Slates. IDs. Chats to camera.

Whatever you call it, the slate has evolved since self taping has become more prominent in the audition process.

Before Covid, when in room auditions were the only way of doing things and there were less opportunities to be seen by a Casting Director, slates were an admin task. They identified you to your audition, at a glance told us how tall you are and if you were available for the shoot dates (because if you aren’t…well…why are you doing it?) On the odd occasion, we’d ask you a question to warm you up a bit. It was treated more as a formality than an opportunity for creativity or somewhere to be able to differentiate yourself.

There’s no doubt that some actors are excellent at slating. They are entertaining, engaging, they give us sticky info and even a laugh sometimes. They might even tell us a heartfelt story that evokes emotion.

The slate involves some admin elements that are still required to ID you and tag your audition video. It still serves a traditional purpose that if all other systems fail and we lose our minds, we can still go back to your ID and know that it really is you in your audition tape. Another reason it’s really important is because if you forget to name your audition files, there is a system of identification without us having to retrace our steps. When handling literally hundreds of tapes a day across multiple projects, this is crucial (naming your files is also crucial just FYI so if you don’t do that, please make it a part of your self taping checklist).

The purpose of a slate now is much more than an admin task, it should be treated as an important part of your self tape because it’s an unmediated introduction of yourself to us. It’s something that you can make a creative choice about how you would like to introduce yourself for each audition. It allows you to make an impression that inevitably forms a part of the audition itself, it could even be an extension of the tape. And you have control over how you present yourself.

Slates build trust. Having less interactions in the audition room for the first round means that it takes longer for an actor to build the trust that is required in the relationship between a Casting Director and an Actor. Arguably, trust is the most important element in the CD-Actor relationship because when we recommend you to a director or producer, we need to ensure that your professionalism is second to none and that you will go above and beyond to do the work required to bring the character to life within the context of the project.

In saying that, trust is a two-way street. Actors need to be able to trust the Casting Director’s processes are professional, that they have systems in place to protect their image, their audition videos and that they have the utmost respect for the actor and the actor’s creative process. Just because someone calls themself a Casting Director, does not mean you give away your trust off the bat. You build it and that takes time. More time now than it did before Covid.

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Your slate can provide an opportunity for you to give us some insight into the character you are pitching or some insight into yourself and your own personal experiences and how they relate to the character or the piece you are auditioning for, if that’s appropriate for you and the project to share that information.

As a Casting Director, what I’m looking for in a slate is supporting material. Something that tells me that you’ve shown attention to detail by reading the self tape instructions, you’re professional and perhaps there is an opportunity for creativity that supports your character choices. When an Actor goes on to share some insight about themselves, who they are, how they relate to the character in a human way, this is really where there are glimpses of magic and where we really start to be able to get to know an actor on a human level.

Personally, I oscillate between wondering whether a slate is important or not in a creative sense and I think I’ve landed somewhere in the middle. It obviously depends on the project and it depends on whether you think that the tone of the project being carried over into the slate makes sense creatively or not. When I see it done really well, it’s often a differentiator.

Tips on slating and things to ask yourself:

• Ditch the overrehearsing. Reading from a script or screen doesn’t give us an authentic representation of who you are. It should feel natural and off the cuff.

• Don’t ignore the slating instructions. It’s really obvious when someone purposely ignores the self taping instructions or leaves out the question that is asking them to reveal something. At the end of the day, even though it feels strange to talk about yourself (and it’s not just actors that hate to do this…most people that aren’t narcissists don’t like talking about themselves but that is not the point of us asking you to reveal something). The point is building trust and allowing us to get to know you.

• Sticky Info. I mentioned this earlier. Sticky info is an ad term but it essentially refers to something about yourself that ‘sticks’ with the Casting Director. Something unique perhaps that I can use that sticks in my brain and makes you memorable. It could be a fun fact or a hobby or something you’re completely obsessed with that is then associated with your brand recall (I said it was an ad term but it’s very relevant in terms of actor slates!)

• See if there’s an opportunity for you to match the tone of the piece.

• Is there a creative opportunity in the slate to provide us with something extra? Can the slate be treated as the character’s warm up?

• Should you editorialise it? Think about who is watching or who could potentially be watching your tape (it’s not just the Casting Director that views these tapes. It’s the director and producer as well at the minimum).

• Ask whether the parametres you’ve been given for the slate are really “rules” or just a framework of the things we need to hear at a minimum.

Remember, that not every self tape, in person audition or project will call for a creative choice in the slate. It’s just something to think about when you’re preparing your self tape, sometimes a technical element of the tape can be flipped into a creative choice , just like we explored with eyelines (you can read our Substack article on Eyelines Where The F*ck Do I Look? HERE and purchase the Where Do I Look? eBook HERE).

If you’re not already a paid subscriber, we encourage you to consider joining us on a paid subscription as this helps us create educational resources that are designed at benefiting actors, producers, directors, agents and filmmakers and helping them feel empowered in the casting and audition process.

If you are a paid subscriber, thank you for supporting our work!

Disclaimer: this post was written by a human…me, Steph! Due to the ethical concerns regarding false positives and the unclear nature of the terms of service around the Pangram AI Detection and AI model training, AI detection has been switched off to protect our work.

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Hello from District 9.

This issue wasn’t actually planned so it’s a bonus in the Your Face, Their Rules series. This issue in the series is not paywalled but I really do urge you to join the paid Substack to support our work, especially if you find the content informative and valuable. It’s a series all about how Ai is impacting the Australian Advertising and Screen sector and what’s being done behind the scenes to help protect performers PLUS what you can do to protect yourself.

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This week, Meta launched it’s new Ai image generator Muse Image. Essentially, the product will treat any public account’s content on Instagram as a free stock library for Ai image generation without your consent, credit, control or compensation. Accounts under the age of 18 will automatically be opted-out but images of children on public pages are not exempt from being used in the image generators.

CAA has overnight made a statement condemning the matter, this grab is via Variety:

“No one’s name, image, likeness, voice or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent,” CAA said in a statement. “True innovation puts creators first: respecting their rights, protecting their livelihoods, and giving them real control, not handing it over to platforms.”

But we all know this is NOT about innovation.

Meta would rather “address” the harmful content once it is out in the ether than protect your privacy before your image is being used in an output you don’t know about and have not approved. Meta says that they’ve built Muse Image with “strong controls and safety guardrails from day one.” It does beg the question - if Meta intend to address the issues as they come, if someone isn’t notified that their image has been used…how can they report it???

This is a product specifically designed to treat the content of users on Instagram with public profiles as a free stock image library.

Dave Lozo nails the commentary on this in Morning Brew:

“Since the creepiest person you know can grab a pic off anyone’s public profile and use it to create an AI image just by tagging the account, it’s reminding people of Meta’s history of lax privacy standards:

• In 2019, Meta paid a $5 billion fine over its role in allowing Cambridge Analytica to access the data of millions of Facebook users ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.

• Two years later, Facebook shut down its facial recognition system after facing lawsuits over its collection of biometric data.”

Let’s break this down.

What is Muse Image

It’s an Ai Image Generator, created by Meta and designed to bring the infrastructure in house rather than relying on rented tech from other Ai products like MidJourney. It’s Meta’s way of competing with other image generators like Open Ai’s GPT Image 2 or Google’s Nano Banana.

There are a number of outlets including the New York Times that are spinning the tool as fun and light hearted THIS article doesn’t even touch on the privacy and image theft concerns at all but quotes you can totally “create personalised birthday cards, group trip memes or playful edits”. But we all know the dark side of what this could be used for.

What’s the problem?

With the latest Instagram app update, the settings to opt-in to your public profile content are switched ON as the default. The means the onus is on the individual account holder to opt out of the setting to protect their images. Note: the setting won’t appear if you are using an old version of the app and if you have automatic updates turned on, you should check your settings immediately (more on this later).

Another issue is that if you don’t opt out and your images are used by Muse Image users, you will not be notified. So your image could be used countless times, the outputs exist forever without recall and without any approval over the outputs that are made, credit to you and no compensation for the use of your image. This poses great risks to actors, models and performers because it means that suddenly the human performer is competing with a Synthetic Fake and could have a huge impact on the future work of an actor.

The setting is also not retroactive, which means that your previous posts made whilst you had a public profile are automatically opted-in for Ai use. You need to go through each individual post and turn off the reuse settings manually.

I believe there is some nuance in the settings though because when I went through both my personal account and the Chicken and Chips IG account SOME posts were available for reuse and some weren’t.

What Meta is doing here is normalising third parties generating synthetic versions of working actors without their consent, control, compensation and without CREDIT.

Why performers should be cautious

Without notification that your image is being used, you have no control over recalling it and you can’t enforce any limited rights you have. There is no current practical remedy for performers and when your job relies on your Name, Image, Likeness, Voice and Performance that is a huge issue (read our last issue of this series to understand where the gaps are in Australia and what we should be doing to protect performers HERE).

There is great risk of future harm (not just to performers, to everyone) and this is deeply damaging especially if the performer’s work is affected by deepfakes, harassment or fake endorsements. And what’s worse, sometimes the actor won’t even know they’ve lost work because of social media checks that happen by brands, networks and studios behind the scenes.

Don’t even get me started on where those images could end up…yes, whatever dark place your brain went to…go darker.

The visibility issue

Some actors use social media for visibility and marketing issues. Personally, I’ve never given a shit whether an actor has a following or any visibility on social media. The only thing I have said is that it’s nice to see that an actor is three dimensional when you get a little bit of insight into them as a human.

That said, some casting directors, producers, studios and networks do care about the following of an actor. So it begs the question, should an actor put their profile on private?

This kind of defeats the purpose of Instagram being used for marketing purposes but I do think it’s important for you to protect your image in whatever way you feel is necessary. Opting out of the Ai settings is currently the protection but obviously anyone can take a screenshot and feed it into any image generator. That’s why we need larger protections from government with regards to tightening Copyright Laws and extending them to protecting a persons identity.

Here’s how you switch the settings off (and how you opt out on individual posts)

1. Go to your profile page

2. Click the hamburger in the top right hand corner (yes, those three lines are called a hamburger!)

3. Search “Sharing and Reuse”

4. Turn off the settings “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with Ai features at Meta” (posts and reels)

5. Turn off the setting “Allow people to create with and reuse your original audio on Meta Ai”

To turn off reuse on each past individual post:

1. Go to the post

2. Click the three dots on the right hand side

3. Click “Turn off reuse” (note: if it says “Allow reuse” that means the settings are already enabled!)

4. Repeat for all past posts

Note: we’ve had a lot of reports with various nuances on the settings. It seems that if your profile was ever on private, those posts will hold the privacy setting (but I would check these in the coming days just to make sure!). Also, if you’ve tagged people with stronger privacy settings that you (or a person that is under 18) then the post will automatically opt out of the reuse.

Some people have also reported a glitch in the settings where they have switched it off and it flicks back on immediately. A possible fix for this is deleting the app and then reinstalling it and switching it off again.

Something to keep in mind is that even though under 18 accounts have an auto opt out it would be a good idea to check the settings once the account holder does turn 18 to ensure they aren’t automatically turned on.

Final thoughts

Muse Image will be available to advertisers in the coming weeks, the capabilities will also be available on Facebook too. There’s not a huge amount of public information about the advertising side of it so please stay subscribed as we will stay on top of this.

You can also sign this petition Allegra Spender has started (it’s not perfect as it doesn’t address the holes in the Copyright Laws but it’s something) HERE.

Thanks for joining us, if you are not subscribed please do and if you are a free subscriber, please consider joining our paid subscription so that we can continue these really important updates.

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If you’re an actor or agent and you haven’t already started querying Ai usage in casting briefs or contracts (or demanding Ai limitation clauses), you are already behind. Unfortunately, relying on guilds, unions and other industry bodies to sort it out is not what you should be doing because this takes time. Australia is struggling to keep up the pace with technological advancements so actors, voice over artists and performers need to rely on strict contract negotiations to safeguard their identities.

Agents and actors are currently, right now, signing away the rights to their Name, Image, Voice, Likeness & Performance (NIVLP) to be used in Ai models that do not yet exist and the clauses you’ve signed away in the past, well, that ‘technology invented in the future’‘ is here, in the form of generative Ai. The scary thing is, the clause that is in question doesn’t even say “Ai”, it’s a clause that already existed.

In this issue, we are deep diving into the Name, Image, Voice & Likeness (NIVL) clauses of advertising contracts (and why this should extend to include performance as a default).

Traditionally, there have been NIVL clauses in contracts across the Screen & Advertising sectors that were once considered to be normal and ‘industry standard’. The problem with these is that with the rapid advancement of Ai, it means that the clauses in contracts that have been signed recently (and we’re talking today, yesterday, last week, last month, a year ago) with this ‘standard language’ but now, the clauses are interpreted to cover licensing an actor’s face…forever…to technology that didn’t exist when they signed it.

The problem is, that technology now does exist and some of the world’s top earning companies are cashing in on the image, voice and likeness of people they have not paid.

The most hilarious (and upsetting) thing is that less than 20 years ago, Casting Directors were treating online usage in talent quotes as just some little media buyout, we added it on for no extra charge really.

And just look at the little old internet now.

We are now witnessing the impact of not treating New Media as we should’ve back then - a huge audience that spans the globe, where just about every single person can be targeted with a digital ad in some way shape or form. Now, for a brand it’s the cheapest, most fast moving usage spec in a contract and the talent fees do not reflect the amount of eyeballs that see the ads (not to mention that most of the advertising put out in Australia isn’t geofenced so can be accessed anywhere in the world).

I’ve long suspected that production companies, agencies and brands have been using Ai tech since it’s public availability without the consent of actors, performers or VO artists, this is deeply disturbing on many moral and ethical levels. The silence of an actor is not consent for Ai usage. Not being transparent in the way that you are shooting or producing the ad and how the actor’s image is being used, manipulated or stored is also a huge red flag.

In this Issue of Your Face, Their Rules, we’re breaking down contract clauses plus, we’re going to use a case study from NZ brand Huffer who have recently found themselves in hot water over the unauthorised use of a model’s image to advertise their product that wasn’t consented to and the model wasn’t compensated for it and why this is happening in Australia right now and you don’t even know about it.

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In this Substack Series we’ve aptly named Your Face, Their Rules, we are going to deep dive into the landscape of the advertising industry in Australia and Ai and where it intersects with casting and talent right now. Unfortunately, there are too many people - actors, casting directors, producers and directors with their heads in the sand about what is actually happening right now in our industry (and the overwhelm of the subject has burnt everyone out). Due to the nature of this series and what we disclose, the following articles in the series will be for paid subscribers. We encourage you to sign up to become a paid subscriber so that we can continue our work in performer advocacy to put a stop to synthetic performers in the Screen & Advertising sectors in Australia and so that we can preserve this important income stream for actors and preserve the Australian production supply ecosystem. Currently, it’s cheaper than the cost of a coffee to sign up and will contribute to our time spent in research, advocacy and engagement with policy makers.

We are currently working together with a number of other arts organisations and industry bodies to bring these issues to policy makers to establish regulation and guidance in the advertising industry - we need as much support as possible so that we can generate enough noise so that the right people take notice.

This is currently an ever changing topic so please check up to date information.

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What most actors and agents don’t know is that in the last few months, commercial casting directors in Australia have seen a rapid increase in the amount of requests from producers on behalf of brands to incorporate Ai usage into our talent quotes. It’s not something that’s happening in the future, it’s happening right now and the alarming thing is that there is no rulebook or regulation and Casting Directors and Agents are being asked (and sometimes bullied) into including clauses on their briefs (or not disclosing any limitations on Ai usage) when it comes to branded content and commercials. We’ve also seen a rapid decline in mid-tier advertising work which is a really important part of the ecosystem of small businesses in the arts.

Recently, we had a request from a producer asking for actors consent upfront to use their image and likeness for Ai generated assets ‘if needed’. This kind of generalised usage is extremely unsettling and it is not the responsibility of the casting director to decide to consent on an actor’s behalf. It was an interesting case study because it was for a brand that would usually be subject to health disclosures and disclaimers when using certain types of talent but as we all know, Australia is well behind in getting regulation sorted for Ai, particularly in advertising.

As an actor or a person who has been engaged on a branded project because you have lived experience or contribute to the authentic storytelling of the campaign, your image can be captured, your movement can be referenced, your voice can be cloned and your performance can be tweaked - then a synthetic performer can be generated from your likeness using your biometric data. And once a brand has this image, they can use it in perpetuity (see our other post on this topic HERE).

We are also being asked to quote on jobs (one producer calling frantically and asking for the “lowest possible price” on a talent and casting quote without disclosing the brand or creative direction) which sniffs of “you’re competing against Ai production so just low ball it”… If we don't get a handle on the desperation felt by all stakeholders in these situations, it will undoubtedly spiral into a problem at a scale no one truly understands.

The industry is in a huge testing phase and in the next 3-6 months we predict that there is going to be a HUGE influx of Ai generated content (especially in the digital space) and the use of synthetic performers is going to be rife and we are still nowhere on the transparency or regulation of it.

We’re in a position where the trades are celebrating the outputs from brands like Allianz, Sheridan, Naked Condoms, Amaysim and no one has bothered to take the opposition and start talking about what this impact has on the larger production supply ecosystem.

The Australian advertising industry currently has no morals when it comes to transparency on the use of Ai in advertising. Apart from something buried in the captions online (which everyone knows no one reads), unless you’re looking very closely, you wouldn’t know the ‘person’ in the content you’re looking at isn’t real. It’s also ambiguous to say “this is an Ai Production” because no one is considering that brands are replacing ACTUAL PEOPLE to sell their products.

Most actors weren’t taught at drama school that their likeness is their most crucial commercial asset and that it is assumed that your likeness is, well, yours…but the most outrageous thing about this whole thing is that it’s something you need to be actively protecting.

The language being proposed in commercial contracts could allow your likeness to be used to train Ai models or you could be consenting to advertisers using Ai to change your performance…something that you do not have final approval over the output of the model.

Over this series, we will be deep diving into contract language, real life case studies of the patterns that are emerging in commercial casting, voice synthesis, disclosure, red flags in Ai clauses, what the industry is doing for you and the gaps that still remain and what you can do right now as a performer to protect your likeness.

Subscribe to our paid subscription to get the series direct to your inbox.

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The thing is, it’s not just not industry standard, it’s one of the most significant things you are asking a performer to agree to.

What in perpetuity actually means:

When you ask for in perpetuity on talent contracts, you mean you want the performer’s image FOREVER. No rollover, no review, no exit clause. You’re asking the actor to sign away their most valuable asset, the asset that they use for employment in the form of their image, likeness, performance and creative contribution to your campaign. And if they do this, it means that they can NEVER in their careers audition for a competitor category (among other things).

Not only is it not industry standard for a reason, it’s unethical and frankly fairly embarrassing for a brand, government department (yes, government departments are the biggest culprits of refusing rollovers because they are too lazy to track them internally) or producer to request.

The annoying thing is that most brands don’t actually intend on using the assets beyond 12 months (with the fast moving pace of the advertising landscape and little investment into making an ad, some won’t even have a life beyond 3 months). So the inclusion of the ‘in perpetuity’ clause is a lazy power play aimed strategically at cutting a brand’s long term marketing budgets and slowly starting to own the IP in the form of image and likeness. Now, with the rapid integration of Ai, in perpetuity clauses are becoming a harder to decipher for actors and their agents.

The legal & ethical reality for performers (and this isn’t just actors but also extends to community casting or ‘real person’ casting).

The reality is, under Australian contract law, signing one of these agreements is enforceable and means the actor or community member has consented to indefinite use, regardless of whether they actually understand what it means at the time of signing. Often when a ‘real person’ (which means non-actor or community member who has been cast usually for a specific reason like authenticity or lived experience or they have a particular skillset that the ad requires), they are not represented by an agent which is an added layer of concern when producers are not explaining the full extent of exactly what they are signing.

Even the MEAA’s Commercial contract cannot protect everyone. We are still seeing direct-to-brand arrangements, influencer contracts and content production outside traditional broadcast structures building these perpetual clauses into the deals by simply negotiating them in there. This is a huge issue because of the significant power imbalance that exists, talent that aren’t represented or approached directly are usually cast for their authenticity, voice or unique perspective (the very thing that is building connections with audiences for the brand) and they are being asked to transfer the ownership of this asset over to the advertiser without the possibility of future compensation that is reflective of the ongoing commercial value that person is lending to the campaign.

When you think critically about asking for in-perpetuity, there are a number of things producers and marketers should consider. Firstly, it helps to contextualise it in a personal way, would you as an employee of a business sign a perpetual employment contract for just 12 months of the salary? Of course not. It’s absurd. But this is exactly what producers are asking of talent when they ask for perpetual contracts.

Brands should also think hard about perpetual contracts because if the talent’s personal values change and they end up with a public profile with views that are directly in conflict with the messaging of your brand, it can be damaging. The exit on a contract is important for both parties, not just the talent.

We should not be thinking of talent as a prop in the campaign. They provide an essential creative point of view that makes it possible for brands to bring their campaign to life and connect with their audiences via human truth. The performers are essentially collaborating with the brand to provide commercial value and the more investment you make into the talent, the higher the value output is and the more likely your campaign is going to land and have longevity instead of disappearing into the infinite scroll and being forgotten.

Having non-standard clauses in your contract or the expectation that you should OWN someone’s image indefinitely sets your campaign up for failure from the get go. It diminishes trust and ultimately only gets you people that you’ve tricked into signing or ones that don’t really care (who probably aren’t very good at the craft of what they do anyway).

The Ai lens.

The issue of in perpetuity has become significantly more urgent with the recent introduction and rapid rise in the use of Ai generated content and synthetic media. Ai use holds a perpetual right if not limited on the contract and responsible brands should be proactively excluding Ai use, synthetic reproduction and digital manipulation for any contract (including those that stipulate a standard time usage period) because unfortunately perpetual rights holders may be granted significant latitude to use Ai on existing assets in ways that were never contemplated by the talent at the time of signing. The absence of an Ai clause that puts limitations on any use of a performer’s image for Ai or Machine Learning usage is not an accident, it’s a strategic and long term budgetary decision made by the brand to actively own the IP of the performer.

Paying more than you should.

Producers and brands often think that being vague and having in perpetuity is saving them money but in fact, you’re likely to have the issue of an inflated upfront fee, even if you’re never intending for the assets to go everywhere.

Specificity will always save you money in the long run.

How to make sure you have a socially and ethically responsible contract:

1. Define the usage period clearly: be specific. The standard for commercial contracting in Australia is 12 months and there are standard rollover terms that can be included in every contract. That gives the brand the right to rollover the 12 month contract per annum for up to 3 years in total. From there, you can always negotiate extensions. This not only protects the talent but it gives the brand a chance to review the contract and ensure that the assets are still performing positively or are even relevant any more. There are variations on a 12 month contract though (we’ve done as little as one week before for certain reactive or very specifically targeted campaigns).

2. Put limitations on your media usage: asking for all media coupled with Ai is having a compounding affect so don’t be lazy, provide the media plan and buy what you need. Trust us, it’ll be more cost effective because you’ll only pay for what you need and your talent pool will be much bigger and of better quality so your assets will more likely perform better long term.

3. Build in rollover options: standard rollover options actually exist for the brand’s benefit. They stipulate standard usage terms so that there is a framework to the future talent fees and no risk to the brand of getting demands for paying a higher than fair rate. They also exist to ensure that the brand has the option to buy future rights so that the campaign assets have longevity. If we didn’t have rollovers, talent would be able to simply decline the renewal of a contract, rendering the campaign redundant.

4. Have an explicit Ai limitation clause: exclude Ai use and synthetic reproduction. This should now be standard in every brand’s terms. The MEAA’s standard TVC contract includes an Ai rider and is the industry standard in Australia.

5. Work with a casting director who understands ethical contracting so that you do not weaken your brand’s reputation and risk bad PR: when your brief gets in the hands of the wrong people, it is a PR nightmare waiting to happen. Building a reputation as a brand who values the talent that are representing your product or service is something audiences notice and care about, especially the current climate of Ai slop.

The expectation that human performers or community members, whose real faces carry unique personal, social and cultural meaning far beyond brand assets should sign away the rights to their image indefinitely is ethically incoherent. In perpetuity is a clause that permanently transfers something of significant value (a person’s image, voice, performance, creative input), for a one off price and in a media environment where audiences are increasingly attuned to how brands value and treat the humans in their supply chain and also their own customers and also while we are in a cost of living crisis, it’s now more than ever that we need advertisers to step up and act responsibly when it comes to contracting and paying talent fairly.

Think of it like this…as a casting director, I’m watching a huge volume of self tapes in very quick succession so when everyone’s eyeline is just left of frame it makes everyone’s tape look very uniform…everyone is making the same choice.

The short answer is looking directly into the lens is almost never the right choice. It reads as “I’m a presenter” not a human. Sure, that’s helpful advice but everyone knows that (and if you didn’t, now you do). What they don’t know is that your eyeline is not a static placement. It’s a creative choice that communicates a lot of different things about your character, before you’ve even said a single bit of dialogue. And that choice will most certainly vary across all different types of characters and scenes.

Just because putting your scene partner to the left or right of the lens makes sense…it’s also just a safe default and seemingly lost opportunity for many actors.

The real question is: does your eyeline serve the material? Is it what is required of the scene?

There are different eyeline rules for different scenarios and these are all creative choices that can be explored in self tapes and in fact even more so in a self tape than how we would explore this choice in an in room audition.

And when an actor makes a creative eyeline choice? It immediately makes us sit up because it sets them apart from everyone else.

Are you ready to learn more about creative eyeline choices? You can deep dive into this topic in our new eBook: Where Do I Look? An Actor’s Guide to Nailing Self Tape Guidelines get it via our PayHip store HERE.

Drop your comments below!

This is one of the biggest distractions in self taping right now and it’s causing all kinds of unnecessary anxiety for actors.

When casting directors say that we “know” based off the first 10 seconds of your tape, this is true. But should you, the actor, care about this?

The reason we “know” or not within the first 10 seconds is because we are good at our jobs and hammering actors with this flex over the years is driving self tape anxiety mainly because hasn’t been much practical advice paired with it so that leaves the actor guessing.

In the first 10 seconds or so, we are making some assessments and they are usually based on whether or not we see you in the world of the thing we are casting, coupled with the behaviour and tone of the character you are pitching us. We are able to quickly determine this because of all of the information, creative discussions, whether or not we already have cast attached and the director’s taste alongside our own casting vision and strategy. None of this is helpful for an actor. In fact, knowing that we often “know” within the first 10 seconds is the opposite of helpful. It gets actors in their own head.

The crux of it is, if the performance is right, no one is worrying about how it started. The first 10 seconds just gives us that gut feeling. Does it mean we stop watching the tape if we don’t see it? No. We watch all of them. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to have creative conversations with the director or producer or make recommendations when we are curating the ensemble.

Here are the things you should be focussing on instead of obsessing over the first 10 seconds:

1. Make sure you read the brief. Seems simple but sometimes crucial elements are missed.

2. Research the director. Here is where you will quickly understand their taste, the types of projects they’ve worked on and their tone.

3. Understand the tone. If it’s unclear, ask your agent to clarify.

4. Understand your relationship to the other characters in the scene. What do you want from them?

5. If there are references, watch them.

6. Play the stakes appropriately. If it is a life or death situation, it’s your job to make us believe that your character’s life or the life of another character is in danger.

7. Be in the world from the second we hit play on your tape.

8. Your eyeline creates the world. Don’t let it be vague or floating because the whole thing will collapse.

9. Pace & rhythm. The performance should feel ‘lived in’ so let moments land, interrupt, overlap and for god’s sake BREATHE. We should feel like we are watching something unfold in real time.

10. Be specific. It’s not about being BOLD in the first 10 seconds in order to stand out, but rather be specific with your choices. This will show us that you understand the tone of the project, the genre and the character.

11. Buttoning the beginning. If it’s appropriate, you could make a choice to add a little bit of improv to the beginning of the scene (this won’t work for every audition though!)

Remember, this gut feeling we have is because we are casting an entire world, not just the character you are auditioning for in silo so zoom out and instead of focussing on what we might be looking for, focus on what it is that you have to offer us.

Have you been overthinking the first 10 seconds of your tape? Put your thoughts below!

For Chicken and Chips Casting and our process specifically, our General Audition sessions allow us to see a fresh perspective from actors, an approach where the actor is in charge of what they want to present to us usually in the form of a quick chat and then a 2 minute scene. It all takes around 10 minutes and it’s usually the start of a long professional relationship. They are important for future work opportunities and strengthening the trust between the Casting Director and the actor.

I say trust because we are the ones that are putting you forward for roles, having creative conversations with other key creatives and at the end of the day, it’s our name on the credits so we need to be sure that who were are presenting is going to show up on time and do their best work (at the very bare minimum).

Even 5 years after Covid, the hangover is lingering. Studio auditions are rare and that is for a number of reasons:

1. Actors are still creating a demand for needing self tapes as the primary casting tool. We are still seeing a 50% drop off rate for in person auditions in the first round. Actors are non-committal because they have the safety net of reverting to self tape. The drop out rate on the day of the audition is extremely high, giving the impression that actors are not prioritising turning up at a studio to see the Casting Director and build a professional working relationship.

2. Some Casting Directors don’t have their own physical studio (commercial property leasing in Sydney alone makes it extremely difficult for small business owners to maintain the cost of high overheads like rent in an increasingly volatile industry), which means, if the studio drop off rate is high, it becomes very expensive and inefficient to hold an in person session.

3. Clients are used to the self taping process and higher talent pool that has come from moving to self tapes. They are requesting the first round to be from tapes, even when it doesn’t make sense creatively to do it that way and accepted a decline in the quality of the casting.

So, with these factors having the in person audition process in a stranglehold, it’s more important than ever before to get actors in the room and it’s important actors start shifting their mindsets back to (or into if you’re an After Covid grad) auditioning in a studio environment and building confidence in room again.

If you’re an actor - do you prefer self taping over in person? Why?

If you’re a producer or director - do you think this way of casting is sustainable long term?

There is one piece of direction that we give out in the room constantly (and may help you self direct your self tapes) and that is…don’t rush it.

We don’t mean the pace (although sometimes we do) but more importantly we mean the moments. Letting moments and thoughts land before speaking. Sitting in silence or hesitation can often help us connect to the character and to help you remain present in the scene. Just…lingering…

It’s an invisible skill that when directed in the room, not all actors achieve. Often it’s taken as a dramatic silence or pausing for effect, it doesn’t feel intentional or natural. But when you allow the thought to land and affect you, hold eye contact for a split second longer, processing what’s happening in the scene and responding in real time, we know you have trust in the stillness and confidence in yourself. The moment that you rush the beat or show that you’re thinking about the next line, you’ve lost our connection.

There are a few types of lingering. You could linger emotionally by letting the feeling land before or after you respond, you could physically linger by shifting your posture or changing your breath pattern, swallowing or energetic lingering by staying plugged into the internal life of the character throughout the scene rather than letting it diminish once the dialogue stops, especially at the of a take, always wait for the Casting Director to call cut because often, this little bit of lingering at the end of a take is where we find a bit of magic.

Here are some ways we direct lingering:

1. Finish the thought, not just the line. Letting the thought complete and having an internal continuation of it creates natural lingering without it feeling like a forced pause.

2. Stay with the other person. The second you turn inward to think about your next line, lingering dies. Keep LISTENING after you speak because if you don’t, we can tell immediately.

3. Shift your breathing. Your breath is your easiest tool so don’t hold it.

4. Don’t exit the scene early. BUTTON IT but don’t disconnect before cutting. This is especially important for self tapes when the guidance of the CD isn’t there. Lingering in the scene and then editing the cut point later can help.

5. On camera, lingering is often ocular so letting your eyes process rather than blinking the thought away provides a revelation and sometimes the smallest flicker ends up being the most watchable thing in the frame.

The Eye Test

The simplest casting metric is the Eye Test, which I still use sometimes when I’m watching tapes. By muting the sound and watching your face…do I see the thought evolving and something landing?

Playback some of your self tapes muted and see what observations you can make.

Lingering is uncomfortable

We find that when we direct actors to stay for longer in the moment and see what happens, they still rush through it. In self tapes, sometimes, it’s helpful to direct your reader to hold a beat so that you can react and the audience has the ability to feel the thing we need to feel. If you feel uncomfortable, it’s likely that we do too and that’s the whole point of it in some scenes.

See what happens when you linger a little in your next audition.

Fast-forward to 2026, and for many in the creative industry, that fog never fully lifted. A covid-hangover, some have dubbed it, a reflection of the fatigue of world events and the never-ending news cycle.

What’s Changed?

• Our industry is in a new kind of flux.

• Generative AI and Machine Learning are rapidly reshaping the playing field (whether we’re ready for it or not).

• Budgets are tighter, timelines are shorter, and expectations are higher than they’ve ever been but the end product feels less impactful with lower production value overall.

• The aftershocks of the Hollywood strikes, SAG-AFTRA reforms, the recent Paramount / WBD merger news, US Tariff speculation, shifting funding models are creating an uncertainty.

• Let’s not forget the squeeze of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

• Global political instability and war and increasing tensions locally, which leaves some of us feeling like our work doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

It’s no wonder so many creatives including actors, directors, writers, and crew are feeling heavy.

But we’re here to give you some PMA (Positive Mental Attitude).

What can we do?

Find some real fun. Sounds cheesy but it’s true and we’re not talking about doom scrolling until your eyes bleed. We’re talking about soul-filling fun, the analogue kind. The kind that reawakens your why. Finding purpose in your life and your work is the only way forward out of the languishing.

As Sarah Wilson says, we’ve mistaken capitalist escapism and the wellness industry’s spin on “Self Care” (brunch, shopping, spa days) for true joy. True fun is regenerative. It doesn’t drain the life out of you, it returns you to yourself, it inspires you to create.

Jenny Odell, in How to Do Nothing, reminds us that always being “on” (whether that’s online, available to every single person’s ‘urgent’ requests, constantly on the productivity wheel hustling) is numbing us. The constant news cycle, the inability to tune out when we absolutely should and need to.

Signs You Might Be Creatively Languishing

• Cynicism and negativity (especially toward your own work)

• Physical or emotional exhaustion

• Feeling like the future of your career is out of your control

• Chronic comparisonitis

• Over-reliance on social media, bingeing TV, or other draining distractions

• A lack of creative ideas, joy in the process, decision fatigue or momentum in your work

If any of this feels overwhelming or constant, please reach out to your healthcare provider for professional help or see our other post on Mental Health Resources.

6 Steps Back to Creative Life

1. Show Up for Yourself
   Small rituals matter but they don’t have to be elaborate 10-step plans. They need to fit your personality. It’s more about consistency and commitment than complexity. Breathe deeply. Journal for 5 minutes. Step outside barefoot. Drink your coffee in the sunshine. Move your body mindfully.

2. Feed Your Curiosity
   Visit a gallery or library. See a fringe show. Listen to music from a new genre (not just what your algorithm is telling you to listen to!)

3. Find Your People
   Creativity thrives in community. Join a group, take a class, message an old collaborator.

4. Make Space for Nothing
   Step away from “doing.” Sit under a tree in the park, watch the clouds. Take tech-free walks. Let your brain relax fully.

5. Take Real Breaks
   Not just a weekend scroll-a-thon. A real pause, even if it’s just a 24 hour social media detox. Get out in nature, touch seaweed, stick your hand in a rockpool, touch flowers.

6. Redefine Fun
   What’s the thing you love doing that stops you from picking up your phone where you lose hours without noticing? Do that. True fun doesn’t require money or screens. Dance in your kitchen. Write bad (or good) poetry. Doodle. Make weird stuff. The whole point is to do something where you’re not creating it for performance.

You’re Not Alone

It’s okay not to feel “on” all the time. But your creativity deserves protection and your joy deserves to be prioritised and valued in a rapidly shifting and uncertain world.

Support is Always Available:

LifeLine: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
Support Act: 1800 959 500
13YARN: 13 92 76

But here’s a thought: instead of worrying about what we as Casting Directors want, have you ever considered who else watches your tape?

Well, it ain’t just us.

Let’s take a look behind the scenes, particularly in the land of TV commercials, which, let’s be honest, is where the self-tape audience is a lot more people than you might think.

Who’s Watching?

When you send in a tape for a commercial, it doesn’t just float into a casting director’s inbox and disappear into the void (which I’ve heard many actors say they feel is what happens). But really, it enters AdLand’s labyrinth of approvals and here’s who might be watching:

• You. And if you’re not…you absolutely should be. Review your tape before you hit send.

• Your Agent or Manager. Especially if they’re uploading via Casting Networks or Showcast or sending it through a third party like WeTransfer (please make sure you follow the instructions on how to submit a tape!) And if you’re an Agent reading this…please watch the tapes before you send them…

• The Casting Director. Obviously! We often get asked “do you even watch all of those tapes?” and YES, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to recommend actors and we wouldn’t be able to have creative casting conversations with directors and producers (literally our whole job depends on it). The way you submit your tape and adhering to the deadline matters though.

• Production Company. Including the Director, Producers, maybe the Production Manager or Director’s Assistant.

• Ad Agency. The Agency Producer, Creatives, Account Managers.

• The Client. The final decision-makers. Marketing Managers, Brand Execs, and sometimes the CMO (Gerry Harvey once approved talent for a Harvey Norman commercial that we cast so it can go as far up the chain as that!)

Some of these people are super creative. Others? Not so much. They’re looking for the person that is nailing the brief to speak to the brand’s ideal customer.
Some need to see the exact thing on screen to understand how you fit the brand. If the brief says “nurse,” sometimes wearing the scrubs is going to be the thing that gets you over the line although your performance will be the thing that gets you shortlisted in the first place.

How Do You Tape With All These People In Mind?

Here are five practical self-tape tips to help your tape cut through the layers and that are actually useful in 2026:

1. Skip the “Hi [Casting Director]” intro in your slate.
   Your audience is bigger than that.

2. Start strong. Your first 10 seconds matter.
   Many people are watching dozens of tapes in one sitting. Don’t warm up on camera. Make sure your first moment is grounded.

3. Read the brief like your life depends on it.
   Follow the self tape instructions. It seems simple but you’d be surprised how many things can be overlooked and how it impacts your tape.

4. “Tell us a bit about yourself” is not small talk.
   It’s there for a reason. Keep it short and sweet. At the end of the day, we are booking a real human to be in an ad, show us a little bit of who that is because it helps us to see who you are and since we don’t have the level of in person small talk that we used to, this part of your slate is surprisingly important.

5. Keep it simple.
   Can we see and hear you? Two solid takes max. Don’t overthink it. We often find the magic is in the first 1-4 takes…beyond that and you’ll start to lose it.

The audience for your TVC self tape is surprisingly bigger than what most actors think it is so these adjustments can help!

Thoughts? Put them in the comments!

If your life is in immediate danger call 000

If you are in crisis call Lifeline 13 11 14

“According to a survey conducted by Victoria University & Entertainment Assist, the entertainment industry has:

• 2 x Higher suicide attempts

• 5 x Higher symptoms of depression

• 7 x Higher symptoms of sleep disorders

• 10 x Higher symptoms of anxiety

compared to the general population.” - ScreenWell

If you or someone you know is experiencing Mental Health challenges, please find some helpful resources below.

Helplines:
Lifeline - 13 11 14 - 24/7 Crisis Support & Suicide Prevention
13YARN - 13 92 76 - Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Support Line
Suicide Callback Service - 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636 - 24/7 phone or online counselling support
Kids HelpLine - 1800 55 1800 - Kids / Teens / Young Adults 5-25 years. Qualified counsellors are available anytime and for any reason
SANE Australia - 1800 187 263 - for people with recurring, persistent or complex mental health issues and trauma, and for their families, friends and communities
MensLine Australia - 1300 78 99 78 - 24/7 free telephone and online counselling service offering support for Australian men
Griefline - 1300 845 745 - Australia’s National Grief support line - supports anyone experiencing grief or facing any type of loss
Support Act - 1800 959 500 - The Support Act Wellbeing Helpline is a free phone counselling service for anyone working in Australian music or the arts
StandbySupport - The StandBy program is focused on supporting anyone who has been bereaved or impacted by suicide at any stage in their life. Free face-to-face or phone support.

Resources, Mental Health Professionals & Downloadables:
WellMob - social, emotional and cultural wellbeing online resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
EQUITY HEALTH DATABASE - a list of accredited mental health professionals put together by the Equity Wellness Committee
ASPAH health database - Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare - ASPAH Members Directory
Arts Wellbeing Collective - The Well Series - downloadable Guides and Resources
Entertainment Assist
HealthLine - holistic guide to mental health care incl. resources
Alliance of Australiasian Performing Arts Benevolent Funds - helping performing arts industry professionals in times of crisis: info@aapabf.org
ScreenWell - working with individuals, educators, businesses & industry to improve the mental health and wellbeing outcomes of the Australian Screen Industry
Mental Health Line - NSW Government Statewide service for mental health support and referrals

Your local GP - ask for a mental health plan

Supporting your mates - some helpful guides, tools and reading:
Conversations Matter - How to Have Conversations About Suicide - a practical online resource to support safe and effective community discussions about suicide
RU OK? - Learn how to ask “Are you okay?”
Thirrili - 1800 805 805 - provide emotional and practical support to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander families impacted by a loss from suicide or other fatal traumatic incidents.
Head to Health - 1800 595 212 - Free Mental Health advice and guidance. Head to Health is a free confidential service from the Australian Government
Headspace - 1800 650 890 - phone & online support 9am-1am Melbourne time. Headspace is Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation, providing early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds
Heads Up - Guidance on telling people at work about your mental health condition
MindFrame - Mindframe supports safe media reporting, portrayal and communication about suicide, mental health concerns, alcohol and other drugs. Check out their resources on best practise reporting.
Black Dog Institute - Research informed support tools and resources for Mental Health and wellbeing
Open Arms - 1800 011 046 - Mental health support for Navy, Army & Air Force personnel and their families.

If you are living outside of Australia and need support go to:
Befrienders - provide confidential support to people in emotional crisis or distress, or those close to them

Missed any? Pop them in the comments.

What we’re here to talk about

Casting is often a process that isn’t widely understood by actors, producers, directors or brands and we might be a little biased but we believe it’s the most important cog in the pre-production machine and the key to making any project that features a performer a success.

Casting is a creative engine room. It is the centre of brand storytelling, it’s the ability to help build a world, whether it’s in advertising, narrative or documentary.

The reason we’ve created this Substack is because we’ve grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of knowledge about the ART OF CASTING when we are engaged on projects. The demands being placed on casting directors are indicative of a wave of emerging creatives that simply don’t understand the process. And this makes sense because no one is actually teaching anyone what it is and literally EVERYONE thinks they are a casting director.

It also appears from our many encounters with actors (both veteran and emerging) that there are gaps in knowledge about how the casting process has evolved rapidly post covid and now with the addition of Ai.

This publication is for actors, producers, directors, producers and brands that want real voices from the casting perspective and the aim of it is to simply provide education from the world of casting to benefit your performances, your thinking, your budgets and your opinions.

Here’s what you can expect in your inbox:

• How casting actually works. Across multi formats, including casting strategies and the intricate parts of the process.

• What’s trending in the industry. Trends in film, TV and advertising that are actually impacting the audition and casting process.

• Insights for directors and producers. How to get better, faster, sharper results from your casting sessions and tools that will help you understand the casting process better and empower you in your job.

• Resources for Actors. Audition process, mindset tools and how to quit reading our mind and start pitching memorable characters.

• Behind-the-scenes stories. All of it. No BS.

• Brand storytelling through casting. Why casting is the first emotional impression your audience gets… and the easiest way to elevate your work and how to make your budget work for you with real case studies from our past projects.

Why it matters

• Casting is hugely undervalued. We are the first part of the process that brings life to the project and the point where the characters become real.

• Performance can make or break your project and everyone will have an opinion on it.

• Casting shouldn’t be an afterthought because your project is hinging on it.

• Exceptional casting can tell your brand’s story effectively, help gain the funding you need or get into prestigious film festivals and win internationally renowned accolades and the wrong casting can be diabolical and do the opposite.

We want to give filmmakers, producers and actors a front-row seat to what we see every day. We want to empower you with the intel that makes you better at your job, whether you’re behind the camera, in front of it, or signing off on the budget. Think of us as your secret weapon in professional development.

How often?

Expect us in your inbox every month, sometimes more if something juicy is happening and we can’t shut up about it.

And don’t worry, we will keep the posts short and sweet we know our attention spans all depend on it.

Steph & Al x

It seems like a simple question but we get asked this ALL. THE. TIME. And fair enough because everyone’s opinion on this topic is different. Whether we’re casting the lead in a horror film, finding fresh faces for a comedy series, or scrolling a submission deck for a new TVC campaign, your headshot is almost always the first impression of you that we get and sometimes you are getting (or not getting) that audition based solely on a glance of your headshot. I know, it’s brutal.

A great headshot doesn’t just look good, it lives rent free in a CD’s brain, it allows us to recall you and scribble your name in the margins of a script when we’re assembling a shortlist (if you saw the mental filing system of headshots in my head you would be both impressed and also a little overwhelmed).

So…what actually makes a great one in 2026? Because times are a-changin’.

Headshot Truths We Stand By

No Ai.

This has never been a problem before but we’re seeing it more and more in submission decks and when we’re scrolling through the casting platforms. If you are using Ai in your headshot STOP. IT. We can tell.

Backgrounds.

We’ve noticed an ongoing trend where backgrounds are being removed from headshots and it’s just a stark white solid background behind a floating head (see Ai note above). This often reminds us of those photos that funeral homes put up of loved ones that have passed through to the pearly gates. Again, we are looking at hundreds of thumbnails and these shots stick out like sore thumbs (not in a good way).

No selfies.

We always want a professionally shot image. There are stacks of amazing headshot photographers out there at various different pricing levels to suit your budget. Do your research, find one that aligns with you and who understands how to portray your energy. Invest in your headshot. It’ll be good for 3-5 years (unless you like to change your hair more often than that).

Research.

Browse actors you admire…who shot their headshots? Great photographers know how to light you, direct you and also how to capture that sparkle behind the eyes. Budget for it: most quality sessions now sit above $500 ++ depending on what's included in the packages (remember, this is an investment into your career).

Authenticity over aesthetics.

We want to see YOU so avoid hyper-stylised shots. CDs are looking for a neutral, blank canvas so that we can picture where to cast you because we’re often casting things that aren’t even briefed yet, so a neutral, simple image keeps you open to a broader range. When we are scrolling through a casting platform, we are often adding actors to multiple lists for a wide range of projects simultaneously.

Three with an exception.

On casting platforms, keep it to three headshots max. Choose ones that reflect your range, not different costumes or characters, but tonal versatility. The exception of this is if you have professional press shots that you wish you include on your profile but we don’t need 17 of them.

Fundamentals matter.

Sometimes just good natural lighting, strong framing and backgrounds that are going to make you pop rather than end up being a distraction for us are enough. At the end of the day, we want to be focussing on you above all else.

Eyes are everything.

Skip dramatic lighting or anything that obscures your eyes. We want to feel connected to you.

If your look changes, so should your shots.

New hair? New face? Total rebrand? New photos. We know it’s annoying but what’s more annoying is us thinking you look one way and then you appearing in your tape or in the audition room as a totally different person. Think of it like online dating…no one likes to be catfished.

Keep them current.

It’s not 1969. If your headshot predates season 1 of the original Gossip Girl, it’s time for an update.

Retouch sparingly.

We want to see your freckles, your scars, your lines and everything that makes you, you!

Typecasting and the Power of Perception

Your headshot will shape the kinds of roles you’re seen for, especially at first glance. Make sure it reflects the kind of work you want to do, while still keeping it grounded in self awareness.

Final Word

The best headshots aren’t about trends.

A great headshot captures your truth and doesn’t just get you in the room, it creates an everlasting card in a CD’s brain. It’s a simple but extremely powerful tool for an actor.

Got a headshot photographer you love? Drop their name in the comments below.