What is Your Booking to Audition Percentage - And Does it Matter

In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you information about how important is it to figure out the percentages of how many bookings you get from how many auditions that you go on. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to my Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel, where I teach people who want to get started in the acting or modeling industry How to have success, and also for people who've been in the industry for a while who want to take their career to the next level. Don't forget, I have 3 free videos for you. You can simply look at the notes below and you can sign up and they'll be sent to you right away. And if you haven't subscribed yet to my channel, don't forget, click the subscription button, click the bell, the little notification button, so you always know when a new video is uploaded. And if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. And that helps spread the word that this information was helpful to you. So here's the question. You know, so many actors talk about, well, I've had this many auditions, I've had these many bookings, so this is my, you know, a ratio of bookings to auditions. And look, for some people, it's really good for them to do that, and it's helpful. It gives them a sense of Security, I guess, of knowing that they are booking a certain percentage. Let me just tell you, for me, look, I've been doing this full-time for over 36 years. I've booked over 1,290 jobs so far, and I can just tell you, for me, my brain just doesn't work that way. It never has. I've never worked like, you know, trying to figure out percentages and things like that. And One of the reasons why— and once again, this is just my own personal point of view. I'm not saying it's the only way to do it, but for me, the reason why it makes no difference what your percentage of bookings are is because it's not a valid test. You know, going to an audition is not like being in the Olympics. You know, it's not the person who scores the best. It's not the person who gives the It's not the best audition that books the job. Yeah, you've got to be really good. They have to really like what you did. But, you know, you might have given the best audition out of anybody, but you might not book the job. Why? You know, if you did the best? Well, maybe you're too tall for this role. Maybe the person that you're having this scene with, you know, maybe they're a lot shorter than you are and they think that it might look unusual. Maybe You are in too good of shape for this particular character. Maybe you're not in good enough shape. Maybe you remind the director of, you know, of her ex-husband who she can't stand and doesn't want to have anything, any kind of bad memories of you being on the set. You know, maybe you look too much like one of the major stars, you know, in this project. There are so many So if you're trying to figure out— basically what it comes down to is, are you a good actor? That, that's really what you're saying. What's my ratio? You know, am I booking, you know, 1 out of 5? Which nobody does that. You know, am I booking 1 out of 10? Am I booking 1 out of 50? Am I booking 1 out of 100 auditions? What you're really asking is, am I good? Do people like me? Do they think I'm talented? And I think that's a dangerous way to run your business. Here's a much better indicator of whether, you know, your work is appreciated, whether people like what you are doing. If you get called back by the casting director, whether it's for the same project, for another role, or for a completely different project, that means they like what you did. That means that you brought something to the table that grabbed their attention enough for them to ask you to read again. And, you know, to me, that is much more important than your percentages, you know. And, and the other thing too is, you know, sometimes, yes, you will be asked by the casting— you know, requested by the casting director. You know, in most cases, that is the situation. But especially in smaller markets for, you know, local projects, you know, it's possible an agent might be submitting all kinds of people for this role. They're not really sure. The casting director hasn't made it really clear. Maybe even if the casting director has made things clear as to what he or she is looking for, maybe the agent is thinking, you know what, okay, I've sent the casting director, uh, the right people for this. I want to try something a little outside the box. I know this person's too old. I know this person's too young. I know this person isn't really right for this particular role. But I just want to test it out and I want the casting director to see this actor. Well, once again, your numbers are going to be so skewed and you're not going to get a good indication of whether the casting director liked you or not because you're not getting booked. So here's my thought: drop all of that. Look, I— look, yeah, if you've auditioned for 3 years and you've never booked a job Well, you don't need an equation to understand that, and you just know something is not happening that's in your best interest. Either you're not being submitted for the right roles, maybe you need more work on your audition skills. Yeah. Maybe that's a possibility as well, or maybe there just haven't been Perfect roles that match your type. You know, all those things are true. But look, if you are getting some work, you know, it doesn't have to be a tremendous amount. That's saying that somebody is liking what you're doing. And so trying to beat your head against the wall and, well, I'm going to try to beat my percentages from last year to this year. And I don't know, honestly, for me, I'd rather take that time Take that energy and put it into continuing to take classes, continuing to practice, continuing to study, continuing to, you know, watch your auditions. Because, you know, we're all auditioning from home now, or, you know, you're going to someplace to get your audition done. But I don't know of people who are going into casting directors' offices these days. And analyze it, you know, take a look, you know. Are there things that you think could be done differently? But I don't know. My thought is forget about the numbers. I think it's a drain. I think it's, it's just additional stress that we certainly don't need. We're under enough stress as it is. And so, look, I have no idea what my percentages are. I know they're not great. You know, I audition for a lot more things than I book. And what are the specifics? I don't know, and I don't care. I really don't. So my, my point of view is don't waste your time with it. Just continue to practice. And, and look, I know this is a little bit off topic, but let me just tell you, I go into every audition thinking I'm not booking this job. And, and I'm, I'm not doing it to try to play games. I'm realistic, and I realize I have full control over my audition. I have complete control over that. I have no control over who gets booked for the job. So look, the fact of the matter is, try to just Enjoy yourself for those couple of minutes. That's my number one goal for every audition. I truly don't think I'm going to book it, and I don't try to book it. My goal is a Wednesday afternoon, I get a chance to play for 2 and a half, 3 minutes for this audition. That's fun for me. That's my goal, you know. And, you know, my My second goal, once again, I'm not thinking about booking the job because I don't think I will. My second goal is, can I learn something from it? So I will watch the audition again just to see, you know, if there's something that maybe I could have done differently. But I mean, look, I'm going to watch the audition before I initially send it, but, you know, maybe a couple of days later I might watch it again just to kind of see if there is something I can learn from it. And then I just try to let it go. And let me also— let me just be very, very honest with you here as well. Look, for most auditions, I'm pretty good at just letting it go. You know, there are times though, if it's an audition where, you know, my scene partner is somebody who I really respect, uh, or it's a big project, a really great role that, you know, I would love to, to be a part of. Yeah, I do think about it sometimes, but I really try to let it go. I really do. And for the most part, I'm pretty good with that. So anyhow, I just wanted to share that with you. Once again, you know, everybody does it differently in their lives. That's how I do it. I hope this was helpful to you. And please don't forget, if you, if you haven't done this yet, subscribe, click the notification button. If you like the video, Uh, just, you know, give it a thumbs up. And, and I'm giving you permission, please share this with all of your acting friends. Um, share the link on your social media platforms. This is an opportunity for me to help build a really strong acting community with people helping each other, people sharing information. So hey, I'd love to hear what you do. Do you, do you do the math or do you let it go as well? Leave a comment below. I'd love to learn what How, you know, how you deal with this stuff. Okay, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.