How to record a self-tape that follows the UK rules
Six pages, four days, landscape, a reader off camera and your name first on the file. The rules for UK self-tapes are short and mostly written down. The part nobody writes down is sound.
There is an industry code for UK self-tapes, agreed by the Casting Directors' Guild, Equity, the PMA and the CPMA and announced in August 2021, and Spotlight publishes the technical guidance that sits alongside it. Between them they answer most questions. Here is what they say, then the part they leave out.
What the code says you can expect
The Code of Best Practice for Self-Tape and Zoom Auditions for Scripted Drama is short, and worth knowing because it tells you what you can reasonably push back on.
- Pages and turnaround. A first self-tape should be no more than six pages, with at least four days to turn it round, or at least three days for three pages or fewer.
- Weekends. A request sent on a Friday is not due until the following Tuesday, or the Wednesday after a bank holiday Monday.
- Scope. No more than two roles, two scenes per role and two versions of each scene.
- Readers. A reader helps, but "should not be an absolute requirement", and actors should not have to pay for one.
- Props and sets. You should not be expected to supply props or dress your home as a set.
Spotlight's own summary of the code was last updated on 7 April 2026.
What Spotlight asks for on camera
Spotlight's "How to Self-Tape" page covers the picture side.
- Framing. A mid-close shot, "from your chest to the top of your head", unless the casting asks for something else.
- Orientation. Landscape, never portrait. Turn the phone on its side before you do anything else.
- Eyeline. Close to the camera, because casting directors "want to see both sides of your face". Put your reader right beside the lens.
- Reader. Off camera, and not too loud.
- Background. Plain. Spotlight says "grey works best".
- Light. Soft and diffused.
- File names. "Label the clips with your name first, then add the project title and scene."
- Format and delivery. MP4 ideally, with AVCHD also accepted, sent through Spotlight Self-Tape, WeTransfer or a private, downloadable Vimeo link.
Spotlight Self-Tape is built into Spotlight, so casting teams can request, receive and watch tapes without leaving it. If the request arrives that way, answer it that way.
Idents are two different things
Spotlight's guide to idents, updated on 15 September 2026, splits them by the kind of job.
For film, television and theatre, say your name and your agent, or "self-represented", and add a full-length shot. Some castings also ask for your location, height or availability.
For commercials, show your hands, both profiles and full length, and answer the questions the casting has set. Those can include competing products you have advertised, your availability and any allergies.
Shoot the ident in landscape too. We found no official UK source that gives a standard running time for an ident or a tape, so the brief and the page limits in the code decide the length.
Sound is where home tapes fall down
This part is our view rather than a rule, and it comes from a studio that records podcasts, voiceover and ADR. On most home tapes the picture is fine and the sound isn't. A casting director can look past an ordinary picture. It is much harder to listen past an echo that makes a quiet, intimate scene sound as if it was recorded in a stairwell.
- The room. Bare walls and a hard floor bounce your voice around. A bedroom, with a bed, a rug and a wardrobe full of clothes, is usually the best-sounding room in the house. The kitchen is usually the worst.
- The distance. A phone microphone across the room hears the room more than it hears you. A small clip-on mic, or any mic just out of frame, will do more for the tape than a new camera.
- The reader. They sit beside the lens, which puts them closer to the phone than you are, so they come out louder. Spotlight wants them quiet. Ask them to read at half your volume, or put the microphone nearer you than them.
- Noise. The fridge, the boiler, the washing machine and the neighbour's drill all sound louder on a recording than they do in the room. Switch off what you can and shut the doors.
Before you send anything, listen back on headphones. If you can hear the room, so can the casting director.
Light and background at home
Stand a good metre or more away from a plain wall, so your shadow falls behind you and not beside your face. Grey is best, and pale and plain will do. Light your face from the front with something soft: a lamp bounced off a pale wall works better than the ceiling light, which puts your eyes in shadow. Then frame chest to the top of the head, in landscape, and check the whole thing on a laptop screen before you record the scene ten times.
When a studio makes sense
The code is right that a reader should not be a requirement and that actors should not have to pay for one. Most of the time a friend and a phone will do the job.
Our self-tape session is for the times you want more than that. It is £60 an hour inc VAT for even lighting, a plain backdrop, the sound recorded properly and a reader for the other lines, so you are not acting to a phone propped on a bookshelf. It earns its keep on a recall, on two scenes with a short turnaround, or on the day the flatmate who usually reads is at work.
The barn is at Adsdean, fifteen minutes by taxi from Chichester station, with parking on site. Details are on the actor headshots and self-tapes page. If the headshot on your Spotlight profile is the older part of your casting kit, what UK casting directors want from a headshot covers that side.
If a tape is due and the turnaround leaves no room for experiments, call 01243 884993 and we will tell you what is free.
Sources
- CDG, Equity, PMA and CPMA, Code of Best Practice for Self-Tape and Zoom Auditions, undated, reported 12 August 2021
- Backstage UK, Casting Directors + Equity UK announce guidelines for self-tape auditions, 12 August 2021
- Spotlight, Self-taping: the new rules for the new normal, 2 September 2021, updated 7 April 2026
- Spotlight, How to self-tape, undated
- Spotlight, The Spotlight guide to idents, 15 March 2021, updated 15 September 2026
- Spotlight, Spotlight Self-Tape guide for casting professionals, updated 19 May 2026
More from the Journal
- Actor headshots in 2026: what UK casting directors want to see
- New at the barn: business, team and actor headshots
- How much do professional headshots cost in the UK in 2026?
- All Journal articles
The picture at the top of this article is an illustration generated to show the set-up. It is not a photograph of a client or of a real job.
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Questions we get asked
How long should I get to record a self-tape in the UK?
Under the Code of Best Practice agreed by the CDG, Equity, the PMA and the CPMA, a first self-tape of up to six pages should get at least four days, or at least three days for three pages or fewer. A Friday request is not due until the following Tuesday.
Should a self-tape be landscape or portrait?
Landscape, always. Spotlight's guidance is a mid-close shot, from the chest to the top of the head, with your eyeline close to the camera.
Do I have to pay for a reader for a self-tape?
No. The industry code says a reader helps but should not be an absolute requirement, and actors should not have to pay for one. A studio session with a reader, such as ours at £60 an hour inc VAT, is for when you want the room, the light and the sound as well.
granary.digital · 01243 884993 · studio@granary.digital · The Old Grainstore, Adsdean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 9DN · Prices exclude VAT unless marked inc VAT