Hey Dean! I love your idea! I’ve always felt like actors get kind of screwed in the early stages of the process and I think your idea is a great one, help with communication and add a small chunk of change to our pockets for all the work we do for a job we almost never get 😅
Hey Dean, Thanks for this video. I'm a UK based actor and you've hit the nail on the head. Some of the platforms (e.g. mandy, backstage etc) have endless posts of crap jobs where the producer is asking for a self-tape just to APPLY. Can you imagine this? Hundreds of applicants all recording self-tapes, 90% of which won't even be viewed because they look at your headshot first. If they don't think you fit the role, there's no way they'll watch the self-tape you may have spent hours producing. The point you make about never hearing back is also spot on. When you get asked by a casting director to record a self-tape, it means you have been narrowed down out of (generally) hundreds or even thousands of other applicants. To then hear nothing, which is the case 99% of the time, is very demoralising. Surely it can't be hard to send a one email to the 5 or 10 people that did the self tape saying thanks but we're going with another actor? I know you give a reason for this in your video, but as you and a few decent CDS do, you find a work around. It seems that if you are an actor your time is worth less than everybody else's! As you say, they rely on people being ingratiatingly grateful to get the opportunity to apply for their fabulous job!
Dean, really loving your channel! I remember watching your cross country train video some time ago and lo and behold, you're a fellow filmmaker! Funnily enough I'm coming across this video as I wait for my audition files to upload to casting after receiving multiple requests hours ago and having them due in the morning. Tonight was easily 5-6 hours of work setting up camera and lights, crafting characters, rehearsing, doing multiple takes, editing and delivering...and to be honest, I've been doing this dance for so long, it never occurred to me to consider the thought of being paid. I've always seen it as part of the grind, putting in the work to achieve desired results with no guarantee of a booking or follow up (a follow up would be awesome), and I've been OK with that. All the hours spent each year doing this doesn't feel like a chore (most of the time, lol). When you choose to dedicate your life to being an actor you have to be prepared to make some smart and hard decisions. It's having another source of income until bookings are consistent and finding enjoyment in the process of getting the opportunity to craft a character even when it doesn't lead to you playing the character. It's staying up late to submit an audition because it has to be quality and can't be rushed even if you're a little tired. It's a marathon not a sprint. I like the challenge because the eventual reward is SO WORTH IT. Would it be awesome to be paid per audition? Absolutely. Maybe that would help producers get more specific with what they choose to ask for therefore helping the process? Maybe it would cause them to request even less people to audition to save production costs? I don't know. I don't feel treated unfairly or taken advantage of (for the most part, lol). The only thing that really bothers me is not having ENOUGH time to craft a character for an audition if given too many pages and a very short turnaround, so anything to prevent that is nice. Thanks for making a video on this!
Heavily disagree with this entire video because it’ll actually lead to less opportunities. There should definitely be an improvement with how actors are treated and how the process goes but if they are required to pay everyone to auditions, they’re going to close ranks or only offer the chance to a few people. It’ll lead to less opportunities to even be able to audition and get your work seen
That's kind of the whole point. Actors often get called in to audition for parts they KNOW they're not going to book, but they have to do it because, again, the lottery. If producers did their job and winnowed the potential pool to 200 people they ACTUALLY think are good for the role as opposed to just casting a wide 1,000 person net I think everybody actually benefits.
@@deanpeter2on Sure, in some circumstances where they know they're not gonna book someone or there's an offer out already, maybe it saves time but that's definitely not the case with the majority of roles. There's plenty of roles where I've cast a wide net and found someone unexpected that worked out great but might not have gotten into a select 5-10 people that maybe my budget could afford. There's a lot of ways to reform the audition process but countless actors would miss out on big breaks if this would become the norm
Completely agree with you. This reminds me of a call I recently saw: a company did a competition where people could do a 10 second logo film for them and send it in, and the film they would choose would get 1000€ prize. I found this so outrageous because they just want it brought to them, without any commitment whatsoever. If they hired an agency or creative to do this for them, they’d probably pay more and be „stuck“ with just one result. And they wouldn’t want that, right?
Can someone with more knowledge and experience on this topic answer a question for me? If studios had to pay actors to audition would the talent pool they select from shrink because they don’t want to waste money auditioning tons of actors they probably won’t want to cast anyway?
One does not need knowledge and experience on the topic to draw that obvious conclusion. Just know about humans and business. This is how roles get cast by back office deals with established players, effectively shutting out unknown or lesser-known talent.
If they had 1,000 people prepare a 3 page audition we’re talking $15,000. That’s what studios spend on printer paper in a day. This is a rounding error for them.
We have the same s**t here in germany. A little bit more fair tbh but still its insane. We don't have to edit the footage if we don't want to. But what I dont understand its sometimes just "look into the camera and say one sentence". Thats it. And I have a showreel that just shows that I am capable of looking into the camera and say one sentence... like almost everyone does. Also I also produced some stiff and casted and the sad thing was that some actors thanked that we notified them that they didn't get the part, because almost noone does that...
If you get paid even for auditions, wouldn’t that just decrease the passion to become an actor as people can easily say i can make a living just by auditioning and don’t need to be an actor? Because acting industry is a hot business only because of these auditions and shouldn’t it keep like that in order to keep it interesting to people? It’s just like how once something is easily accessible the value of it decreases
thank you for demystifying all this. I work in games and there’s a similar degree of ridiculousness in many ways. it’s good to see we’re not alone and that people are calling it out.
People comparing auditions with job interviews are comparing apples and oranges. Actors are asked to actually work instead of just an interview. Imagine if instead of job interview you would be asked to do 2 to 5 hours of work, unpaid, just to see if you ‘’fit in’’. That’s what actors have to go through on a regular basis. Great content by the way!
Have you ever had a job? Nobody has ever gotten paid for applying for a job, or driving to the interview, or the time you spent at home preparing for an interview.
Applying for a job shouldn’t be paid, that’s not what I said nor is it what he said. If you’re working or asked to do something work related, then it should be paid. I work in architecture and it happened to me once where I was asked to work for 2 hours on a project to see if I had what it takes. I wasn’t paid for this, I walked away. The whole point here isn’t to get paid for an interview, but to get paid for work you’re doing, because otherwise you’re being used.
@@JeanClaudeB If the work you produce during your interview/audition is used commercially by the company/production team, then you should be compensated. That is not what the video is asking, he is asking that actors are paid for preparing for auditions, that would never be used commercially, if the actor doesn't like it they can say no (like you did in your example), but more that likely they will not get the part for saying no. But that is not the production companies fault, other actors obviously want it more and are willing to jump through more hoops.
You have got to be kidding me.. every trade in the world needs to sell itself in order to get hired. Selling yourself involves investing time and resources to present an attractive option for the potential customer. An audition or audition tape is simply selling yourself. Try working any other trade in the world, sir.
I hear what you're saying but I think the acting audition system is unique. Video productions often request editors to do unpaid "editing tests" which is similar, but the majority of them don't require that and many people opt to not do them and are still able to get jobs. Self tapes and auditions are de rigueur for actors to book any work. People who build tables don't get an email from a customer asking them to build a free sample table that night, then have them build another one a few days later, then never respond to them.
You posted a video and caused me to comment, that was labor. PAY ME. Unlike an ER doctor, when an actor gets a notice about an audition, the actor is NOT required to act like an ER doctor. I get your point, pay actors for more stuff, but auditions do not seem to be the right thing. An audition is categorically not 'performing a job' but rather an attempt to get one; so why in the world would you be paid for? Just because you "labor" does not mean someone has a duty to pay you for it; it really depends on why you are "laboring". Doing an audition is a choice to attemp to get a job THEN get paid. Would you agree with the argument for Walmart and Target prospective employees? No, you would think its stupid cause it is.
auditions are interviews. so should every company everywhere have to pay people to interview them. HELL NO. this thought that you have to be paid to be interviewed is so entitled that it sounds like a karen wrote it
Man, I love your content, but please, please stop with the 90-whatever percent is not subscribed. It's super cringey and it will eventually get me to unsubscribe.
Asking that much from someone and not even thanking them for their time is, in my opinion, extremely unprofessional.
I agree!
Hey Dean! I love your idea! I’ve always felt like actors get kind of screwed in the early stages of the process and I think your idea is a great one, help with communication and add a small chunk of change to our pockets for all the work we do for a job we almost never get 😅
Hey Dean,
Thanks for this video. I'm a UK based actor and you've hit the nail on the head. Some of the platforms (e.g. mandy, backstage etc) have endless posts of crap jobs where the producer is asking for a self-tape just to APPLY. Can you imagine this? Hundreds of applicants all recording self-tapes, 90% of which won't even be viewed because they look at your headshot first. If they don't think you fit the role, there's no way they'll watch the self-tape you may have spent hours producing. The point you make about never hearing back is also spot on. When you get asked by a casting director to record a self-tape, it means you have been narrowed down out of (generally) hundreds or even thousands of other applicants. To then hear nothing, which is the case 99% of the time, is very demoralising. Surely it can't be hard to send a one email to the 5 or 10 people that did the self tape saying thanks but we're going with another actor? I know you give a reason for this in your video, but as you and a few decent CDS do, you find a work around. It seems that if you are an actor your time is worth less than everybody else's! As you say, they rely on people being ingratiatingly grateful to get the opportunity to apply for their fabulous job!
Dean, really loving your channel! I remember watching your cross country train video some time ago and lo and behold, you're a fellow filmmaker! Funnily enough I'm coming across this video as I wait for my audition files to upload to casting after receiving multiple requests hours ago and having them due in the morning. Tonight was easily 5-6 hours of work setting up camera and lights, crafting characters, rehearsing, doing multiple takes, editing and delivering...and to be honest, I've been doing this dance for so long, it never occurred to me to consider the thought of being paid. I've always seen it as part of the grind, putting in the work to achieve desired results with no guarantee of a booking or follow up (a follow up would be awesome), and I've been OK with that.
All the hours spent each year doing this doesn't feel like a chore (most of the time, lol). When you choose to dedicate your life to being an actor you have to be prepared to make some smart and hard decisions. It's having another source of income until bookings are consistent and finding enjoyment in the process of getting the opportunity to craft a character even when it doesn't lead to you playing the character. It's staying up late to submit an audition because it has to be quality and can't be rushed even if you're a little tired. It's a marathon not a sprint. I like the challenge because the eventual reward is SO WORTH IT. Would it be awesome to be paid per audition? Absolutely. Maybe that would help producers get more specific with what they choose to ask for therefore helping the process? Maybe it would cause them to request even less people to audition to save production costs? I don't know. I don't feel treated unfairly or taken advantage of (for the most part, lol). The only thing that really bothers me is not having ENOUGH time to craft a character for an audition if given too many pages and a very short turnaround, so anything to prevent that is nice.
Thanks for making a video on this!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Is this just in regards to large productions? What about the indie small productions that can’t afford that?
Like I said in the video, it could be like SAG rates where it’s a sliding scale based on budget size and maybe a waiver for micro budget films?
@@deanpeter2on 👍
Heavily disagree with this entire video because it’ll actually lead to less opportunities. There should definitely be an improvement with how actors are treated and how the process goes but if they are required to pay everyone to auditions, they’re going to close ranks or only offer the chance to a few people. It’ll lead to less opportunities to even be able to audition and get your work seen
That's kind of the whole point. Actors often get called in to audition for parts they KNOW they're not going to book, but they have to do it because, again, the lottery. If producers did their job and winnowed the potential pool to 200 people they ACTUALLY think are good for the role as opposed to just casting a wide 1,000 person net I think everybody actually benefits.
@@deanpeter2on Sure, in some circumstances where they know they're not gonna book someone or there's an offer out already, maybe it saves time but that's definitely not the case with the majority of roles. There's plenty of roles where I've cast a wide net and found someone unexpected that worked out great but might not have gotten into a select 5-10 people that maybe my budget could afford. There's a lot of ways to reform the audition process but countless actors would miss out on big breaks if this would become the norm
It sucks for stage actors, too. Even in places like NYC- the center of professional theatre in the US- auditioning is a full-time job for many people.
Oh man the way theatre actors are exploited could the subject of an entire other video.
Completely agree with you.
This reminds me of a call I recently saw: a company did a competition where people could do a 10 second logo film for them and send it in, and the film they would choose would get 1000€ prize. I found this so outrageous because they just want it brought to them, without any commitment whatsoever. If they hired an agency or creative to do this for them, they’d probably pay more and be „stuck“ with just one result. And they wouldn’t want that, right?
Can someone with more knowledge and experience on this topic answer a question for me?
If studios had to pay actors to audition would the talent pool they select from shrink because they don’t want to waste money auditioning tons of actors they probably won’t want to cast anyway?
One does not need knowledge and experience on the topic to draw that obvious conclusion. Just know about humans and business. This is how roles get cast by back office deals with established players, effectively shutting out unknown or lesser-known talent.
If they had 1,000 people prepare a 3 page audition we’re talking $15,000. That’s what studios spend on printer paper in a day. This is a rounding error for them.
We have the same s**t here in germany. A little bit more fair tbh but still its insane. We don't have to edit the footage if we don't want to. But what I dont understand its sometimes just "look into the camera and say one sentence". Thats it. And I have a showreel that just shows that I am capable of looking into the camera and say one sentence... like almost everyone does.
Also I also produced some stiff and casted and the sad thing was that some actors thanked that we notified them that they didn't get the part, because almost noone does that...
If you get paid even for auditions, wouldn’t that just decrease the passion to become an actor as people can easily say i can make a living just by auditioning and don’t need to be an actor? Because acting industry is a hot business only because of these auditions and shouldn’t it keep like that in order to keep it interesting to people? It’s just like how once something is easily accessible the value of it decreases
You still have to get called in to audition. Not anybody can just walk off the street to do it.
Great insight into the industry, Dean. Let's make it more egalitarian for all!
I agree!
The same reason why i left modelling. Same problem
It’s common in way too many industries.
thank you for demystifying all this. I work in games and there’s a similar degree of ridiculousness in many ways. it’s good to see we’re not alone and that people are calling it out.
Video editing is the same way. Plenty of people require unpaid “editing tests” to interview.
People comparing auditions with job interviews are comparing apples and oranges. Actors are asked to actually work instead of just an interview. Imagine if instead of job interview you would be asked to do 2 to 5 hours of work, unpaid, just to see if you ‘’fit in’’. That’s what actors have to go through on a regular basis. Great content by the way!
You’re spot on 🎯
Try doing a tech interview
Have you ever had a job? Nobody has ever gotten paid for applying for a job, or driving to the interview, or the time you spent at home preparing for an interview.
Applying for a job shouldn’t be paid, that’s not what I said nor is it what he said. If you’re working or asked to do something work related, then it should be paid. I work in architecture and it happened to me once where I was asked to work for 2 hours on a project to see if I had what it takes. I wasn’t paid for this, I walked away. The whole point here isn’t to get paid for an interview, but to get paid for work you’re doing, because otherwise you’re being used.
@@JeanClaudeB If the work you produce during your interview/audition is used commercially by the company/production team, then you should be compensated. That is not what the video is asking, he is asking that actors are paid for preparing for auditions, that would never be used commercially, if the actor doesn't like it they can say no (like you did in your example), but more that likely they will not get the part for saying no. But that is not the production companies fault, other actors obviously want it more and are willing to jump through more hoops.
This is genius
You have got to be kidding me.. every trade in the world needs to sell itself in order to get hired. Selling yourself involves investing time and resources to present an attractive option for the potential customer. An audition or audition tape is simply selling yourself. Try working any other trade in the world, sir.
I hear what you're saying but I think the acting audition system is unique. Video productions often request editors to do unpaid "editing tests" which is similar, but the majority of them don't require that and many people opt to not do them and are still able to get jobs. Self tapes and auditions are de rigueur for actors to book any work. People who build tables don't get an email from a customer asking them to build a free sample table that night, then have them build another one a few days later, then never respond to them.
@@deanpeter2onare you seriously comparing a self tape to actual labor?
Preach! 🙌
You posted a video and caused me to comment, that was labor. PAY ME. Unlike an ER doctor, when an actor gets a notice about an audition, the actor is NOT required to act like an ER doctor. I get your point, pay actors for more stuff, but auditions do not seem to be the right thing. An audition is categorically not 'performing a job' but rather an attempt to get one; so why in the world would you be paid for? Just because you "labor" does not mean someone has a duty to pay you for it; it really depends on why you are "laboring". Doing an audition is a choice to attemp to get a job THEN get paid. Would you agree with the argument for Walmart and Target prospective employees? No, you would think its stupid cause it is.
What’s your Venmo I’ll compensate you for your hard work.
lol buy yourself a meal@@deanpeter2on
auditions are interviews. so should every company everywhere have to pay people to interview them. HELL NO. this thought that you have to be paid to be interviewed is so entitled that it sounds like a karen wrote it
Ok
I'll have to remember to tell the person interviewing me for my next job... that they have to pay me for the privilege of interviewing me! 😎
Ok
Man, I love your content, but please, please stop with the 90-whatever percent is not subscribed. It's super cringey and it will eventually get me to unsubscribe.
I'm sorry for being cringe!
@@deanpeter2onit’s not cringe, you’re not cringe. Keep doing your thing.
I also agree, it isn’t cringe.
Keep doing what you’re doing Dean, it’s not cringey, I had a good laugh 😂