how long should audition files be?

marnileikin

Hi all,

I am a newbie here on this site. What is the norm, the successful norm, for how long an audition file should be? I am asking specifically for those jobs that post their whole script. Does successful talent post a 30 second clip? The first or 1st two paragraphs? I don't imagine clients listen to much more than 30 seconds....Recording and editing lengthy scripts for auditions seems both counter intuitive AND waaaaaaay to time consuming.

Thanks for any advice, thoughts, sharing your experience!

Marni

hotgravy

Hi @marnileikin

There's a great video that Voices has on their YouTube page that addresses exactly this question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeUvK9LFA8s

I personally never audition an entire script that's over :30. The client can hear what they need within :15 - :30 in my opinion.

You can also see if there's a point in the script that it makes sense to read up to. Sometimes there will be an intro that they want with one delivery style and then a shift for the product announcement portion (as an example). I would read to that shift so they can hear the change in tone they're looking for.

marnileikin

thanks @hotgravy!

So glad to see this, as its TOTALLY different from what Voices customer support folks said. yikes, I have been wasting my time....but felt their directive was off and that's why I asked. My suspicions confirmed:-)

Thanks so much for your help!

kimlewis6543

https://community.voices.com/discussion/comment/794#Comment_794

Is that minutes or seconds?

hotgravy

@kimlewis6543

That would be 30 seconds. The client can get a very good sense if you're right for their project with an audition of that length.