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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Norman Gilligan says

    Bob .. great tips.
    Thanks.
    Its going to be three reads from now on for me.
    Best regards.
    N.

  2. Tom Test says

    Not sure if I agree with Terry here. If you think about this from the point of view of the people doing the casting, would you really want your workload *tripled*? I bet they’d listen to your first read, and IF you’re in the ballpark, maybe they’d listen to the rest. But I don’t think the folks doing the casting want every talent to do 3 reads – just the read they SAY they want.
    Now sometimes…. if I think I’m dealing with an inexperienced producer, and if I think there’s another good way to approach the copy that is different from what they say they want… sometimes I will add a take 2 of my own interpretation. And there is always the case of an audition where you have little to no direction – in that case, two takes are justified.
    But if the folks doing the casting really *do* know what they are looking for, in my humble opinion, you are wasting their time by doing 3 distinct reads. And these folks are busy, and don’t like their time to be wasted.
    FWIW, I’ve been in the biz for 20yrs and have been a full-time talent for 13 yrs with Telly and other awards and many national spots in my credits – not that this means what I say is gospel by any means, but I wanted to add my 2 cents. Hope it leads to a helpful discussion!
    All the best,
    Tom Test

  3. Bob says

    Tom,
    Excellent insights. While I think Terry’s suggestions are good, I virtually never submit more than 2 takes unless the copy is very short and/or my agent has requested 3 reads.
    Be well,
    Bob

  4. Philip Banks says

    In fairness to Terry he did make specific reference to doing auditions for clients of the 2 pay to play sites most of whom would need 7 guesses at the day of the week and would still get it wrong.

  6. Dan Popp says

    Giving two or three reads really helps me avoid the “fear of commitment” problem. My instinctive response to absent or fuzzy direction is to play it safe and split the difference between extremes. That neither-fish-nor-fowl approach surely doesn’t allow me to stand out, and has probably lost me plenty of auditions (after all, it couldn’t be my complete lack of talent). Doing multiple reads frees me to fully commit to each style.
    I, too, was fearful of giving the client too much to listen to, but hey; it’s the digital age. When they’ve heard enough of you they can just click on the next audition.