We know what they want. . . we know how to do it.
BIANCA AMATO * University of Cape Town - Audie & Earphones multi-award winner
Bianca's distinguished international career began in her home country of South Africa, on stage film and television - most notably as the lead in Isidingo, South Africa's premiere drama series. Her portrayal of Phillipa De Villiers, a "feisty Englishwoman in a groundbreaking interracial storyline for post-Apartheid television", made her a household name in South Africa. Bianca moved to New York in 2001, appearing in celebrated plays including Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy, Arcadia and Macbeth on Broadway, Importance of Being Earnest at BAM, Top Girls, Pride & Prejudice, As You Like It and Pygmalion at the Guthrie, and the "stunning" Neva at the Public Theater, among others. TV & film include Sex & the City, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, The Big C, Elementary, The Adventures of Sinbad, Alpha House, The Kissing Booth 2, and Bianca's prolific voiceover career includes narrating over 60 audiobooks, including several Earphone Award winners and an Audie for Listening for Lions.
Bianca's natural warmth, precision & passion for the craft of acting has made her a resource for aspiring artists for over 20 years - from stage & screen auditions to Shakespeare, dialects, and VO. She splits her time between New York and Johannesburg, South Africa, with her beautiful family.
* STAGE | TV (Drama) | BFA & MFA | Shakespeare | Voiceover (Audiobooks) *
$100/hr
* currently Video Session only
STACEY YEN
* MFA New York University * BFA Brown University
Stage & Screen Actor, Dancer & Acting Professor
Stacey has been a Guest Artist at New York University, Princeton and Fordham. She currently is a Guest Artist teaching Acting at the widely celebrated University of Evansville.
BFA & MFA | Stage & Screen | Shakespeare | Movement & Dance
BRIAN SLATEN
* MFA UCSD * BFA Univ. of Wyoming
Stage & Screen Actor, Teacher & Combat Coach
Brian is a physical, dynamic actor, teacher & coach that has worked for over a decade on both coasts. Since graduating UCSD's MFA Acting program, Brian's booked work for every platform, but his primary focus has been on theater that "moves the conversation forward" - stage credits include: The Lifespan of a Fact (St. Louis Rep), Angels in America and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Straight White Men (Steppenwolf Theater and Kirk Douglas Theater), Bent (Taper Forum), Fool for Love (Chalk Rep), Hay Fever (The Old Globe), Paris Commune (La Jolla Playhouse), The Good Thief (Slant Theater), and Five Mile Lake (South Coast Rep; LADCC nomination). TV includes: Chicago PD Masters of Sex, Rizzoli & Isles, Criminal Minds, Fringe, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, Army Wives, and Guiding Light - films: Murder Bury Win, Happy 40th, Uggs for Gaza and Deception.
Brian's passion for the craft of acting led him to teach at UCSD & The University of Wyoming, a professional workshop at Actors Theater of Louisville, and currently at Webster University in St Louis, where he's proud to help aspiring artists from the heartland realize their dreams.
BFA & MFA | Stage & Screen | Stage Combat | Career Consult
ANDREW SMITH
* MFA UCSD * BA Middlebury Stage & Screen Actor & Professor
Andrew W. Smith is an Actor, Director, Teacher, and Producer whose work has been seen throughout New York City, regionally, and internationally. He is the Co-Founding Artistic Director of award-winning Project Y Theatre Company in New York City. With Project Y, he has served as Producer and/or Director for 5 Women in Theatre Festivals, 2 New Playwright Festivals, and over 20 world premiere’s including premiere productions by Megan Monaghan Rivas, Amina Henry, Tori Keenan-Zelt, Lee Blessing, Samuel Brett Adams, Justin Shipman, Lia Romeo, and Karl Gajdusek. Selected regional acting work includes Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Quantum Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Roundhouse Theatre, Potomac Theatre Project, Ars Nova, Studio Theatre, and Olney Center for the Arts. Film/TV credits include: Lucid, Shooting Script, Death of a Nation (Winner: Best Short, IndieFest 2011; Best in Show, Best Shorts Competition 2011), Under-Ground, GONE, "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," "One Life to Live," "As the World Turns," "Guiding Light."
A graduate of Middlebury College and UCSD, Andrew is currently an Associate Professor of Acting at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, where he teaches first and second year Actors and Musical Theatre Students Acting, from the first introduction of acting in the first year through Shakespeare. He also teaches an Audition for the Stage and Film/TV class for the Juniors and directs in the department. Andrew’s approach mixes many methodologies, including Active Analysis, Meisner, Viewpoints, Michael Chekov, and more. He believes in the playful actor – using structure & hard work as a means to release freedom, curiosity, and improvisation.
BFA & MFA | Stage & Screen | Career Consult | Acting the Song | Shakespeare | Kids & Teens | Self Tapes
GRETCHEN HALL
* MFA NYU * BA Fordham
Stage & Screen Actor & Acting Professor
Gretchen is an accomplished actress, teacher & coach, with a wide range of work including the title role in Major Barbara at A.C.T & Theater Calgary, Nora in A Doll's House at The Old Globe, Imogen in Cymbeline and Isabella in Measure for Measure at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Trouble in Mind at Arena Stage, Kate in Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Elizabeth in Richard III at New Jersey Shakespeare Theater, Elizabeth in The Circle at Westport Country Playhouse, Molly in The Mousetrap at the Dorset Theater Festival, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare on the Sound, Maria in Let There Be Love and Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest at Center Stage, Pegeen in Playboy of the Western World at The Hangar Theater, Ima Perry in The Immigrant at George Street Playhouse, Stickfly on Broadway, Saturn Returns at Lincoln Center, Pericles and The Iliad with the Continuum Company. TV credits include "FBI", "The Blacklist", "The Path," "Elementary," "Person of Interest", "Gossip Girl", "Law & Order" and "Lipstick Jungle"; films include The Weekend, Almost in Love and the title role in Cammy.
Gretchen's taught several courses at Seton Hall University: Acting, Vocal Technique, Acting for the Camera, and Shakespeare; she is a certified Miller Voice Method (mVm) instructor. The Miller Voice Method encourages students to work with the Active Breath - the flow of breath without holds or tensions - in an effort to develop students into more present and engaged communicators. You can find out more about the method here: https://millervoicemethod.com Gretchen values patience, compassion, effective listening and clarity of expression in her teaching style. Gretchen grew up in Indiana and now teaches at Indiana University, with her husband and three daughters.
BFA & MFA | Stage & Screen | Voice & Speech | Shakespeare
