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Our Coaching Experts
Choose Your Coach Preferences
Alexia Robinson
Susie Mains
Andrew Benne
Andy Parks
Annie Schwartz
Bryan Rasmussen
Julianne Grossman
LaRita Shelby
Mark Salyer
Megan Foley
Patrick Bristow
Twinkie Byrd
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Starting at $40/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaBasic TechniqueScene StudyStage FrightGroup CoachingOne-on-One PrivatesAlexia Robinson
World Renowned Acting Coach
Award winning actress and director Alexia Robinson has worked on some of the biggest blockbuster films to the most popular television shows!
As far back as Hill St. Blues and as current as CSI Miami, Alexia has successfully worked in this business for almost 20 years! With a busy career spanning from her break on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Total Recall” to work on “CSI Miami.” Other roles include Eddie Murphy’s “Nutty Professor,” “MacArthur Park,” Series regular roles on “Good News,” “Savannah,” “The young and the Restless,” “Livin Large,” and “General Hospital.” Guest starring roles on “Veronica’s Closet,” “Murder One,” “Vengeance Unlimited,” “Eve,” “Malcolm and Eddie,” “Route 66” and much, much more!
The list of Alexia’s celebrity students, friends and colleagues is the result of her long tenure as a Hollywood fixture and testament to her strong work ethic, passion, discipline, talent and reputation as a highly skilled artist as well as one of the most sought after acting coaches in the world!
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Starting at $40/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaGetting an Agent/ManagerOne-on-One PrivatesSusie Mains
World Renowned Talent Expert
Susie has been a talent representative for kids and young adults for over 20 years. She is considered an expert in her field and has been featured multiple times on 'Dr. Phil', appeared on the TV Guide Special, ' 24 Things You Didn't Know About TV Kids', the Showtime special 'Fame' and many others. She has been quoted in Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage West, E! online, and many other national publications and radio shows nationwide.
Susie is the owner of Trilogy Talent, a management company representing talent appearing in feature films such as ' Soul Surfer', 'Prom', 'Bedtime Stories', 'Alvin', 'Orphan' 'Toy Story 3', and such TV Shows as Disney Channel's 'Kickin It', The New Adventures of Old Christine, Nickelodeon's 'True Jackson', 'Days of Our Lives' and many others.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaBasic TechniqueCareer ConsultationsScene StudyGroup CoachingOne-on-One PrivatesAndrew Benne
Top Acting Coach
Since opening his first acting studio in 1989, Andrew Benne continues to be an extremely active force in Hollywood, coaching an impressive list of working actors for nearly two decades.
Branching out on his own a year later, he opened the celebrated Moment to Moment Studio in the heart of Hollywood, where, as Artistic Director for ten years, he developed and refined his own personal acting technique. The groundbreaking result - which he has come to call "The Work" - has been taught to hundreds of students over the years, a high percentage of whom have gone on to become successful working actors.
In 1999 Andrew was asked to teach The Work at several noted universities. He subsequently taught the Meisner technique at the New York Film Academy, and served on the faculty at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts Hollywood during its inaugural year. In 2001 he opened The Andrew Benne Studio, his third working studio, in a thirty-five seat Equity-waiver theater in the newly-established NoHo Arts District, where he continues to offer a variety of classes for both beginning students as well as seasoned actors.
An actor and director in his own right, Andrew has appeared in several films and television shows and numerous commercials, and has directed several Equity-waiver hits and has won a Dramalogue award and an L.A. Weekly Critics Choice award. In addition to acting, directing and teaching, Andrew is currently working on a book of his work.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaImprovGroup CoachingOne-on-One PrivatesAndy Parks
Andy is owner and producer of “The Big Dill Improv Show” which has had 4 highly successful season's in Branson Missouri. Based on Proverbs 17:22, laughter does good like medicine. The show has performed for large and small corporations, colleges and charities. They have also done numerous improv workshops in public schools and for adults.
Andy can be seen in such films as Monopoly Heist and Boston Strangler as well as many others. Commercials and voice overs include Taco Bell, Office Depot, Mervyns, PS2, His Life and LA Tours. He is an accomplished performer in Theater including The Bill Dill Improv Show, Yakov Smirnoff Show, Lights Out For Louie, Mouse Trap, Chicago, 2008-2011 Sight & Sound Theatres and others.
Training includes The Big Dill Improv Show, Alexia Robinson Studio, Point Park Conservatory, Acting with Rich Keitel, Ron Lindblum, Kate Aronson, and Earl Grove. He has trained with Raymond Laine and Robin Walsh for voice over. Andy is accomplished at character voices and dialects as well.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - DramaGetting an Agent/ManagerOne-on-One PrivatesAnnie Schwartz
Top Agent
Annie Schwartz was born into the business, her mother a talent manager, and father a producer/director. At the age of 17, Annie began working as an assistant at a boutique talent agency, while she finished high school. Annie learned hands on how to run an office, nurture clients, read material, pitch clients and make deals and discovered a true passion for the process.
Since then, Annie has worked as an associate producer at Paramount Studios on a variety of sets, such as Gary Marshall's sitcom "Happy Days". Two years later, she was hired by Nicole David, one of the owners of Triad Artists, which became one of the most powerful agencies of its time. Working with Jenny Delany in the television department, Annie witnessed hands on the start of many of today’s superstars, including, Bruce Willis, Mariska Hargitay, William Hurt, and many more.
After working at JS&A for a year and a half, Annie opened up her own agency with a partner. They combined genuine enthusiasm and energy for the business and a similar work ethic and origin was born. Eleven years later, origin has diversified its talent agency. Origin represents actors, producers, writers, directors and hosting, along with reality television shows.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaOne-on-One PrivatesBryan Rasmussen
Top Acting Coach
After receiving his B.A. in Theater from Cal State Long Beach, he attended both the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and South Coast Repertory on scholarship and was a company member when SCR won the Tony Award in 1985.In addition to acting, he's also an accomplished director, producer, and teacher.
He has lived in LA since 1982 when he did “Equus” at the CAST with Mark Travis. After attending SCR and ACT acting conservatories, he returned and began creating theatre in LA. He founded the Itchey Foot Cabaret where he worked on many new works and learned how to produce creatively financially. He's produced over 100 pieces of theatre and acted in over 50 plays and directed 20.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesVoice OversOne-on-One PrivatesJulianne Grossman
Award Winning Voice Over Artist
Julianne learned to speak in utero, which has enabled her to work consistently in voice over for over 20 years while remaining only 21 years of age. With hundreds of commercial, animation, promo, narration, and VG (video game) projects under her belt, Julianne can currently (2011) be heard on 5 National TV spots for TurboTax, NBC radio promos for "The Cape," Best Buy radio spots, and HBO's animated series The Life and Times of Tim, which enters its third season later this year. She can frequently be heard as a newscaster/reporter voice on the CBS series Medium, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Past work includes co-writing and voicing the California National Bank campaign, as well as spots for Target, McDonald's, Honda, Nike, Glade, Sears, and countless others. Julianne has narrated shows on "E," The Style Channel, HGTV, The Travel Channel, and others, and has been featured in numerous video games, including Scarface, Infamous, X-Men: Next Dimension, Grey's Anatomy and Everquest II. Working with Mel Brooks, Dom DeLouise, and Joan Rivers, Julianne played various characters in Mel Brooks' Spaceballs: The Animated Series for the G4 Network. She is represented by DPN (ICM's former voice division) in Los Angeles.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesEnunciationMusicalsScene StudyStage FrightVocalGroup CoachingOne-on-One PrivatesLaRita Shelby
Elite Expert
As an actress LaRita has starred in films such as South Central, Kings Of The Evening, Walk By Faith, Outrighteous, Silent Bomband more! On the TV side Miss Shelby has appeared on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Wizards of Waverly Place, ER, City Of Angels, JAG, Martin, The Fresh Prince of Belair and others.
Miss Shelby’s roots extend from Tennessee to Washington, D. C. to Los Angeles, California where she earned her B. A. Degree in Theater Arts with a minor in Communications at Loyola Marymount University.
More recently LaRita (also known as Jazzy Rita) is most excited about her new critically acclaimed jazz CD titled “A Date With A Song”, author of the book "Dictation: Plays, Poems & Monologues", and is in talks to reprise her role opposite Glenn Plummer in the Oliver Stone produced, urban classic “South Central.”
In her spare time, LaRita is an motivational coach in schools throughout Los Angeles with Team Inspiration 52 and the Police Action League. This busy, jazzy lady is a proud mother of one son (Justin) and a legacy member of Sigma Gamma Rho’s Sigma Sigma Chapter, which is also in Los Angeles.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesDialectsEnunciationMusicalsVocalGroup CoachingOne-on-One PrivatesMark Salyer
Award Winning Actor, Director and Producer
A native of Southwest Virginia, Mark Salyer is an award-winning actor, director and producer. In 2004, he was featured in Sophocles' Electra in Greece as part of the International Symposium on Greek Drama in Delphi celebrating the birth of Sophocles. Salyer was Atlanta's Best Guest Actor 2003 for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and has appeared in over 30 professional productions. Directing credits include Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Menotti’s The Medium, Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Schwartz' Pippin and Godspell, and, at Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, Big River, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Show, Cabaret and An Evening with Stephen Schwartz starring Ben Vereen, Corbin Bleu, and the composer himself.
While at the Roundabout Theatre in New York City, he worked on the general management team for the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Cabaret. Mark has taught at the University of Virginia and College of the Canyons in California. He is co-owner and the director of ARTreach, a production company developing professional and educational arts projects nationwide including the Broadway musical, Dark of the Moon.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaCommercialsScene StudyGroup CoachingOne-on-One Privates
Megan Foley
Award Winning Casting Director
Megan Foley Marra has been in the industry all of her life. She started as an actress and dancer in Houston Tx and move to LA, where she graduated with a degree in theatre from Cal State Northridge. She worked in production for several years and decided to try her hand at casting and fell in love with it. Megan's award winning company (Megan Foley Casting & Co) has cast dozens of films and TV shows and over 3000 commercials and are busy constantly.
She and her partner, husband Chuck Marra are also sought after teachers and coaches with clients all over the country. Their style is encouraging and direct and gets results quickly. Check out their website for more class information.
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Starting at $35/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyImprovOne-on-One PrivatesPatrick Bristow
Highly Acclaimed Actor
Patrick Bristow is most recognizable for his 4 years recurring on ABC's "Ellen." He has over 100 miscellaneous half hour and hour credits and feature film roles. He was a member of The Groundlings main company for 5 years where he also taught and directed. His own new improv company and school, "Improvatorium" is quickly making a mark with their costumed and improvised full -length genre inspired plays including the current hit “ZOMBIÉNCE! - Improvised Musical Mayhem” at Theatre Asylum.
He was the co-creator of “STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG,” the critically acclaimed Drama Desk Award nominated off -broadway phenom for Henson Alternative. He also served as the show’s director and host. The show (fka Puppet Up) played to packed houses and great reviews in Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne and Aspen. If you really wanna know more - go to my full credits page.
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Starting at $40/15 MinutesAuditions for TV/Film - ComedyAuditions for TV/Film - DramaScene StudyOne-on-One PrivatesTwinkie Byrd
Award Winning Casting Director
Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd brings it. After having cast music videos for Fall Out Boy, Blink 182, Outkast, Madonna, Dwight Yoakum, Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Black Eyed Peas, Casting Director Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd has set her sights on Feature Films including Fox Searchlight film "NOTORIOUS". But if you ask Twinkie, she’ll tell you its ALL casting. Whether populating commercials, music videos, TV series or feature films, Twinkie is all about finding the right fit to every role. And her passion for talent is only paralleled by her passion for life.
From her first gig scouting dancers for Def Comedy Jam in New York, Twinkie “Just did it”. She went on to cast music videos for Brett Ratner and then hit Los Angeles to learn from commercial casting goddess Megan Foley. Without so much as a local phone, Twinkie found a way to book sessions using the payphone down the block from her brothers’ couch (where she crashed for her first three months in LA).
Anyone who has watched Twinkie work knows true talent, passion, and bliss for life itself. It’s why she’s been on the casting scene for over a decade and is still going strong as the FIRST casting director to make the leap from casting music videos to casting principals in major motion pictures!
"The one-on-one skype coaching with Smartactors is convenient and it saves my time and gas. My son booked major network shows and films and we used skype. I don't think we will ever go back to the conventional face to face private coaching again."