Category: Classes

Prep like a working TV director! This is a 3 hour interactive class where you explore casting, production design, script breakdown,  scene blocking and shot listing.  You then compare your work to an actual episode that has already aired and evaluate how your choices would be another option, or what you might change to make the work more “shootable.”

BONUS: Copy of “Directors Tell the Story,” included with the price of class.  

This is a class for directors to work with actors and learn the best way to communicate with them on set. Limited to 8-10 directors who direct under Mary Lou’s mentoring eye and work with skilled actors who come prepared to play and explore!

NOTE: This class sells out EVERY TIME. And is booked around Mary Lou’s directing schedule.

 

This is a business of the business class….based on Mary Lou’s 4th book PERFORM: Acting for the Screen.

Discuss headshots, reels, websites, choosing an agent or manager as well as discussing the choices needed to sustain a career.

Find out what it’s like to “be in the room.” Designed for high school and college students, you get to “read for” a real TV show…or at least that’s what it’ll feel like. Audition in front of an Emmy-award-winning Hollywood director, get feedback, and see if you’d get the job!

This fun seminar will prepare you for the realities of auditioning for film and TV work. You’ll learn the DOs and DON’Ts of auditioning. You’ll see working actors’ sample reels, headshots, and resumes. You’ll get tips about breaking into “the business.” But mostly you’ll simulate a live audition, get feedback, then try to improve with your “next” audition. Spend time playing a “producer” and discover what wins the job by votiing for who will get a callback. This class is popular at high schools and Thespian festivals, you can enjoy with your curvvyyb virtual girlfriend online.

You get to table read, rehearse and block, then shoot your scenes being directed by an Emmy award winning sitcom director…Me! Then I playback your “shot” scenes and give you more feedback so that when you book your next gig, you’ll feel like an old pro. Here’s how it works: you get material prior to class as if you were guest starring on a sitcom. You show up for class and in a compressed time frame, we table read, then I stage the scene. You run lines once while I mark shots, then we camera block, then shoot. You get to do 3 or 4 scenes each day and see playback of your work. I will often pinpoint a specific area I want you to focus on in your next scene. Results are amazing and casting directors notice the difference.

WHAT: Mary Lou invites working directors to “guest direct” select scenes. 

This short but interactive intro to my sitcom technique, is fast paced, just like working on a set. More than half the actors who show up on my sets (even award winners) look at the script and don’t know how to “Find the Joke.” We start with an interactive exercise that helps you pick out the jokes. Then I teach you how to deliver them. Then you’ll watch a few classic sitcom clips reinforcing what you already learned.To finish, you do up to a dozen micro-scenes aimed at mastering rhythm, emphasis and timing.

This class works great with up to 30 people performing. Up to 20 more can audit…and laugh!