The past term of classes has seen a marked improvement in creativity and confidence on-camera. It’s a statistically proven fact that acting classes are of great benefit for children, teens and adults, resulting in increased self-esteem, confidence and presentation skills. People who attend acting classes are more empathetic to others, are smarter, do better in their chosen careers and are better problem solvers than people who have no acting skills. So whether or not you want to be a film or TV star, acting classes have lifelong benefits for everyone.
“I could never stop acting, because it would be like removing curiosity and, to me, that would be like removing life itself.” Academy award winning actor and director Robert Redford tells it like it is.The past term has also seen our premises at 722 Pittwater Road Brookvale become an arts enclave, with Singing Alive and the Arthur Murray Dance School now occupying studio space within the building. This has been beneficial for all three schools as students are now crossing over and attending classes at each institution.
TERM DATES
Term 2 classes complete on Saturday 29 June and Term 3 classes commence from Monday 15 July, following the two week winter semester break.
MONDAY EVENING ADULT EXTENSION CLASS
We are considering restarting the Monday evening extension class for young adults and adults. The class traditionally runs from 7 to 9-30pm and can either be attended as a stand-alone class or as a second class each week. The class commences on the second week of each term and runs in blocks of 9 week terms. Established students attending the extension course as their second weekly class receive a 5% discount on the class fees. If you are interested in fast tracking your acting skills by attending the school twice a week then let me know and we’ll get the class up and running as soon as we have the student numbers.
SCREEN ACTORS WORKSHOP 25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On 6 July 2013, the Screen Actors Workshop celebrates 25 years as a training institution. We have a big party planned for the night at our studio at 3-4/722 Pittwater Road Brookvale and we hope to see as many of our current and former students there as possible. Entry to the party is free and friends and family of students are welcome. Snacks, wine, and soft drinks (for the under 18s) will be served. Former student Sarah Lorien’s band Aqualash will play two live sets, and a 25th anniversary celebration DVD will be screened – featuring a chronological 1988 to 2013 slideshow and an absolutely hilarious Bloopers and Outtakes Reel. If you think you’ve seen some funny bloopers at our past few Christmas parties then you’ve seen nothing until you behold the absolute madness from the late 80s to the mid-90s! To help cover some of our costs for the evening we will be running a Lucky Door Prize raffle and the winner will walk away with a basketful of goodies to the value of $275! Please support the school by purchasing a raffle ticket. Tickets are $2 each, 3 for $5, or 6 for $10.
The party kicks off from 7pm on Saturday 6 July. I look forward to seeing you there!
2013 NORTHERN BEACHES LOCAL BUSINESS AWARDS
Thanks to all of our students who voted for the school in the 2013 Local Business Awards. We are an official finalist in the Outstanding Educational Services Award again this year thanks to your support.
The school first entered the local business awards in 2010 and won the Outstanding Educational Service award first time around! We made the finals again in 2011, and again in 2012 when we won again. Fingers crossed for a third win in four years!
2013 also saw the school selected by a national team of judges as one of only 900 small businesses from a nationwide pool of over two-and-a-half-million as a finalist in the Australian Small Business Champion Awards. There is no way we could achieve such success without the support and encouragement of our loyal students and staff. If we do win again this year, then it’s a win for all of us, as we couldn’t do it without you!
COLD READING MASTERCLASS REVIEW
The Cold Reading masterclass on Sunday 2 June tutored by actor Salvatore Coco was an intensive 6 hour course which pushed the attending students to their limits. The feedback from students Paul Millett, Shannon Donaghey, Drew Smith and Adam Meoli was extremely positive and they relished the opportunity of working with such a knowledgeable and dedicated tutor. It was great to have Salvatore back at the studio teaching another masterclass and I look forward to having him return to the school as soon as possible.
Sal working with the students
STUDENT NEWS
Congratulations to advanced adult student Brett Garland on his recent performance in a Choosi Insurance TVC. The exercise sequences looked like hard work Brett. Phew!
Advanced adult Sonya Plummer, whom I only recently assisted with head shots, resume and a student showreel, has already experienced a couple of lucky breaks in starting her acting career. Last month I recommended Sonya and classmate Iwona Abramowicz to radio station Nova 96.9 to play the role of cougars in one of Nova’s music video parodies, in this case a spoof on Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines video – parodied as Cougars by Fitzy and Wippa. It was a challenging shoot for Sonya and Iwona but they knocked it out of the park and Cougars has had more hits on the 96.9 website than any of Fitzy and Wippa’s previous video spoofs. Well done ladies. Following on from the 96.9 gig, Sonya has just won a well-paying role in a TVC, shooting Wednesday 19 June.
Junior student Maya Beck has been no slouch either, recently performing in a new Telstra TVC and then following that up with a small dramatic role in a new childrens TV drama. Go Maya!
It was great to see Rob Carlton reprising his Best Supporting Actor Gold Logie winning role of Kerry Packer in ABC-TVs Magazine Wars – the follow up to Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo – which aired on the 2nd and 3rd of June. Rob’s portrayal of Packer is hands-down the most accurate by any actor thus far.
PETER PHELPS NO DRAMAS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Multi-award winning actor and Screen Actors Workshop masterclass tutor Peter Phelps has written a second autobiography. Peter’s new book is an update on his 1994 autobiography Sex without Madonna: The True Confessions of a Hired Gun in Tinseltown. “True Confessions” is a fun read and I highly recommend you grab a copy of the updated saga, No Dramas.NEW FILMS ON DVD
Lawless (USA: 2012) Directed by John Hillcoat. Screenplay by Nick Cave. The Aussie team of Hillcoat and Cave (The Proposition) deliver the goods again with this classic prohibition era drama starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, UK actor Gary Oldman, and Aussie actors Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke and Guy Pearce. Tom Hardy – as the eldest Bondurant brother – is a standout and definitely an actor to keep an eye on. There is a striking similarity between Hardy’s acting style and that of the late, great Steve McQueen.CLASSIC FILMS ON DVD
The Reluctant Infidel (UK: 2010) (PG) Directed by Josh Appignanesi. Starring Omid Djalili and Richard Schiff. This clever comedy revolves around a British Muslim, Mahmud Najir (Djalili) who goes through an identity crisis when he discovers he was adopted as a child by an arab family but was actually born to Jewish parents. A good laugh is guaranteed due to a high energy performance by Djalili.
Mulholland Drive (USA: 2001) (R) Directed by David Lynch and starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux. A mind-bending surrealist neo-noir film, best described as a puzzle within a puzzle within an enigma.Mulholland Drive is one of my all-time favourite films along with…
Fitzcarraldo (Germany: 1982) (MA 15+) Directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski and Claudia Cardinale. An amazing adventure set in 1912 on the sprawling Amazon River, which follows the trials and tribulations of would-be rubber baron Fitzcarraldo (Kinski) as he endevours to make enough money to build a grand opera house in the jungle and then bring out his idol – the revered Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso – to Iquitos for a one-off concert appearance. A film about art, adventure, madness, perseverance and the ultimate power of positive thinking. The attention to detail creates a powerful atmosphere and the marriage of ethereal music to image is truly inspiring. Filmmaking at its absolute best.CLASS SCENE DVDs
If you’d like a copy of your past term’s scenes edited to DVD then see me in class and I’ll organise it for you. Class scene DVDs are $40 per terms work and are a highly beneficial means of further improving your on-camera performance and technique via further home study.
Check out the below two scenes: advanced adults Paul Millett, Deborah Graham and Logan Webster in Moron of the Year Award from Term 1, and advanced teens Zoe Salatnay, Elana Carnevale and Daniel King in All the way to Brisbane from Term 2.
Have an enjoyable winter semester break and I look forward to seeing you again when Term 3 classes commence – and in the meantime at the Screen Actors Workshop 25th anniversary party.
Alan Nurthen (Director)