PREREQUISITE:

This session is open to newer actors, as well as more experienced actors in need of an inspiring tune up. Scene partners will be paired up according to their level of experience.

DESCRIPTION:

Working with long-established professionals for 6 weeks, you’ll take an in-depth exploration of specific genres and various techniques on-camera, with the ultimate goal of bringing more knowledge, tools, and confidence to your process and career.

 

This session's instructors include both on-going Haven teachers and special guest instructors Bradley Stryker and Jason Tremblay. 

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Break through your creative blocks, refine your process, and amaze yourself with what you are capable of when you fully commit to your growth as an artist.

This challenging, yet always safe and supportive 6 week intensive is open to both newer and experienced actors. Scene partners will be paired up according to their level of experience with new material assigned each week.

Participants will receive a link to their on-camera work and be offered a 10 % discount on their next session of any class or workshop at Haven Acting Studio. 

WEEK 1:  

AUTHENTICITY ON CAMERA with BEN IMMANUEL

Haven Studio founder/director/teacher BEN IMMANUEL has a 4-decade spanning career as an award-winning actor and filmmaker. His feature films Moving Malcolm and Down River were both released theatrically, played at festivals all over the world, and won numerous awards for the actors who performed in them under Ben’s direction. His upcoming feature film, Are We Done Now? features many of his acting students in lead roles, and will be premiering in 2024.

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In this workshop, Ben will work with actors to discover more about your perceived strengths and challenges. Through a series of exercises one-on-one and with the group, Ben will guide you toward the vital steps of opening up, dropping in, and letting go. This first class is not about delivering text:  It is about listening, watching, thinking and breathing to be completely present, alive, and authentic in that magical time between “action!" and “cut!"

WEEK 2:

PLAYING COPS and DETECTIVES with JASON TREMBLAY

So many actors audition for and hopefully book parts playing police officers of all kinds: rookies, veterans, detectives, sergeants, good cops, crooked cops and more. From day-players to series leads, there will always be police roles up for grabs in film and television. But how many actors know what’s required to play the role of a police officer accurately and truthfully?

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The week will cover the basics, including:

 

Prop firearms handling, handcuffing technique, using the police radio, thinking, walking, and talking like a cop, proper conduct and protocol and proper wardrobe.

 

In addition, this week will give you a first-hand insider's view into:

 

Police culture, the differences between rookies, veterans, and “bosses”, police slang and codes, how cops handle emotions (or how they don’t), drinking/gossip and inter-office relationships, hazing the rookies, the “boys club” and the complexities of being “loyal to blue.”, racism, politics and gender issues and off-duty lifestyle and conduct. 

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WEEK 3: 

DOMINATING DIFFICULT DIALOGUE with NATALIE MOON

Natalie will be teaching how to tackle tech talk. With specially curated scenes from local shows that challenge your brain, your intonation and your articulation. Whether medical terms, a news report or sci-fi tech talk, you will not only be confident in handling jargon but also the technical aspects of these difficult auditions to help you tape with confidence.

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WEEK 4:

EMBRACING THE TV MOVIE with ALISON WANDZURA

As an experienced on-camera performer, Alison has appeared in over 20 Hallmark and Lifetime television movies, and received the 2019 Leo Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie. She is well-versed in the archetypes and performance style required for the MOW. While Alison has played a handful of buoyant best friends on Hallmark and poker-faced detectives on Lifetime, her extensive credits also include So Help Me Todd (CBS), Blockbuster (Netflix), The Good Doctor (ABC), The Healing Powers of Dude (Netflix), Van Helsing (SyFy), and most recently CBC's new procedural drama series Allegiance.

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Using television movie scenes from Hallmark and Lifetime scripts shot in Vancouver, Alison will work with students to make practical choices that align their performance with the expectations of the MOW world. By learning about the archetypes found in MOWs and how we each uniquely fit within them, as well applying specific audition “do’s and don’t”, we make ourselves more castible in this staple genre that is a prominent source of work for Vancouver actors.

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WEEK 5: 

NEXT LEVEL SELF TAPES with NELSON WONG

This high-energy class is focused on the professional demands of the casting process from cold reads to zoom callbacks. After the class you'll be given footage for review, with Nelson will also share his personal audition check list, created after many years of coaching, taping and teaching countless actors to successfully take charge of their audition choices.​​​

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WEEK 6:

BLOCKING ON CAMERA FOR SELF TAPES AND ON SET with BRADLEY STRYKER

You get that audition, your heart rate spikes with excitement; and then you read the wildly complex sides that they would like you to boil down to brass tax in your tiny little self tape room. Whether the action is three scenes as one; tons of physical action; standing to sitting; intimacy; rage manifesting in destruction; a gunfight; eating food; getting shot or stabbed; your character is pacing; this list could literally go on forever -- we will address how best to tackle each and every one of these issues. An audition by nature is a challenging task; so for this class we will decode and simplify some often found speed bumps and road blocks to hopefully make your lives as actors easier; and to make the audition process as a whole, just that much more enjoyable.

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AUDIT POLICY:
To maintain the safest and most focused atmosphere for the students in class, drop-in audits are not available. If you want to speak with an instructor before signing up for a class, however, we are glad to arrange that.

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SCHEDULE

​THURSDAYS ALL INCLUSIVE (IN PERSON)​

MAY 15 - June 19 | 6:00pm - 10:00pm  (Max 10 students)

Total $500 gst included for 6 weeks of class​​