A Message from Co-President Wilbur Fitzgerald

Recently, I took an informal poll of some of our local audition taping services in the Atlanta area, and I even checked with a few of these services in Los Angeles. I wanted to find out just how busy some of these services have been during the television pilot season. As we all know, the days of live auditions before a casting director have been altered dramatically, owing not only to the technology, but due to the short turnarounds that the industry now seems to demand. It is no longer typical for actors to have several days to prepare for an audition. The audition process for film and television now requires faster script analysis and shorter memorization times. Even in some cases of live auditions, actors have to walk in, sign a nondisclosure agreement, and are then handed the sides.

Now that's what you call a cold reading.

My polling of some of the audition taping services confirmed what I’d been hearing from many actors in Atlanta and Los Angeles. The better services are staying booked from early in the morning until late into the evening. Just yesterday, one of my friends told me he had to do a last-minute audition for a television show long after midnight so the file would be on the casting director’s desk by 9 a.m.

Fortunately, my friend has been able to create a high-quality studio in her home and has the luxury of working anytime, provided she can find a willing reader. So what about the actors who may have several auditions in any given week or month? What serves as the most economical way to shoot a high-quality audition? This is an important question because we have also come to realize the self-taped video audition may serve as the only audition we have for a particular role. Many roles in television shows and feature films are being cast directly from the video auditions without any callback.

While it is always nice to get into the room with the director and producer so that the actor can have an opportunity to make a real connection with the decision-makers, those opportunities seem be happening less frequently.

With our individual acting performances, there are many different processes we use to achieve the desired results. I think the same holds true for the various ways we approach our video auditions. I encourage all of you to explore the best ways to shoot auditions by talking to other actors, looking at samples of the work being turned out by the various taping services and, if you do your videos at home, experiment with your lighting, sound and backdrop in order to reach the highest quality to showcase your work. A poor-quality video will only serve to diminish an otherwise solid performance.

If you need any additional incentive to pay more attention to the improving the audition process, then I refer you to the most recent Georgia production report from the state film office, which includes four full theatrical films and more than 12 television series, pilots and TV movies. 

In solidarity,

Wilbur T. Fitzgerald
SAG-AFTRA Co-President