For a little perspective on the world of self-tapes... I’ve watched around 3600 tapes from the OH-riginal Challenge. Of those... I’d say maybe 10% followed ALL of the instructions explicitly. (Label, slate, length and the starting prompt being the only real instructions.)

This is not to mention the 1000 or so tapes that were emailed to me after the deadline. (They are not in contention for the contest. Rules are rules.)

No one is being discounted from this contest for the way they labeled their tape or how/where they included their slate, and I’m also giving grace to folks who are slightly over the time limit.

That said, please take good care to follow taping instructions for real auditions. Certainly, CDs can (and will) be forgiving of a lot of self-tape issues, but this is going to be the way of the world for awhile and following instructions shows your professionalism.

I’ve noticed that actors who take my self-tape classes are taking better care (without my prompting) to focus on each detail in the instructions I send them... from what they need to say in their slate to how many takes they can/should send, etc.

There is a lot of minutiae that goes into self-taping (preaching to the choir, I know,) and a lot of details that help CDs keep track of these tapes. All of these instructions exist for a purpose (and that purpose is certainly not to annoy you or test you.)

For example, a project I cast required actors to sign NDAs before receiving sides. (Par for the course these days...) I asked actors to upload their signed NDAs and to include their email address in the label of their PDF so I knew where to send the sides.

About 75% of the actors followed instructions and received their sides quickly with plenty of time to prep, tape and send it in.

The other 25% had to be hunted down via their reps (couldn’t send sides to the reps, had to go right to the actors,) and depending on the timing of that effort received their sides late or *very* late.

(This will come as no surprise, but the folks who got their sides very late didn’t turn in a great tape, if they turned in anything at all.)

All of this to say... pay attention to your self-tape instructions. There is a lot of info in there that helps you AND Casting. #DidntAnticipateThisThreadBeingSoLong

And please forgive the terrible grammar and overuse of parenthetical notes in this thread. I haven’t tweeted in awhile (3600 tapes, y’all,) and apparently I’ve forgotten how to form a coherent, succinct thought. #BrainMelting #MillionthDayOfQuarantine