ZOOM COACHING
Zoom coaching enables me to work with clients anywhere in the world with ease. Since covid most of my coaching has been on Zoom and even when a student is in the same city we often use zoom for convenience and safety.
Zoom enables us to create the intimacy of a private session over long distances. We are able to see each other and work out the physicality of a scene as well as the dialogue and internal life of the character. Since many of my clients are auditioning or working on-camera, it allows us to see how they are registering on film, which is a great asset. It also allows the actor to get accustomed to and comfortable with, the technology that is being used now and for the foreseeable future for auditions, call back and even chemistry reads.
I frequently put people on tape for auditions via Skype where they can record my voice and look into their own camera or iPhone. This enables us to rehearse and create an audition tape where I can act opposite them without being seen, as I would do in a tape we produce in my office. The client can then send the tape directly to their representation or casting and have a permanent copy for themselves as well.
I love audition tapes as it allows us to do as many takes as we need to in order to choose their best work in the privacy and comfort of the actors own environment.
I am very excited to have this new mode of working and encourage people to try it as it produces wonderful and surprising results.
Zoom Acting classes
I developed my zoom classes in 2020 when it became clear to me that I would need an alternative to in person classes for the remainder of the covid epidemic. These classes have flourished and become an indispensable part of my teaching.
I begin each class with music, dancing and a physical and emotional warmup, so class is a dynamic and inspiring exchange.
When students do their work they are standing and acting the scene out as they would in a classroom or rehearsal. In these classes we work on improvisations, cold readings, auditions and monologues as well as exercises.
We have formed a strong Zoom community and people have become friends and acting partners from all over the world. People from Amsterdam have worked on projects with people in CA and Canada. A director from Eastern Europe workshopped his film about teens with actors in the young adult class who were in NY, Philadelphia, Saint Louis and LA. It is an amazing way to create and maintain an international community and to give people access to classes regardless of where they live.
Zoom classes are also easy to film so I am able to send students their work after each class so they can review and save their work. This is a great learning tool and actors have used clips from zoom classes for their reels. It also helps people learn to be more comfortable in front of the camera and taping, which is essential for auditioning as most auditions will be self tapes in the immediate future.
Zoom has been a wonderful way to create a geographically diverse community and give all students a way to join our acting community and stay in touch in between our various workshops.