Acting is so intimate, yet that creative connection we cherish often ends as soon as a gig is over. The majority of actors spend more time auditioning and honing their craft than they do on set. It's just the reality of the business. The ebb and flow of an actor’s journey is what feels lonely, unpredictable, and erratic.
Actors need an incredible amount of perseverance to stay on the journey. Showing up time after time as every opportunity presents itself is no small task. Burnout is incredibly common and those who withstand the challenging moments have a community of support by their side.
Even the most serious artists can feel disconnected from their inspiration if it's not cultivated. It takes effort to maintain the passion and drive that propel us forward.
Acting is so intimate, yet that creative connection we cherish often ends as soon as a gig is over. The majority of actors spend more time auditioning and honing their craft than they do on set. It's just the reality of the business. The ebb and flow of an actor’s journey is what feels lonely, unpredictable, and erratic.
Actors need an incredible amount of perseverance to stay on the journey. Showing up time after time as every opportunity presents itself is no small task. Burnout is incredibly common and those who withstand the challenging moments have a community of support by their side.
Even the most serious artists can feel disconnected from their inspiration if it's not cultivated. It takes effort to maintain the passion and drive that propel us forward.
Those actors are fortunate that they get to be on set making films regularly, developing their skills and bending and strengthening their abilities constantly. Think Denzel. Meryl.
They have a lifetime of experience in front of the camera. And that is what we witness in their performances: actors who have evolved over time and deepened their craft through opportunities to work with so many different genres, scene partners, directors, and writers.
Whether you are working on set regularly or not, you will experience stops and starts as an actor. It's inevitable. You need to find a way to do your work and be active. To grow. To evolve. To (re)discover your self in your art.
This community is a place to nurture the creative connection between gigs, lean on each other to keep going on the journey, and find fresh and diverse inspiration anytime you need it.
Cultivate your unique artistry and growth by immersing yourself amongst other visionaries.
The artists we surround ourselves by help us become the best versions of ourselves.
Hi actors,
Here’s a story about a life-changing experience of the impact of being in community with artists who are fighting the same fight as you.
Many years ago, I applied to a directing fellowship for women that was way outta my league. I thought, why the heck not try? And, I had no other life plans set up and needed something to put energy and focus towards to escape my frustrations.
SO. I applied. I got interviewed. And I had to defend my proposed script like I was defending a PhD thesis. And then, miraculously, I got accepted.
But what to do now??
I had to relocate myself to Los Angeles for a few months with no funds other than piddly savings from a recent gig and no film resources in L.A. And now, I had to make a short film! I was in need of some major support.
Here’s how it got done.
One friend from NYC said, hey, I wanna learn how to produce films, and I will relocate and jump in. Wow. And then the biggest support ever in the world came from…guess who…the other 7 women in the program!!
Colleagues will give you the most (inspired and useful) support.
We boosted each other. We traded resources. We troubleshooted together. Yes, we cried together too. That’s what filmmakers in the trenches together do! Honestly, I was learning more from my colleagues than I was in the boot camp classes. Truth.
And, incredibly, I learned very quickly that I could offer to my peers my own accumulated knowledge about casting and working with actors. Duh. How awesome to have something to offer up in exchange for their brilliant minds and unique skills! I am forever inspired and grateful for that cohort of women directors.
I really needed that exchange to make it through one of the more scary transitions of my life…the transition of really truly doing what I had always dreamed of.
When you are down, your colleagues who understand intimately the same turmoil will lift you back up and redirect you forward!
The Acting Collective is my dream space for you, actors, to create this exact synergy together. I am also bringing into this space other inspired artists to add support and drop useful knowledge. The collective is growing constantly.
It is all designed just for you so that you can engage and grow thoughtfully, respectfully, and supportively. Be with your peers on the journey!
You can do it. You can be the artist you want to be. In the community that we create.
We offer two types of memberships: Core Access & Full Access
Join Heidi for hot seat acting coaching, Q&As, and timely group discussions that sustain your creative spirit, hone your craft, and realign your mindset. Take turns getting 1:1 scene coaching and watching others work.
Warm up for auditions, review past submissions, practice scenes, connect with peers, and get facilitated support to improve your ongoing self-tape submissions.
Ongoing chat spaces with diversely experienced actors exchanging resources, tips, and inspiration on the process of being an actor. Find self-tape partners, collaborators, and like-minded artists.
Access select recordings and resources when you need a creative boost from an ever-growing library of inspiring content from Heidi, guest teachers, our studio’s team, and community members.
Take action in creating your own work—take the leap into artistic empowerment. Learn from and collaborate with mentors and peers creating their own work.
You can hold readings, rehearse projects, host guest speakers, or offer free workshops in one of your many talents. Organize and attend virtual or in-person meetups in your area!
Find a reader quickly for your last-minute auditions! Members in multiple time zones are quick to respond and assist you by being your scene partner.
Access replays of all of Heidi's group coaching sessions! Over 37 hours of video replay, and counting...
– Weekly Group Coaching with Heidi
– Weekly Scene Rehearsal Gyms
– Community Forums
– Video Learning Library
– Actors as Creators Workshops
– Member-Led Meetups
– "Find a Reader" Forum
– 37+ hours of Heidi's session replays
Get into the arena with Heidi’s expansive community of industry professionals working in all areas of storytelling. Masterclasses include individualized coaching, peer exchange, intimate discussions, anecdotes, and personal stories.
Work and build rapport over recurring intimate sessions with resident teaching artists. Heidi invites working artists culled from her decades of community-building in Film, TV, and Broadway to teach their approach and share stories from the industry front lines so that you can uplevel your confidence and craft.
Your prep is the foundation. Learn and practice skills needed to quickly break down and analyze scenes. Get practical advice on finding specificity and nuances that make your scenes pop. Peer support sessions are supportive spaces to share the ups & downs of your journey.
Uplevel together with your fellow actors who are as committed to the craft as you are. Go deeper within an intentional and intimate environment that grows your confidence and reframes your mindset as a collaborator within the industry.
Recording library of masterclasses and resident teaching artist sessions to watch if you can’t attend live. Over 60 hours of video replay, and counting...
Everything in Core Access, plus:
Reinforce your strengths.
Develop your instincts.
Build your own process.
See what we're all about:
Reinforce your strengths.
Develop your instincts.
Build your own process.
See what we're all about:
Heidi Miami Marshall’s career has spanned over 25 years as an Acting Coach, Film and Theater Director, Casting Director, and Acting Studio Owner. Her entire career informs her director’s eye and influences her aesthetic for working with actors.
Originally, Heidi was the lead Casting Director at Telsey + Co. for the Broadway musical RENT, as well as for 70+ projects in theater, film, TV, commercial, and voiceover. Now, as owner of a top acting studio, she’s coached countless actors into roles for film, TV, and theater. She is frequently hired by directors and production studios to prep actors for auditions, screen tests and performance. Heidi has expert understanding in all the layered needs of casting and what gets actors hired.
Her acting clients have appeared on screens big and small, from network TV to indie film to blockbuster hits. Her clients' range of talent includes new actors to Emmy award-winning.
As a director, Heidi has received awards and fellowships for her directing in theater and film, most notably AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and The Drama League.
Recent films directed by Heidi include S.P.I.C., MUSCLE, and upcoming feature AMERICAN BUBBLE (written by Johnny Sánchez and Khalil Kain, and starring Jade Pettyjohn, Julianne Nicholson, Dave East, & J. Alphonse Nicholson).
All of Heidi Marshall’s work has led me to see that she’s a director of first rate talent and ability.
— Baz Luhrmann, Director
With Full Access membership, you can attend live, intimate sessions with working artists and industry guests. When you can't make a session, watch the replay!
JASON BUTLER HARNER
Ozark, Changeling, Ray Donovan
JOSY RODRIGUEZ, CSA
Harlem, Hightown, Gotham, Blue Bloods
MICHELLE HURD
Star Trek: Picard, Blindspot, Daredevil
ATHENA COLÓN
Acting Coach, Script Analysis
ROB CLARE
Shakespeare Specialist
IRENE CABRERA
Paradigm Talent Agency
KHALIL KAIN
Juice, Girlfriends, The Millennial
PORTIA
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Rose Tattoo
Actors as Creators: Developing Your Own Work
BEN TOLPIN
Commercial Auditions
RUSSELL G. JONES
Only Murders In The Building, Tommy
MACKENZIE MEEHAN
Bull, The Wolf of Wall Street, Vinyl
STEPHANIE LITTLE
Actors as Creators: Production
SETH ZVI ROSENFELD
Screenwriting, The Get Down, Them
ANGELA LEWIS
Snowfall, Code Black, Top Five
JASON ANTOON
Claws, NCIS: Hawaii
JASMINE MCLEISH
Scene Rehearsal Gym Coach
LYNN FREEDMAN
Her, Gone Girl, Grace and Frankie
AMIR ARISON
The Kite Runner, The Blacklist, Ramy, Girls
KRON MOORE
The Oval, Stargirl
MICHELLE BOTTICELLI
TV/Film Editor, Berlinale, SXSW, TriBeCa, TIFF, Slamdance
MARY BACON
Coal Country, Lost Girls, Madam Secretary
FIONA GRAHAM
A Mouthful of Air, Between Waves
REIKO AYLESWORTH
24, Scorpion, Hawaii Five-O
ROCHÉE JEFFREY
Grown-ish, SMILF, Woke
AMANDA QUAID
Speech, Voice, Breath Coach, & Actor
DANIELLE EARLE
PL Entertainment
DANNY HOCH
The Knick, Nurse Jackie, Blue Bloods
MATHIA VARGAS
The Business of Acting
CARLY ZEIN
Actress & Audition Coach
BARI TESSLER
Financial Therapy for Artists
With Full Access membership, you can attend live, intimate sessions with working artists and industry guests. When you can't make a session, watch the replay!
JASON BUTLER HARNER
Ozark, Changeling, Ray Donovan
JOSY RODRIGUEZ, CSA
Harlem, Hightown, Gotham, Blue Bloods
MICHELLE HURD
Star Trek: Picard, Blindspot, Daredevil
ATHENA COLÓN
Acting Coach, Script Analysis
ROB CLARE
Shakespeare Specialist
IRENE CABRERA
Paradigm Talent Agency
KHALIL KAIN
Juice, Girlfriends, The Millennial
PORTIA
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Rose Tattoo
JOHNNY SANCHEZ
Actors as Creators: Developing Your Own Work
BEN TOLPIN
Commercial Auditions
RUSSELL G. JONES
Only Murders In The Building, Tommy
MACKENZIE MEEHAN
Bull, The Wolf of Wall Street, Vinyl
STEPHANIE LITTLE
Actors as Creators: Production
SETH ZVI ROSENFELD
Screenwriting, The Get Down, Them
ANGELA LEWIS
Snowfall, Code Black, Top Five
JASON ANTOON
Claws, NCIS: Hawaii
JASMINE MCLEISH
Scene Rehearsal Gym Coach
LYNN FREEDMAN
Her, Gone Girl, Grace and Frankie
AMIR ARISON
The Kite Runner, The Blacklist, Ramy, Girls
KRON MOORE
The Oval, Stargirl
MICHELLE BOTTICELLI
TV/Film Editor, Berlinale, SXSW, TriBeCa, TIFF, Slamdance
MARY BACON
Coal Country, Lost Girls, Madam Secretary
FIONA GRAHAM
A Mouthful of Air, Between Waves
REIKO AYLESWORTH
24, Scorpion, Hawaii Five-O
ROCHÉE JEFFREY
Grown-ish, SMILF, Woke
AMANDA QUAID
Speech, Voice, Breath Coach, & Actor
DANIELLE EARLE
PL Entertainment
DANNY HOCH
The Knick, Nurse Jackie, Blue Bloods
MATHIA VARGAS
The Business of Acting
CARLY ZEIN
Actress & Audition Coach
BARI TESSLER
Financial Therapy for Artists
...AND MORE!
It depends on what you're looking for out of this community. And, as with any community, the more you participate, the more you get out of it. Let's break down the differences between Core and Full Access a little more:
Members enter our circle of artists to refine their craft and ask the bigger questions about artistry.
Have you wanted to keep working together in an affordable and ongoing way? This is it! Each week, we gather virtually to speak about what I see happening in the industry and in the world of filmmaking. I'll often coach actors in a “hot seat" through scenes of their choice while others learn through observation. I also lead the group through exercises or breakout room chats so that actors can learn from one another.
Actors with Core Access also get support in the business of acting, audition/self-tape practice, and creating your own work.
Members get everything included with Core Access, AND they get to work alongside guest artists who share their approaches, professional insights, and belief in the ownership of being an actor.
Meet and learn from Heidi’s expansive community of industry professionals working in all areas of storytelling.
Actors will spend time with masterful working artists in a small-group setting, and get to know the inner mechanisms of their artistry. There will be opportunities to receive individualized coaching from our guests and to observe your peers as they work. Masterclasses often include intimate discussions and personal stories.
A: If you are an actor ready to expand, learn, and exchange key knowledge with other actors pursuing a vision of what they want to achieve, then let's partner up and nudge each other forward!
Since the community is virtual, does my location matter? And when can I start?
Your location does not matter because this online community home can follow you wherever you go!
Start whenever you feel inspired to join! If you start right away, you get to keep your price as long as your membership is continuously active. Future price changes won't affect you.
What days & times will Heidi's sessions and other events/masterclasses be held?
All events and masterclasses are held on various days/times to ensure that folks on different schedules get a chance to tune in live! You can choose which events to attend.
What are the weekly coaching sessions with Heidi?
Weekly coaching will be a mix of "hot-seat coaching" (similar to a masterclass format) and Q&As/discussions. They will resemble a town hall or community gathering to boost inspiration and momentum. Each week, some actors will actively work in the hot seat while everyone gets to observe. We will continue the journey of working and learning together as a community of inspired artists.
How does this compare to other acting communities?
This community is solidly grounded in Heidi’s principles that have served as the foundation of her studio for years. Her valuable experience and insight have inspired countless actors at all stages of their careers. Heidi and her team of teaching artists are highly sought out by top agents, managers, and casting offices, including CAA, Carmen Cuba Casting, Telsey + Co., ICM, Paradigm, Warner Bros, and Disney.
How much do I have to participate?
It's totally up to you. The more you participate, the more you'll get out of it. We think you'll enjoy the collective if you contribute to the forums, play our #challenge games, attend events, and work "hot seats." If your schedule fluctuates, the event replays are very helpful.
What is this community's commitment to representation?
All actors from all backgrounds are welcome! Diverse life experiences make great art! Our community has always been and continues to be committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.
How do I RSVP for events once I join?
You'll get emailed about events, and you can also check the schedule on the collective site. You can do one-click RSVP for a one-hour email reminder before the event starts. You can also easily add events to your calendar.
Is this only for film & TV actors?
All the work we do in classes is adaptable to various mediums. Our community members range from new to seasoned, theater to film, musicals to commercials, TV series to indie films, musicians to stand-up comics, and more!