Tapes

Producing a demo tape takes on average 5 to 6 hours and is very tiring - most people find it an enjoyable experience with quite a few laughs. A tape, unlike a live performance, can be replayed many times. Mistakes have a nasty habit of growing in size and significance. Your tape should be as near perfection as possible. One minute of excellence will serve you much better than 10 of mediocrity - as long as the 'excellence' can be reproduced 'on the job'!

 Clients usually manage to record 6-10 minutes of material to their (and my) satisfaction. The most effective formula is to record a varied menu of items from which you can choose as necessary - allowing you to precisely target specific areas of work by sending only relevant examples of your work. You could record soft sell, hard sell, ordinary voice, video commentary, comedy item, multi voice, and regional accent(s). However, opinions vary as to what constitutes the 'ideal' tape. Be prepared for the fact that whatever you do someone, somewhere will be only too pleased to tell you that you have got it wrong! I have given a lot of thought to this 'problem' and it seems to me that the ideal tape contains only one item - the one item that gets you employed. The trick, therefore, is to record a wide range of material and then ask potential recipients of your tape what they would like you to send. Match your strengths to their needs.