Inside the Self-Tape Audition Controversy: The Pros, Cons and Costs for Actors
Neal Bledsoe In all my time as an actor, I’ve never experienced a more fraught environment than the one we are in now, and because I keep seeing canaries die in the coal mine, I’m a little curious about the air we’re breathing. The latest troubling indicator: a respected casting agency’s controversial offer to tape auditions for a fee. It all began with a small ad on Instagram in the days leading up to the Academy Awards in March. Betty Mae, the casting office behind “A Star Is Born” and “Euphoria,” would be renting out their vacant studio space — along with camera, lights, a reader and editing — for $130 an hour. This was a no-brainer for Betty Mae: a way to monetize dormant casting suites that had lain vacant since the first days of the pandemic, while simultaneously helping actors navigate the new realities of getting seen. For some working actors however, it was the last straw. Everything that was now being sold to them used to be free.