ON CAMERA ACTING ESSENTIALS
Acting Classes
Open City Acting Studio offers the following key acting classes as part of our On Camera Acting Essentials core program. Select one classes to work on a specific area or work you way through them all to improve your techniques as an actor.
Intro TV & Film Audition Technique
INSTRUCTOR: Alani iLongwe
Dates: Mondays 1pm – 3pm PST
Become confident in your ability to prepare for every “audition” as if it were the booking and to build lasting relationships with casting directors. This acting essentials class will be structured to mirror real-world self-taping/audition scenarios. Students will receive audition sides via email 2-3 days before their scheduled class. It will then be their duty to use the skills learned in class to record their auditions and submit them back to “casting” (their instructor) by the designated time. Audition tapes received by the deadline will be reviewed in the class where notes will be given toward improving their submissions for the next audition. Tapes submitted after the deadline will not be seen. Students will then learn how to take the notes given by “casting” and apply them toward their callback audition.
Ideal For: Acting students ready to become confident in their unique storytelling abilities and ultimately raise their audition-to-booking ratio.
Commitment: 4 classes for $260/month
Ongoing TV, Film & The Active Imagination
INSTRUCTOR: Alani iLongwe
Dates: Wednesdays and Thursdays
Times: 1-3pm PST Wednesdays and 6-8pm PST Thursdays
Description: Rooted in storytelling derived from a revolutionary combination of Meisner and Method Acting techniques, receive a solid and practical way of breaking down material, personalizing any given circumstance, and sharing your light with the world. With this essentials acting course, become confident in your ability to prepare for every “audition” as if it were the booking and to build lasting relationships with casting directors. This class will be structured to mirror real-world self-taping/audition scenarios. Students will receive audition sides via email 2-3 days before their scheduled class. It will then be their duty to use the skills learned in class to record their auditions and submit them back to “casting” (their instructor) by the designated time. Audition tapes received by the deadline will be reviewed in the class where notes will be given toward improving their submissions for the next audition. Tapes submitted after the deadline will not be seen. Students will then learn how to take the notes given by “casting” and apply them toward their callback audition.
Ideal For: Students ready to become confident in their unique storytelling abilities and ultimately raise their audition-to-booking ratio.
Commitment: 4 classes for $260/month
Commercial Acting Workshop
INSTRUCTOR: Bill Coelius
Commercial Acting class at Open City Studio tackles every necessary thing you need to know for your next commercial audition. Can I book a job quickly if I’m just starting out? What things can I do on set to ensure a future job? What’s the one thing I need to do in the callback to book? What are the three different kinds of commercials that create the three different kinds of auditions? How do I find an agent? There are absolute and practicable rules about commercial acting and script analysis that will help you book a national commercial. You can work fearlessly, and truly enjoy every audition. The commercial acting class at Open City Acting Studio will show you how. Commercial Acting is taught by Bill Coelius, a working actor for over 15 years and counting. Bill has booked over 50 national commercials, worked with Ang Lee, and has appeared on many TV shows including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Criminal Minds, Parks and Rec, Modern Family, The Office, Desperate Housewives and many others, including American Horror Story: Hotel, where his throat was slashed by Lady Gaga, a career highlight so far.
Thrive: The Psychology of
Acting & Career Guidance
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Nick Holton
Feeling worn down mentally by the business of acting and want to maximize your booking potential? Enroll and reclaim your artistic power! This is a unique class that NO other acting studio offers – this part of our acting essentials offerings is one that will be interactive. Dr. Nick Holton to help guide you on your artistic journey and to unlock your unique potential.
Commitment: $260/month for 10 weeks.
Character Acting Essentials
Professional Acting Program
The Professional Acting Program is an 18-month conservatory centered around the revolutionary Meisner technique. Along with comprehensive movement, voice & speech, psychology, and commercial acting courses, this curriculum was expertly crafted to help students become the best actors they can be. Take advantage of the best online acting conservatory the industry has to offer from anywhere in the world!
Meisner Only Program
Begin your journey into deep listening and working on the fundamentals of acting in a rock solid way. Studying the Meisner Technique enables you to take a script and know how to bring yourself to it fully, working in service to its needs. By taking this 18-month training online, you can more quickly wield your craft versus the intermittent on and off of doing workshops and six week acting classes over the course of many more years. Begin your journey toward becoming a respected successful actor with the Meisner technique today!
The Character Development Series
This series workshops will be broken into three classes, Intro to Character Development, Developing Historical Figures and Sourcing Character from Text.
Intro to Character Development
Instructor: Julia Crockett
Description: This introductory course explores how an actor may develop the physicality and mannerisms of a dynamic character that demands physical transformation. Over the course of the session, each student will be guided through the process of creating their own original character – and along the way they will acquire vocabulary, tools, and a potential approach or repeatable process that can be applied in the future. We will discuss the importance of sustainable and repeatable performance, stamina, and how to protect your instrument by using warm ups and cool downs designed for each character. This is a broad strokes class that will teach actors what to think about when creating compelling physicality and how to integrate it to become second nature.
Ideal For: Actors looking to create a foundational basis for creating characters for TV & Film auditions.
Commitment: 4 classes/month for $260.
Developing Historical Figures
Instructor: Julia Crockett
Description: Using the tools introduced in the intro workshop, students will learn how to get more specific and create character based on someone was or is living. This may include historical or public figures. Actors will use images, videos and text observations to transform into the real person they are portraying.
Ideal For: Actors looking for intermediate level tools for creating characters for TV & Film auditions. Must have taken Intro to Character Development to join.
Commitment: 4 classes/month for $260.
Sourcing Character from Text
Instructor: Julia Crockett
Description: This class will teach students how to extract clues about a character’s physicality from a script and what questions to ask when developing a character from a text. Students will select their own character to develop from a play, screenplay, novel, or short story.
Ideal For: Actors looking to pair their script analysis skills with advanced tools for creating characters for TV & Film auditions. Must have taken Intro to Character Development to join.
Commitment: 4 classes/month for $260.
