The Audition Information

The Audition is a 2015 short film directed by Martin Scorsese. It stars Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, playing fictionalized versions of themselves, who travel through Asia and compete against each other for a potential role in Scorsese's next film.

The short film was created as a promotional piece for the Studio City Macau Resort and Casino. It is Scorsese's first film to feature both De Niro and DiCaprio. Both actors had individually worked with Scorsese several times in the past (De Niro with eight films when the short was released, DiCaprio with five), but the three had never collaborated together. Brad Pitt, also playing a fictionalized version of himself, makes a cameo appearance.

Plot

Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio meet with Martin Scorsese at the City of Dreams Resort in Manila to audition for his newest film. Despite their long histories of working with Scorsese, the two actors learn they are competing against one another for the same role.

Scorsese explains the potential role to his two muses as they continue to Studio City in Macau. As De Niro and DiCaprio listen, both plead their personal cases as to why they are right for the part, exhausting Scorsese. While the three have dinner in the hotel, Scorsese becomes inspired when he sees an advertisement featuring Brad Pitt.

The three then make their way towards Japan, where De Niro and DiCaprio make their final cases for the part. Scorsese then suddenly announces that neither are right for the role, and quickly parts ways with the two. As De Niro and DiCaprio ponder amongst themselves as to why they were not selected, they catch Scorsese meeting with Pitt, who had arrived in Japan on short notice. De Niro and DiCaprio then realize that Pitt was chosen for the role, and the two walk off into the night in disappointment.

Cast

• Robert De Niro as himself
• Leonardo DiCaprio as himself
• Brad Pitt as himself / Aaron Cross
• Martin Scorsese as himself

Production

The short film was financed by the Melco Crown Entertainment Limited to commission the opening of its Studio City Macau Resort and Casino. With the short film's budget around $70 million, each actor was reportedly paid $13 million for less than two days' work.

The script was written by Terence Winter, who Scorsese had previously collaborated with for The Wolf of Wall Street and Boardwalk Empire. Shooting lasted for less than one week and was done in New York City. As the casino was not built during the short film's production, 3-D renderings had to be done in order to re-create the location during filming.

Release

On October 27, 2015, the short film made its official world premiere at the Studio City casino and resort in Macau, China in conjunction with the resort's grand opening. Scorsese, De Niro, DiCaprio and producer Brett Ratner were each in attendance for the premiere.

A prior screening had taken place earlier that month at the 20th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea on October 3, 2015. The short was also supposed to screen at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2015 but was reportedly cancelled due to technical problems. Rumors also floated that the reason behind the cancellation was due to some perceiving the film as a promotional piece rather than one of artistic merit.

The short film to date has never had a commercial release. However it was placed as an advertisement before feature film screenings in cinemas across Hong Kong and China in order to further promote Studio City.