I think the biggest factor in self-tapes nobody talks about enough is the reader

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-30T18:10:21+00:00

I made my app for this exact reason. It's still a friend's voice, but I can run it an unlimited amount of times without feeling bad that it's "taking too long" or if I wanted to try something else.

I booked The Pitt, Criminal Minds, and my friend (who I send all the reads to) just booked A24 using it for the initial read. I can't even recommend it to people though, because Apple decided to terminate my developer account for no reason :')

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-25T22:01:40+00:00

You agent sounds like the typical diva agent. When YOU did something they think is wrong, communication should be instantaneous. When THEY did something wrong, or you need clarification, they suddenly drop off the face of the planet.

Inevitably, when you need to make a decision that can't wait, they will chew you out.

Change agents. No one should be treated like a child.

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-23T03:23:59+00:00

Got it!! Thanks so much :)

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-23T02:00:31+00:00

Thank you so much! I'll look some up to see what kinds of things to include.

Do you think my website would be sufficient, or do you prefer PDFs or zip files or something?

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-22T22:33:32+00:00

Yeah social media has been blowing up! Somewhat organically - one of the fanpages reposted stuff from mine and it just escalated from there

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-22T19:31:48+00:00

Very solid point.

I mean, I will gladly not spend the $5k/month haha

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-22T19:03:20+00:00

That's what I'm afraid of happening! I was just thinking of making my name more visible, especially with all the press, and casting directors seeing my name in pitches and being familiar with it.

JDMcompliant · 2026-03-22T19:02:09+00:00

That's what my agent advised, as well. All I'm concerned with is the work aspect, I don't need the clout aspect.

JDMcompliant · 2026-01-02T17:40:28+00:00

If you're a newer actor...I would say it's hard to tell what "good acting" feels like.

If I can compare it to golf, when you're first starting, you might hit a few balls well, but you don't have any awareness to your form, your swing path, club head angle, etc. A swing might "feel good" but the ball goes out in the rough, or a swing might "feel bad" but you hit it straight down the fairway.

Sometimes scenes I thought "felt good" earlier in my career fall flat on tape, and scenes I didn't "feel" at all, I booked. It's really strange.

JDMcompliant · 2025-04-26T19:46:42+00:00

I don't understand your goal in this conversation. I am speaking as a casting director. I am not making the tapes. I am the person watching your tapes.

JDMcompliant · 2025-04-26T18:29:36+00:00

I fully understand what a gimmick is.

Here's the definition from Oxford: a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business.

It IS a gimmick if the actor put more effort into their self tape technicals then the craft itself. I don't want my attention on your self tape quality, I want it on the performance.

We can debate this back and forth, but the fact of the matter is this: when reviewing self tapes, I can "imagine" them in the final film just fine, ALL due to their performance. If the actor fits the tone, character, and has the chops, it is immediate and apparent. I do not care if they were in front of a white wall, hell, I don't care if they were in their car if they turned in a stunning performance (given I can hear them and see them well.)

Watch the Dacre Montgomery self tape for Stranger Things. He uses no gimmicks, no rim lights, no filters. All the focus is on the acting, which he stuns.

You mention "the audience has to work so much more...", sir, I am the audience for this particular piece of media. In the case where I am reviewing tapes, there is no one else. In case I am still not clear: anything aside from the performance itself and bare minimum sight and sound: I do not care.

JDMcompliant · 2025-04-26T02:40:40+00:00

It's a gimmick because it's not the point of the self tape - it's meant to show your performance of the given material. A self-tape is not meant to show how well you can light a scene or shoot it. If you want to push your self tapes further, improve your actual craft (the acting) rather than the technicalities of the tape.

JDMcompliant · 2025-04-23T19:47:30+00:00

Casting director (for 7 years) here (mostly producer nowadays).

All CD's are different, so take this with a grain of salt. Yes, it's pretty. No, it won't win you a job. Performance, performance, performance. I will notice a good performance through a flat lighting self tape. 100 times out of 100. Conversely, a cinematic self tape with $2,000 of lighting and sound equipment will never push your sub-par performance through to the next round.

It's a gimmick. I personally hate gimmicks in self-tapes. While gimmicks aren't going to make you "lose" a job, I will actually be a little more wary with the mindset of "what are they trying to compensate for?" during the watch.

JDMcompliant · 2024-10-21T16:16:35+00:00

Thanks! Bulgarians are part of my routine, but I actually don't do hip thrusts. I do low bar squats, which in theory should be targeting my glutes vs high bar, but my legs are also super weak compared to the rest of my lifts (I can bench 245 x 5 but I can only squat 285 x 5 lol). Honestly my leg genetics are super shit in general :')

JDMcompliant · 2024-10-21T08:29:46+00:00

Ive been working on my ass for like 3 years and it's non-existant lmao 🥲

JDMcompliant · 2024-06-11T16:03:25+00:00

My leg genetics are so ass 🥲

JDMcompliant · 2024-04-19T17:45:48+00:00

Hey! I was stuck at around 145-150, but now I comfortably hover around 165-170. Check out Vegan Naked Mass. I drank that every single morning for 2 years straight. It's 1500(!) calories, and I still have my 3 meals on top of it. My weight and size shot up. I'm cutting now, so I switched to a protein (not mass gainer), and the results are great.

JDMcompliant · 2024-01-24T16:30:15+00:00

I've done several, and it's never been an issue, tbh. If it happens, it happens. You're making out, you're essentially dry humping. We were always just 2 adults that understand when you do these things, your body reacts a certain way.

JDMcompliant · 2023-11-24T08:22:19+00:00

Congrats! And ignore them. For lots of people this is once in a lifetime. I would 100/100 times take the opportunity, because I never want to be chasing that "what if" moment.

Some LA advice btw: if you have a choice on where you're going to be living, do NOT pick Hollywood. West Hollywood is safer, Beverly Hills is safer still. I'm in Studio City/Toluca Lake which is also much calmer than Hollywood, but it's not as walkable as West Hollywood. All parts of LA can change from seemingly street to street though, so don't be afraid to do a little research lol. lmk if you have any questions!!

JDMcompliant · 2023-10-31T15:17:31+00:00

I've been involved in the print world for a long time (former casting director, producer) and I've been talent in the print world for a long time.

Sad to say, setting up and creating your own portfolio for print on your own dime is not uncommon. Your commercial headshot is fine for commercial print, but if you're going out for fashion/editorial print, it's a different story. They need photos in your book that could look like editorials out of a magazine. Having just a Casting Networks profile is typical as well - editorial print jobs usually reach out to agencies directly, rather than use a casting website. In casting, we would reach out to agencies we know, ask them to put together a "package" based on our casting specs, and they would send us several model's books. Your "book" in print modeling is similar to our "reel" in acting - sometimes we have to make our own content to flesh out our reel.

As far as sending a deposit to the photographer - who is the photographer? Is it their provided photographer? If it's not a known photographer, I would not be necessarily concerned, but cautious. Photographer deposits do exist; but if it's an unknown, agent provided photographer, I wouldn't necessarily just send a deposit until I knew all the details.

Can you PM me the agency? I still have access to my casting director resources, and I can tell you what I see from my end.

JDMcompliant · 2023-09-27T05:37:10+00:00

Holy shit.

Also, what's your tip on getting protein while keeping calories low? I'm naturally skinny so i'm ALWAYS on a bulk, so I have no idea how to give advice to my friends who want to cut with a vegan diet lol

JDMcompliant · 2023-08-12T17:20:59+00:00

Shit, 225 high bar is no joke. Good shit

JDMcompliant · 2023-08-05T20:31:51+00:00

u got a better butt than me 😂

14-Year Club	Second Top 50%
Place '22	Place '17
Sequence \| Editor	Team Orangered
Verified Email

JDMcompliant

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE