Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Takeda.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been told I’m “The Self-Tape Expert.” I got that nickname after booking more than 70 roles on self-tape over the past fifteen years.
I’m fortunate to also have representation in markets outside of LA, so long before the pandemic, I’d have to tape my auditions and send them in. I’ve booked everything from “Dallas Buyers Club,” which we shot in Louisiana, to “The Americans,” which shot in New York, to Amazon’s “The Man In the High Castle,” which shot in Vancouver. I actually booked that one while on vacation in Spain. And, of course, I book lots of stuff in LA — everything from “Gone Girl” (which I taped because I was on-location shooting a CW series to “Drunk History,” which I think was only taking tapes.
The first I ever heard the term “self-tape” was pilot-seasons 2017, and at that point, I was already booking regularly on tape for eight years.
I got started because I’m a professional director with six Emmys. When I got my first self-tape request in 2009, This was way before all of the taping businesses popped up in LA. I didn’t have the option of going some businesses with professionals that knew taping. I had to be the professional. So, I just applied all the skills I know from filmmaking. I knew it would make it so the decision-makers could easily hear and see my performance. At the time, I didn’t know if what I was doing was unique or special, or even ahead of the curve. But later in 2018, a groups of casting directors out of New Mexico suggested that I teach what I know because I was the only actor they’d let tape. They said it was because I was a filmmaker.
Then, as everyone in LA knows, the pandemic hit, and everything shut down. I was actually working a recurring role at “General Hospital” when ABC shut Prospect Studios down, and that was such a scary time. We were told our hiatus would be a four-to-six weeks, but by the time Spring had turned to Summer, I knew it was going to be a while before our industry would be getting back. In the meantime, I booked a Lifetime film on tape, and a friend ask that I teach what I know since it looked like the only way productions could cast actors was if everything went to self-tape.
So, I started to teach this thing that I do online via Zoom. It’s my entire self-tape playbook — how I’ve been able to book studio feature films, network shows, Super Bowl commercials, all on self-tape. I call it the Takeda Technique. It blends audition technique with filmmaking technique.
LA actors are the hardest-working actors I’ve ever seen. They are in workshops. They are hustling and meeting people. And they’re great at in-person auditioning. However, so many of them are not getting traction with tape. I look at their IMDb profiles, and I see all these bookings prior to 2020 and then nothing. It’s not their acting. It’s not the new format to casting. It’s their tape.
Our industry uses filmmaking techniques for a reason: it keeps viewers glued to the screen so they fully watch the performances. They’ve mastered how to do audio and how to do lighting, and when they do that, it’s powerful. That’s why we binge TV. We are glued to our screens.
And don’t actors want the same thing for their tapes?
So, here’s the thing…filmmaking techniques are really simple, fun, and low-to-no cost. For example, there’s only one rule to audio. If you follow it, your sound is amazing, and if you don’t…yikes! And there’s only one type of lighting used on every single motion picture and television series. Even news programs use it. It’s not a fancy light. And it’s been around for centuries. When you use this kind of lighting, every person’s face looks amazing. When you don’t — you can look like your driver’s license photo.
With the Takeda Technique, we teach students these things and so much more. And it works. Just last week, we had an actor book a national car commercial, another booked a recurring role on a series, I had two actors book their first studio feature films, and one of those actors also booked a major indie film, so that’s two feature film bookings in one week. None of these actors were getting traction with their tapes prior. And now they are working.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hah! Smooth road? No. Lots of struggles at first. So, first of all, I’d been building this Takeda Technique playbook for well more than a decade prior to teaching, but I never wrote it down. And I’m not really a coach. At least, I didn’t think I was until I started to do this.
So, launching this class meant that I not only had to figure out exactly what I was doing but then to put it into a curriculum that was easy to understand, entertaining, and taught people how to do filmmaking — something that I’ve been making a living from for nearly 35 years. I mean, how do you put 35 years of experience into a weekly or monthly setting?
I also wanted to teach actors life-long skills so these lessons could serve them the rest of their lives.
Here’s what I mean by that. When I am working with my team, we can go to any location and turn it into a mini sound stage. We work with the space with all of its strengths and limitations and are able to figure out a way to get great sound and images. We know the hows and whys of filmmaking.
In a similar way, an actor is going to move their entire lives. They may live in an apartment in Koreatown with a friend now, but in two years, they may want to move to the Valley. And then, who knows, in five years, they may book enough work that they can buy a townhouse, or maybe they hit it big and then buy a house. Either way, they will end up having several different locations to shoot their self-tape auditions.
I wanted to teach students the hows and whys of filmmaking so they could go into ANY location and know exactly how to set up their self-tape studio. I also want actors to be able to tape auditions when they are on location or even on vacation. When someone knows the hows and whys of filmmaking, it’s really easy to find creative solutions to turn any situation into a mini studio that can help you book.
The final challenge came two years into our business when we needed to add coaches. So, I then needed to be able to teach coaches how to teach others this technique.
I’m thrilled to say that we now have five coaches who our students love. And we’re growing and helping actors book in this all-self-tape world.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I run a company that teaches actors how to produce self-tapes that book. Now that self-tape is hard-baked into the SAG-AFTRA contract, it’s now a skillset that LA actors need to have in their actor’s toolbox.
All we do is teach self-tape. It’s our specialty. And just like LA actors can study with UCB or The Groundlings if they want to learn improv or go to Larry Moss Studios or Ivana Chubbuck for scene studio, we are here when LA actors want to learn how to do self-tape. We are The Self-Tape Experts.
One of the things that makes me so proud is we’re able to help all levels of actors. We help actors who are paralyzed by the technology all the way to very experienced actors who have a fairly sophisticated setup. I have yet to see an actor’s setup that I can’t improve in a way that will help them get traction,
The other thing that makes me proud is when we work with really experienced actors like those in LA. I know almost all of them have gotten dozens if not hundreds of sales pitches that say, “Hey, Actor, come take this class, and it will make a big difference in your career.” I get it. I’ve heard it myself dozens of times. And I know I’m basically saying the same thing.
But here’s the difference. I’m not teaching something that’s wild and out there. I’m teaching something that’s proven. Our entire town exists because industry professionals are creating stories using filmmaking techniques. And these techniques are proven. Our industry has been around since the 1910s — 110 years. Over that time, if someone found a better way to do lighting or framing or audio, we’d all be doing it. And no one has. This stuff works, and our industry creates billions in wealth using it.
And these same techniques work in self-tape. Tapes these days are essentially a screen test, where a studio or network would bring you in and shoot you using these filmmaking techniques. Studios do this because they want to see how actors will look under these amazing conditions. And actors can use these exact same filmmaking techniques in their home. These techniques are really easy to do. They are fun. They require no special equipment — you can use what you already own. And they make you look and sound amazing, so all the decision-makers can see all your acting.
So, it’s really rewarding when we get these hardened LA actors who are so used to hearing these “promise the moon” pitches, and they actually take our courses. That’s when they start seeing how these easy techniques make an actual difference in their real auditions and see how CDs react to them.
Speaking of CDs, I’m constantly talking to working CDs, either by bringing them into our advanced classes to teach or by taking CD workshops. So, our curriculum is constantly evolving, depending on what CD’s want and need. So, let’s say later this year, CDs say, “We need all actors to slate holding up a sign that shows their name and height,” we will be adding that to our courses. We want to make sure that all of our actors are giving CDs exactly what they need.
One more thing…everyone starts in the 101 class. We run our classes a little like The Groundlings, where every actor starts in their Basic class regardless of how much improv experience they have. In the 101, we introduce some core concepts that we’ll build onto in the intermediate and advanced classes. Even if students have a solid setup, I want them to get these core foundational building blocks. The 101 class goes over the technical stuff to self-tape — stuff like audio (which we feel is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of the tape) to lighting to editing to even slating. I know slating sound silly, but it’s astonishing how important a slate is now that we don’t have the ability to meet CDs in person.
The 201 class is designed to pair with the 101 class. That’s when we teach actors about the most powerful tool ever invented, and that’s the camera. The camera dramatically changes how the viewer takes in a performance, so we take actors through how to use a camera like a filmmaker by focusing on how a camera tells story and then how that is translated into a self-tape setting. Students tell us this is the “magic class” because how acting starts to be fun again.
The 301 class is our advanced class, and that’s taught by working casting directors. It replicates another reality of our new casting life — the live, virtual casting session. So, students have the ability to practice EcoCast Live or Zoom callbacks with casting directors and get that critical feedback that is impossible to get when it’s a real audition.
The 401 class is our most advanced class, and we do lots of fun advanced stuff like how to work in multiple markets, and we even spend an entire week just on IMDb.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Wow…I wish I had time for apps, books, podcasts, or blogs. When I’m not running the Takeda Technique, I am constantly working. Any spare time is spent with my lovely bride and our family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.takedatechnique.com https://www.takedaentertainment.com https://www.scotttakeda.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Takeda
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scotttakeda/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotttakeda/
- Twitter: @scotttakeda
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1956106/
Image Credits
Emily Sandifer
Brent Gundlock
Peter Chelsom
Takeda Entertainment
