Toni Casala came to California from Colorado in 1987 and got a job representing makeup artists and teachers who work with child actors on sets.

Through that work, she become an expert in the field of child actors, and all the good, the bad and the ugly that goes along with that business. She broke out on her own in 1994, setting up Casala Ltd., which advises parents, agents, producers and others on the rules and regulations of kids working in show biz.

She gets two types of reactions from people when they learn she’s involved in that area of the entertainment world.

“When I tell people about what I do, they’re either really excited or they’re completely aghast and say something like, ‘I’d never let my child be exposed to that,’ ” Casala said.

But for every parent out there who believes that putting their child in front of a camera is a form of abuse, there are scores of parents who are working very hard to make it happen.

For that reason Casala mortgaged her Van Nuys home, invested an initial $50,000 to build a separate company, Childreninfilm.com, and burns through about $15,000 a month for the salaries of added employees. She’s hopeful that the site will begin turning a modest profit within a year by selling advertising and increasing the number of subscribers.

At $13 per subscriber per month, Childreninfilm.com needs to triple its current 390 subscriber base to break even, if it gets no advertising or other income.

The site launched in April with the goal of offering guidance to parents of child actors, from how to get started in the business, to how to get an agent and how to handle success. Childreninfilm.com also provides services to the production side, keeping agents and studios abreast of changes in child labor laws and providing contacts for hiring on-set teachers as required by law.

Parents of wannabe child actors face the risk of spending too much money on photo shoots, acting lessons and fruitless leads to auditions.

Or they don’t know where to start or to whom to turn when they have questions about casting, agents, producers, work permits or money management.

“It’s a freeway out there,” said Judy Belshe of Long Beach-based Belshe-Toernblom, a talent agency that handles child actors. “Parents need a guide to help them navigate through some pretty treacherous waters.”

While there are Web sites that specialize in casting and others that list talent agents and business managers, there is no other Web site that compiles all that information, plus provides consulting and networking.

Subscribers can have access to current labor laws, work permits, studio teachers, agents and auditions.

Helping hand

Carl Sprayberry, a former hotel manager, packed up his two children, Ellrey, 7, and Dylan, 9, several years ago and moved from Houston to Toluca Lake for the sole purpose of getting his children in show business.

Not knowing anyone in Los Angeles, Sprayberry said that he went through five agents, spent thousands of dollars on useless publicity photos and never got anywhere until he met Casala, who initially helped him get Dylan a work permit through her company. He was referred through a casting director.

Casala helped Sprayberry get a legitimate agent and the kids were soon going on auditions. Within a few short months both of his children had landed work and now Ellrey has a starring role in Hallmark Entertainment film “The Soccer Mom,” currently in production.

“When we first started out, I had no idea of how to do anything; how to find out about auditions, how to get an agent, who was a legitimate producer and who wasn’t,” Sprayberry said. “This site is invaluable to parents like us.”

Some of Hollywood’s top producers, agents and even lawyers call on Casala for advice regarding child labors laws, which can vary from state to state.

Talent manager Steven Nash, at Hollywood-based Arts and Letters Management, said that he uses the site nearly every day.

“The area of child labor law is so convoluted that it is nearly impossible to keep up with all the different rules and regulations,” Nash said.

Before Casala had the Web site, Nash had to call the labor board of a particular state where a film or television show was being shot to get the most up-to-date labor information, a process that can take hours. “Now, I just point and click,” Nash said.

Casala first created her Web site as a bulletin board where she could post the latest nuances in child labor laws, work permit forms and a referral service for producers who were looking for on-set teachers.

“I never intended it to be a money-making operation or a social networking site,” she said.

Realizing that parents needed a place where they could seek guidance, she turned the bulletin board into Childreninfilm. Since it launched in April, the Web site has grown through word of mouth to about 10,000 members, about 900 of them being producers, on-set teachers and casting directors.

The site is divided into two sides. The first is for professionals such as casting directors, agents and producers; the other side is devoted to parents. The professional side offers the latest in labor laws, actor profiles and a referral service for studio teachers. The parents’ side features tips on everything from how to act during a casting call to how to handle gossip in a politically correct manner.

Beyond being a reference and referral site, Casala would like to see Childreninfilm become a social network where parents can share their experiences, both good and bad.

“I don’t view this as a casting service or as a legal service,” she said. “I believe that the real value is the social networking aspect of the site.”

For people who live away from Hollywood, the social networking aspect is most important.

“It’s a support group really; a place where us parents can get together and help each other,” said Sydney Linton, who lives in Fargo, N.D.

The future of the site will depend on whether Casala can sell advertising.

“My mission now is to get to get some ad sponsorship,” she said.

Childreninfilm.com

Founded: October 2007

Core Business: Consulting on child actor laws, education and casting

Employees: 4 (who also work for Casala Ltd.)

Goal: To sell advertising on her social networking site for parents of child actors

Driving Force: Child actors and their parents who need guidance for entering and succeeding in the world of show business