When Lumiere Academy jumped online.
The date was May 20, 2020 and I decided like everyone else that something had to be changed for the future. Normal didn't matter, and neither did what we'd done in the past. As an actor and small business owner I knew that something had to change in order to survive and that stillness was death.
No, I don't think I can teach acting online, and to be honest, I'm not sure anyone can even off line, because there's too much nuance to teach. That said, I can teach you the rules of the game that will get you on set, get you paid and get you working as an actor. THAT I can put online, and to be honest, that's what most people need.
When Covid 19 hit I was at the end of a semester with a group of students and ready to shoot our end of class short film. We thought perhaps it would be a 'break' , but we all know how that went. As I write them, we still haven't gotten back together and before we do I'll have the school off in a different direction. Of course I'll still finish that class, and will continue to do others in person as well....but online classes will now becoming a thing of the future. The good news is I just finished my masters as an online student at Purdue University and it took around 6 years to complete. I know the power, the pitfall and the journey of working online. With that information I am confident we can do everything necessary to make this a quality program online.
The business of commercial acting will change a bit, and tv/film will as well....but the heart of what we do on set won't. The way we get to set will go to self tapes, more than in person auditions but the job won't change. So here we all go, off into a new sunset.
If you live outside LA in a non union market, this is going to make a world of difference for you. As of now, I'm seeing a lot of casting directors teaching classes that haven't ever acted and I see a whole lot of other people teaching that haven't acted either. For my money, I wouldn't hire a plumber to do carpentry work in my house, no matter how many 'houses under construction' he'd been around. I think the same applies for actors. If the person teaching the class hasn't done more work than you, then it's a simple answer...don't take the class.
You deserve better. I'll see you all out there, be safe and keep creating.
-Best,
Benjamin M.