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

1. Who Are The Players?

2. Who Is The Casting Team?

3. What Is The Genre?

4. What Is The Tone?

5. How Do You Start

7. Where Are You?

6. Who Are You?

8. What Is Your Primary Goal In The Scene?

9. How Does Your Character Try To Achieve It?

10. Where Are The Transitions?

11. What Is The Relationship To The Person You’re Talking To?

12. What Is The Relationship To The People You’re Talking About

13. What Is The Most Obvious Choice?

14. What Else Is Possible?

15. 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.”

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You Nail Your Auditions…

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NO-NOs’ Video Class Now In Our

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NO-NOs That Keep You From

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