“Put Yourself on Tape” - Auditions

As a Casting Director, former Warner Bros. and Fox Broadcasting Talent & Casting Executive, and as an established Acting Coach, I’ve conducted thousands of in person and taped auditions.  I always prefer face to face auditions and I also prefer to put actors on tape in my office when tapes are requested and/or needed by producers and directors.  But today, more and more, actors are told to go put themselves on tape.  I’ve written about this before and I undoubtedly will again, but my heart goes out to actors -- especially actors who don’t have a tech-savvy friend to help them with the taping, reading, lighting, etc. 

And my heart really goes out to the dedicated parents of kids in the business, or just starting out, who have to act as their child’s cinematographer, director, and often, their reader as well.  This week alone I worked with several terrific kids and their moms.  One mom in particular was exasperated because her son’s manager wanted to be absolutely certain he had a top notch submission so she called me. I’ve worked with this family for quite some time and I empathize with her frustration.  Really it’s the parent’s job to get their child up, dressed, to school, and then to the audition.  It’s really not the parent’s job to have to produce an impressive video that’s professional enough to capture a callback and/or booking. 

I coached her child and my team put a great looking presentation together.  And the results were impressive.  But it saddens me that parents need to take on this huge responsibility along with all their other “duties”.  Also, when any actor submits a tape there’s no benefit of direction, of asking a question that could make a big difference, or of having the casting office film it so that the lighting, direction, and overall look of the finished product is what it should be.  And the biggest question of all is --- did the casting people look at your audition at all, and if so, did they watch it in its entirety, or just a few seconds of it.  Personally, I believe that in person auditions shine over the majority of self-tapes.  Just sayin’.....

I hope you all book your next audition and I wish you all the best of luck!

Melissa Skoff   www.melissaskoffacting.com   

Casting Director/Acting Coach/Producer