Best Practices for Self-Tapes

While it is agreed that it is in the best interests of the Theatre, Artists and the process of live performance for auditions to be held in person, if a Theatre wishes to audition an Actor who is unable to attend in-person, the Theatre may accept self-tapes or arrange for video conferencing. The Theatre may also choose to audition Actors by digital means should that be necessary because of the remote location of the Theatre or Artist, or for reasons of public health as determined by the local or provincial public health authority. The Theatre must provide the Actor with clear instructions regarding the submission of videos, including technical requirements. Submissions must not be publicly distributed by the Theatre and must be destroyed at the end of the casting process.

Requests for self-tapes must be made by the Theatre at least five (5) days prior to submission deadline.

Regardless of whether an audition is held in-person or by digital means, the audition must comply with the terms found in the ITA. Additionally, in consideration of the time requirements and potential expenses of self-tapes, Theatres should consider the following best practices:

Material

1. Guidance should be provided to the Artist in regard to the tone, style, and any other aspects of the creative vision of the project.
2. Clear instructions on technical requirements should be given for both the recording and submission of self-tapes (e.g. framing, file format, maximum file size, where/how to upload, etc.).
3. Accessibility should be considered when providing audition material. PDFs and other documents should always be compatible with existing free screen readers. Additionally, the Theatre should be made aware of any accommodations that D/deaf and Disabled Artists may require to submit a self-tape.
4. Artists should be well lit and audible so they can be seen and clearly heard. However, self-taped auditions should not be evaluated based on an Artist’s equipment, set-up, backdrop, technical abilities and/or recording quality (e.g. lighting and camera).

Limitations

1. A Theatre should only request as much material and as many self-tapes as they have sufficient time to review and consider.
2. Theatres should be encouraged to request, and Artists to submit, sufficient material to showcase their suitability for the Role(s) but in no case should the material requested or submitted exceed ten (10) minutes.
3. Artists should not be asked to submit a professionally recorded audition tape, paid for at their own expense.
4. Theatres should provide Artists with backing tracks for a musical audition or videos of any choreography the Artist is expected to audition with, taught by the Choreographer and recorded from behind.