December 21, 2006

Social Media, Dance Videos and the Future of Auditions

As things stand today, the Internet is used in only the most limited way for dance auditions - the one exception is the posting of dates and locations for upcoming auditions. There are very, very few dancers who post audition videos on the web and there are almost no producers of music videos, theatrical productions, TV shows or dance companies that turn to the Internet to find new dance talent.

But this situation is about to change. And my guess is that by the end of 2007 many dancers will be creating audition videos specifically for the web.

I think there are a number of developments that will have contributed to this likely development:

1) Reality shows featuring competitions among participants are hugely popular and increasingly embrace the Internet to build audiences, share behind-the-scenes videos and, in some cases, seek user contributions. American Idol is the most obvious example.

2) Dance has gone mainstream with hit shows such as ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."

3) Social media, as highlighted in Time's Person of the Year - "You" - has also gone mainstream meaning that millions of people have embraced the idea of creating and uploading their own videos.

4) We're seeing the initial growth in hybrid programs that combine different media and stages. The upcoming TV show Grease, which will premiere on NBC in January, will be a reality show to find the leads for a new Broadway production of this popular musical. The Stand Up or Sit Down comic contest on MySpace sought user submissions and the winning comics got to perform in Las Vegas. (My post about this contest). And,

5) Maybe most important, popular sites such as YouTube are already being used by casting agents and others to encourage dancers to submit video auditions. I provide links below to some of these online dance auditions.

Types of Internet-Based Dance Auditions

Online dance auditions will take two main forms: open and closed.

An open audition will be a completely public affair. Dancers upload their dance videos and the public watches and, maybe, votes on their favorite videos. The producers may then whittle down the list of finalists and ask fans to choose the winner.

A closed audition would take place when a booking agent, for example, wants to attract a large pool of talent but doesn't want to share the submissions with competitors or the public.

My guess is that the first model will be more popular and will often be tied to TV programs, Broadway shows and concerts.

Will fewer dance auditions take place for music videos, theatrical productions, TV shows, and dance companies as a result of an increase in online auditions? Not in most cases. Virtual auditions simply provide a way to reach a larger pool of talent that booking agents might not otherwise have known about. And for dancers, they get to participate in auditions that they might never have traveled to. But in instances where auditions take place exclusively online, clearly there will not be traditional live auditions.

Overall, video auditions will not really work unless the quality of submitted videos goes way up. I've taken a look at a number of uploaded dance audition videos and the technical quality (production value) of the videos is usually horrendous. The lighting is too low, the image of the dancer is too small and the sound quality is terrible. So all participants in this process will want to learn how to create good quality videos - a topic I'll soon write about.

Online Dance Audition Links

Here are some interesting websites I came across related to new developments in online dance auditions that usually feature user-submitted videos. Actually, one of the links is for a casting company that creates online audition profiles of dancers and the last example is an audition for an upcoming drama series that is worth looking at.

- The Flaming Lips created a dance contest on YouTube where they invited fans to submit dance audition videotapes. Winners get to dance on stage with Flaming Lips at a New Year's concert. Here's video invite to contest from Flaming Lips. It hurt me to watch these videos.

- KoldCast is a start-up company that encouragers aspiring entertainers to post their videos in a YouTube group in response to casting calls. There are no submissions at this point.

- Here's a YouTube group for a film called "How They Dance." The producer is seeking dance audition videos from non-professional dancers. The 3 audition videos are actually from the live audition. They are not uploaded by users.

- Stefy will be creating a fan version of their music video "Hey School Boy." They've been holding a contest, "15 Seconds of Fame with STEFY," in conjunction with MTV2 on YouTube, seeking dance submissions from people who want to be featured in this video. The 5 top video auditions will be selected. There are 27 video auditions to date.

- Scene Interactive has an online casting service that features dancer profiles with videos. Producers and directors can be given password access to the full service to review profiles and watch videos - that's what the website says. But it appears that there's public access to all of the profiles. To have a profile created for you, there's a $50 set-up fee and then a $9.95 monthly charge. I watched some of the dancer videos. The images of the dancers seem too small to me to get a good enough view, but I like the plain white background.

- The Interior is an upcoming drama series. There is currently an online casting call for a number of the roles. Anybody who would like to can submit an audition for one of the lead roles. To submit a video, you can download a page from the script or create your own scene and then upload your video to the production's YouTube Group. There are 270 audition videos.

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