traditionally, the crush comes from mid-February to May when the networks are casting pilots--the prototypes of shows being considered for a spot on prime-time schedules. Just as most shows don’t get on the air, most of the kids who come here don’t get cast. But there are commercials, as well as TV and feature films, that keep them in town. Casting is increasingly a year-round business, which makes it a tough life for families like Jake’s, who often live apart for months at a time.

The choices would be easier if Jake didn’t love acting--and if he had failed. But ask him how he feels about the business and he says: “I totally love acting. It’s easy for me because I’m already a character.”

When he was in kindergarten, his monologue on the death of a goldfish during a talent agency search secured him a manager there and, soon after, an agent in Los Angeles. Since then, Jake has guest-starred on TV shows including “Chicago Hope,” “7th Heaven,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Boy Meets World” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.” He also has appeared in two feature films, a Nickelodeon pilot and several commercials.

As a top-drawer client of one of Hollywood’s well-known children’s talent agents, Jake is among a handful of out-of-towners who “book” jobs consistently.

“He has done so well the past two seasons,” Jake’s agent, Judy Savage, who runs the Savage Agency, said last winter. “We think this is going to be his year.”

At The Times’ request, the Sakson family kept a journal during the pilot season to illustrate some of the highs and lows in a child actor’s life. The entries were made by Jake and his mother, Stevi.

Dec. 30

We wait anxiously for agent Judy Savage to say it’s time to come. Still slow.

“I advise my clients to bloom where they are planted,” says Savage. “I tell them not to come to Los Angeles unless they have exhausted every possibility in their own communities. Here, they will compete against thousands of local kids who are known to casting agents, directors and producers. Unless the child is unusually talented, the odds are long and rarely worth the expense and family sacrifice involved.”

In the case of Jake, she says, he is unusually talented.

Jan. 5

We get the call. “7th Heaven” [filmed last season] has scheduled a looping [in-studio technique of matching voice to picture] on Jan. 14. Our travel dates are now set.

Jan. 8

Manager calls and says, “I guess you are ready to go. You have an audition Monday at 3 p.m.!”

Jan. 9

We panic to get to “Panic,” a movie-of-the-week audition. Mom stays up all night to pack because she can’t do it when baby Andra is awake. Dad adjusts his schedule to drive us. We were planning to leave on the 12th, but do you ever say no to an agent or manager?

Stevi Sakson doesn’t consider herself a stage mother. “There are three kinds of mothers in this business: those who wanted to be actors themselves; others who are pushing their children because they want money or fame; and mothers like me who are involved because acting is their child’s passion,” Stevi says.

Jake may be passionate about performing, but acting is not his only interest. He is also an accomplished student, pianist and athlete. At 4, Jake was a top-ranked ski racer in his age group. Unfortunately, the peak season for skiers overlaps the peak season for actors.

“Every winter, after a great day of skiing, I take Jake’s little face in my hands and ask him whether he wants to stay and ski or go to L.A. for pilot season, hoping against hope that he will choose to stay home,” Stevi says.

Jake chooses acting.

“I love it, I have to. I have fun adventures and meet so many interesting people who teach me things,” Jake says. “Even when I play sad parts about children from divorced families or going through disasters, I feel good about helping the people who watch.”

And so for Jake, four of five Saksons make the yearly trek from Colorado to the one-bedroom apartment in North Hollywood that serves as headquarters for Jake’s acting career. This means that Jake, his mother and sisters Sophie, 6, and Andra, 1 1/2, must leave father Drew--who stays behind to run his mortgage business--for up to eight months a year.

The Saksons wouldn’t come if directors and producers didn’t keep telling them how talented Jake is. This is the ratio most parents rely on: If a child books 1 in 20 auditions, they’re doing very well. Last season, Jake booked 1 in 7.

Jan. 22

First call on a movie of the week called “Soul Collector.” We love the script, Jake seems perfect, a born cowboy. At 7 p.m., manager calls--”Soul Collector” wants to see Jake on tape. A great sign! We scramble to piece together Jake’s latest clips.

Jan. 23

Jake’s friend Alec spends the weekend. Amen. Finally, a friend to hang out with. The only way they can really get together.

Feb. 23

Finally! “Soul Collector” second call. We were told not to “prop our audition,” but Jake’s friend [not Alec] shows up in complete cowboy garb. Jake’s friend books the job! We are happy/sad.

Stevi Sakson spends five hours a day home-schooling, and in the afternoons she drives Jake and Sophie to auditions, piano and ballet lessons. This schedule makes it difficult for them to develop friendships. For Stevi, the acting life can get very lonely. But she quickly pushes back those feelings when the pager goes off and the children begin chanting, “call back, call back!”

“My friends think I am cuckoo for living this way,” Stevi says. When she contemplates taking a break, Jake’s agent reminds her that the time to take a break is when Jake’s career slows down--not while he’s hot. He could grow a foot over the summer and that could change everything.

“My husband says, ‘We’ve come this far, everything is going so well for Jake, we can’t stop now,’ ” says Stevi.

Feb. 9

Three auditions today. Straight to producer for the television series “Charmed.” Looks good. Aaron Spelling already loves Jake from “7th Heaven.” “Charmed” runs long, making other auditions look impossible. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we manage to get all three.

Jake books “Charmed” and a Bell Atlantic commercial! This is why we keep coming back. We celebrate with Sophie and Andra singing, dancing, laughing. We call Dad and grandparents and walk on clouds for days.

March 5

Straight to producer for “Sports Night.” We see our regular competitors. We ask to audition first because we have another call. By the time we get to the second call, Jake books “Sports Night”! A great part.

March 8 and 9

Having a blast on “Sports Night”! Everyone positive and complimentary.

March 10

10:30 a.m. See a writer-producer and ask how it’s going. He makes the thumbs-up sign and says, “Jake is right on.” I’m thrilled, tell Jake all is well.

At 11:30 a.m. I’m called to see the same writer-producer, who says he is replacing Jake. What? This can’t be real!

“We made a mistake,” the producer says, “we need an older, tougher character instead.” So crushed we consider going home!

“Parents look at children on television and think [their] kid could do that. What they don’t see are the 20 or more kids who weren’t cast in that part,” says Dr. Jeanne Russell, a former child actor and head of the Young Performers Committee for the Screen Actors Guild.

“You should know that your odds are much better going to Las Vegas. It’s typical for a child to go out on a hundred auditions before booking,” adds Russell, who was one that beat the odds, playing Margaret on TV’s “Dennis the Menace” in the early ‘60s.

The numbers are anything but encouraging. Only 1% of Screen Actors Guild members make a living by acting, and only 3% make more than $10,000 a year. If a young actor is lucky enough to book a bit part in a pilot, he or she might make $5,000. And, of course, out of that comes a percentage for the agent, manager and taxes. What’s left rarely covers expenses.

On the other hand, a national commercial, which takes one to three days to tape, can earn an actor $80,000 or more with residuals, and beginning salaries for kids on a network series are about $6,000 a week.

March 11

Audition for “Eli’s Theory,” television pilot, lead.

March 16

No word on “Eli’s Theory.” According to manager, this is the part for Jake. A 6-year-old genius! Word is they want a real 6-year-old, but everyone knows the part’s too hard! In the end, another 9-year-old books it. Jake’s devastated.

March 19

“Malcolm in the Middle” [a Fox pilot], another child genius part, but now we are too small. A 13-year-old books. Guess Jake is not going to play the child genius this year.

March 23

“Going Home,” an adorable 6-year-old part about a kid befriending an elderly man and helping him to enjoy life again. We’re worried that the part may read too young for Jake, so we dress him “small” in shorts.

At final call, Jake is the smallest one by far. Very excited about this one, but audition goes similar to last one.

April 8

I drive like a lunatic to West L.A. Andra refused to get dressed and rides naked. We have a fender bender.

Jake runs up to audition alone, reads 1 1/2 lines and gets a callback on the spot. Second audition is a callback for Disney movie of the week “Don’t Look Under the Bed.” Jake is excited about this action-adventure film but wary, since last season he had four callbacks on another Disney project that didn’t work out.

April 12

No word on “Don’t Look Under the Bed.” Oh well!

We’re anxious to see Drew and get out of this deathly slow season. Planning a trip to my brother’s wedding back East when I see an air fare deal on TV. Let’s go! I call agent to confirm “Don’t Look Under the Bed” is dead. A day later, surprise, Jake is booked for “Under the Bed”! Four weeks’ work filming in Utah! Thank God! Now we can go home on a positive note.

While Jake has done well this season, most children did not.

“This [is] the worst pilot season for children I have seen in my 20 years as an agent. There were only a handful of parts for children and preteens,” Savage says.

The popularity of the television series “Dawson’s Creek” and “Felicity” has encouraged many production companies to target the teen and young adult market. So actors age 18 to 21 (who could pass for 16) went out on three and four auditions a day, while children were lucky to get one call a week for a TV show or film.

April 23

Back-to-back calls: First, a producer’s call at “Chicago Hope” that runs long. We barely make second call for TV show “Hang Time.”

I pat him on the back and say, “Have fun! Take some risks! Who cares anyway? We are going to Salt Lake!”

Jake does it again! Manager calls him a booking animal! Maybe we should keep our apartment after all.

Despite a disappointing season for child actors, Jake achieved his personal best this spring, booking four out of 20 theatrical auditions and one of 27 commercial auditions. But he didn’t get a TV series, or a lead in a feature film--the kind of roles that tend to lock in a career.

“Jake had a fantastic time on ‘Don’t Look Under the Bed.’ It was his biggest part yet, and a terrific experience for him,” Stevi says. For his work on the Disney movie, which is set to air on ABC this fall, Jake earned about $10,000. Most of his television jobs earn him between $1,000 and $2,500.

Financially, it’s still a struggle; what Jake earns barely covers the costs of the trips to Los Angeles. “Jake understands that the stresses we experience as an acting family could be made better with more money, and though we try to protect him from that, he still feels the pressure,” says Stevi.

In June, the Saksons returned to their regular life in Colorado. After two months at home, Stevi says, “I can’t go back. I’m not going back. We’re not making any money, we’re not making a career. My girls adore their dad, and I can’t imagine separating them again. It’s not good for the family.”

Aug. 5

We’re scheduled to come to Los Angeles for a looping Aug. 23. This scares me. The last time we came for a looping, one job led to another and we stayed for five months.