summer acting program interview makana ching

www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/acting-program/summer-acting... Acting classes and acting programs at the Maggie Flanigan Studio train serious actors based on the Meisner Technique as originally conceived by Sanford Meisner. In this video Makana reviews her time in the summer acting intensive and how working with Charlie online has been beneficial. Katie: Makana, before you started our first-year class, what did you think it meant to train as an actor? Oh, man, honestly, I don't even know, I was someone who wanted to go to college for this, or do it in high school. I'd never done it, I always wanted to. I had no idea what to expect from the training. Q: Now that you're almost done with first year, what do you think it means to train as an actor now? It's everything, honestly. I think listening is the biggest thing that we take for granted, and I think about the way that I would try to craft for roles before, and I didn't even know what I was doing, there are so many little nuggets that we learn in the first year of training that is just something you can't learn outside of the program. Q: When you were looking for training, were you specifically looking for a Meisner technique program? Yes. The interesting thing is actually-- I thought I was really into method acting and I did a small trial of that and it didn't really connect with me, and I knew some people who did Meisner training. I didn't really know what to expect, but I thought, okay, using your imagination, I think I can do that, and so far so good it's worked out for me. Q: In this first year of training, what about the Meisner technique, has really resonated with you as an actor? I like being able to tap into experiences that I've been through, but not having to necessarily go back to that exact traumatic event, and being able to use those experiences and creating a new role or a new character. We haven't gotten that far yet, but just being able to use my experiences in creating something new with imagination. Q: What led you up to commit to a program like this, especially in the middle of the pandemic? Yes, this opportunity was such a blessing for me, probably for a year and a half I had a hodgepodge of classes, different locations, and they were fun, and I always learned something, but at the end of the day, I didn't feel like I knew the foundation of acting. I didn't feel grounded in what I was doing, I didn't know how to replicate things that I liked. I think, something I thought about often was I didn't know what my strengths were and I didn't know what my weaknesses were because I was just having fun and taking on these roles, but I didn't really know what I was doing. Q: How has the training that you've received in the first year and with Charlie this past year been different than all those other things you did? Charlie is just amazing, when I was looking at different programs, I was specifically looking at the types of teachers, watching videos and stuff, and Charlie is honestly, I think what any great actor or someone who wants to be a great actor, I think he's the teacher that you need because, in comparison to some other classes, he's going to hold your hand, but he's not going to hold your hand. He's going to be tough and give you the type of--, I don't know how to say it particularly, but he's going to help- you become a better actor. He's not just going to be an easy teacher. He's going to pressure you, and he's going to put you in situations that are going to make you grow. At the end of the day, that's the teacher that I want. I think about that all the time freaking out, "Oh man, what am I going to do after this training is over. Charlie's not going to be there." He's going to be there to reach out to, but it's definitely super nice to have someone who's paying full attention to you. I think the interesting thing about the pandemic is because our classes are smaller, he's able to really give us that time that we need. It's honestly been life-changing for me. Q: Is your experiencing with auditioning what led you to commit to a two-year program instead of just an amalgamation of classes? 100%, because I had been reading so much about what to do during auditions, what to do around casting directors, and at the end of the day I just didn't feel I had that foundation of acting to be able to perform to my best ability. I didn't want to continue being put in front of these casting directors who may or may not remember me, and maybe like, "Oh, this person isn't very good." I wanted to become better, so that then when I did more auditions they would remember me in a good way. Q: What has it been like trying to balance this thing you really want to do with having a day job? Yes, I think that I've been so blessed with my career in graphic design, and during the pandemic when I started taking the training I actually was able to move from full-time to part-time which was such a blessing. It's just so funny because my dreams of what I thought I wanted out of my career changed a lot since I moved to New York. I once went into a creative agency and then was like, "You know what? You've always wanted to do acting, just try it. If you're not good, you're not good." Since beginning of this training, I strongly believe that this is my calling, and I'm just so fortunate to have this other career that's able to allow me to take classes, and still pay my rent at the same time. Hopefully one day, I'll just transition to acting full-time. Q: Do you have any advice for people that are feeling, "I already have a career, I can't take time away--?" The flip side of that is sometimes when we feel we're already on a trajectory of where we're going to go in the future, we are afraid to step outside of that. Like you did and allow yourself to do both. Do you have any advice for people that are maybe feeling a little bit in their head about doing both or committing to something like this when they're not 18 because they're too old at 25 or whatever stories that we all tell ourselves because we all do it? Do you have any advice for those people about committing to something like this? Yes it's so funny because I was actually going to say just commit. I think it's so easy to get in our heads. I also was someone who was stuck in the past for so long wishing I had started sooner. I think that you really have to believe in yourself no matter where you are in terms of your training and just stay committed. Something that Charlie always talks about is just being resilient. The work is going to be hard and life is going to be hard. Your career is going to be hard. I would just tell anybody who wants to do this and has a dream to do this or even an inkling of being interested. I would just say commit to it. Put your heart and soul into it. You're going to be busy. That's just life. Life is never going to slow down, so just stay committed. Q: What has the experience of doing classes online been like for you? I've actually loved it and I think it's interesting because so many people will be like, "Oh my God, you're doing training online. You can't act online." I totally disagree with that. If you think about it, the camera's always on you anyway, so you just get used to it. I think in some ways I'm the type of person that likes a challenge and I think doing this work online did just that. Even when we're in scenes when I watch some things where you're doing a scene with your partner, for instance, you have a glass of water or something, and the other person has a glass of water and it's the giving and the receiving and just watching that happen in real-time is just fascinating. I'm actually someone who really thought that it was perfect timing to do this during COVID. I wasn't going to let the fact that it was on Zoom stop me from doing this training, but at the same time, there's something to look forward to when it comes to working in this space. My classmates and I get along so well, but I'm definitely looking forward to that environment of seeing students and faculty just around me. I like being really immersed in things that I'm interested in. I'm excited to be back in the studio. Q: How important has a sense of community been with students and with Charlie doing all these classes remotely? Yes. My class and I are so close. Some of us do live in other parts of the world. We've met up once and we were planning on meeting up again. We've done some happy hours online. I'm in the morning class, but we love attending the night class watching them, supporting them, getting ideas. I don't think the community aspect is missing. I think it's still there and I can just imagine what the presence would be like in person. Q: I think some people have an idea that if they are going to commit to something like training as an actor, they want to do it in private coaching. How important is watching other people work? 100%. It's funny because at first, I was embarrassed, like, "Oh, I'm going to the night class." Then it was every single night class I was there and it's just so entertaining. Because we have a small class in the morning, it was just nice to see other people work. It's inspiring. Everyone thinks so creatively and so different. I really find it beneficial to go to the night class and attend whatever workshops you can. Q: Can you talk a little bit about how your experience in the emotional prep workshop or voice or Reiki and Nutrition has informed the work you're doing in class? I really enjoyed all the workshops I went to. I will say that the emotional prep was just mind-blowing for me. It was so easy to receive these tools that then I could apply to my work. For all the other ones, it just opened my mind to what's out there, and again, back to what is acting and training. I haven't done movement classes, I haven't done voice classes. It was just really interesting. These teachers are so passionate about the work that they do, and to me, that is really inspiring just to be in sessions where people are really passionate. Like you said, I'm just excited to do them in person because I just want to soak up whatever I can, and I need more than these three days, but regardless, it has been a really awesome opportunity to be able to take them online. Q: Do you feel like those workshops, maybe in particular, the emotional prep workshop helped you show up to acting class in a different way? Yes. I liked that it really helped me think of all the senses, and how those apply to exercise, activities, thinking about the smells, what you hear, what you feel. It's just so interesting. I feel like when you're little you think about the senses more maybe, and then as you age, it's like, ''Oh, wow.'' It was just really inspiring to be more in tune with them because I think it's so easy to not be present. If you think about acting, you have to be present. I think that workshop, in particular, helped me be more present, more grounded, and really just set me up for success a little better than I had been. [chuckles] Q: Why did you like working with Charlie so much? What type of acting teacher is he? There aren't enough good words to use to describe Charlie. Going back to me being attracted to people who have passion, this guy is passionate. You can see it in his eyes when he talks about your crafting when he talks about your activities or your exercise or whatever you're doing. You can just see that he's just so excited to share this information with you. I think the thing I really like about him is that he's only going to-- I don't know. In some ways, I feel like he's only going to make you better if you're wanting to get better. He can tell that you're not interested or you're not putting the effort in. At that point, it's like you're the one who's not doing the work. I don't know, I feel like I'm visual going around. If you put in the work, he's going to put in the work. He's passionate, and he is committed to you. He's committed to making you a better actor. I think he really does want success for everyone he teaches. If you just want someone who's going to light a fire under you, then Charlie is your guy. [chuckles] He's amazing. He's so amazing. Q: I think there's a big idea that New York is dead. How do you feel about that? It's so crazy. I swear when I first quit my full-time job to start freelancing, I fell in love with New York all over again. No matter what city I go to, I feel like New York is the best city in the world. It's really exciting to be on this acting journey in New York where acting is so prevalent. The training is so amazing. For anyone who says New York is dead, it's not true. It was quiet. It was definitely quiet throughout the pandemic, but people are anxious to be social again. Especially with the warmer weather, the parks are loaded, the streets are busy. New York never died. I thought I'd never say this but I'm even excited to take the subway again. I'm excited to go out with friends, go to dinners, go into the studio. I don't even know what that's like. This whole training for me has been online so it's just things to look forward to for me. Q: Great. You're wrapping up the first year, what are you looking forward to most about second year? Everything. I just feel so anxious and so excited about the whole journey. I'm even thinking, "Oh, do I need a third year? What about a fourth year?" I just don't want it to stop. I think definitely the character work is what I'm super excited about. I don't even really know what we're going to learn. I'm starting to feel more confident with what I know and the foundation. I totally understand how it has to be-- You can't just be thrown into it. You need to learn. I think that going back to the training and people who are interested in doing it, if you're really wanting to do this for your whole life you should have at least two years to be able to commit to the training. Otherwise, you're just a hack as Charlie says. I really do believe that. You can see it too. You can see hacks all the time. Q: Is there anything else that I haven't asked that you'd like to share, any advice, any thoughts? I think something that Charlie also says is, "Never settle for your second best," which is so true. I just think that again talking about life being busy and hard, it's worth it for you and for your growth to push yourself as much as you can and put yourself in situations that are uncomfortable because, after this training, Charlie's not going to be there to hold your hand. I think that the one thing that's so amazing about this training is that it creates a space for people to experiment and explore different parts of them. It's crazy because for so long I didn't even speak up for myself. So much of the first-year training is just learning how to stand up for yourself and not being a doormat, as he says. It's really changed my life. It's crazy that it took me this long to speak up for myself. Maggie Flanigan Studio 147 W. 25th St. 5th Floor New York, NY 10001 (917) 789-1599 www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/new-york-ny www.google.com/maps?cid=17904951966372592922 twitter.com/MeisnerActing www.facebook.com/MeisnerActing/ meisneracting10001.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/index.html maggieflaniganstudio.business.site/ www.pearltrees.com/maggieflaniganstudio https://flic.kr/p/2mmn5xb

Master Class for Professional Actors - Call 917-789-1599

Master Class for Professional Actors - Call 917-789-1599 Best Master Class in NYC - www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/ Master Class is an advanced scene study class taught by Maggie Flanigan. In this video Maggie talks about who the Master Class is for and how it can benefit working actors. Is the Master Class Right for All Actors? The Master Class is for a number of people, experienced actors, people who have gotten out of a training program that they did very well in but need to work on things that were not covered. Because you only do a limited amount of scenes, Spoon Rivers, and you might need more work in a certain area. Master Class is for actors who want to expand their repertoire, they’ve not done comedic work or they are not comfortable in it. They are afraid to do it. The same with dramatic work. They feel the joy is gone. They are afraid of working through the experience. They don’t feel that they are fully alive as they were in a particular play. They go on to the next play and they do not feel alive. So it has to do with working on the process, crafting, learning and making sure you are crafting in an organic, personal way. You are making sure that you are not taking the fundamentals for granted, so that you are really listening, you are really responding and really open. You are really available. You are working in a vulnerable way so that things can come in to you and you can respond in a personal way. Why Should Trained Actors Take This Class? Actors always need to work on themselves. As actor you don’t take a class forever, you take it for a limited amount of time. It’s important for actors to continue to work on themselves, work on themselves as an artist, treating themselves like an artist. In the business you know if you can get jaded, you can get turned off, you’re frightened of criticism. You need to make sure you’re open and really willing to take chances, really willing to explore a character. You can work on a part that you would love to work on that may never work on or they never work on for ten years. Such as Street Car Named Desire, working on Blanche DuBois. You won’t get the full character and in 10 weeks but you can begin to get the essence of the character. You could work on Hedda Gabler. These are wonderful parts to work on. So you won’t get it fully but you make it a lot of it and that would be very exciting. Why Is This An Ideal Class For Working Actors? This class is a place to isolate a problem having freedom to make mistakes and freedom to return to the basics. If you have been working a lot we can take the fundamentals for granted. We think they are second nature and they’re really not. You can be indicating when you really should be doing. You should be truthfully responding even though it may not fit what you think the part is. In that truthful response may be a more appropriate response because it is coming from you. Learn More About the Master Class For more information about Master Class with Maggie Flanigan and other acting classes at the studio call 917-789-1599. Maggie Flanigan Studio 153 West 27th Street, Suite 803 New York, NY 10001-6254 917-789-1599 www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/ http://flic.kr/p/SCo1yZ

Why Your Headshot Session Is Just Like a Meisner Exercise

The Maggie Flanigan Studio trains serious actors in the craft and business of professional acting. In this video Michael Cinquino discusses the biggest mistake that many actors make during their headshot sessions. For more information about the business classes and professional actor training that the studio provides, contact the studio directly by calling 917-789-1599. So many actors have horrible headshots. Casting directors look at thousands of photos a week. Getting them to pause on yours takes a real understanding of how to manage your shoot. The biggest mistake you can make while getting your headshots is the same one made by any untrained actor, thinking any of it has something to do with you. It doesn’t. None of it does. Understanding that the other person is more important than you is a fundamental that any serious Meisner training program should instill in you. This needs to translate to your photo shoot. As someone that’s been through the Meisner training myself and have had the opportunity to professionally photograph hundreds of actors, I can tell you that what you are taught in any first rate Meisner training program will serve you well in your headshot session. You just have to know how it translates. Michael is a graduate of Rutgers MFA acting program and has been professional headshot photographer in NYC for over 8 years. In this interview Michael Cinquino discusses the biggest mistake that many actors make during their headshot sessions. http://flic.kr/p/SBUUn4

professional actor training misconceptions 02

Most actors do not know what it actually means to train as a professional actor. We recently asked a group of actors what they used it think it meant to train as an actor. Here is what they had to say. What does it REALLY mean to train as a professional actor? Serious training is not what most actors think it actually is. Here is what some of our students had to say about the reality of professional training after starting our two year professional actor training program. Are you ready for REAL professional actor training? The Maggie Flanigan Studio is considered by many to be the best acting studio in New York and the United States for actors who want to study the Meisner Technique. In this video actors discuss what they thought it meant to train as a professional actor before the came to the studio. I thought that acting was just a workshop that you could do over the weekend, or over a six week summer and just by doing that, and if you were bubbly and you could read people, then you could be an actor. - Sofia Riba Before I started the program at Maggie Flanigan Studio, I had no idea what I was in for. I never would have thought that I would be the person that I am or where I am now. I thought I had read some books, taken classes and workshops and thought that was what you have to do to be an actor. - Gigi Rippolone I thought acting training was mostly to do with scene study. That is pretty much the kind of class that I think I have taken before. I had a little awareness of Meisner butI think I just thought you h=get in there, you get a scene, and you just work it. Whatever that was and somehow something might happen. - Ashley Versher All I have to do really is memorize my lines, be really clever, make certain moments really pop and I’ll be interesting on stage and get that really good job at the end of the day. - Kirk Koczanowski To be totally honest, I think that before I started at the Maggie Flanigan Studio, I had no idea that acting training was real. I had been studying acting or thought myself to be studying acting for about ten years at the time that I started here. I just did not have any foundation or technique. I believed that I could memorize the lines and have an idea that at this part I am furious and at this part, I am really happy, and then just show up and do it, and then whatever happened was left to chance. - Jes Tom I didn’t know anything about acting before I started the Meisner Summer Intensive. I thought going into it I was just going to go right into scenes and I was going to come out a super star and that’s just not it at all. - Victoria Dmitriev I realized that I had no idea what acting was whatsoever or even acting classes. I’ve taken so many random classes and all they give you is lines and “work on this, work on that”. Really I had no foundation. I didn’t know where to begin, I didn’t know how to approach it, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, feel, Where do I get these emotions from? - Carolina Solorzano Some people were telling me, Oh yeah this is how you work on a script, you plan stuff and you do this and I’m like, alright. And that’s what I thought acting was, you just pick up a script, do a background story, plan a line, and you’re in. - Eddie Mata I had no idea what acting was, what it took to be an actor. I didn’t event think I knew. Meisner teaches you first and foremost to be vulnerable. to really listen and to really be in the moment and that is everything that I wasn’t. Before coming here I didn’t think I was capable of much. India;t have much confidence, I thought I did but I really did;t and I wasn’t as open as I should be. Not only am I leaning who to be an actor and an artist, but how to be a better dian being, a better man, a better friend. - Jeremies Rodriguez I looked out a t New York City at all the classes that were being offered. It was scene study classes, monologue classes, on camera commercial workshops, which I had tried a number of them, and it had all seem like one trick pony, “we are going to make you and actor bit by bit. We are going to give you this scene and you are going o keep doing it each week and eventually we will be like, good job now you have finished the scene. Very external. Work on the monologue until you have finished it. Great. That tis what all actors have. They have this one scene. This one monologue. So really it has nothing to do with figuring where you cone from personally, what turns you on personally, emotionally. It really had to do with carrying around the scenes, these monologues, like cards. That is what an actor is. It did not push you to figure out anything personal. - Cornelius McMoyler I didn’t really believe that actors needed much training. I read a lot of books. I watched a lot of movies, so I figured this should be it. You go in and you do your lines, the other person does his thing, and when they are done you go on and do your thing. I would take classes. I would take workshops and stuff like that and and nothing about it was ever organized. You just go in and show off yourself. There was no technique. There was no beginning, middle and end. You do it for some exercise to knock some rust off. That is what I thought training meant. It is something you do between jobs to knock some rust off and then you go back to your next job and then when you are not working so much you back and take an improvisation class. That is what I thought training really was. What I always believed was, what separates me from everyone else. What makes me unique. Why would I be looked at differently than everyone else? That is why I stayed away from training in the beginning, not knowing that here at the Maggie Flanigan studio and with the Meisner Technique it is all really about finding out who you are. Because that is what you are going to using for your art. That is all you really have. You don’t have guitar. You don’t have a piano. You don’t have any kind of instrument. This is it. So I came here and I started to really know what my instrument was and then by each class, going deeper and deeper. You were forced to go deep into yourself and really start to figure out who you are as a person first, and then with that you can start applying it to your craft. That completely changed my life. - Sam Yazbeck For more information about the Meisner Technique and the professional actor training and acting classes that the studio provides, contact the studio directly by calling 917-789-1599. http://flic.kr/p/QrHRof