From nudity and stunts to the cost of creating them, self-taped auditions have spiraled into a problem for sagaftra members who want protections against potential abuse — and a lightning rod in the actorsstrike. Here's why:
Most actors have faced conflicting audition times or the need to cross town to get from one casting appointment to another in the dystopian zoo of Los Angeles traffic. Many have experienced freezing up in an audition room with the camera on and maybe only one chance to get the take right. And, of course, auditioning for some roles was simply impossible if you lived out of town.
Audition requests may come with the message that professional aesthetics are not expected, he says. “But for artists in a violently competitive industry, that doesn’t address people doing whatever they can to get the job. If there’s an advantage to shooting in 4K, using Lav mics, LED storm lights — they’ll do that. There’s no limit to what they’ll do to get that job. You’ve thrust the burden of production into their lap,” Bledsoe says.
The actor says she has invested hundreds of dollars in a home setup, but also has had to film tapes while on vacation — only to be berated for quality that was not top-notch. One rep refused to submit her self-tape because her backdrop was wrinkled. “There’s definitely an expectation that it be studio quality,” she says. “There’s this promise that you’re going to earn it all back because one day, you’ll land a series regular role. But as we’re seeing, even those folks can’t pay their bills.
The union says AMPTP countered by agreeing in principle to some requests but only on “the honor system,” with no enforcement mechanism in place. The union also states that AMPTP “refused to exclude weekends and holidays” from turnaround time, “rejected disclosing when an offer is out … [requiring] performers to contact production to ask if a role has already been cast. They will only ‘endeavor’ to respond,” and “countered with an unacceptable number of pages.
AMPTP tentatively agreed to union contract demands regarding “limitations on technical requirements,” “slate requirements” , not requiring nudity or stunts in self-tapes, providing music and choreography for dancers rather than requiring them to come up with their own choreography and securely storing self-taped auditions.
Bledsoe says he much prefers human interaction and the chance to ask questions about tone, style and pace.
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