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AND TO SIGN-UP FOR ANY CLASS
DON’T see a class listed below on the SCHEDULE link above? An upcoming class described below could already be full, (ASK IF THERE IS A WAITING LIST), OR a class listed below perhaps has recently started, OR it’s just not scheduled right at this moment. New classes are added often though. Check back soon! CLASSES ARE FOR ADULTS (18+)
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SPECIAL EVENTS: GETTING STARTED IN THE BUSINESS OF ACTING - KYLE CRAND
The landscape of being a working actor in the post-Covid world has changed. The days of long lines at the Casting Office and giant Open Calls are over. What now? Whether you are new to the business or a long-time veteran – this updated course will cover how to build and sustain a career in acting that depends on talent, dedication, smarts, and adjusting to interacting in a digital world with populations that hire actors.
The primary focus five-hour workshop is on work in the New England market, but work in New York, Los Angeles, and emerging markets (Atlanta, New Orleans, New Mexico) will also be covered.
Topics covered will include: a good picture and resume, self-tape auditions, marketing, networking, building online acting profiles, SAG-AFTRA vs. Non-Union, Zoom auditions and callbacks, job expectations after you are hired, and much more.
Scripted material will be handed out, and participants will do a practice audition on camera, with critiques and pointers to follow.
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BEGINNER: BASICS OF ACTING - BATES WILDER
This is and introductory course suitable for those with no prior training or exposure to acting techniques, or for anyone who is interested in exploring acting as a powerful and enjoyable means of self-expression. Acting is the ability to behave believably under imaginary circumstances. Through a series of structured off-camera exercises devised to work with and develop an actor's skills in the areas of imagination, listening, concentration, focus, and response - you will begin to learn this ability.
Acting is a craft, and learning the components of an acting technique take time and practice! You are on your feet in every class, participating in each exercise - developing confidence and developing an understanding of the Basics of Acting!
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INTERMEDIATE: SCENE STUDY & CHARACTER ANALYSIS - BATES WILDER
Using contemporary film and TV material students will develop the acting skills needed to better understand the elements of script and character breakdown. This off-camera workshop is designed so that students work every week on learning practical tools for working with a scene partner, and working alone on a monologue. As a teacher, Bates looks for students strengths and challenges in order to design individual exercises that help create complete characters and acting moments.
The class is designed for: Beginning Actors who have studied the basics and are ready to work with scripted material, and aspiring Actors interested in learning how to interpret scripts and develop a scripted character
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INTERMEDIATE: AUDITIONING FOR FILM & TV - KYLE CRAND - ZOOM CLASS
CP Casting has cast dozens of TV pilots, TV episodes, TV movies and feature films. Get the tools you need to improve your audition performance. Each class will cover different genres (episodic, theatrical, comedy, drama) that will be discussed at the top of the class. Then actors will live-audition during class with pre-assigned scripts. What happens after you audition? What do the director and casting director discuss? As a group, we will watch auditions and Kyle will give feedback on each audition.
How to approach a particular audition. Why and what certain things are important. How to accomplish them in your audition. How to approach each genre differently. How to research a director’s style and fit your audition to it. If an actor makes a strong choice that’s headed in the wrong direction, but they seem to be right for the role, Casting Directors want to work with them to steer them back in the right direction. Because they’ve already made a strong choice, casting can see they are an intelligent actor and have done the work, which indicates that giving them adjustments, notes, and direction is worthwhile. Learn how to make strong choices in an audition!
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INTERMEDIATE: ACTING FOR THE CAMERA - DENNIS STAROSELSKY
The camera picks up everything...It’s true—so when an actor is thinking about how good or bad of a job they are doing, that’s exactly what the camera picks up. See, our “Actor Thoughts” are mostly insecurities, that’s why it’s crucial for the actor to focus on “Character Thoughts.”
This course places its emphasis on the actor being able to relinquish their insecurities, and focus on their character’s thoughts, through a style of acting known as The Thought Method. Developed by Lesley Kahn, this method requires the actor to identify their character’s arc of thought, each thought informs the actor as would a blueprint inform a contractor. However, the actor, unlike the contractor, has the luxury to choose their character’s thoughts. This process is what creates the organic thought necessary to achieve a multilayered character. The challenge is how does an actor fuse organic thought while staying within the parameters of all the different genres the camera produces?
The successful marriage of organic thought and technical proficiency produces a well-executed performance that is original, evocative, and memorable. That’s why we’ll be exploring almost every genre of Film/TV in this course!
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ADVANCED: AUDITIONING FOR FILM & TV - KYLE CRAND - ZOOM CLASS
This advanced on-camera auditioning class is designed to deepen the craft and technique of actors who are currently out in the professional world auditioning and working in film and television. Using longer and more challenging scenes, learn to re-define yourself as the storyteller, not the "reader of lines." How to tell the story and live fully with minimal movement, and to react from what you HEAR, not what you say. These days shows are faster paced and you must keep up in the audition room! INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL REQUIRED.
Interested in the Advanced class with Kyle?
Send your resume for approval to: info@cpcasting.com
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ADVANCED: ACTING FOR THE CAMERA - DENNIS STAROSELSKY
There is more to acting than what you see on screen. Actors must develop the skills that are foundational to their craft and to marketing themselves within the entertainment industry. The purpose of this course is to create the Actor-Entrepreneur--a reflective, resourceful, and resilient professional who can express a well-defined type that is received by industry professionals as humanized and effective.
The work in this course builds upon learning gained in the intermediate level Acting for the Camera, specifically the fundamentals of The Thought Method, while expanding from a lab setting into one of practical application. The material chosen is specifically designed for each student to strengthen their technical knowledge as well as their personal essence. When a student has an audition to prepare, we as a class will work on getting the best possible outcome for this real-world opportunity. Consider this going to the gym for your career! INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL REQUIRED.
Interested in the Advanced class with Dennis?
Send your resume for approval to: info@cpcasting.com
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Partner at CP Casting, Kyle Crand has been the Casting Director at CP since 2006. He has worked on 50+ feature film and television projects in that time. Recent projects include "Castle Rock" Season 1 & 2 for Hulu, Greta Gerwig's "Little Women", Max Winkler's "Jungleland", Jake Scott's "American Woman"", and "City on a Hill" and "SMILF" for Showtime" Other highlights include: "November Criminals", "Daddy's Home 2", "Detroit", "Thoroughbreds", "Manchester-by-the-Sea", "Spotlight", "Black Mass", "The Heat", and "The Town". He was on the Casting team that won Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America for "Gone, Baby, Gone" and "Moonrise Kingdom." Additionally, he was a lead associate for HBO's Olive Kitteridge, which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting in 2015.
Actor in film, television and stage. Bates Wilder has been a professional actor for over 30 years now. He's worked in Boston, New York, and Hollywood as an award winning stage actor (2007 IRNE award for Best Actor in Boston, and 2008 IRNE award for Best Supporting Actor in Boston). He also appeared in the critically acclaimed, Waiting for Godot with Austin Pendelton. Actor in film, television and stage. Bates has been a professional actor for over 35 years now. He's worked in Boston, New York, the Midwest, and Hollywood as a film, television actor, and also an award winning artist of the stage. (IRNE awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in Boston). On stage he's appeared in the critically acclaimed, Waiting for Godot at the New Rep Theatre. He has also starred in A Streetcar named Desire, Shear Madness, Frozen, and Blackbird among many others. In film Bates has appeared in many films. Joy, Detroit, Dust of War, Stronger, Over There, and the award winning Tater Tot and Patton.
In Television, Bates was probably best known for his recurring role as the hapless, ne'er-do-well brother-in-law for three seasons on Showtime's "Brotherhood". But Recent TV appearances include, Sins of the Preacher, The Spirit of Christmas, and Long Lost Michelle. And he will soon be seen in Showtime's The Wrong Mans which completed filming this past fall.
Rounding off Bates accomplishments in the acting business, he has appeared in countless local and national commercials playing a wide range of characters from the goofy and obscure, to the poignant and dramatic, and many others in-between.
As a teacher, Bates has been with CP for over 25 years, advised the Scituate Public School Drama departments for some 10 years, an instructor at Emerson College since 1998 and an adjunct at BU 2008-2010. Bates loves the creative art of acting and does not pull his punches as an instructor. He coaches privately one on one. And most important, please understand that he will let you know how he feels and will nurture your abilities and work to get the best out of his students!
Dennis Staroselsky has appeared in the feature films Rubberneck, We Don’t Belong Here, Detroit (Directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow), American Woman, Love, Weddings and Other Disasters, and the upcoming About Fate. His TV credits include recurring roles on The Loudest Voice in the Room, The Deuce, Julia, Madame Secretary, and guest stars on Nurse Jackie, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Castle Rock, and Law & Order among others.
Theater credits include the world premiere of An Early History of Fire, at The New Group NYC, as well as appearances at regional theatres such as the A.R.T. The Huntington Theatre Co., Geva Theatre Center, Dallas Theater Center, The Paper Mill Playhouse. As a playwright his first full length play Just About Cured was produced by the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City in the fall of 2014.
Mr. Staroselsky holds a BFA in acting from Boston University and an MA in theater education from NYU. He currently teaches acting at both Northeastern and Lesley University.
