The collaboration between film directors, actors, & screenwriters is the art of give & take, with members improving their individual skills by learning to work more effectively with others. Sessions take place once a week through the fall, with members committing on a month-to-month basis. Each scene is rehearsed, then shot with an aim of capturing it at peak performance. A technical challenge will often be added, to mirror on-set issues. The resulting footage will be edited for further examination. Performance is the key to a successful film, yet directors often go years without working with actors, waiting until their next film gets a green light. Weekly sessions with a wide range of actors enable them to speak most any actor's language. This proves invaluable in quickly establishing a strong connection during initial meetings, rehearsals, and on set. During each session, Jon will offer input and lead group discussions on practical topics, such as what actors can do when they disagree with a director's note or how a director can help keep a performance fresh over time. Members learn that the key to a constructive collaboration is understanding what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes - whether that's the character in the script or the person on the other side of the camera. Actors, writers, and DPs get a chance to direct. Directors, writers, & DPs act. Theater actors and directors learn how stage experience can be an effective basis for working intimately and expressively with a camera. Documentarians and DPs see how their ability to frame an event can help them communicate the central meaning of a scene to an actor. For actors, TAKE ACTION has all the benefits of an on-camera scene study class, with significant bonuses. They'll collaborate with a wide range of directors, writers, and DPs, many of whom are gearing up to make a film. They'll also learn to take greater control of the process, with many members expanding into producing, directing, &/or writing their own projects. Writer-directors often use the workshop to develop new material. The weekly session can serve as a constructive deadline for finishing a new scene or sequence. And the actors are assembled with an eye towards balancing s*x, age, and character, forming a loose ensemble ready for most any material. Members are typically highly accomplished, which helps everyone up their game. Participating directors have made theatrically released features, been nominated for DGA awards for episodics, made shorts awarded at Cannes, shot commercials, and helmed their own webseries. They've also directed plays Off-Broadway and other stages throughout the country. Participating actors have been nominated for SAG Awards and recently appeared in studio, independent, student films, and on&off Broadway. They're regulars or recur on celebrated TV shows on broadcast networks, HBO, Showtime, AMC, USA, and Sundance. One of Take Action's best by-products is the formation of sturdy bonds beyond the workshop. For example, a director and actor who started collaborating in class are about to shoot a feature together. And members form a supportive community, attending screenings and stage performances of each others' latest work. The workshop meets once a week in two separate sections, either Tuesday night or Saturday afternoon. The fee is $240 per month of 4 sessions. Periodically, there will be room for guest members, at a pro-rated fee. If you get acting or directing work, you'll get credit for any missed sessions so long as there's 72 hour notice or you replace yourself, on approval. In all other instances, once you commit to a session, you are responsible for payment even if you don't appear, though all efforts will be made to replace you instead, let you replace yourself, or find room for you in the week's other session. If you'd like to express interest or ask questions, e [email protected]. Participation is by invitation, so please be prepared to send links to filmed material &/or schedule a phone meeting.
