Georgia has become a very active
location for the filming of many film and television projects in the
last year. The activity has resulted in many local actors spending time
in the classroom to sharpen their acting and voice
over skills by turning to professional training at Creative Studios of
Atlanta.
“The demand for well trained actors in Atlanta is a
definite factor for many actors turning to training,” says Ken Feinberg,
owner of Creative Studios of Atlanta. “We handle a lot of casting for
commercials, film and television at our studio
and I saw the need for more well trained actors in Georgia to handle
the increase in demand we are experiencing here in Atlanta.” Many
celebrities such as Betty White, Jennifer Anniston, Dennis Quaid
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alan Alda, Lucy Lui and Ryan Reynolds
are involved in filming in Georgia this month. Professional actors
from Los Angeles and New York are moving to Atlanta for work which makes
it more competitive for the Georgia based actors. “Atlanta has some
fantastic talent and casting directors across
the country are realizing this too. Professional actors know how
critical it is to stay in acting classes. At Creative Studios we’ve
been adding more acting classes and workshops for all age ranges on a
monthly basis as our current classes are rapidly filling
up, ” continued Feinberg who is a casting director, award-winning film
producer and director and was a professional actor in LA with many
credits including: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Star Trek”, “The
District”, “Charmed” and many more.
Last month, Creative Studios opened its new
Educational Annex to accommodate for this increase and also added a
voice-over studio. Creative Studios’ new Educational Annex offers
three new casting rooms, educational rooms, and a voice over
studio. The voice over studio is headed by multi-award winning talent
and audio producer, Deborah Richards. Voice over classes, demos and
recordings are all offered in the new voice over studio.
Creative Studios seeks out high level professionals
who are also outstanding teachers to coach and mentor the talent in
classes. Recently, Kate Guyton Morgens, former New York University full
time faculty member at the Tisch School of the
Arts has joined as a new faculty member at Creative Studios. One class
Kate is teaching is on monologues, a tool every actor needs. Dave
Pileggi, a professional actor, improv coach and comedian will be
teaching both workshops and classes on “Commercial and
Callback Improvisation.” A “Transitioning from Stage to Film” taught
by Karen Byer, “Foundations for Film Acting” with Tom Thon, “Meisner
Technique” with Vince Pisani and Scene Study, Acting for Film and
Television (all ages), “Acting Foundations” with Chris
Cole Harris and “Voice Over” with Deborah Richards are some of the
classes offered at Creative Studios. Also, an Advanced Scene Study
class for professional working actors is being taught by professional
actor, Clayton Landey. Classes are offered 7 days a
week with both daytime and evening schedules available.
Creative Studio also supplements their training
offering Master Level Professional workshops on the weekend monthly by
top industry professional brought in from New York and Los Angeles. In
the upcoming month film producer Barnett Bain who’s
Oscar winning film “What Dreams May Come” starring Robin Williams and
Cuban Gooding, Jr. will be at the studio teaching two workshops October
22nd-23rd with seating still available. In November, multi-award winning casting director for
Disney’s Broadway, film and animation, Jen Rudin, will be teaching a weekend full of workshops November 12th-15th. Ms. Rudin will be teaching workshops for Musical Theatre, Film and Television Auditioning and Voice over Animation in
separate classes from tweens/teens and adults November 12th- 15th. “We are committed to bringing to Atlanta the best training for our talent,” says Feinberg.
The Educational Annex at Creative Studios is also the
home of the highly selective Kids, Tweens and Teens Film Academy. The
Sr. Film Academy Company members will be airing their new Webisode next
month with some of Atlanta’s strongest young,
professional actors.
Sadly, one of Creative Studios’ beloved faculty who
taught “The Actor’s Journey”, the incredibly talented and soulful
Deborah Calloway Duke from “Sweet Home Alabama” passed away this past
week. Deborah’s influence on her students will last
a lifetime. Former student, Isabella Amara recalls, “She had a very
special way of connecting with her students allowing you to find
freedom, love, security and vulnerabilities to improve your acting and
you also as a person. Every time I saw her she said,
“There’s my baby girl. I love you and there nothing you can do about
it!” She made everyone feel special and loved. She was a wonderful
actress and coach….a very special person and cool too.” Creative
Studios and her students were very fortunate to have
been coached by Deborah who was trained early in her life as an actress
by the late Butterfly McQueen from “Gone with the Wind.” Deborah
taught in her own special way of how to really connect down deep and
will be missed.
Creative Studios of Atlanta is located in mid-town Atlanta in the Atlantic Station area offering free parking and WIFI.
For more information on classes, workshops, casting or studio rentals visit:
www.CreativeStudiosofAtlanta.com or call 404.355.4588.
