Ah, auditions. The day in, day of out a working actor’s life. Auditions are such a core part of being an actor that you’ll often hear even famous actors say, “Auditioning is the job!” It’s true. Whether you’re just starting out, or auditioning regularly, auditions are part and parcel of the business. The thing is, no matter how successful you are, you will audition for more roles than you will book. The good news is that this is totally normal! In fact, it’s expected. Better still, even the auditions that you don’t book are incredibly valuable. They are filled with information that can help you get clarity, improve your craft, and (most excitingly) move your career forward. Even if you don’t book the job. Yep. Seriously.
While every audition is an opportunity, it is also a valuable insight into your acting career. This is where an actor’s audition log comes in. Tracking your auditions can help you uncover key information to empower yourself as an actor… if you know how to do it right, that is! So let’s dive in to the process of making your own audition log and how to start tracking your auditions. It’s time to get serious about the “business” side of show business.
Why Should Actors Keep Track of Their Auditions?
As a working actor, there are so many things to keep track of already. Is it worth adding the extra admin of tracking your auditions onto the list, too? While it may be something that you’re tempted to throw in the too hard basket, an audition log can actually become an actor’s secret weapon as they develop their career.
Alternatively, maybe you’re a bit nervous about looking at the numbers. “What if there aren’t many auditions on there? What if I look up who booked the job and it reveals how totally inadequate I am?!” Not true, of course. But I hear you.
What you need to know is that tracking this data is ultimately something that is going to help you audition more, book more, and enjoy the process more. Read on for just a few of the reasons that keeping track of your auditions is absolutely worth your time.
Getting Mental Clarity As An Actor
One of the toughest parts of being an actor is that you essentially have to be the CEO of your own career. The hard truth is that while you may have an agent or manager to help, your career ultimately rests on your shoulders. Couple this with the reality that our business is filled with rejection, uncertainty and doubt, and you’ve got the makings of a total head spin!
Tracking your auditions can give you clarity and freedom. It releases you from the mental chatter around the audition game and allows you to:
- See your progress in black and white. ex. X number of auditions in Y amount of time.
- Look at the facts of your auditions, not the feelings of the experience. ex. “Got a callback!” vs. “I feel like a failure because I didn’t book the job.”
- Recognise patterns and wins unrelated to being booked for the role. ex. Getting called in by the same casting director or auditioning for the same show twice.
- Reflect on your work from a position of autonomy and control, calming the nervous system.
- Build new understanding of how the industry works and your place in it.
- Think strategically about your next steps.
Determining Your Type as an Actor
As an actor, you may have found yourself asking: ‘what is my ‘actor type’ or typecast?‘ Audition logs are pure gold for this! They are a central point of truth that allows you to identify patterns in the kind of work you’re getting called in for, called back for, and eventually booking.
It’s a cliche, but true. Knowledge is power. Just imagine being able to end next year knowing something like this:
I did 76 auditions this year, booked three jobs, and was called back 7 times. The casting director who got me in to audition that most was [Andrew Anybody at 123 Casting]. He got me in 5 times for different roles. I was also asked to audition by six new casting offices this year! My bookings were all network television guest stars (ABC, CBS), and I had my first ever feature film call back. My most common genres were crime and medical dramas, with the most common roles I auditioned for being attorneys and medical professionals.
We’ll get into how to analyse this data a bit later, but know that this is the kind of insight that money can’t buy. The best part is that it’s available to you with just a little bit of data entry into a spreadsheet. Sounds like a bonza tradeoff to me!
How To Start an Audition Log
There is no need to overcomplicate your audition log. You want it to be as simple, straightforward and easy to fill out as possible. If it’s too complex, you’ll naturally resist filling it out. Which defeats the entire purpose!
Because of this, we don’t recommend any tracking software more complicated or expensive than a good old spreadsheet. First you’ll want to fire up a new Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets document. I like Google Sheets because it auto-saves to the cloud, so you can access it on any device. Once your document is created, simply add in column headings for the categories you’d like to track.
If you’re just starting out, setting up your log will be super easy. If you have a whole history of auditions to look back on, you can make a decision about whether you want to take the time to include historical data. It’s up to you. You might prefer to start fresh and track only your future auditions to save time, or you may want to dig into your past auditions and start unearthing some gems today.
The key thing to know about your audition log is that it is entirely that: Yours. Keep track of the data that you find the most helpful. In the section below we get into suggestions of what to include to get the most valuable insights, but remember that ultimately this is a tool for you.
What to Include in Your Audition Tracker
Here, we dive into what to include in your log and why. Feel free to adjust or add anything that feels useful to you (e.g., “what I wore” or “warm-up routine I used”).
- Title of the Project – Self-explanatory. You’ll need this later!
- Type of Project – Theatre, television, web series, commercial, etc. Get specific when possible: Network TV (CBS), SVOD Series (Disney+/Paramount+), Cruise Ship, Short Film, Studio Feature, Indie Film, etc.
- Date – Helpful for seeing your busiest months.
- Format – Self-tape or in-room.
- Role Size – Lead, Series Regular, Guest Star/Co-Star, <5 lines, etc.
- Character/Role Description – Note occupation, personality, recurring archetypes (plucky best friend, stern headmaster, etc.).
- Genre – Crime, medical drama, rom-com, prestige drama, psychological thriller, etc.
- Who Got You the Audition – Self-submission, local agent, LA agent, manager, etc.
- Casting Director – Office + specific CD name.
- Other Key Creatives – Director, writer, producer, showrunner, production company (as listed on breakdown).
- Link to Your Audition – Link to your uploaded self-tape for later review.
- Progress – Availability check, callback, pin, producer session, etc.
- Actor Who Booked – Name + IMDbPro link + any footage of their final performance.
Example Audition Log for Actors
If you’re struggling to visualise what this might look like, here’s an example below to help you along!
If you love playing with colours, fonts, etc. and that makes it more enjoyable, do that. Otherwise, just keep it plain text. Remember, when it comes down to it, this is a living document and will change with every audition! The content is what counts, not what it looks like.
How to Analyse Your Audition History
Now for the fun part. Here’s where it get’s really juicy. When you open up your audition log and reflect on it you are going to become a pattern recognition machine. This is the time to get curious! Start to ask yourself questions about the information in the document and see what patterns begin to emerge.
A few key thing to look out for include:
- What size of roles am I auditioning for?
- Who is getting me the most auditions?
- Have I been auditioning for any of the same writers, directors or producers?
- Which casting directors kept calling me back, and which new casting directors have I scene?
- Are there any similarities in genre, role, or style of project that I am consistently auditioning for?
- Who booked the role, and how was their final performance different to mine in my audition?
Take notes on anything that could increase your opportunities. For example: you keep getting called in for feminist detectives but have nothing like that on your reel… time to shoot a new scene!
Have you noticed that you are getting lots of bookings from you agent, but not many from your manager? Dig deeper and get curious and you might find that yes, your agent gets you lots of auditions but only at a guest star level. Whereas your manager may have only gotten you 3, but they were all series regular auditions! Don’t be so hasty about jumping to conclusions. Try to look at what the data is really telling you.
Maybe you’re booking certain kinds of things more. Maybe you go back to look up a TVC audition you did once it aired and you find out that the role you auditioned for ultimately went to a 50-60 year old Male and the storyline totally changed (true story that once happened to me!). The freedom and empowerment that accompany the discoveries an audition log generates cannot be overstated. There are so many gems lurking beneath the surface if we just dig in a little and seek them out!
Final Thoughts on Keeping An Audition Log
Since auditioning is the job, it makes sense to get serious about understanding your auditions. When you undergo this process, it always feels better than what we imagine it’s going to be. Contrary to many actor’s assumptions, it doesn’t reveal your failures, it shows you what is going well while also shining a light on areas for improvement, or the roles that were never going to be yours anyway. It allows you to surrender to the process and enjoy the journey.
In an industry where so much is out of our control, the actor’s audition log is a brilliant way to ensure that us actors have agency and accountability in our own careers. The more you know, the easier it becomes and the more you start to enjoy the auditioning process from a place of calm confidence. So get out there, go film that audition, and book that job! (Just make sure you log it after, yeah?)
