NEXT 2023 DATES TBD
A 2-day in-person NYC Masterclass with Heidi that pushes you to take risks in your auditions and to overhaul the preparation habits that hold you back on camera.
In this class, we work on (re)settling your ease on camera, (re)building your confidence in the audition room, paying attention to details in your audition prep, and owning your unique strengths in roles.
ASSIGNMENTS
You’ll receive scene assignments. They will include 2 assigned scenes and details on how to select and prepare your own scene that fills class parameters. No monologues.
WATCH YOURSELF ON CAMERA
We film your scenes and provide you with downloads after each class. It’s an excellent way to study your progress, catch your “tricks,” and see what the producers/directors are seeing on the monitors.
You’ll watch your videos outside of class. I do not run playback in class—I like to keep your focus on what you are experiencing in the moment.
BEYOND CLASS
I encourage you to use select takes from class to generate interest in your talent. Yes, you can post them anywhere if it’s a published film/TV show that’s already aired. Post your scenes on your websites or to share them with reps—it’s a great conversation starter about your process as an actor!
My joy is matchmaking, and I seek those opportunities for my alumni. For this reason, I have created an Alumni Database where you can upload class videos.
I also lead weekly group coaching sessions in our Acting Collective, where you can stay in process and enjoy the flexibility of virtual workshops and events with me and my network of teaching artists.
COVID-19 SAFETY
Proof of vaccination is required to participate in-person. Workshops will follow the latest public health guidelines regarding masking. Complete safety protocols will be shared with participants a few weeks before their class.
If you’d love to spend two intensive days revving up your toolbox, having fun, and doing more deep-dive work that addresses where you’re at right now, this masterclass is perfect!
This class is great for:
TIME COMMITMENT
You will need to plan for homework time to research your assignment and prepare your materials. This is a 2-day intensive so please give yourself some space to be able to dive in for our 48 hours together! All studio classes are designed to stretch and support your complete prep process as an actor for self-tapes and in-person auditions. The more you put into the class, the more you get out of it!
OUR WORK TOGETHER
This is a supportive learning environment where you will be challenged to tackle your obstacles! (Quick note about your class clips: there may be extraneous sound captured from surrounding areas. We’ll do our best while filming!)
This is not a networking class with a casting director. This is an acting and auditioning class with a teacher who has over two decades of professional high-level experience and who cares most about the actor’s process. In the end, I believe it is the process that books the job and supports the actor’s need to stay inspired.
ACTING COACH: Heidi’s career has spanned over 20 years and includes time as the lead Casting Director at Telsey+CO for the Broadway musical RENT, as well as for 70+ projects in theater, film, television, commercial, and voiceover. She’s coached countless actors into roles for Film, TV, and Theater. Most recently, she coached and prepped Halle Bailey for her audition and screen test for Disney’s upcoming The Little Mermaid. Heidi’s active filmmaker career informs her director’s eye and influences her aesthetic for working with actors.
For full acting coach bio, click here. For filmmaker portfolio, click here.
I’ve got two crucial questions for you.
Taking risks doesn’t just mean doing something wild and crazy. The real risk is actually investing your full attention into the material – not cutting any corners – so that every choice is rooted in character and excavating the writing’s potential.
When you have done the deep dive prep, you are ready to make choices.
And. You are primed now to think like a filmmaker. What does this story need? What is this filmmaker going for? How can I give the camera what it needs? How can I make visual choices to tell the story? I guarantee that these are the next layer of questions that most actors are missing in the audition process.
There is a noticeable difference between the actor who has been on set tons and the actor who has not been on set. Because the actor who has been on set understands how to feel the presence of the camera, know where the camera is at all times, and to modulate for it’s proximity to the actor.
In this class, we work on your mastery of shaping auditions and working that camera lens.
Sometimes, you just need to immerse yourself in the bubble of an intensive in order to re-examine and (re)inspire your process as an actor.
Pause the audition madness for a moment. Give yourself some breathing room to explore and grow again. Let’s get to the bottom of what may be missing in your process.
x,
Heidi
WHY I TEACH
First, I always experience major inspiration and rejuvenation when I work with talent on camera. You all inspire me as an artist and a teacher. The best part about casting for me was being inside the audition room—and the best part about directing is being on sets with actors and crews making and creating together. So when I’m teaching, I get the best of both worlds.
I eagerly look for windows of opportunity between my own projects and my 4-week classes to teach this master class because the process of working together sustains my artistic spirit too!
ABOUT MY CLASSES
My classes are small and private, and they operate purely from word-of-mouth by over 3,000 alumni students. I’ve been offering my classes since 2003, and I’m thrilled that word-of-mouth is powerful and that there is such a hunger for deepening the acting and auditioning process.
My classes are not separated by levels of talent. Everyone, including the award winners, starts with me in Part 1 or Nailing the Genre, and we build a process together. I lay in the lessons and techniques very thoughtfully and purposefully over the classes, and I start everyone at the same point in the conversation. Some actors will say it is like developing a philosophy together. My classes will give you more than just techniques because I believe in developing and training actors to be collaborators.
I’m excited to use the ten different tools to make my auditions more dynamic and truthful
Thanks so much for our class yesterday it was so rejuvenating and motivating.
An extraordinary opportunity to play, create & explore working on camera and also learn and experience new tools to shake you up and find deeper connections to the text, your scene partner and what you bring to the scene and the character all with Heidi’s compassionate and insightful guidance.
It’s digging deeper after part 2 and getting even more Heidi tools! It’s a fun weekend (or 2 weekday) masterclass touching on multiple parts of acting on camera (eyelines, taking direction, script analysis, etc) where you get to meet and get to know other awesome artists.
It was fantastic being with and playing in front of such a loving group of talented artists, and all under Heidi’s direction! Plus, not having to worry about the camera and lighting and everything felt like such a luxury. Life-changing and soul-nourishing!
Full disclosure—please note that we do not guarantee that actors in these workshops will be hired for any project that we might direct or cast. We do guarantee my supportive honesty and my open sharing of knowledge. We teach and coach because we enjoy supporting actors as they develop their process of working within the audition room. We seek to build their knowledge about the business of auditioning.