Five Tips for the Perfect Application Video

Applying for your favorite reality TV show can be overwhelming. It can be incredibly difficult to decide what makes the cut, but our team has spent many hours researching application videos, and we will share the tips to give you the best possible odds.

1. Be Memorable

The absolute worst tapes are the people who sit at a desk or in their living room, and merely read off a list of accolades or reasons they should appear. You need to show the casting agents rather than tell them. Each video should have 3-5 different setting with each focused on an element of your personality. If you’ve won a beauty pageant show a clip of you on stage with voice overlay. If you are an MMA fighter then use that footage. The key is to find something so that you don’t simply fall into the see of other videos.

Remember, the producers are making the show as entertainment to the television watching audience. They need people to build the show around, and you will have a major leg up on the competition if you have a story that they can build around. Every has overcome obstacles and had accomplishments. Just be sure to include these in your video. This is a time in life when you should brag about your accomplishments.

3. Shoot Triple the Length

Most of the shows have an upper limit for the length of the video. This is usually five to 10 minutes. When planning your video, you should create something that is three time that length and then prune it back so that it’s point after point after point. You don’t want the person screening your video to get bored, and essentially sending them a highlight reel is going to help with this.

4. Include Others

A video monologue will only stand out so much so you can really add to the buzz of the video by having friends or family talk about why you would be a great contestant on the show or how you have the attributes they are seeking. I would recommend filming several people, and then using excerpts of their comments as segues between your the scenes.

5. Remember they’re not privates

Most shows air casting videos as part of the show or include them as an online exclusive. This means that you should only include pieces about you that you’re comfortable sharing openly. It can be extremely hard to keep aspects of your like private after appearing on a show, and this is one of the most commonly heard regret from contestants.