Self Tape Basics for Actors

In this episode, talent agent Anthony Boyer and manager Jess Canty dive into essential audition terminology for aspiring actors, focusing on the most important tips and lingo every beginner needs to know.

Learn how to set up your self-tape audition with simple tools like your smartphone and natural lighting, understand key terms, and know the difference between sites like Breakdown Services and Casting Networks.

We also highlight why you should never post your self-tapes publicly, the importance of following instructions, and how to keep your self-tapes organized for future opportunities with agents and managers.

This episode is packed with valuable insights to help you navigate the audition process and avoid common mistakes in your early acting career. This is a bite-sized version of our longer episode on audition techniques, part of our Take Fountain: Fast Lane series—made for actors who want fast, focused insights on the business of acting. 

#SelfTapeTips #ActorLife #AuditionAdvice #SelfTapingForActors #ActingCareer #CastingTips #TakeFountain #FastLane

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello from Hollywood.
My name is Anthony Boyer.
And I'm Jess Canty.
And today on Take Fountain,
we're gonna talk about audition terminology.
During the course of your acting career, you are going
to audition a lot.
You're gonna audition a lot more than you're actually
going to film.
It is very likely.

(00:20):
Uh, so one of the things that people struggle
with when they first get out to Hollywood, I find,
is just knowing the terminology. Would you
Agree? Agreed.
Absolutely. Agreed.
There's a lot of lingo in the entertainment industry in
general, and auditions are no exception.
Yeah. And so there are different, a few different kinds
of ways that auditions are held these days.
It used to be you'd get an audition, you'd go there,

(00:42):
you know, at five o'clock in the, in the afternoon,
you'd fight traffic, take it to Santa Monica,
you would say you're two lines and leave.
It's changed a lot since then. It's true.
The majority of auditions you do are actually going
to be self tape these days.
Um, do you wanna talk a little bit about
what the self tape audition looks like?
Sure, absolutely. So if you're self taping,
there's a couple ways of doing this.

(01:03):
You can do it at home with a reader of your choice,
a friend, a roommate, a spouse, stranger, a stranger.
Um, and you, you know,
we've talked about this in another video,
but a simple setup.
Your, you know, smartphone plus a natural lighting source
and a plain wall is enough for a self-tape audition at home.

(01:26):
You don't have to get super fancy with it all the way up
to professional photography backdrops.
We always recommend that
you don't invest in more expensive equipment
until your acting business can afford it.
So that is the first way of self taping.
You can also tape at a self-taped studio.

(01:46):
There is a number of them in town.
Most major markets will have self-taped studios
where they're gonna provide all that equipment for you.
They're going to actually even often edit the video for you
and send you the link that you can send off to your agent
or manager or the casting director directly, depending on
how you're getting that audition notification. Yeah.

(02:06):
And so to jump into some of the terminology, um,
there are two ways, obviously.
Let's say that you're using your phone in particular,
you might shoot horizontally or vertically,
or would you agree unless asked
specifically for vertical video?
You should shoot horizontally.
100%. The default is horizontal.
Quite often you'll see in the instructions,
please shoot horizontally.

(02:28):
That's what they mean if you're using an iPhone.
They, they do not want that,
that vertical video aspect ratio.
So most theatrical auditions that are self tape are coming
through breakdown services slash actors access
two sides of the same company.
We've covered that in another video.
Um, they have a self taping service,

(02:53):
which allows you to upload your tapes directly
to Eco Cast, that's what it's called.
And that gets sent through either to your agent manager
or sometimes directly to casting.
Um, if you see on there,
another term you'll see in there is direct submit.
Okay. So if it's set to direct submit, that will go straight
through to the casting director.
If you don't see that it, if it says direct submit, no,

(03:15):
it's gonna go to your rep
before it gets sent onto the casting director.
So breakdown services, most likely a theatrical audition.
Casting networks is gonna be commercial auditions.
They have recently added a function
where you can upload videos your auditions
directly in casting networks.

(03:36):
That's relatively new.
The primary thing is always follow the instructions
and ask your rep
questions if you don't understand some terminology.
Yeah, exactly. Um,
and then the very most important thing about any taped
audition or really any audition at all,
do not post it publicly.
Yes. Never post it publicly.

(03:57):
Um, that is something
that sometimes it will even violate an NDA.
It's always problematic. There's really no benefit to it.
Avoid the temptation to post your auditions publicly.
Yeah, I I'm gonna say it as well, just to emphasize it.
Do not Yeah. Ever post your auditions to social media,

(04:17):
any other public platform without permission.
There are times where after you have booked a role
and you actually film that episode, or film that movie,
and that movie or episode has been released to the public.
Right. That it is probably okay to at that point

(04:41):
post it and show, Hey, this is the audition
for this role. I thought even
Then I would get permission. But
I was gonna say, yeah, but you're still gonna
wanna get permission to do that.
Yeah. You have to remember that the script
that you're working off of is copywritten material
that you do not own.
It is property of the company that paid to have

(05:02):
that created and written.
So a major studio, a TV network.
And that is why we just always say,
do not post it because it is not your,
you don't own that material. Right?
Yeah. Um, yeah.
And also, you know, someone is going to book that job Yeah.
And someone is going to create that performance

(05:24):
under different conditions.
And it's just, it's just it. There's no benefit to it.
No, just don't do it. Yeah. Don't post it publicly,
But hold onto yourself tapes because you know, oh yeah.
When looking for an agent
or a manager, if you taped for a large role on something,
you gotta call back on something that's a very popular show.

(05:47):
And that can be a really good way of showing your work,
even if you didn't actually book the job.
So we encourage you to keep your tapes
and keep them organized and labeled,
but uh, don't post them to so social media,
Don't post them publicly at all, ever.
Thank you so much for watching. Again, I'm Anthony Boyer.
This is Jess Caney. Thanks so much for watching.