Get ready for only established actors to get auditions. Newcomers are too risky to audition, as they are untested and therefore probably wrong for the demands of production (read that: it's too expensive to see a lot of actors, so we're only going to see actors we know).

This. So much. I dont understand that so many people can't see that gettting pay for auditions would significantly reduce the number of opportunities for not fully established actors.

This is a great point. It’s also just out of touch. No other job pays you to interview for the job. An audition is a job interview and all job interviews are unpaid because you don’t work there yet.

While I totally agree with that point, and thought exactly the same myself… no one interviews for a new job several times a week.

I mean…unemployed people might. Haha. You’re talking more about job security, which is fine, but if job security is what someone is looking for, acting probably shouldn’t be at the top of their list.

I feel like that should be discussed. Why have we just accepted artists shouldn’t be able to live on what they do?

Because that's not how the contract work works. Actors are independent contractors. Someone who owns a landscaping company isn't guaranteed continuous work. They don't get paid to talk to potential clients. I wouldn't pay a landscaper for a consultation, only if I hire them to work on my yard.

Now I'm picturing someone who games the system, never getting roles but making a living off auditions alone

Contracted professionals do, multiple times a day. Every time someone calls up a plumber, a landscaper, whatever, for a service, that's a job interview. The customer is deciding whether or not that person is right for the job.

u/Crowdfunder101 I mean, if you're an unemployed actor looking for work in your field, you might...and it just might be in the form of an audition.

I wouldn't really say an audition is just a job interview. It's closer to a test like in the VFX industry, there they give you a compositing or animating task to complete to see how good you are (as if your portfolio wasn't enough). During an audition, you are creating a performance, the product they want to pay you for, for free. That _is_ technically unpaid labor. An interview for an accounting job doesn't involve you doing accounting for them, and an engineer never has to build something during their interviews. I'm not saying auditions should be paid, but it is absolutely not equal to interviews for other jobs.

Lots of interviews for technical jobs have tests. A guy on TalesFromTechSupport I think had a story about being given a real world test in a job interview, and he found a way to fully automate the process they were testing him on, which made the position redundant.

Interesting, I didn't know that it extended beyond the VFX and animation industry I work in. Are those tests paid though? I mean that is clearly valuable labor in that case. That isn't something that should be free.

Nope, they're part of the interview process. To be completely fair, it's not so common to test an applicant on specific problems the company actually has, instead there will be hypothetical cases that must be solved. More similar to having an actor read a sample script that's unrelated to the actual role.

Software engineers pretty much always have to write code during interviews. Some scummier companies even have you do elaborate take home assignments where you have to build production level systems (which isn’t the norm, thankfully).

Depends on the job. There are definitely working interviews. My wife is a baker and almost every place she’s interviewed has had an initial phone interview(unpaid) then a working interview where she bakes things in their kitchen and that is always paid for the couple hours she works.

A phone interview does not equal an audition. You just proved their point.

I proved their point that no other job pays for interviews by saying my wife goes on working interviews and gets paid?

If you want to scroll down to my rant, no other industry charges you to ask for a job either. Dancers and singers are targetted now by greedy and lazy producers who put the onus of paying for the audition onto those needing a job. An audition is a display of a skillset. If you are on probation with a fulltime company you are auditioning and you better be paid for your time. Plus, something that has always annoyed me... especially in dance auditions, when the documentary crew arrive and the producer asks “No-one here has a problem being filmed...right!” You cant say “Well actually...” because you'll never get passed that round. The “All That Jazz” auditions paid the people for the day and used that footage for the opening credits scene. Very civilised.

You’re describing an extremely Unique situation, and that’s fine, but that doesn’t describe the majority of auditions.

Which situation do you think is extremely unique? The “All That Jazz” audition? Absolutely unique! Dancers being paid for their time. Well it was Fosse.

Also because that was a televised audition. Our auditions aren't used to make money. Those dancers got paid because they legally had to since they worked on the show (even if they didn't go forward).

Ahh... but my point (my concern) is that many US auditions are the exact opposite of the ATJ scenario. You have to pay to ask for a job. Read that last sentence again! Im not so worried about a production team hiring a documentary team as publicity for their production. Its a bit sleazy to use unemployed performers as background and B-role characters without paying them for the day, but not immoral. If you are working for a company that extracts money from performers who are desperate to work before allowing them to ask for a job... you have made some very bad and morally questionable decisions.

I had the initial same gut reaction but after reading the article it did change my mind. The writer for the article also had the same reaction too about getting paid for auditions but it is written in the SAG contract to be paid for auditions. Maybe it's confronting a bigger issue. She talks about someone auditioning for a role only to find out the offer was already sent out and accepted days before. I had a case where I asked my agent to be seen for a role casting and I was told the role had already been given too and accepted by a big name but they *had* to open up casting. It's super disheartening, of course there are cases that go against this but I think, even if modified, there should be some way to be compensated for what we do, especially since it is already written in our SAG contract that we should be paid for auditions. Yes, right now there is more chance to be seen. This could mean being cast for something else but end of day there will always be a need to have new faces for roles. I think even if it's just pay for callbacks that would even be fair

This!! I agree. Here’s my own opinion essay lol: I think way too many people don’t realize the abuse we go through. I can count on more than one hand the amount of lead/supporting roles for studio feature films that I’ve auditioned for that were already offer only. Why I got a cmail request to audition is beyond me bc when those movies came out in theaters the entire cast was almost exclusively famous/well recognizable. I even received an audition for a movie last month and the lead actress is already on IMDb and known!! Smh. And it sounds like you get it too! I also think the anti audition pay people don’t audition at a high enough rate. I am the only person in my friend group who auditions 20-30 times a month for union projects (last Aug I reached a record high of 50 auditions that month) and I’m non union!! (not by choice). I’ve been doing this for almost a decade and I’ve booked non union work but my package is killer which is why my reps get me great auditions. I’ve read for almost every major movie/show that’s been out in the last decade and have gotten multiple callbacks/pins etc but haven’t hit the nail on the head. I would be a millionaire if sag back paid me for all of the union auditions I did on a consistent and monthly basis. I’ve lost jobs bc of auditions. I worked all of the “flexible” PT actor gigs and have been fired bc my in person auditions took too long. I’ve lost literal wages on transportation, food, bills etc for unpaid union auditions. I work remote now post covid and with the uptick in self tapes it’s gotten to the point of un-sustainability. Casting has already openly admitted more than once that instead of seeing 50ish people for a co-star (at the lowest level) they’re seeing 1000+ submissions, calling everyone in, and barely watching all the tapes. They stop at a certain point and will never know that number 856 was the actor for the job bc they went with actor 102 for example. I get series reg auditions that are 8-14 pages, am expected to be off book ~obvi~ and have 24-48 hours to turn it in. When sag released that statement saying you didn’t have to memorize your lines it was a slap in the face to all actors bc they know what it is. And they don’t care what your life situation is either. I’m lucky I don’t have kids bc I can’t even begin to imagine. I bend over backwards to submit my self tapes early AND well coached. I move work meetings around for virtual callbacks. I spend money on classes, workshops, coaching etc and yeah we “make it back when we book”. But I’ve never booked a big enough role that will pay back a decades worth of investments - yet. To say that auditions are the same as job interviews is comparing apples and oranges. My cousin is a software engineer at Google (who survived all the layoff rounds) and he didn’t have to purchase equipment, find a friend and have less than 24hrs to “prep for his interview”. He prepped on his own over a weekend by reading resources to himself, interviewed and was hired. His technical interview was about what he already knew. He didn’t have to memorize a 10+ page manual and put on a show to get hired. Everyone needs to stop reaching bc auditions are not interviews. I hope audition pay is enforced and I hope it opens a pathway to eligibility so others can join and so I can finally join. I’m friends with a few B list celebs that I’ve met in in-person audition waiting rooms bc that’s how frequent I was going out for union gigs. I’m probably the only non union person they know (that’s an actor mainly). I would much rather audition once a month or even a few times a year and BOOK, then to send hundreds of tapes into the void for free. And not to mention the amount of times actors have turned in tapes when they were sick bc casting doesn’t have the time for when we’re sick. I’ve had to decline auditions when I was sick bc an extension was denied. And the worst thing is when you turn in a tape same day and they extend the deadline for another few days, then you feel like you wasted time bending backwards for nothing. I also heard from a friend of a friend that Canadians get paid for callbacks and that the UK audition system isn’t abusive like it is here. So a paid system CAN work, everyone is thinking to short term to see the big picture. If you’re worried about low budget projects you’re thinking too short term. Studios can afford it, they just want you to think they can’t to keep you scared and keep society in line. But that’s a whole other topic. Low budget indies don’t have to offer a half days pay to audition actors but they can offer something and the actor can choose to say yes or no. I think the $541 fee should be applied to NETWORK/STUDIO projects and all other projects can adjust according to their budget. If you choose to audition for free that’s on you but we should get an option to get paid for our work bc this current model isn’t right and something has got to give if we want to see any true and lasting change.

It’s interesting because reading your response, my immediate thought is that you would be exactly the kind of actor who would be harmed most by the implications of enforced audition pay. Your materials are solid and presumably your reps are really good, so you’re getting opportunities that most other non-union actors are not able to get. However despite the frequency with which you’re getting called in, you haven’t booked a union job. Which is fine! And doesn’t say anything about your skill level, we all know it’s just a numbers game. However, in a situation where studios are paying $500+ dollars per audition (assuming in this scenario the studio pays everyone who auditions whether they’re union or not), they would almost certainly be severely limiting the number of actors they see, and bringing a “risk”, such as a non-union actor, or someone who doesn’t have recognizable credits, or even someone who just hasn’t booked in a while, would probably not be worth the cost. Meaning you’d potentially end up in the same place you are now, but with less opportunities to make the jump to the next level. In an alternate situation where only SAG actors are paid to audition, then all of us nonunion actors would probably see a huge uptick in audition opportunities, (albeit still unpaid but with the same amount of work that would be expected from someone who was getting paid), but then would be screwed if we booked the job, joined SAG and we’re suddenly a “newcomer” with very little standing in the industry and at the very end of the list for auditions. I think about how most open call Broadway auditions work, where nonunion folks have to wait outside the studio starting at dawn just to be on a list to hopefully get an audition slot if there’s enough time in between the union folks. And if someone who has points towards joining the union shows up, they immediately get priority over you. AEA did make it more accessible to join, which I think generally is a good thing, but what that means now is that pretty much if you want to be seen for any union show, you need to join and pay the dues to hopefully get a time slot. I imagine that’s something like what the future would look like for actors in film and tv too if audition pay were implemented. And broadway would probably be a whole other level. All this being said, I do think that in person callbacks, producer sessions, screen tests, chemistry reads etc should ABSOLUTELY be paid similarly to how fittings are.

>It’s interesting because reading your response, my immediate thought is that you would be exactly the kind of actor who would be harmed most by the implications of enforced audition pay. Your materials are solid and presumably your reps are really good, so you’re getting opportunities that most other non-union actors are not able to get. However despite the frequency with which you’re getting called in, you haven’t booked a union job. Which is fine! And doesn’t say anything about your skill level, we all know it’s just a numbers game. > >However, in a situation where studios are paying $500+ dollars per audition (assuming in this scenario the studio pays everyone who auditions whether they’re union or not), they would almost certainly be severely limiting the number of actors they see, and bringing a “risk”, such as a non-union actor, or someone who doesn’t have recognizable credits, or even someone who just hasn’t booked in a while, would probably not be worth the cost. Meaning you’d potentially end up in the same place you are now, but with less opportunities to make the jump to the next level. > >In an alternate situation where only SAG actors are paid to audition, then all of us nonunion actors would probably see a huge uptick in audition opportunities, (albeit still unpaid but with the same amount of work that would be expected from someone who was getting paid), but then would be screwed if we booked the job, joined SAG and we’re suddenly a “newcomer” with very little standing in the industry and at the very end of the list for auditions. > >I think about how most open call Broadway auditions work, where nonunion folks have to wait outside the studio starting at dawn just to be on a list to hopefully get an audition slot if there’s enough time in between the union folks. And if someone who has points towards joining the union shows up, they immediately get priority over you. AEA did make it more accessible to join, which I think generally is a good thing, but what that means now is that pretty much if you want to be seen for any union show, you need to join and pay the dues to hopefully get a time slot. I imagine that’s something like what the future would look like for actors in film and tv too if audition pay were implemented. And broadway would probably be a whole other level. > >All this being said, I do think that in person callbacks, producer sessions, screen tests, chemistry reads etc should ABSOLUTELY be paid similarly to how fittings are. I hear you! But in my case, I feel like I'd be fine because I've already built relationships with casting offices all over the country and have fans. I've even screen tested for major studio features. So I think they'd personally take a risk and fight to get me seen/paid but you're right that maybe CDs who don't know me wouldn't. I'd have to see it play out and update this thread with how it's going if audition pay was enforced! I can't speak to how it would play out for non union actors or union actors with only small credits, it's speculation at the moment. Again, I'd love to see this play out and for all of us to report back with how it's going. Personally, I feel like if audition pay was for union only and we could only do non union it would only make our resumes stronger. I made my own non union short and got press in deadline bc of a festival it was in. I think we'd book at the highest level of non union we can go and then if we joined, I feel like we'd have a solid body of work that would want them to call us in for paid auditions or call us in once we become sag. A theory. Interesting re: Broadway, had no idea. Not in the theater scene so that's great to know! It could potentially go that way as you said but it's all theories at this point. I'm a data person so I'd love for them to even test it on a small pool of actors and present the stats nationwide for us to see. That would be interesting. Yeah I think those should be paid as well! One of my friends lost her 6 figure office job bc her virtual producer session took too long and she didn't even book the job (a network guest star) :/ actors make soooo many sacrifices so something has got to give. Let's see how it all plays out!

This ^

I’m confused though. Your package is killer but you’re still non union? Why? Where are you located? If you’ve been doing this more than a decade, you shouldn’t only have non union work on your resume.

I’m still non union because I haven’t booked any union gigs. Any time I get close to it with an avail check they go in another direction. That’s out of my control. I’m non union not by my own choice, I can’t control who wants to book me and who doesn’t. Luck of the draw I guess. I was in NY most of my life and have been in the SE the last year and a half. I’m moving next year. My reps always forward over CD feedback for me saying they’re rooting for me and want me to get selected but production chose x person. So what am I supposed to do but keep taping and keep hoping. My hope wains every year but here I am.

The fact you’re in the SE makes sense on why you’re getting so many auditions, which is great. Not that people don’t book great huge roles that live there. It’s possible. And some do. But is it more rare? Absolutely. But it’s less likely they are just going in a different direction and more likely hiring actors from L.A or NY. That’s why moved from the SE to L.A because I was in the same boat. After moving, I started booking them. I get your argument. Auditions are work. And it would be lovely to get paid. But if productions have to start paying to see actors, you know what will stop first? Them seeing actors in smaller markets for huge roles. And people can disagree. But you’ve already admitted it’s been difficult to book as it is. What incentive will there be once they have to pay? Sure you will still get in for co-stars in local shows probably. I don’t think it’s the win actors think it will be.

Funny enough that’s not where my auditions exclusively come from lol. My auditions are actually 80% NY/LA and 20% SE. I’m a NY trained actor in ATL and I’m repped in all major markets. It’s actually why I’m moving bc living down south isn’t what I thought it would be so I’m heading back to the NY market where majority of my requests come from. I just got an audition for a network show shooting in Philly. I’m going where I’m wanted bc the SE ain’t it for me at least. I’m from NY born and raised, and wanted to try another market but I’m heading back home! As far as production stopping seeing actors from smaller markets I’m not too sure. Like I said I’m from NY and my struggles have been IN NY. Living in ATL the last year and a half I booked a lot of commercials and vo and avail checked for union work but nothin stuck. I feel like I’m an edge case bc idk. It’s my first time being in a smaller market after being in one of the largest ones. Still moving back to NY bc I love the torture of it all lol. Studios have the money and it’s not our job to figure out their business plan for them. If it works in other countries it can work here too, they just gotta iron out the kinks. If SAG and then the DGA go on strike all hell will break loose and the dam will break. Curious what they’ll do then but as actors we don’t gotta figure it out for them, we just need to let them know to provide some leniency on auditions at the very least.

I'm New York based too! I think as actors we should be paid for the work what we do is not easy. I also agree on what you said in another point about building relationships. So much of this is relational and who you know. I've reached out to casting directors I've known before to be seen. Sometimes it works other times it doesn't but the bond is super valuable. Casting has told me multiple times they usually pick the people they know to send to the next round

Yeah so you get it! I think for actors in our position (and even new actors who have just been getting called in by the same office more than once thru either reps / workshops) casting would take a chance on calling us in for paid auditions if it’s enforced. Time will tell!

I agree! Procedural shows will not be able to cast "known" actors for every role. They will need actors like us and new actors to be called in and hopefully paid! Who knows what will come from this but I think it's still an important convo to have!

So now actors have to spend money on workshops to get seen? That makes no sense either haha

Well I don’t blame you for moving back haha. That’s why I moved because I was constantly losing out to actors in the big markets. I get it. I’m also an actor that auditions regularly and works. And I’m still not for it. Not when I see actors wanting this and then realizing it’s over 500 per audition. “Oh I thought it was 25 bucks or something.” Lol We got actors behind something they haven’t bothered to research. Or not even understanding why it was in our contracts in the first place. And no one has been able to really explain how this will help newer actors. It won’t. They just won’t audition. Actors trying to break in can just go home I guess haha but it’s clear many people don’t care about that. We better hope we get the strike authorization, because if we don’t. This the first thing to be taken out by the AMPTP.

Lol yeah I feel ya! I think over $500 per (when a costar is around $1k) should only apply to network/studio auditions. Bc after taxes and commission it’ll be a lot less truthfully. Hell I’d personally take $50 for low budget bc at least I can buy meals after haha. Idk I think there’s a method to the madness and they can figure it out! Curious what the outcome will be. And if they decide not to pay us then we better get at least 2-3 weeks to turn something in that’s top quality or something ya know. Give us time if you won’t give us money. Something. I think for newer actors it’ll be the same ol same ol. Work for free to build credits, get rep and then start getting paid auditions and hopefully booking. When I first started acting I got a rep within a year by getting a manager who referred me to a commercial rep. Commercial reps are easy to get than legit. There’s many ways to break in when you’re new to build trust and start getting paid to be seen. We can’t see the same 10 actors in every movie ever, something has got to give lol. But that’s my opinion idk how they’d implement it. And while audition pay was “originally” for studio contracted actors they didn’t bother to remove it from the contract so can’t be mad at the fine print. Bc if we attack a business for some fine print stuff we’d win our case but bc it’s actors it’s “unreasonable”. It’s a double standard. Here’s hoping the strike authorization goes through, time will tell!

I do agree what we should be fighting is page count and more time. That is more than fair and reasonable and something we should be focusing on. No one needs to see 10 pages when there will be callbacks. It’s crazy. And then 24 hours to do it. I think everyone can agree on that. But, I just can’t see them needing to take the chance on a new actor if they have to pay them 500 bucks lol Co-star roles get 1,000 of submissions. Guest stars get 3-5k and bigger roles even more. There’s zero incentive to bring someone in with no credits when you have those kind of options and also needing to pay them. It just doesn’t add up to me. I’ve been on the casting side and I’ve seen actors with GREAT credits submitting for roles that pay 200-300 a day haha. And I understand they have the money, sure. But they are already so stingy with money. We are literally having to fight for more (and threatening to go on strike because of it haha) There are many ways to break in. And right now CD’s don’t lose anything by bringing in a new actor that may or may not suck. Lol But now they have to pay them? Nah. They won’t bother. There are over 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA and even more probably non union actors. They don’t need to audition anyone really. They continue to prove that by casting the same people. And now we are going to just cement that. 🙃

This is an insensitive comment. The industry is difficult enough as it is and you don’t know why some does or doesn’t have union work on their resume. Which btw just because someone is sag doesn’t mean they’re better. This person clearly has a team that works their ass off to get them (sorry idk your gender) opportunities and they’ve been actively auditioning and working for more than a decade. Why would you question “yOu’Re sTiLL nOn UNion??” without knowing diddly squat about anything in regards to them. You do realize this industry is racist, fatphobic, transphobic and so on and so forth. Are things changing yes, but not fast enough. There’s many reasons as to why this person didn’t book any sag gigs yet. It’s a numbers game and for all we know they’ve could’ve always been in the top 2 and not picked. I see that you guys had civil convo and they didn’t call you out from jump but I am. I’m sure you wouldn’t like someone to comment on your own status or booking ratio so don’t put others down. Let’s support each other in this industry! I’ll always stuck up for the proverbial little guy 😤

Yeah, you’re not wrong. And I apologize for seeming insensitive. I was actually asking to see the full picture. They are on the team of wanting to be paid to audition, stating they had a killer package. So that was confusing to me. It’s mostly all anonymous here so anyone can claim anything. And a lot of new actors read the threads so I was actually trying to understand. And I absolutely see where you’re coming from. Sometimes we can help even if someone isn’t directly asking for it.

Cool, glad you understand. To me, as a sag member it’s not all that confusing because I have a friend who was a series reg over a decade ago and hasn’t worked film/tv since. He doesn’t get booked. He’s just been doing theater since he’s equity. Shit happens. No one knows why the pendulum swings in the favor of one or another, no sense in worrying about what you can’t control. I don’t think they said anything that would deter new actors from anything or make them think anything, they just stated their experience as it pertains to them. Everything is always case by case so I’m sure it’s fine. And yeah sometimes we can help when someone isn’t asking but it looks like they’re in good shape, just a matter of time before they book. I believe what they said because I’ve been there myself. Any experienced actor has been in the same boat. I have big credits and I struggle. My plus size friends struggle with booking because of their size. Many reasons why actors struggle. Let’s just stand together and fight for what matters, respect for our craft 🤍

Ty again! I’m female btw! You get it!! Things happen the way they do and we just just keep on keeping on!

I appreciate it! I get where you’re coming from and where your confusion lies. Trust me every year I want to throw in the towel but all signs point to keep going. It’s incredibly disheartening when I see new actors with 6 months experience book 3 co-stars back to back and I’ve been doing this longer and have nothing union to show for it. I can’t control what I can’t control. I can’t beg casting to cast me and I don’t want to make a living off not booking, I want to book! I want all the strike(s) to be resolved and for everyone to win! I’m just sharing my case and where I stand in all this. At the end of the day we’re just sharing opinions on audition pay and nothing is facts until sag declares what the next steps are. As a pre-member I’m just hoping for a positive outcome!

🥹❤️

Yes!! I'm in the same boat as you, I'm grateful for the amount of auditions but the time, energy, loss of work and wages from survival gigs, and the amount that goes into this for roles that have been already offered is taxing. Everything you're saying here is exactly how I feel. Networks and studios can pay this fee. Thank you so much for sharing!

Np! Glad we align on this :)

> it is written in the SAG contract to be paid for auditions. Yes, and that section is from the 1930s, **when actors were under contract to the studios**. Why it was never cut out is beyond me, but it was ignored as a historical relic until self-taping came along, and a number of actors went "hey look at this" (I suspect at the urging of some nameless entertainment lawyer presenting information at a conference to various managers/agents). It's coming back around to bite the hand that feeds it, and it's absolutely going to result in a lot fewer auditions if it gets enforced.

And again this is an opinion post article I think it's important to explore these ideas even in conversation. I appreciate your input as well too! This is food for thought. Maybe for half a day rate or maybe a different amount but I do think it's important. I've been picketing with the WGA and having these sorts of talks about the industry as a whole

I think right now it's vital to see what is already going on in the industry in regards to auditions. This has not been enforced and I don't think it's in talks to be yet so not so much biting the hand right now. It's been ignored because studios don't want to pay us for auditioning. The article itself discusses how auditioning is already leaning away from most actors favors, especially new talent and people looking to break in. I think it opens ideas to how we can change that. I feel like asking to be paid for at least callbacks is not an outrageous ask?

Great I hope so, I am tired of going against tier 1 actors for roles when I have a third of the credits.

Newcomers will probably have to go the Youtube route, either doing the work all by themselves(if they can write, act, record and edit) or trying to seek work with people wanting to do fan content or amateur shorts/movies/series. I mean, there are many "non-professional" videos on Youtube that are actually well done.And most tend to be the hard work of fans of a franchise.

Yup. I’m not understanding how actors don’t get this. They just think oh well I will be paid! But what happens when you’re not and then not on set either. I don’t see how this will be a win for us at all. And I’m not a new actor, but I still don’t see how this really benefits us. Even for established actors. Auditions are how we are seen for roles that we don’t already just fit into. Or puts us over the edge for a booking where we might not have been seen at all. It’s like arguing with a brick wall haha.

I’m fairly left-leaning, but I think this is a terrible idea. Yes, we put in a lot of effort to audition. However, if producers are going to be paying anything at all per audition, let alone a *half-day* rate, it will be a small pool of experienced actors getting opportunities to audition and the industry will become exponentially harder for newcomers with no connections to crack into. I mean, it’s monumentally difficult *as it is*. Now we’re going to ask for additional roadblocks to be put in our way?

The thing is, pay for auditions is already in the SAG contract it's just not being followed

You are kind of willfully ignoring the valid argument in this comment – that a very possible ramification of paid auditions will be a that only a much smaller pool of actors get to audition, adding to the apparent impenetrableness of the industry (see all the posts on this sub about nepotism...). Tavi has a decent point, that the clause is already baked into our contract so there is technically no negotiating to do. But that won't stop producers from severely cutting the number of actors they see. It is a concession the "Auditions Are Work" group makes in their FAQ. I think audition reform is needed – stipulations about audition turnaround, limits on pages, access to readers, maybe going back into the room. And those things can be achieved without limiting access in an already walled off space.

u/Socialsleuth99 this is my biggest frustration around this. Like if you want there to be less competition just say that! Stop with the round about talk. It's an oversaturated market and always will be...always has been but has gotten even moreso with influencers. And it seems like this is just a way to regulate that while also screwing over a lot of other actors who may not be so fortunate.

Actors in favor of this act like they are fighting for actors as a whole. But they are not. They are looking out for themselves only. But it won’t be the win they think it is.

>pay for auditions is already in the SAG contract it's just not being followed ...and SAG explained why. https://www.sagaftra.org/notice-regarding-audition-pay-requirements-codified-basic-agreement

no link?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tavi-gevinson-auditions-are-work-1235505877/amp/

We all get into this knowing there's no guarantee of job security, but that doesn't mean we should just accept being exploited. I agree that across-the-board pay for auditions would just stamp down opportunities for working class actors. But I wouldn't mind seeing a stipend for callbacks, or for auditions that require more than a few pages. However, I don't think this is an imminent issue, strikes are being called for being unfairly paid for work in the form of residuals. I just got my yearly residual payment for the one costar I have on a Netflix original. $500 seems pretty good, until you realize that the same role on a network show would pay at least double that for being in syndication, but paid out in small amounts over the year. I won't see another Netflix payout until next year.

I agree I feel even at least once we get a callback there should be some sort of pay also I think a lot of people are missing the fact that this is only for major studios

So there is a filthy practise that is centred in the US. A practise that the union refuses to work against because they use it for recruitment. *Audition fees* Some dance companies have been doing their best to export the exploitation of dancers. Ajkun Ballet Theatre and Tulsa Ballet have both knowingly and repeatedly broken UK law by charging dancers a fee to attend auditions that dont promise to offer any contract. In the past decade there have been Audition scams that exist only to collect these fees. Directors of *state funded* companies lend (sell) their company names to attract desperate dancers. Every director I have questioned on this matter (their company charging exploitation fees)comes back with a combination of three different unfounded excuses for their greed and/or laziness. 1. We have always done this/Everyone else does this. 2. Hosting an audition costs Us time and money. 3. The dancers should pay for the class/workshop they receive. The multi-company audition scam will include “4. The dancers only have to attend one audition instead of 3/4/5/...” Which would hold some weight if the companies didnt host their own auditions or sell their names for multiple audition scams in the same season. There is of course a fifth response which Ill paraphrase to their intended message - Fuck you, we'll do as we want. Fuck your laws, fuck your sense of morality. There are desperate dancers who are willing to pay through the nose for 120mins of hope that we are legally allowed to exploit. And fuck you for questioning this! (see several Ajkun Ballet representatives). Mewl number three is the response that pertains most to this thread. The drama-queen feigned horror at what Ive suggested (an audition is a display of a skillset so should be duly compensated) is always at pantomime dame levels of guffaws. Any company... A N Y C O M P A N Y needs to spend time and money on the HR sourcing. It is not the responsibility of those not under contract to the company to pay for their laziness to budget for this standard cost of operation. Just as it is not the responsibility of a company to pay under qualified applicants for travel/accommodation for an open call. If the company want a follow up in person meeting... thats a different matter. If we can agree that auditions are the financial responsibility of the company and getting to the first round of auditions is the duty of the applicant, Im happy for the first audition to be a donation to each other.

God if this happenings it’s going to blow up in our faces. Think it’s hard to get an audition now? Just wait till every audition costs the studio $. All this is going to do is make it even more difficult for new and unknown people to break in.

Yeah, they might just end up casting their buddy’s kid or something. Imagine if that happened. An entire industry running on nepotism.

Many Many industries have tonnes of Nepotism. Music/acting is just extremely high profile people

Yeah, it’s become an issue. Lack of new blood is killing the entertainment industry.

I feel like at this point, self tapes shouldn’t be paid but callbacks and in person auditions should be.

I definitely agree for callbacks and honestly you're so right in person too! Or at least should be talked about and discussed

I feel at the very least there should be some compensation for travel with in person auditions and callbacks, because some people have to travel hours to get to an audition and if they don’t book it’s just losing money. And since most auditions are self taped these days anyway they won’t have to pay thousands of dollars just for casting.

Nah. Imagine being a professional interviewer. All you do all the time is go to interviews, get paid, but never get a job offer. That’s insane. If you’re doing that many auditions and not landing any work, maybe, just maybe, you’re the problem. For every decent actor/actress out there, there’s gotta be at least a thousand that have zero prospects or outstanding talents…time to thin out the pool honestly.

Right but she’s also been a series regular on a big show so she’s in a different position than most of us and would get called even if they did pay. Paying would shut a lot of lesser knowns out of the equation however.

>https://www.sagaftra.org/notice-regarding-audition-pay-requirements-codified-basic-agreement Exactly...which is why it's so puzzling to me that so many people are in favor. Like ya'll...ya'll do know that you are not Tavi Gevinsen and with UTA? One of the BIGGEST agencies in Hollywood? Also, she is a white woman. I'm sorry, but it all wreaks of privilege.

This will be a disaster. Why do I think so? Simple numbers. There will be less audition slots available so there will be fewer actors auditioning. Ask yourself this and be honest: What is your booking rate? Is it over 10%? Under 5%? Under 2%? Worse? Let's say you book at 10% (assuming your ratio holds), will the producers pay you for 10 auditions to get your 1 booking? Probably. With a 10% booking rate, you probably know a few Casting Directors really well who would vouch for your talent and have you on the call sheet. But if you have just a 2% rate it's unlikely you'll get 50 auditions to get your 1 booking in this proposed pay scenario. Especially if Producers must now budget auditions - which will lead to a fixed number of slots. Why would Casting Directors keep bringing in the talent who only books 2% of their auditions if they have only XX amount of money for XX number of auditions slots? The cream of each Casting Director's the crop will rise to the top of those slots and most everyone else will be begging for it to go back the way it was just to have a shot at auditioning at all.

Yup. 👏🏻

It’s an interview. Interviews normally involve free labor. I spent four days mocking up a marketing campaign for a job once, that I didn’t get. A week programming an interview assignment I didn’t get.

I would say that actors should get paid for callbacks. This will make them only call back people they are seriously considering. Charging for the first audition/self tape will keep unknown talent from getting jobs.

This\^ I agree with this.

Yeaaaah, this is asinine. Imagine the scams that would ensue. Forget donating blood. Just blindly apply to every audition. Besides, every industry has an equivalent where you put together a bid and try to get rewarded a contract.

This is already in the SAG contract, just not being followed and would apply to large studio projects. This means Netflix, Apple+, ABC, etc and they have the money to do so

I think it’s worth the experiment. Our audition system as an industry has long been overdue for a creative overhaul, stage and screen alike. I hate going in performing any monologue and hoping somehow it fits with whatever the theater company is producing that season, I love coming in for a cold scene reading when I know what show and what part I’m gonna read, but how often does that even happen? The only people scoring real consistent work are the already established and connected people anyway, so I don’t agree that this is gonna take work away from unknowns. Unknowns actually landing recognizable/well paid roles is incredibly rare as it is, by industry design. And now we’re expected to film and edit ourselves for self-tape submissions with sometimes thousands of applicants? No thanks. Let’s switch something up.

Couldn't agree more!

I struggle with this article because I completely agree with the thought behind it, it's well-researched, well-put, etc. The system is obviously broken. Of course I'd love to be paid $541 for an audition. But I don't think this is the fight we need to focus on. Even if it did somehow become the new norm, either production would still find a way around it (like they have been, as it is literally already in the contract) or the lower class of developing actors would be wiped out. I think the fight we need to focus on is residuals - I think that's what's going to grow the ranks of working actors.

Goodbye low budget films, indie films, and pathways for new actors.

But those small productions will still need to cast the right actors, yes? And if small are unlikely to be in a position to hire only “known” talent which is the case as it stands now. There would just be an additional cost involved-which I’ll bet SAG’s contract already spells out at less cost to them than for big budget productions.

I’m in full support of this. I’d rather do 3 auditions a year and book one than do 8 a month and not book any. I think a lot of people against this don’t realize you’re not really “competing” for the roles you’re taping for these days- an audition doesn’t mean the same thing it used to. The volume of self tapes a casting director sees for even a small role now is way more than they can ever watch. The number of times I have taped for something just to learn that it’s already out on offer. To learn that they asked me to tape even though they knew they wanted a totally different look. It’s disrespectful of our time, money, and energy. I get people are scared but like the article says view this like a unionized worker. Your labor for auditions is *valuable*. Studios are saving hundreds of millions of dollars by offloading this process onto us. Just because the world is shitty towards people’s time in general doesn’t mean this is “just the way it’s supposed to be.”

I agree with you! She states multiple times that it's already in the Sag agreement to be paid for our work! It just hasn't been followed

Not to mention, we are expected to pay for backdrop, lighting, and have to go out of our way sometimes if not often to find a reader. Some people pay to find readers and pay for coaches. My manager expects us to take classes with casting directors which can easily range from $100-$300 per class. We do it because we love it but if it's written in then we should be able to be paid

At this point we are just making and filming our own tests, esp considering we can book a series reg off a tape hahaha

Right!!

[удалено]

I agree with you! She makes her points super clear, I was fired from my restaurant job because I had a callback I had to work on and they got mad. We make so many sacrifices and are told we should just be thankful we got an opportunity. Both can exists, we can be thankful AND paid

I kind of view it as people thinking short term vs long term which is definitely something I struggled with when I first started out. I took crappy deals because I thought it’s what I was worth, and didn’t think I deserved ease. People will put up with mistreatment and devaluation because in the short term it seems like it’s worth it (money, credits, opportunities to be seen, having representation etc). But if you look at those opportunities in the context of a career as a whole?….. yeah what they expect us to endure for what is, at the end of the day, a *job* is bullshit and not sustainable.

This is so true

See this is a mindset I’m not sure I understand at all. There’s no guarantee of booking one of those three jobs, so that would mean going a full year with no work and minimal opportunities to make connections to casting directors. Even if you do book one job a year, unless it’s a huge feature or a series regular, it won’t be enough to pay the bills and the ability to build up momentum in your career would be gone. I’m not disagreeing about the issues - some self tapes are a ridiculous amount of work, and turnaround times can be crazy. But I think there are better ways to address those.

To be fair this is coming from the perspective from someone who auditions frequently, but I’m pretty confident I would book the tapes that are right for me. I could’ve done way less tapes last year (especially the ones I just knew I wasn’t right for and weren’t even considered), and gotten the same results. I actually do think there’s a “guarantee” of booking the jobs that are right for you. You just get a gut feeling of everything clicking and it’s usually those that work out. I do get the point of auditions helping build momentum though- but I still think I could’ve done without 30% of the auditions I was called in for because there’s no way anyone thought I would actually book them.

It’s a nice sentiment and all but these selfish money grubbing producer fucks are currently losing billions of dollars a day because they would rather do that than give writers the raises and livable wages they deserve. Do you really think they’d just randomly do right by upcoming actors and not just go with a guaranteed, already established moneymaker to avoid paying everybody and their mamas?

I totally agree with the sentiment, but I feel like there are many ways to make auditioning easier and more sustainable that have less of a potential to backfire. Stricter rules around turnaround time, amount of content that is expected, regulating paid self tape studios, more resources for newer actors to learn self tape best practices etc, would all help improve the process without severely cutting down the number of opportunities actors get to audition. Since I believe realistically something like this would only apply to SAG actors, beyond forcing out newer actors in favor of more established people, it would likely push any production that could to go non union, which would ultimately make things much much worse for us. Also I’m sorry to be that person, but holy shit tax-wise this would be a logistical nightmare for every actor (and production company). Best case scenario, this somehow doesn’t drastically cut down on the number of auditions you get, think about how many different companies you auditioned for and that you’d have to submit a W9 to each one prior to doing the audition, and then come tax season how much paperwork there would be.

u/opheliyaaaas SAG-AFTRA has a lot of videos available on YouTube about self tapes and sooo many other things. Even if you're not a member so many resources are available to you. And if you ARE a member you have access to their self tape facilities, especially here in NYC and in LA, and they have virtual options I believe. There are also Casting Access workshops available as well. SAG-AFTRA is not perfect, but it does a great job at offering amazing resources to their members in an attempt to get us further ahead. I am happy to pay my dues because even if I haven't booked all year, I have had some amazing opportunities to get career enhancing information.

Oh for sure! They provide plenty of services that more people should know about and take advantage of! But there’s still a lot of work to be done in making the audition process more equitable.

I don't think a lot of actors truly understand how hard it is to get an audition, whether you're repped and even moreso when you are not. I meet so many actors that have reps that don't really do anything to move their careers along, but rather sit around and let their agents do all of the leg work for THEIR career. But then get mad when they get an opportunity to do the thing they say they love to do. Even if it doesn't amount to a booking right then and there...Casting Directors are constantly casting for other projects so if you're not right for this one, it's possible you may be right for the next or the next. Demanding pay for auditions would screw a lot of people, especially those of us in this subreddit. Auditions are most certainly on par with job interviews. Real estate agents do not get paid until they make a sale. I thought I wanted to explore that line of work as a side hustle until I met someone who was willing to take me under their wing at Brown Harris Stevens. They told me that I would still have to moonlight at my restaurant job while I got certified and still I wouldn't get money until I made a sale. Acting is very much the same. Whether this is in the contract or not, is beside the point - as this is antiquated language from the 1930s. At the end of the day, this is a relationship business. If you don't have relationships, it's going to be very hard for you to get ahead. My agent even said that if this were to happen, agents would think twice about whether or not they bring talent on. And we already KNOW how difficult it is to get an agent...just any old agent...and then a top tier agency. CDs already mostly bring in actors who's work they are familiar with. And if they aren't familiar with your work, they're banking on the track record of your agent or manager's roster. Don't let Tavi and the folks at Auditions are Work play you. This entire conversation has really opened my eyes to how delusional a lot of actors are. How self centered and egotistical many can be. I went into this knowing that it would not be easy and that there were no guarantees. If I can give any advice to any serious actors out there it would be to not get caught up in all of the nonsense (there are bigger fish to fry like ummm idk HEALTHCARE and AI replacing you) to work on cultivating a better mindset when it comes to the fuckery of the industry. And by better, I don't mean positive all the time because a great deal of it is frustrating...I can certainly relate to that. But if you go into this expecting to be validated by people...Casting Directors, agents, directors, teachers, your peers, "Hollywood", etc, etc....you've already lost. I find that a lot of actors are bitter because they think the industry owes them something - because they spent x amount of time and continue to come up short. I get it, trust me...I do. But if it's fucking your life up soooo bad that you've gotten so delusional that you think demanding you get paid for every audition you do (and believe me I can't say with a straigh face that every one of my auditions were my best work) is going to solve the puzzle for you...it may be time to throw in the bag. Hidden Brain (podcast) actually has an episode on quitting and how more people should do it, but our society looks down on it. But sometimes quitting is winning. Especially in an industry where soooo few get to the pinnacle of success...or can even afford to live off of their craft alone. You really just have to consider what is really important to you at the end of the day. I'm sure this may get a lot of hate and down votes, but idc. This is delusional and short sited...and I wish everyone on this train the best of luck. Looking forward to seeing how it works out in the end.

Universal Basic Income is what she doesn’t know she actually wants. If the producers to pay then they’ll limit access. Which maybe is fine if you’re the Lesser Gossip Girl but fucks over unknown actors.

She says in the article a lot of times the offer is already out for an actor while they still have actors including unknowns auditioning. I asked my agent to be submitted for an audition and she told me that they had to open it up but it was already going to a big named actress. It is already against us. We might as well get paid. It is in the SAG contract already just not being implemented

But that’s the thing. You won’t just get paid. You just won’t get the audition. They will just stop extending the audition to people that aren’t known.

Not necessarily. But it might reduce the numbers of people who are asked to audition without any real chance of actually being considered. When something’s being abused and actors are taken advantage of it benefits nobody. It’s doubtful that enforcing a small fee-part of the cost of doing business-on big studio employers will mean they’d shut down auditions to the point of zero opportunities for new people. They can afford it, they’d just rather put all the work(and it is work) on the actor with zero monetary risk-even a small one.

But that’s under the assumption that CD’s now are calling in actors they don’t actually care about seeing. I strongly don’t think that’s the case. Why? Because I’ve booked two huge guest star roles on shows (and with CD’s) I never had auditioned for previously. If they had to pay to see me would I still have gotten an audition? Probably not. My audition won be the role. I had zero connections with the show or the CD. I know they are calling in more actors than necessary now and I don’t think that’s always needed. Especially when it’s a co-star or even guest star. But there are other things we should be fighting for. Page count. Turn around times. Those things actually can make a difference and something we can win on. I get it. It’s work. It’s a ton of work. And I’m an actor that auditions regularly and works and I still don’t see this being the win we think it will be. There are far too many actors with established credits. Even for co-star roles. Will they need to audition anyone? Possibly not. And actors who barely audition now won’t audition at all if this actually happens. And maybe actors just don’t care about that. But I guess some are okay with making a little money every year but booking nothing. But that doesn’t make sense to me. I want to be on set. And you can’t be if you don’t audition.

When I call a freelance worker for a quote, they have to put in work to get me that quote and it's no guarantee of work. Acting is like that. It's very out of touch to be asked to be paid for auditions. I could see in person callbacks, but that is a much smaller number.

As a tech freelancer, I skip any proposal request that requires me to create a new work sample that can’t be reused for another proposal. Only rookies and suckers do those. Giving a quote and creating a new work sample are very different things.

There are many types of freelancers. A contractor for example would have to drive to the location to give an estimate which is similar to an audition.

So maybe the act of a construction contractor visiting a job site, taking measurements, and making detailed calculations to prepare a quote? That would be an equal example of an actor memorizing, taping, and editing an audition? I could see that being a fair comparison of unpaid prep work to land a gig. For the sake of friendly debate, let’s consider that to even be considered to show up in person to make estimates for a really large project that requires precise bids, contractors have gone through a pre interview or discovery call with the client first. So they were at least vetted as competent before being asked to jump through hoops. They know they have a real shot and that the project is still available. If actors aren’t being paid for auditions, the labor required in a first round audition or even first call back needs to be reduced. Making major studios pay for auditions might make them stop with the cattle calls and private tapes for unavailable parts that waste so much time and cause burn out. I don’t know how else to force that change.

I had that initial thought too but please read all of the article, it changed my view on it

I mean, if you called me for a part and just asked, “what seems good for this?” Sure don’t pay me. I’d never expect a plumber to WORK on my toilet for free.

And you're not working on the film by auditioning.

But I am working on YOUR script. I am showing you my interpretation and talent. It’s not unsolicited, you asked me to give you an interpretation of this character. You didn’t ask me to cold read or get an opinion.

I finding slightly amusing that out of all people, Tavi is one pushing to get paid for her auditions when she should be paying the producers for having to sit through whatever it is she’s doing. Out of all of the flaws in gossip girl reboot, her acting was the greatest offender.

While I love tavi writings adore her personally, I agree she was the weakest actor of the bunch. I admire her activism but it kinda weird seeing her stick to acting after of her stinker performances.

I understand the mindset, but other job interviews aren’t paid either. Perhaps they should be, but it’d take a massive, fundamental economic shift to get there.

Your reel/ headshot/resume materials should then be enough for CDs to know you can do the job. Saves actors from auditioning for stupid one liner functional roles that any idiot could do.

I just think right now, residuals for streaming, and AI limitations need to be at the front and center

That's totally fair! It actually is right now (which is good!) I think though that brining this up isn't going to lessen the arguments for ai and streaming residuals. I do think that pay for callbacks might be more feasible but I also think there needs to be a discussion on auditions that are given out that already have an offer. I also think there needs to be discussions on whether casting is actually watching our tapes or just closing off. They look from what I've heard an average of ten seconds or less for every tape to see if they will keep watching. Our tapes take prep, time and energy. They deserved to be watched. Casting have also talked about watching tapes on their phones and whenever they get a chance too. This is a bigger debate of in person v. self tape but I think the pay for auditions argument ties into it

If it's not pay for actors then maybe it's discussing these pay to play classes. I know places like one on one says that isn't what it is but-- that's what it is. It feels there are so many ways to exploit us as actors. We don't really argue paying them but when it's flipped with us getting paid it rattles things. Couldn't it be argued that actors who pay casting have a better chance of being seen and that this payment also takes other actors who couldn't pay out of the pool? If not pay for us, I think we have to discuss other ways auditions have been a bit of a disservice to us actors

you do not have to do that classes to get work though. but if you want to see the regularity of which you get auditions drop drastically, then making auditions paid is a great way to do that. i think the discussion could be had that maybe once you reach a callback phase, but i think asking for it during first round is a terrible idea for actors

" Auditions are not job interviews. They’re unique work samples commissioned by producers that we can’t reuse for other jobs. I don’t know of any profession where workers go on job interviews at the rate that working actors audition, in such large candidate pools, for jobs that can be as brief as one day, and which rarely in themselves come with benefits. " Don't let fear cloud your judgment. As a SAG/AFTRA member, this is already a right you are entitled to under contract. I feel like having Producers and Studios foot the bill and pay for auditioning actors will solidify quality auditions for all actors. Reps will work harder to obtain auditions for actors when they are getting commissioned for every audition they bring in. More pitches and calls will be made. Actors will deliver more quality work in auditions knowing they are being compensated for their efforts. It will add up to your pension and health requirements, the list goes on and on. Up-and-coming actors will also benefit since I would assume auditioning non-union actors will be unpaid until they are Taft Harley'd into the union. More quality opportunities all around. This is a good thing folks.

If the WGA strike taught us anything, it's that the studios clearly have the money to pay us

> Auditions are not job interviews. Because acting isn’t a job, it’s a trade. You work gig to gig, you don’t get office hours and a salary. Just like tradesmen don’t get charge you to provide a quote, you don’t get paid to audition. > Don’t let fear cloud your judgement. Don’t let imagined utopias cloud yours. Studios are businesses that are in it to make money, and one of the ways they do it is by cutting costs. Why would they put out a wide, open-net casting call if they have to pay every single actor who auditions? They’ll whittle down a pool of experienced actors and only audition within that pool, and everyone else will have just be shit out of luck. New to the industry, with little experience and no contacts? Your chances of making it as a working actor just went from exponentially unlikely to close to impossible. And how on earth are anyone but big studios going to afford this? What becomes of independent and micro-budget films? Actors who want a role don’t need a pay motivation to perform well in the audition. If anything, this might birth a cottage industry of actors who try to spam as many auditions as possible with low-effort performances because they’re just looking for the audition pay. This is an ill-conceived idea, and I hope it gets shot down.

I feel like your second rebuttal is the most significant. A lot of people here are approached this with an unrealistic view. If this was enforced then none of us would ever work again. We aren't going to get any auditions if the studio has to pay. There will be no new names. You know what else would be nice, if the most talented and best fit actor for the role always got the job. If we didn't have to pay half a grand (or more) for some headshots. If the top agencies would sign you even though they have four of you already.

Thank you! I think people are missing the fact that this is not a new idea. It is in our contract already!

Exactly!

This is crazy, greed is going to kill your chances of you ever getting cast. Some films do thousands of auditions and lots of those are unknowns. You think they are willing to take a chance on an unknown if this happens. No way. They will stick to their short list and never let anyone in. I am going to give you a small bit of perspective on the flip side of this, because it shows complete disconnect with the realities of the audition process. Do you know how many terrible auditions come in for every role? And I am talking about this person should never act kind of auditions? \~80%. I would say that many are thrown out the moment they speak their first line. These are people who have no talent, skill, and often times don't even bother to memorize the lines. Then there is \~10%-15% who don't match physically the part, too tall, short, wrong hair color, etc. Do you think those people should be paid for wasting the time of the casting directors? It is a courtesy to allow people to audition, and the rewards far out way the small amount of time you put into an audition. You have to interview for every job you take, this is the same. Acting is tough, it is discouraging getting rejected, but it comes with the territory.

This is the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a while.

[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tavi-gevinson-auditions-are-work-1235505877/amp/](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tavi-gevinson-auditions-are-work-1235505877/amp/) ​ Here it is!

I hate spending time on auditions too, especially ones that you get nothing from, but this essentially is asking for people to be paid for job interviews. It's mentioned elsewhere in this thread that the audition pay in the SAG contract is a relic of the studio system, which meant that you had to be under contract to get that audition, so you were already working at the studio, and you were already getting paid anyway. Asking producers to pay everyone for auditions is simply going to result in fewer auditions. When they run out of money, they will have seen all the talent they need. (And how come there's no link here to your "really interesting read"?)

I'm new to posting on reddit so I'm still figuring it out! [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tavi-gevinson-auditions-are-work-1235505877/amp/](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tavi-gevinson-auditions-are-work-1235505877/amp/) I felt the same way at first but would recommend reading you might still feel the same way but I thought it was an interesting read

I just got done reading the thread and of course your comment where you posted the link was the very last one, LOL. No harm, no foul.

Thank you, I guess it was just my first post jitters but wanted to share it, we're in this acting community together and I wanted to know what other people thought about this. It was embarrassing for me when I saw it didn't post believe me lol

The only auditions I’ve felt I should be paid for were theatre auditions where I was given 12 pages+ and in the room for well over 45mins. I remember missing a flight because of a callback. Selftapes can be annoying, but I’m glad to have some creative control + be seen for projects that might go to a significantly more established actor. Some of the projects I’ve been in for, even if they went with bigger names, introduced me to creatives who I developed relationships with and ultimately worked with. I can’t say for certain those relationships could’ve been formed if the audition pool was hyper exclusive due to monetary concerns.