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TRANSCRIPT
P R E S E N T S
C H E C K L I S T
U L T I M A T E
AUDITION PREP
By Amy Jo Berman ACTING & AUDITIONING EXPERT
& FORMER VICE PRESIDENT
OF CASTING AT HBO
ABOUT AMY JO BERMAN Amy Jo Berman is the expert actors turn to when searching for the
premier acting & auditioning coach, career consultant and entertainment industry mentor. Amy has been a powerful influence
and tastemaker in the entertainment industry for nearly 20 years. During her time as Vice President of Casting at HBO for 14+ years, Amy oversaw the casting for more than150 films, mini-series, pilots
and series, and her casts have won countless Emmy and Golden Globe awards. In addition to her eye for talent, taste and finesse in
business, Amy has a unique gift for working with actors and
extracting performances of which even they didn't know they were capable. Using her years of audition experience, as well as her
intuitive gifts, Amy has helped thousands of actors be better, book
more jobs and walk The Red Carpet with her online training, private coaching, and seminars.
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DISCOVER WHAT THE
CASTING DIRECTOR IS THINKING DURING YOUR AUDITION
Click Here To Uncover The
Absolute Audition NO-NOs That
Keep You From Getting More
Callbacks, Even When You’re
Perfect For The Part
Discover Your 15 Steps To Prepare A Powerful, Juicy,
Specific, Bookable Audition Every Time.
This is your lucky day. For absolutely no charge, you’re about to
access 20 years worth of A-List Casting experience showing you 15
critical components every bookable audition should have. The big
time, multi-booking, household name actors have a lot in common.
One of those being that they know how to kill it in the audition room
by creating powerful, juicy, specific auditions that make them oh-
so-bookable. Look closely at this checklist and you’ll learn what
they’ve already discovered. You’ll see key components that will
make your auditions like theirs…Bookable.
C H E C K L I S T
U L T I M A T E
AUDITION PREP
THE
15-STEP
CHECKLIST
Who Are The Players
Who Will Be In The Room?
Who Is Attached To The
Project? • This may include Show Runner
(aka Exec. Prod.), Producers, Network/Studio Exec, Writer, Director, and Key Cast
If you are not familiar with their work, get
familiar! IMDB them, Watch YouTube clips of
prior work, etc.
Who Is The
Casting Team
Who is the Casting Director
& Casting Associate? • What have they done before? • Have you met or read for them
before? • What was your last
conversation (keep notes)
What Is
The Genre
What Kind Of Project Is It? • Single Camera
• Multi-Camera
• Half Hour
• One Hour
• Episodic
• New Media
• Pilot
• Indie Feature
• Big Budget Feature
• Drama
• Comedy
• Dramedy
• Action
• Sci-Fi
• Period Drama
What Is
The Tone
Get Even MORE Specific • If TV Comedy, is it:
Subtle, Broad, Disney, etc.
Ex. Girls vs. Modern Family vs. Dog With
A Blog
• If TV Drama, is it: Soapy, Character, Gritty, Procedural, etc.,
Army Wives vs. Mad Men vs. True
Detective vs. CSI
• Is it Network or Cable? Lifetime vs. AMC vs. HBO vs. CBS, etc.
• Is it Producer-centric? Aaron Sorkin, Shonda Rhimes, David Simon
How Do
You Start
How Does Your Scene Start? • Do you enter the scene? • Do you enter frame?
• Are you already there? • Are you in mid-conversation? • What is your moment right
before? • Are you sitting or standing?
• Do you have the first line?
Who Are
You
Who is your character? • What drives them in general? • What drives them right now?
• What do they do? • Where are they from? • Who do they know?
Where
Are You
What Is Your Physical
Location? • Are you inside or outside? • Is it familiar or new to you? • What is the setting? • What is the SPECIFIC version of
that setting. Ex. I am in a park vs. I am in a park that I’ve
never been to before at night time in an
unsafe neighborhood.
What Is Your Primary
Goal In The Scene
What Is Your Character
There To Do or Accomplish? • What do they want to achieve in
this scene? • What do they want to get from
the other character? • What would end the scene if
they were to achieve or get it
right now?
How Does Your Character
Try To Achieve It
Your Character Will Stop At
Nothing To Achieve His/Her
Goal • After you identify what your
character wants, what SPECIFIC methods do you try to get it?
Ex. If you are a detective interrogating a
suspect and your goal is to get a confession,
what are the different ways you try to get it? Exerting your authority; Being empathetic; Making a
personal connection; Using Logic, Threatening, etc.
Where Are The
Transitions
How Do You Move From
One Beat To Another? • As your character jumps from
specific beat to specific beat and the tactic to attain your character’s goal changes, you must transition from one thing to the next.
What is your character thinking or feeling that
moves them from one specific action to a
different specific action?
What Is The Relationship
To The Person You’re
Talking To
Who Are You Talking To
Now? • The way you talk to each person
is different based on your specific relationship to them.
Ex. The way you talk to your best friend is
different from the way you talk to your boss.
More specifically:
The way you talk to your best friend is different
than the way you talk to a casual work friend.
The way you talk to a boss you like is different
than the way you talk to a boss you dislike.
What Is The Relationship
To The People You’re
Talking About
Who Are You Talking About? • When you refer to other
characters (whether present in
the scene or not), you must be just as specific about your relationship with them as you are with the character you’re talking to in your scene.
Ex. If you refer to your sister in a scene, is she a
sister you can’t stand or one that you adore?
Your reference to them will change based on
your specific choice and so will your audition.
What Is The Most
Obvious Choice
What Leaps Out At You? • When you get a scene, usually a
certain way to play it will jump
out at you. Sometimes this could be the best choice, but many times it’s NOT.
• Before you can decide, you must first identify it.
• Don’t choose what you will play by default. Choose with purpose.
What Else Is
Possible
What Did NOT Leap Out At
You? • After you’ve identified the most
obvious way to play the scene, ask yourself, what else is possible?
• What other ways are there to approach this scene that are NOT
obvious? Rehearse them and then choose what works
best.
What Is
Your Button
How Will You End It? • Every scene needs a button–a
moment that completes the
scene. Sometimes your line is the button.
Sometimes your button comes after the other
character says their final line.
Don’t be afraid to button the scene with
your subtle reaction to their last line.
• Always create a button and end the scene on YOU.
The Checklist
Who Are The Players?
Who Is The Casting Team?
What Is The Genre?
What Is The Tone?
How Do You Start
Where Are You?
Who Are You?
What Is Your Primary Goal
In The Scene?
How Does Your Character Try To Achieve It?
Where Are The Transitions?
What Is The Relationship To The Person
You’re Talking To?
What Is The Relationship To The People
You’re Talking About
What Is The Most Obvious Choice?
What Else Is Possible?
What Is Your Button?
CONCLUSION. If you’re serious about mastering the audition room so
you can book more acting work, this checklist should be
your go-to guide so you never leave out a specific,
detailed choice that you could have (should have)
included in your audition. Based on my 20 years
experience of A-List Casting…
“The booking is always in the details.”
Get Even More Details To Help
You Nail Your Auditions…
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NO-NOs’ Video Class Now In Our
Private Members Area.
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NO-NOs That Keep You From
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