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Got Dreams? Get Real!

Acting is the most competitive game you can play.

Learn the rules, learn the game, learn how to play at a professional level, then use every audition to prove you're someone who belongs in the game.

You have dreams -- you have to make them real. You do that at LAACTTM.

"If you have built castles in the
air, your work need not be lost;
that is where they should be.
Now put foundations under them."

-- Henry David Thoreau

"INTENSE ... JD really knows how to work on a role"
~ James Franco

"JD has a profound understanding of both acting and teaching"
~ Val Lauren

"JD is the shit!"
~ Vince Jolivette

FIRST WEEK - 3 Classes - FREE

Begin This Week -- Any Mon/Wed/Fri, 7PM

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 7-10PM
10835 Santa Monica Blvd.
(Santa Monica & Westwood)
(Click for MAP)

$250 Per Month - NO Contracts

Got Talent? Get "Ready!"

"Ready," is an industry term that means prepared to meet the expectations of a professional.

Begin by making habits of the fundamentals of acting.

Learn to listen and put all your attention on your acting partner. Make a habit of taking personally what you see and hear when you act. Practice responding instinctively until it's second nature to you when you act.

Practice becoming immersed in meaningful imaginary circumstances until you do it with ease.

Learn how to read a script so that you can begin to extract the acting from the text.

Integration of the fundamentals takes specific direction, time and serious effort.

30 Month Program at LAACTTM

(...learn more)

FREE CAREER LESSONS

Audition, Read Scripts, and Campaign; that's the life of the actor so that's the program at LAACTTM.

You have to learn to act the way it's done in the movies (NOT the way you learned in college!). It's called being "commercial," an industry term that means you meet the technical expectations of a professional. That's what you demostrate in your auditions.

Auditioning is acting. That's the job: audition every day (occaisionally you will work but not if you don't audition well). An audition is your "shot," to prove you can act and to what depth. Learn to act and you learn to audtion.

You have to learn how to read a script. Everyone has reading problems. At LAACTTM, we show you a new way to read that engages your talent and instincts; a skill that serves you in every audition and "cold reading," for the whole of your career.

Finally, you have to learn how to market yourself. An actor is a small business. Shameless self-promotion, Guerilla P.R., and traditional marketing techniques, all serve in keeping your name and face "top of mind" with casting directors and producers.

You should learn all those things in acting school and you will at LAACTTM.

Click Here for Free Classes at LAACTTM

What Students Say About LAACTTM


  • JD's training is for the serious student ... you will learn that there is nothing you can't do, no scene too emotional or too raw.


  • He is simple, subtle and to the point ... every moment becomes an "Ahaa moment!"


  • This training will set you up for success. When you have this down, the competition seems limited.


  • For anyone in the LA area looking for training ... if you want to put in the work it takes to become great, this is the place.


  • Whether you are just starting out or you need to break down all of those bad habits you acquired in college ... JD teaches the most priceless foundation you could ever have.


  • JD is hands down the best, most passionate acting teacher you will find. It would be folly to pass up the opportunity to train with him.


  • One of the first things that I heard in class was "If you want to be a movie star this is not the class for you, leave now. We only teach acting here!" I have never met a man with as much integrity.


    • Click Here to learn more from students.



    30 Month Program at LAACTTM




    Two and a half years of training is nothing in the life of an actor. In any legitimate career choice the same period of time would be considered the absolute minimum.

    The study of acting at LAACT™ is fun but rigorous.

    This program is for students who want to start acting careers in the motion picture industry.

    The objective in your acting training is to turn yourself into an expert on the art, the business, and the life of acting.

    Daily practice is required. There is a substantial required reading list. The histories of acting and the entertainment business, biographies and autobiographies of achievers in the industry, film composition and appreciation, plays and screenplays, lighting and stagecraft, are all topics covered in the Reading Program.

    There are three general areas of study, they are: Acting/Auditioning, Reading for Actors, and Marketing for the Actor.


    Acting/Auditioning
    Acting is auditioning and vice versa. Learn to act then audition at the same level at which you train. Audition with the same depth and imagination you employ in your studies and your work will surpass the competition.

    Reading for Actors
    Reading Scripts and Reading for Auditions are specific skills. Script Reading is a daily task in the life of the actor. Extracting the acting from the text; "reading out from the text," as it is called, engages the actor's imagination and talent. Your vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar are greatly expanded through this training.

    Marketing for the Actor
    The Actor is a small business whose primary product is self-promotion. Creating a working Marketing Plan for the actor and executing routine promotions make up a third of the life of the actor. Advertising, event planning, and publicizing your efforts are part of the daily job of acting.

    By taking the time to progress at your own pace you can assimilate the same habits that all great actors have shared. With progressive practice, those same habits become your habits, your way of working when you act.


    ACTING/AUDITIONING


    For the purposes of your training we define acting as, "Living truthfully under imaginary circumstances." Look carefully at each part of that sentence. "Living" means alive and really happening. "Truthfully" means you tell the truth; you do not fake or hide your feelings when you act. "Under" means the human experience that supports the words you say. "Imaginary Circumstances" are where all acting happens.

    Like anything built to last you start with the strongest foundation possible. The training at LAACTTM provides a means by which you can practice the fundamentals until they are second nature.

    These are the fundamentals of acting: seeing, listening, taking personally what you see and hear, permitting what you see and hear to affect you emotionally, and permitting your instinctual response. Cultivation of your imagination, instinctual responsiveness and creativity, and conditioning depth and range of emotion, are developed in every step of the training.

    A basic exercise that integrates all those elements, progressively, over time, is taught. Your training at LAACT™ begins by learning the exercise. Like scales on the piano, or barre work for dance, repetition of the basic exercise builds correct work habits and teaches you acting at the same time.

    Once the fundamentals are firmly in place you can begin to add the author's text to your foundation. Without that foundation, and the human experience that supports the words, all you have is words. With the foundation in place you transform your acting into what it should be -- A living work of art.


    AUDITIONING IS ACTING


    The acting audition is just another acting job. You go in, demonstrate that you can act and they see you do that. Having seen that you have trained well and know your job, even if you are not right for what they are casting that day, they will remember you from your acting audition.

    Having learned how to act you will have also learned to audition. Every exercise, every scene, every audition, every job is handled in exactly the same way. By building the correct habits and having the discipline to work the way you practice, your chances of a successful career as an actor are greatly enhanced.

    As a professional actor you will audition every day for the rest of your life. If you do not audition, and do not audition well, you will never work at all. When you learn acting the right way, from the ground up, you stand a chance of retaining those habits for a lifetime.


    TRAINING TIMETABLE


    ACTING 1.1
    The first three months of class are devoted to learning the basic exercises. There is a basic reading exercise invented specifically to answer the demands of acting and auditioning, and a basic acting exercise that develops all of the strengths the modern actor must master. Vocabulary building and speaking better English are addressed in every class.

    Like scales or barre work, the acting exercise is deceptively simple, while the results of correct practice are immeasurable. Meaningful repetition of the fundamentals over time is the only proven path to learning.

    There are three unshakeable principles on which this training is based: that acting is instinctual, not intellectual, in its nature; that you must be "connected" with your working partner; and that "Art Expresses Human Experience."

    Our approach is a process of self-discovery. You will discover what doing something real, what your imagination, and what living out imaginary circumstances can produce in you emotionally.


    PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE


    ACTING 1.2
    The second three month period of training is dedicated strictly to correct practice of the exercise. Daily practice is required. Not until the acting fundamentals are firmly in place we can begin to work on scenes.

    In every scene the actor is either doing something or trying to get something from someone. Exclusively through imagination the actor must make those actions personally meaningful. These elements are integrated and developed every time you practice. The more you practice the better you get.

    Since all acting takes place in imaginary circumstances great efforts are made toward developing imagination and creativity during your training. Working toward emotional depth and range through the imagination is the only healthy approach. Imagination, once stretched and strengthened, will never return to its previous size and shape. The best way to build your imagination is through reading.


    IMPROVISATION


    ACTING 1.3
    Over the third three month period the actor learns how to turn the acting exercise into an improvisation. The improvisation is used for problem solving in scene work.

    Anytime you improvise you are looking for something you need that is missing. In acting you are looking for the emotional content of the scene. Improvisation is one of the most valuable tools you can use as an actor. There are many projects that demand actors who can work improvisationally.


    FINALLY, A SCENE!


    ACTING 1.4
    Learning how to work on a scene takes the next nine months. Mastering the reading skills to handle any scene becomes a major focus during this part of the training. Your job in acting is to take words on a page and translate them into a living human experience. Understanding what is written for you to say and how you feel about it arm you with a personal point of view and emotional content. These things must be present in every line.

    The scenes on which you work are short; 1-2 minutes at the longest. You are preparing for a career in the motion picture industry where scenes longer than two minutes are rare. Your first auditions will be comprised of 4 or 5 lines, merely. Understanding what you are saying then finding the emotional content is your job when you act.

    Learning how to handle auditions and paying jobs by bringing a meaningful human experience to the scene is your top priority in your scene studies.

    All scenes are blocked, marked, and shot in exactly the same way you find on any movie set. You will face all of the challenges of acting on-camera, for hundreds of hours, before you ever walk onto your first movie set. With this kind of experience in your training you will begin your career with all the confidence of a seasoned veteran.

    During this period you are also schooled in the language of movie-making. Knowing a "two-shot" from a "cheat," and a "tenner" from a "fresnel" (and even how to pronounce it), will keep you functioning on a set professionally, from your very first job.

    After 18 months of training you will know exactly how to approach every audition and job. You will have the confidence that comes from hundreds of hours of practical training. You will have a thorough understanding of the mechanics of the industry. And you will have a concrete Marketing Plan to execute. You are ready to begin auditioning.


    ACTING 2.1


    You are ready to begin your first year as a professional actor.

    The school is committed to your success in the industry. Our reputation depends on your success. The better you do, the better we look to the industry and students we serve.

    Two showcases and a graduation project are to be produced, by you, for your final year of study. This is a major part of implementing your Marketing Plan. By producing promotions, publicizing them, and giving a professional level performance of them, you will spend the year setting the pace for your career.

    Half the classes of the first six months of the year are spent on "monologues." These are frequently demanded of auditions and you will have a full compliment of them when you are through. The other half of your classes is spent doing finished scene work. All of these efforts are shot and edited for possible inclusion in your acting demo reel.

    You will have six speeches and six scenes that you will present to audiences as finished pieces. You will produce these Showcases in three month intervals. Your last six months of training will be your Graduation Projects.

    In addition, every time you have an audition you are to bring it into class and work on it before you go in. The effort will show.


    GRADUATION PROJECTS


    Apart from your routine classes, your final six months with LAACT™ are spent on your Graduation Projects. Graduation Projects are finished pieces of your own creation. You may work alone or with a group, your projects may be live or shot on-camera, you may present all live scenes, a graduation film festival, or a combination of productions.

    All of the Graduation Projects will become part of your marketing efforts to launch your careers and gain some attention from the industry. These projects will feature you, in roles for which you are ideally cast, doing the best work of your life.

    From these productions you can create your first demo reel.


    SUMMARY


    En route to this estimable beginning you will learn your craft, the industry, and how to play as a professional. You will have the strongest command of the English Language that you have had in your life.

    When you strike out on your own you will already have your first year of auditioning experience, know who to target in your marketing efforts, have a plan to reach that target, production and promotion experience, and the habit of doing serious work toward your career every day.

    You will have cultivated your talent, imagination, and instinctual responsiveness. You will have brought your acting to the point where it is spontaneous, alive, and meaningful.

    You will know how to read a script, how to find the acting in a script, how to bring a finished performance to every audition, how to conduct yourself within the industry, and how to build and maintain your professional reputation.

    You will have completed a specific and progressive study of English. Having read numerous books on the subject of acting, hundreds of both plays and screenplays, seen dozens of English language movies, made a study of the trade magazines, and spent over two years in industry vocabulary building. You will be prepared to engage in professional level communications with other industry professionals.

    No other Acting School in Los Angeles offers this level of preparation, specific to working in the motion picture industry.


    READING PLAN


    Required Reading.

    You will find books on achievers, biographies, autobiographies, as well as books on the industry, and history of acting. You will find an extensive list of playwrights whose plays you must read.


    FILM STUDY


    Recommended Movies

    It is not required that you watch all these films during your studies but there are Movie Nights (Wednesdays at 7:00PM) where we watch a film from this list and analyze the acting as well as the composition.

    Schedule and Free Classes




    What is Acting?

    Los Angeles Acting Schools

    What is Method Acting?

    How To Get An Agent

    How To Get Your SAG Card

    What is Voice Acting?

    TV Auditions

    How To Post On-Line
    Essential
    Los Angeles
    Acting Websites

    Familiarity with, and daily use of, these sites keeps you abreast of the state of your industry.

  • Variety
  • Hollywood Reporter
  • Deadline/Nikki Finke
  • Entertainment Weekly
  • IMDB
  • Academy Players Directory
  • Actors Access
  • L.A. Casting
  • iActor
  • Casting About
  • Simply Scripts
  • Go Hollywood (Movies)


    • Los Angeles
    Acting &
    Professional
    Unions

    The list below is of the Actors Unions and related Unions in Los Angeles.

  • Actors Equity
  • American Federation of Musicians
  • Association of Talent Agents
  • Casting Society of America
  • Directors Guild
  • Producers Guild
  • Screen Actors Guild
  • Talent Managers Association
  • American Federation of Radio and Television Artists

    • Los Angeles
    Talent
    Agencies

    A small representation of the Talent Agencies in Los Angeles.

  • Abrams Artists
  • Avalon Artists
  • Baron
  • Bloc Agency
  • Chic Models
  • Clear Talent
  • Colleen Cler Talent
  • Cunningham...
  • DDO Artists
  • 5 Star Talent
  • Gwyn Foxx
  • Grant-Savic...
  • HRI Talent
  • JS Represents
  • Jaime Ferrar
  • Kazarian-Spencer
  • Mavrick Artists
  • McCabe Group
  • Momentum
  • Peak Models
  • Rebel
  • Sanger Talent
  • Special Artists
  • Scott Stander
  • Mitchell Stubbs
  • Sutton-Barth-Vennari
  • Vision Models
  • VOX
  • Wallis Agency
  • World Class Sports


    • Los Angeles
    Casting
    Directors

    Actors who are just starting out need to get work on a set.

    Central Union / Central Non-Union is the place to start.

    Located at 220 South Flower Street in Burbank. You have to go there and register.

    Registration information may be obtained at (818) 562-2755 .

  • AVC Family
  • Melissa Abesera
  • Sande Alessi
  • Karen Armstrong
  • Terry Berland
  • Burrows Boland
  • C&C Casting
  • Center Theatre
  • Elaine Craig
  • Digital Dogs
  • Disney
  • Michael Donovan
  • Danielle Eskinazi
  • Pam Gilles
  • Rich King
  • L.A. Casting
  • Heidi Levitt
  • Mambo Casting
  • Mindy Marin
  • Martin Casting
  • Mystic Art
  • Jenny O'Haver
  • On Your Mark
  • Lila Selik
  • Ava Shevitt
  • Melissa Skoff
  • Joy Todd
  • Tyler Casting
  • Blanca Valdez
  • Voicecaster
    • Los Angeles
    Actors
    Links

    Blogs and serious sites about Acting in Los Angeles.

  • Backstage Blogs
  • Casting Network
  • L.A. Casting
  • Actors Access
  • Playbill
  • Theatermania
  • Explore Talent

    • Popular Links for Acting Schools in Los Angeles

    Acting Articles Movies Training for Actors Actors in Los Angeles Los Angeles Acting Schools Actors Resumes Acting Auditions acting lessons The Actors Toolkit acting courses actors school How To Post On-Line Los Angeles los angeles acting school How To Get An Agent acting classes in los angeles los angeles acting HEADSHOTS Method Acting How To Get Your SAG Card how to become an actor acting schools los angeles acting scenes Free Acting Classes in Los Angeles Meisner for Movies(TM)

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