Two actors per class

Unlike most acting classes, where you spend the majority of class time watching others work, in Stan’s two-hour classes you’re up and acting - with a partner - the entire time. Actors are paired according to their mutual level of ability, experience, and compatibility.

The simple objective is to train each actor to achieve a maximum level of proficiency as quickly and efficiently as possible. Stan’s teaching focuses on developing reliable, consistent acting technique while also enhancing actors’ innate talents.

The classes are held in a comfortable, air-conditioned studio in the West Hollywood area, near Melrose and La Brea. The studio includes class space, a camera room for filming, a separate rehearsal room, and restroom facilities.

No contracts or long-term commitments are required. Students only agree to pay for and participate in a series of six classes, once a week, for six successive weeks, and then commit to subsequent classes at their own discretion.

Class times are scheduled weekdays, Monday through Friday, at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, or 3:00 pm, and can usually be rescheduled within the same week as the originally scheduled class if a time conflict, such as an audition, arises. (see F.A.Q. for pricing and more details)

Cold Reading

In every class, actors work from two-person audition scenes, taken from film and television scripts. The scenes are chosen either because the roles are appropriate for the actors, because the roles will stretch the actors in new directions, or both. Scenes are usually given out at the end of class so that the actors have a week to prepare for the reading. Additionally, actors are given sufficient time to rehearse with their partner at the beginning of each class, before they perform the scene.

Following the initial reading, the actors then work with Stan on specifics of the scene, including explicit character choices, playing precise objectives, believability, emotional grounding, spontaneity, and improvisational skills. When scenes are filmed, the actors watch the playback of their first and last readings for comparison.

More often than not, the actors are asked to continue working on the scenes on their own, based on the work done in class, and perform them again as a callback the following week. This means that actors are often working on two or more scenes per class.

Scene Study

Actors are also strongly encouraged to work on scene study scenes. These scenes are more extensive and are derived from established plays, providing the opportunity to more fully explore every aspect of preparation, acting technique, and the process of bringing a character fully to life.

Although Stan will suggest appropriate plays, scenes, and characters, it is the actors' responsibility to rehearse scene study scenes outside of class, on their own, and with their partner, before they perform the scenes in class. A separate rehearsal room is available for actors who want to come early or stay after class to rehearse.