9 Things Actors Should Know About Conflicting Self-Tape Advice
Drawn from what is actually said on camera, so you can decide whether to
spend the 14:02 watching it.
One casting director's "no one" is not everyone
The video starts from an Instagram post claiming a cinematic self-tape impresses no one and anything beyond a phone by a window wastes time and money. Ross says dozens of casting directors on Act On This calls over 15 years have said the opposite. The post would have been fine if it had said "isn't impressing me".
Some casting directors love a tape shot in a real setting
In a clip, casting director Kelly Valentine Hendry describes a scene where a kid gets in a car and drives off, and many actors filmed it in a car. Another scene was set at a Christmas tree sale and actors taped with Christmas trees. Her verdict: "I love it."
Ross and Petch say the more effort and production value they have put into their own tapes, the better the feedback has been. They are clear that the acting still has to be good. No lighting or backdrop hides a bad performance.
Casting directors, agents, directors and coaches are people with different tastes, and two opposite opinions can both be valid. Do not mistake one person's preference for an industry-wide fact. Ross adds that this includes his own advice: do not blindly believe anyone.
Ross frames the actor as a business selling acting services, with casting directors, directors and agents as the customers. The better you know each customer's preferences, the better you can tailor what you send them.
Before building anything elaborate, read the self-tape brief. It may tell you exactly how they want the tape shot, and that instruction beats any general advice.
Stop asking what casting directors want as a group. Find out what the person you are taping for prefers: how they like self-tapes, how they want email outreach with your reel, and whether they expect you fully off book in the room. If the Instagram poster is casting, keep it simple. If someone else is, maybe go further.
The House of the Dragon casting director says she loves actors who go the extra mile. On a Kennedys project for Netflix, actors in smaller roles who wore a period shirt and tie became "a slam dunk" again and again. She is also a fan of props, which Ross notes many casting directors are not, so check first.
From the same session: when sending two scenes, switch shirts, for example blue to white, so a pressured team can tell which scene is which. And skip the logo T-shirt. She says plenty of actors still tape in their own clothes with logos on.
Actors, are you confused by the contradictory advice in our industry? One casting director tells you to do this, an acting coach tells you the opposite. An agent tells you to self-tape like this, a director completely disagrees. Who the f*** are you supposed to listen to? Well, after 20 years in this industry, I'm gonna tell ya. Hey everybody, welcome back to the channel. Thank you so much for watching, pressing play and all that. I do appreciate the irony in me saying, hey, out of these hundreds of people in the acting industry, all giving different opinions, who should you listen to? Me! But I'm gonna justify why you should listen to me. Producer Petch is here, they should listen to me, shouldn't they Petch? Always Ross. Always, he listens to me. Not always actually, but we'll explain more in this video. So, this was inspired by an Instagram post that I saw a casting director slash acting coach put out this week. And I'm not gonna give their name or anything like that. I'm not here to slate anybody. I just thought it was a great example of something that could be deemed contradictory and inevitably was down to the comments that I saw on this post. And this person put a carousel out. And you know what Petch, maybe it was supposed to be polarizing, I don't know. Because it was a lead generation post. They were asking for people to comment on it. They send them a DM. I imagine they're collecting email addresses or something. So, maybe they wanted all the comments. But it said, your cinematic self-tape isn't impressing anyone. Stand in front of a window, simple background, use your phone. Complicate it any further, you're wasting your time and money. Can you see how it could be contradictory that Petch? Very contradictory. Well, there's two words in here that I think we should focus on that obviously make it slightly contradictory. Your cinematic self-tape isn't impressing anyone. The word anyone, okay, there are lots of cast of directors, lots of directors over the last 15 years of us running acts on this.tv. We sit down with them basically every week on Zoom. We host private Zoom calls for our members. And we get their personal preferences on things like self-tapes. There are dozens who have said, yeah, you know what? I do like cinematic self-tapes. I do like it. Even sometimes, Petch, when the self-tape is filmed in situ. So, Sandra's got a question here about self-taping. She says, I've been watching some videos on self-tapes where actors are doing a lot of action moving on and off screen. What are your thoughts of that? We were doing a scene recently. Kid gets in a car, he starts driving. Worked well. Person's walking into the scene. So many people filmed it in a car. I love it. I love it. Yeah? People, we did a Christmas tree sale the other day. There was people with Christmas trees. Why not? Thawed it. Yeah. I love it. That goes against this, right? Lots of others have said, yeah, you know what? Like, I do want them to look nicer than just shot on a phone. I mean, phones have great cameras, actually. But, you know, with nicer lighting. You know, thought gone into costume, the backdrop, et cetera. So, there are lots of people who would disagree with this in the industry. So, the word anyone shouldn't have been using that post. I think this cast director should have said, your cinematic self-tape isn't impressing me. Okay? And then that's absolutely fine. We'll look at that in a minute. And then she said, yeah, complicate any further. You're wasting your time and money. As I just said, I don't think you are. Our own experiences of self-tapes, the more effort we've put in, the more, you know, production value we've included, the better feedback we've had on tapes. Your acting still absolutely has to be good. There's no amount of production value that's going to hide bad acting. We're not saying that. But I just think that that blanket statement is quite dangerous. And you actually saw lots of arguing in the comments. Some people were agreeing with it and saying, oh, thank God we don't have to do very much work on our self-tapes. Others were saying, this is wrong. So, I could see how you lot are all going to be like, well, what should I believe? Well, let's break it down, Petch, into what they should believe and what is right and what is wrong. And the first thing that I want to put up on the screen, heart of you, Mr. Editor, get this up massive, is opinions are not universal rules, right? Really important. Read it again. Opinions are not universal rules. Let's break this down into three little sections here. Casting directors, agents, directors, actors, me and Petch, everyone in this industry, we are just human beings, right? With different tastes and preferences. What impresses one person might do absolutely nothing for another and both opinions can be perfectly valid. This opinion on this Instagram post is perfectly valid for this casting director. If you are doing a tape for her, don't bother with all of this stuff. I still would, Petch, would you? I still would. I would still put the effort in, right? But both opinions basically can be perfectly valid. And then little point number three here, just don't mistake someone's personal preference for an industry-wide fact, okay? And don't blindly believe anyone, including me, all right? There's a lot of nuance in this industry. So this takes us on to the next sort of part of this then, right? When you appreciate that, you're like, right, well, how do I make use of any of this advice? And the big statement I want to put up here is know your customer, right? Let's break this down. As an actor, you're effectively running your own business. We always say it, Petch. You are an actor, right? You are a business selling acting services. No different to any other business in the world, basically, okay? And casting directors, directors, agents, et cetera, they are simply your customers, okay, that you are selling to. The better you understand their individual preferences, the better you can tailor your approach, right? Whilst always following the brief, by the way. If you do get a self-tape, read the brief, you know, before you go off and do anything crazy. It might tell you in the brief exactly how they want their self-tape shot. So just going to caveat that as well. But if you know the individual's opinions, you can then tailor your approach, right? So the third little point here, we want to stop asking, what do casting directors want? And we want to start asking, what does this casting director want? Does that make sense, Petch? 100%. And it's why we created Act On This, right? For the last 15 years, literally every week, like I said, we've been sitting down on private Zoom calls with the biggest casting directors, agents, actors, writers, directors, and producers. And the whole point, Petch, of why I bring on so many different casting directors is because I want to know what makes them tick, what their preference on self-tapes is, what their preference is on email outreach when you're sending them your showreel or your spotlight or whatever. What they're like when you're doing an in-person audition, how they want you to be, do they want you to be completely off book? Do they want you to be a little bit more flexible? All of this nuance, right? We get out of these people on Act On This, okay? And ultimately, yeah, they tell us, don't they? It's coming directly from, I don't like saying the horse's mouth, but coming directly from the people that you're gonna be auditioning for. So this advice on Instagram was perfectly valid if you are auditioning for this casting director, okay? There's nothing wrong with that at all. Equally, if you're not auditioning for this casting director, you might want to go and check out the advice from the casting director that you are auditioning for and pitch. This is why we are developing something super exciting that I want to demo for you now to show you, if you are an Act On This member, how easy this info is gonna be to get, okay? We have spent the last, how many months, six months? At least. It feels like years. Feels like years. But basically, we have been creating our own AI 24-7 coaching assistant, basically, acting career coaching assistant. She's called Cassie. She's gonna be free to all Act On This members. And I'm gonna put up on the screen now a recording of me showing you exactly how she's gonna work. She comes out in November in two weeks. If you're watching in the future, she'll probably already be out. But this is gonna blow you away. Right, folks, let me show you quickly how Cassie is indeed gonna blow your mind, gonna be an absolute game changer for your acting career, and also give you a massive unfair advantage over your acting competition. This is the Act On This members area. I'm just gonna show you around. If you're not a member, check this out, right? Every week, we sit down with the biggest casting directors, agents, actors, writers, directors, and producers. We do this live. You can join in live, ask your questions live. If you can't make it, you get access to the full recording. So there's 117 recordings in the members area right now with the biggest names in the game from the last year. These are the casting directors, for example. This week, we had Jemima McWilliams on, casting director for James Bond. We dived into her casting process. She gave her email address away. She invited all of our members to send their showreel to her to get on her casting radar. Sonya Alam and Leila Ali were the same the week before. They just cast Michelle Keegan's brand new ITV drama, The Blame, and BBC's new legal drama, The Split Up. Week before that, Kate Rose James, three times Emmy-nominated House of the Dragon casting director. Just the best of the best, basically. But I appreciate these are 90-minute to two-hour sessions, right? Let's just say I've got a self-tape today from Kate for House of the Dragon, and I have no idea on her personal preferences for self-tapes because that's what this video is about, right? What's right for Kelly Valentine Hendry, as you heard before, might not be right for Kate. They all have different opinions, and every opinion is valid. So I might be wondering, what do I dress like for this self-tape for Kate? Do I use a prop? Oh, I just don't know. And I don't have time to dive into this session. Well, let me just show you how we can change the game for you. I'm going to go over to Cassie. This is your 24-hour assistant, and I'm just going to ask Cassie. She's part of your membership if you get an answer on this membership. I'm going to say, how do I dress? I've got a self-tape for Kate Rose James. She's going to dive into Kate's session instantly and tell me, good news, Kate Rose James, the casting director behind House of the Dragon, Line of Duty, and Bodyguard has a clear view on this. And then this is all her personal preferences. A nod to the character and period, subtly. She loves it when actors go the extra mile. She gives an example there. She's a fan of props. So we know, right, I can use a prop. Not every casting director is, by the way. There really aren't, so you've got to check. Avoid, I mean, this sounds obvious, but she was saying how many actors still just self-tape in their own clothes, like T-shirts with logos on, crazy. You don't have to go full costume though. This is gold. Change your top if you're sending two scenes. For example, go from a blue shirt to a white one. It helps everyone keep track when they're under pressure and asking, which scene is this? Absolute gold. Beyond clothes, she's got more stuff there. But then the absolute game-changing thing with Cassie here, again, is that she's going to be able to take us directly to that moment in Kate's chat where she talks about all of this stuff. I'm not wasting any time at all. Within five seconds, I've got all this info. I can click this link and we can hear Kate talk about her preferences. Let's check it out. I love it when people push the, go the extra mile. I really love that. I, you know, we were doing this piece about the Kennedys for Netflix. And when, you know, when somebody actually puts on a shirt and a tie of the period, and, you know, these would be for smaller roles. Honestly, you just, it becomes a slam dunk. It happened time and time again. When the smaller roles and the showrunners under enormous pressure, and he presents someone to be, you know, a reporter or a politician or whatever. And they've made, it just makes all the difference. I'm a fan of a prop. A lot of people aren't a fan. I love a prop. We love a prop. So you can see that. Look how quickly I get access to this incredible information. That's just going to give me the advantage over anyone else who's taping that day that doesn't have access to this. So Cassie is available in the members area in November. She's trained on every single word of every single piece of advice here. She's basically got more knowledge than probably anyone else in the industry on how to succeed. And she is your massive unfair advantage. So how amazing is Cassie? She's going to be available to all Acts On This members in November, 2026. Like I say, if you're watching in the future, she's probably already available. Get an Acts On This membership. You will get access to her, but she's going to be able to get you that specific advice literally within seconds. No longer will you have to sit through a 90-minute session in the members area on Acts On This, the recording, to dig out some specific information about how to sell tape to someone, how to email them, et cetera. She'll even, Petch, write the bloody emails for you for you to send to Cassie and Rex based on exactly what it is they've said in their session. So pretty mind-blowing and I'm super excited to actually get it out there. So the big takeaways from this video really that I want you to take away with you, get them up on the screen, Harvey. Number one, don't blindly follow anybody's advice, including mine, including Petch's, including anybody's, right? Two, listen to different perspectives. Understand the context and make informed decisions for your career, okay? If it is this person you want to audition for, you know. You don't need to worry about making it cinematic. If it's someone else, maybe you do, okay? And then point number three, obviously, Petch, this is a massive takeaway. You've just seen Cassie, right? She's incredible. The whole membership is incredible. Come and join actonthis.tv, all right? I would love to have you involved in our weekly calls. You'll get to sit in live with the biggest cast directors, agents, actors, writers, directors, and producers in TV. Put your questions to them live, get answers there and then on the spot and then obviously, you know, get access to the replays, group coaching that we do, monthly meetups, our app, Cassie, the full shebang. It'll cost you literally the price of a couple of lattes a week and we'll even give you your first month half price if you use the discount code what, Petch? YouTube. YouTube. Use the discount code YouTube at checkout. It'll give you your first month half price. No obligation to carry on. It's no like set amount of time on there. You cancel anytime, but I guarantee you, you will want to stay. 99 out of 100 actors are just like, God, why did I not find this earlier? So YouTube, use it at discount, the discount code. You get your first month half price and I would love you to leave in the comments like the most contradictory piece of advice you've ever been given. What is the one thing you think no one in this industry can actually agree on? I would love to know. Do like this video, do subscribe and that's a quick one for this week. Isn't it, Petch, done? It is, yeah. We will see you on the next one. Until then, bye for now.
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