All posts by Elizabeth Mestnik

Key to Handling Auditioning Pressure

Acting Advice
Leave a comment

It seems like once you take that big step towards achieving your goals, a huge barrier comes between you and your success. And that can take many forms from self-doubt to the unknown pressures you may put on yourself to achieve those dreams. But the question remains: as an actor, how do you handle that sort of pressure?

D. L. White, an award winning filmmaker, who has worked in the film and television industry for nearly 20 years, has been asked this question before by aspiring actors who are attempting to make their mark in the industry.

His advice is to stop thinking about it. The creative process is a delicate thing, and you’re only going about disrupting the flow of your craft by stressing about things you cannot control, while focusing on what you can improve with rehearsals, research, memorization, preparation, and performance, will produce better and more effective results.

White writes that the more you try to control your craft, the more likely you will come across straining the creative process. Simply by letting go, and giving your talent leeway to breathe and grow, you will eventually learn and grow from it also.

White gives the example in his article for Actingreality.com of an absurdist play, a form of theater he is not all too familiar with, but where he finds the structured formatting stifling. Only during the more authentic moments of the production, where the actors’ emotions happened to slip through did the play really speak to him.

By the end of the performance, White was surprised to find that the things that stood out to him the most were these rare and spontaneous moments of emotion. The human connection that he felt through the player’s acting drew him closer to the scene and dialogue. What also lured him was the authenticity of the moment. By being real, the player was actually able to elicit a truer gift than any contrived monologue has ever done.

Join us at Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio, located in Los Angeles, to discover your full acting potential. Currently enrolling for Spring classes for beginning actors and those who want to study under the Meisner technique, be sure you don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

Juggling Acting and a Day Job

Acting Advice
Leave a comment

There’s already so much that goes on with an acting career, but what if you’re juggling a day job as well? There’s no question that you need the day job to pay for expenses, but a burgeoning acting career is something that asks all kinds of sacrifices from you and it just isn’t realistic to work at both a regular full-time gig and pursue an acting career at the same time.

The question has come up if you had to choose, would you choose your day job over acting? Well, it comes down exactly to that – how committed are you, and to which career? In the long run, if you choose acting, you’ll have to sacrifice comfort for crappy living conditions and for long periods of time – which is why a lot of people quit their acting pursuits because to actually give yourself this kind of shot is really up to what you are willing to sacrifice.

Usually an average of eight to ten years is required from acting professionals who make it to the big screen or television. Similar to any profession out there, acting requires hard work, determination, and perseverance. If you’re not willing to do your part and carry the bulk of what’s required of you, then it really isn’t likely that you’ll be able to hit the big time either.

And finding something flexible, which usually falls into the waiting tables-category, is ideal. It’s pretty rare to find something part-time that is flexible and accommodating at the same time. But if you’re not willing to work hard to reach where you want to be in 5-10 years, then it’s pretty much telling an engineer that forgoing his studies will help him get his certificate – which really isn’t the way the world works. Work hard, and that means roughing it, and even suffering a few blows financially, but if you want to be one of the elite few, then it’s all requisite stuff from here on.

Acting: How To Get Started

Acting Advice
Leave a comment

Acting is a tough profession. It’s a distinct balance of experience and skill perfected over a period of time. A lot of patience and time ends up being thrown into the equation, and those who are disciplined enough to work hard and persevere for what they love and aspire to will reap the rewards in the end.

Rigorous training and practice – a minimum of three to four hours a day, six days a week for at least two or three years before you reach the bare minimum of becoming a professional. Which means you might have the potential, but you’ll have to work hard in order to be able to push that potential to the max.

It also comes down to how you present yourself. Imagine this: you are given a basic monologue and a rundown of what the casting director is looking for. What if you look down at the script in hand, your self-doubt gets in the way, and you freeze? The first few seconds are crucial. Your monologue either flies and you deliver, or you fail to sell them your speech, and you’re axed before you can unearth your character. Two seconds or so to prove youself – probably the most essential two seconds of your life.

The Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio, a dynamic Los Angeles acting school, is willing to help you unmask your potential in truthfully, emotionally, and courageously expressing yourself. Ms. Mestnik founded EMAS in 2001 to provide Hollywood actors the same comprehensive training she received in New York City. Using the Meisner Technique to help challenge and invigorate actors to fully encompass their roles, EMAS will help guide you in understanding and improving your craft.

What’s most likely standing between you and your goals, is yourself. With the help of some great acting instruction, you’ll be able to acquire the skills that you will need to deliver those lines with fiery appeal, or with enough pizzazz, or dynamic panache to impress the right people.

Enrollment for Spring Classes Beginning Acting Classes starts now!

The Actor’s Life Workshop

Acting Studio
Leave a comment

The Actor’s Life:

Bridging the gap between your personal life and your acting career.

  • Do you dream of setting up your life so that you can focus on your acting?
  • Do you want a personalized action plan for your acting career?
  • Do you need to learn how to use your individual strengths to increase your income, your security, your creativity and well… your happiness?

If you are ready to get clear about your acting career in a safe, supportive, fun-loving environment, then this workshop is for you. Open to all creative people, from novices to expert professionals, this hands-on workshop will give you the tools you need to make 2012 your best year yet.

The Actor’s Life Workshop

Samantha Bennett is the creator of The Organized Artist Company; dedicated to helping creative people get unstuck and motivated. A professional actress based in Los Angeles, Samantha offers her revolutionary “Get It Done” and “Get Your Work Out There” Workshops, tele-classes and private consulting in the areas of self-branding, individualized career planning and arts business to creative professionals around the globe.

Actor’s Life Workshop

Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio
DATE: 3 Sundays January 22, 29 and February 5th, 2012
TIME: 2:00pm
LOCATION: 7600 Melrose Avenue 2nd Floor, Los Angeles 90046
COST: $130
CONTACT: 323-528-6280 For more information

For more information on The Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio visit us on the web at www.emasla.com

The Physical Voice with Paul Boehmer

Acting Studio
Leave a comment

October 16 – November 20

Combining the ideas of Fitzmaurice vocal work and Physical Dynamics, this workshop is geared to help in important areas of an actor’s development.

“One of the best and most freeing voice classes I’ve ever experienced. Paul is a master teacher”

Richard B.

What it does:

Physicality: we develop awareness of patterns of vocal effort or blocks through a series of gentle and/or rigorous exercises.

Breath: we explore the central role that breathing plays in both vocal production and the inspired imagination.

Vocal Quality: we cultivate the ability to accurately communicate our thoughts and feelings while meeting the demands of text.

Practical Results: we reduce strain in the voice, increase vocal range and expressivity, make speech easy and clear, allowing creativity to flow.

When: Sundays 7 – 9pm

Where: EMAS

7600 Melrose Avenue, LA 90046

Cost: $270 for 6 classes

Contact: 323-528-6280

***Highly recommended for those in the 2-year Meisner Training Program***
This class is a magnificent way to make sure that your instrument is able to do all it is required to do when working on emotionally charged scenes. It helps the actor to work through physical and emotional blocks while also helping them understand the way breath and language can help tell the story, develop a character and engage the audience.
Call 323-528-6280 for more information.
To learn more about the Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio
visit www.emasla.com

EMAS is the recommended training program for
NBC’s Talent Development Initiative.
Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio
7600 Melrose Ave. 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, California 90046
323-528-6280

THE MEISNER TECHNIQUE at the Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio

Acting Studio
Leave a comment

Although our two Meisner Technique sessions are filled, we have one alternate spot in each session. An alternate attends all classes, has rehearsal partners, and gets to work in class when a full status student is absent. If at some point in the program a full status student leaves the class, the alternate then steps in to the full status spot.

Alternates pay 1/2 tuition but still get the opportunity to learn this amazing technique at this incredible studio. Call us at 323-528-6280. Registration will be open until October 3rd.

If you are ready for professional actor training, the EMAS Meisner Technique Program is for you. It has been desigend for actors who want to ignite their imaginations, work from their instincts expand their emotional availability and add passion and excitement to their performances.

Sanford Meisner’s clear, step-by step process give actors the tools they need to create dynamic and memorable scenes, for auditions and performances.

That is why the Meisner Technique is so respected in Hollywood, it gets you the training needed to make acting your career!

Click here for more information on EMAS

THE ELIZABETH MESTNIK ACTING STUDIO is one of Hollywoods most highly regarded acting schools:

Here’s what the industry has to say about EMAS:

“EMAS has a very talented and versitile group of actors.”
-Paul Weber -Head of Casting Paramount

” I have seen Elizabeth work miracles with actors from beginning to advanced”
– Damona Resnick – Casting Director – NBC

” She is simply the best at what she does”
– Ed Yeager – T.V. producer – Still Standing, Suddnely Susan, Gary Unmarried

When: Classes start September 19th, 2011

Session A: Mondays and Thursdays 10am

Session B: Tuesdays at 7pm and Saturdays at 10am

Where: 7600 Melrose Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Read what our students and the industry have to say about EMAS at YELP

323-528-6280

Learn more about The Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio at:

www.emasla.com

DO WHAT YOU CAME HERE TO DO!

Why Study The Meisner Technique? (flyer)

Acting Studio
Leave a comment

The Meisner Technique demands that an actor make a commitment to their training, as this training, if you follow the syllabus developed by Sanford Meisner, takes place over 9-months. This is serious training for serious students. So why should you make this sacrifice of time, effort , and yes – money? Why not take a 4-week workshop and be done with it? What does the Meisner Technique do that is so special?

To put it simply –
TO GET IN ACTOR SHAPE!

I have always compared acting to sports, because in sports the work you put in directly affects the product you put out. You can be a weekend jock, or an Olympic athlete. So, to continue this metaphor, if acting is like, say… Gymnastics… then Meisner is like going to the gym to get strong and flexible. The more traditional acting skills (objectives, actions, character biography etc) are like learning the different elements, – (the cartwheel, the back flip, the somersault etc.) Most Acting Classes teach you the elements, but don’t know how to get you into shape.

Now I will be honest with you. I can do a somersault, and I can even do a cartwheel – but they are pretty pathetic because at the age of 42, I’m really not all that strong and flexible. But if I worked out every day to increase my upper body strength and the flexibility of my spine, those elements would look much better. And when Olympic gymnasts do these elements, we are in awe, because they dedicate themselves to knowing the elements and being fit enough to execute them.

The actor who understands the “elements” like playing an action, or making a character choice, but isn’t emotionally connected to the material leaves the audience cold, or even worse – uncomfortable for the actor. Like me doing my somersault, we don’t want to see it again! The out of shape actor can make sense of a part, but will lack the heart. And we need for the audience to be drawn into our performance, to feel what the actors feel – and if the actors feel nothing – well, the audience will feel nothing. THAT IS NOT ENOUGH! So we train, rigorously, like professional athletes, to take our performance to the next level. To put our abilities on par with the best actors out there.
So why take Meisner? Because it gets you to:
Discover who you are and how you are unique
Work from your instincts and not your intellect
Work honestly off of your acting partner
Access and strengthen your emotional range
Be fearless in your work
Make bold and honest choices
Be surrounded by other serious actors
Remove self consciousness
Really do, really feel, really fight, really laugh, really be…Really!
THE ABILITY TO DO THE ABOVE MEANS YOU ARE IN ACTOR SHAPE!

It also says a lot to the people who might hire you about how dedicated you are to mastering your craft. A casting director who sees that you have completed a true 1 or 2 year Meisner Program knows what they can expect. Spontaneity, emotional range, self knowledge, brave choices and truthful behavior.

I hope I will see you working out with me this Fall!

For more information on the studio visit us at www.emasla.com

Smart exceprt on Meisner

Acting Studio
Leave a comment

“Meisner was very opposed to Strassbergs use of Emotional Memory. He believed that depending on one’s own life experiences for emotional connection limited what the actor might be capable of playing. If an actor did not have a wealth of dramatic experiences from which to draw from, they would be at a disadvantage. He also feared that continually drawing on traumatic experiences from the past was not a healthy way to work.  Meisner preferred for actors to expand their imaginations so that they could connect to the imaginary circumstances of the play and stay in character, always working from what the actor’s truthful response to imaginary circumstances.  He discovered that the body often responded to a fully lived fantasy in the same way they responded to real life events.”

learn more from the Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio on the Meisner Technique