ABOUT THESELFTAPE
JASON MONTGOMERY
WHAT EXACTLY IS A SELFTAPE
A self tape is a way for an actor to read for a part without actually being in the room with the Casting Director. An actor will receive a request to "put themselves on tape," their agent or someone from casting will email them the sides and instructions and they must now put together what is called a "SELFTAPE"
THE ACTOR MUST:
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Find someone to read opposite them
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Find a place to shoot with proper lighting, sound, & camera
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Find someone to edit, compress, and send your self taped audition online
With the online streaming revolution clearly in place with such great companies as Casting Workbook, Actors Access, Let It Cast, Now Casting, Casting Frontier, knowing how to properly self tape should be an essential part of every actors professional arsenal.
WHY SELFTAPE
There are several reason for an actor to send a self tape. Sometimes you are simply unavailable for the scheduled audition time, whether it be that you are on location shooting, out of town, out of the country, can't get someone to cover your shift at work, etc. More importantly though, a self tape can be used as an amazing tool to,
"get your foot in the door, when you can't actually get in the door."
Many CDs are now accepting electronic submissions, the same way they accept head shots. Only now, thanks to recent advancements in video streaming, those submissions can now be accompanied with an actual taping of the role they are currently looking to fill.
It is the perfect tool for an actor to get seen, discovered, and hopefully land that role. It doesn't stop there either, a self tape can be used in the same way to help you showcase your talents to land an agent or manager!
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GREAT SELF TAPE ARTICLES
THE ART OF SELF-TAPING
By: ANDY HENRY
ACTORS UPLOADING AUDITION VIDEOS TO WEBSITES?
By: CASSIE CARPENTER
WHO WE ARE
THE SELFTAPE was started in 2011 by Jason Montgomery an MFA film school graduate from the New York Film Academy. He began his entertainment career after attending the University at Albany in New York where he was Pre-Law with a double major in Political Theory and Classical Theater. He moved to Los Angeles in the Summer of 2004.
After running the Los Angeles office of Casting Workbook and being part of the casting of over 30 feature films as a Casting Associate at 20th Century Fox, Jason decided to branch out and fill this ever important need for today's actors. He has produced several Free Casting Director workshops as well as lectured BA, and MFA students at USC on emerging digital technologies in the entertainment industry.
He has also spoken on several panels of industry experts most recently at Risa Bramon Garcia's 99 Actors Day.
FRIENDS
CASTING WORKBOOK
Casting Workbook has been innovating casting technology since 1994. They have been pioneers in the online video audition world.
LET IT CAST
Let It Cast is an international casting system used by leading film, TV and stage productions to enable Actors to audition online for free.
20TH CENTURY FOX
A fully integrated 50+ acre facility with the diversity to accommodate full-length features, special events, sitcoms, commercials, music videos, still shoots and a variety of other projects. Welcome to Fox Studios...Come on in!