I went to audition house 3 times in the last month. I had not self taped in a few years as I was out of the business. The first session was ok yet, I did notice that the reader, the reader was a bit overbearing by giving directions. I did not ask for directions and was following notes from casting. I did not push it as I am on a tight schedule and did not want to add drama to my day.
The second time the reader was late for the taping, seemed hungover, and I could audibly hear her voice cracking in the finished product - a distraction from the actual audition to say the least. While waiting for the reader, Ross mentioned that they were dating, a bit of information I did not see as necessary as I was paying for an audition taping session, and wanted a friendly yet, professional experience that would lead to a booking.
The third, and last time, I know, I am a forgiving person, I sent notes the night before from casting as to how they would like to have the tape created/constructed. One instruction was that the reader should have a low volume - that was castings note, not mine, although I tend to strongly agree. The reader seemed to take that personally, as if it came directly from me. I did have one request pre-session and that was that the reader look over the script before the session - I prefer not to spend time and money rehearsing when it could be spent taping.
When asking for what I needed in the session the reader seemed a bit hostile and put off as if I were somehow a problem to her for not allowing her to derail the taping with her directions - I spent several hours preparing, memorizing and taking note of castings instructions - my requests were not a personal affront to the reader, who sadly, reacted as if they were - at one point, she raised a finger with a ring on it stating "I've got this covered"...huh?
Finally, while doing the last take of my session, Ross asked if there were any instructions - I said let's just relax and be ourselves. The take went nicely. However, after paying for that last session I noted that I work as a speech coach, and the reader quickly made a snarky comment saying something along the lines of "You just taught me, AND you paid for it..."
Overall, the reader's attitude did not add to a friendly, professional, creative environment. Ross, while not obviously rude, seemed to enjoy and encourage the reader's bad behavior - maybe because they are dating? - again, an issue that was none of my business and added nothing to their business acumen. read more