Classes Offered in Winter-2 Term (Jan. 2012 - Mar. 2012)

These classes are offered 5 times a year in 8-week terms: Fall, Winter-1, Winter-2, Spring and Summer. Class sizes are limited to 12 students. All class-work is videotaped using digital cameras on USB thumbdrives. Students receive a complimentary thumbdrive for their own records and review. The classes listed below are for adults (17 and older). Our classes for 11-16 year olds are listed at Young Actors Program.

To enroll, please visit our Enrollment page or call 877-663-4561 (877-ONFILM1).

Film Acting I: Intro to Film Acting (8 weeks - offered at 3 different times)

This is the perfect class for beginning film actors. Whether transitioning from stage to screen or starting with little or no acting experience, you'll develop a superior approach to film acting, including extensive on-camera work in class.

With an emphasis on script analysis and character development, this class will ground you to the fundamentals of on-camera acting through scene study, monologues and other exercises.

Your class-work will be regularly recorded with digital cameras on thumbdrives that you will keep for your own records and further viewing.

Start date: January 18, 2012 (You can join this class later, with a prorated tuition, Please inquire.)
Class time: Wednesdays, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm (8 classes on: Jan 18, 25, Feb 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Mar 7)
Instructor: Brian Degan Scott
Tuition: $340 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

Start date: January 28, 2012 (You can join this class later, with a prorated tuition, Please inquire.)
Class time: Saturdays, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm (8 classes on: Jan 28, Feb 4, 11, 18, 25, Mar 3, 10, 17)
Instructor: Brian Degan Scott
Tuition: $340 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

Start date: February 14, 2012
Class time: Tuesdays, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm (8 classes on: Feb 14, 21, 28, Mar 6, 13, 20, 27, Apr 3)
Instructor: Brian Degan Scott
Tuition: $340 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

NOTE: Class-size is limited to 12 students.

Ready to enroll? See our payment options

Film Acting II: Intermediate Level (8 weeks)

This on-camera class continues the development of the art and craft of film acting. With more in-depth script analysis and scene work, you'll find the underlying importance, dynamics and arch of each scene and discover a greater depth in each character through action, objectives, and given circumstances.

It is a perfect class also for those acting students who already have a training in stage-acting and now would like to make the transition to film acting (without having to go through our "Film Acting I" class).

All your class-work will be recorded with digital cameras on thumbdrives that you will keep for your own records and further viewing.

Start date: January 28, 2012 (You can join this class later, with a prorated tuition, Please inquire.)
Saturdays, 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (8 classes on: Jan 28, Feb 4, 11, 18, 25, Mar 3, 10, 17)
Instructor: Hester Schell
Prerequisite: "Film Acting I" or equivalent
Tuition: $360 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

Hester Schell is the author of the highly acclaimed book "Casting Revealed: A Guide for Film Directors" (available at amazon.com).

NOTE: Class-size is limited to 12 students.

Ready to enroll? See our payment options

Advanced Film Acting (8 weeks - offered at 2 different times)

Tuesday night class:

Film directors expect actors to bring something to the set. This on-camera class will make sure you have the skills to deliver. It will challenge you to push the comfort level through advanced character study exercises, improvisation and script analysis, while reincorporating good acting technique, in a scene-study format.

The session will culminate with a visit by a prominent Bay Area Talent Agent or Casting Professional. You will participate in a Q & A and get valuable feedback on technique and career.

All your class work will be recorded with digital cameras on thumbdrives that you will keep for your own records and further viewing.

Start date: January 31, 2012
Class time: Tuesdays, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm (8 classes on: Jan 31, Feb 7, 21, 28, Mar 6, 13, 20, 27)
Instructor: Celia Shuman
Prerequisite: Approval by Celik Kayalar at celik@filmactingbayarea.com
Tuition: $380 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

NOTE: Class-size is limited to 12 students.

Sunday afternoon class:

This on-camera class will focus on providing you with a wide range of tools and exercises to increase grounding and strength in their film-acting careers. The class will help you hone in on your particular niche as well as learn more about the entertainment industry as a whole. In a scene-study format, it will help you unlock your creative potential, express your individuality, and become more independent on a film-set.

All your class work will be recorded with digital cameras on thumbdrives that you will keep for your own records and further viewing.

During the class, an original short-film will be written by the Instructor specifically for the class participants. It will be extensively rehearsed and will be filmed professionally with HD Digital-Cameras on location in the last several weeks (closely duplicating a real film-set experience). After editing and screening it for the class, this short film will be submitted to various film-festivals and/or posted on the Internet. All students will get a complimentary copy of it, sections of which they can readily use for their demo-reels.

The short-film The Valiant developed during an earlier version of this class by Brian D.Scott just won the "highest rated film" honor at the OnceAWeek Online Film Festival and will play at the Albany Film Festival in March. It features FABA acting students Christopher Damm & Galina Pasternak, and directed by Celik Kayalar.

Start date: February 12, 2012
Class time: Sundays, 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (8 classes on: Feb 12, 19, 26, Mar 4, 11, 18, 25, Apr 1)
Instructor: Brian Degan Scott
Prerequisite: Approval by Celik Kayalar at celik@filmactingbayarea.com
Tuition: $380 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

NOTE: Class-size is limited to 12 students.

Our Advanced Classes are prerequisite for our unique Industry Showcase Class, which is offered once a year and provides our Students the unprecedented opportunity to meet and sign with the top Talent Agents in the Bay Area. The selection and invitation to the Industry Showcase Class is by our Program Director Celik Kayalar.

Ready to enroll? See our payment options

Expressivity for the Actor (8 weeks)

Quotes from Actors

This workshop is truly amazing! It encourages actors to dig deep within and to express themselves fully and without limitations. I recommend it to anyone who wants to grow as an actor.
Penny Werner: Actor

"Direct Action" with Rob Nilsson is an explosive acting experience. He motivates and provokes moments of beauty and human experience out of his actors.
Vincent Leddy: Actor

Extremely liberating and totally unpredictable! You often end up surprising yourself in ways you didn't even think were possible. Highly recommend.
Galina Pasternak: Actor

Class Description

Through his unique approach, the internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Rob Nilsson will guide actors to experience strong emotion, cathartic energy and powerful human connection. Exercises in relaxation, concentration and strong emotional commitment will be used to enhance confidence and to eliminate mental blocking.

Through the techniques of Direct Action, a system designed for the creation of dynamic cinema based on backstory improvisations, we will work to enhance the Actor's natural gifts, encourage free and courageous performances and to eliminate pre-conceptions, excessive rationality and fear of failure. The goal is an Actor alive in the moment and fierce in the expression of all things human.

All class-work will be recorded with digital-cameras on thumbdrives which students will keep for their own records and further viewing. The last class session will be devoted to making a single take short film to demonstrate the dramatic achievements of the class. This film will be directed by Rob Nilsson, casting all the students in the class in various roles.

The short film "The Will", similarly made in Nilsson's last "Expressivity for the Actor" class is in the process of being submitted to prestigious film festivals. A trailer of it will be posted on our website very soon.

Rob Nilsson has made 30 feature-films and has won numerous international awards including the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Prize at Sundance, the San Francisco Critics Circle Marlon Riggs Award and several Lifetime Achievement citations. In June, the Moscow Film Festival held a retrospective of his work. In November, Solzhenitsyn inspired "Russia Abroad" Film Festival gave the Moscow Press Prize to Nilsson's feature film "Steppes".

Start date: February 9, 2012
Class time: Thursdays, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm (8 classes on: Feb 9, 16, 23, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29. Note: May have to cancel some classes along the way and make them up at the end, due to Rob Nilsson's upcoming busy schedule.)
Instructor: Rob Nilsson
Prerequisite: Rob Nilsson and Celik Kayalar's approval at: celik@filmactingbayarea.com
Tuition: $400 (Payment Plans are available. Please inquire.)

Ready to enroll? See our payment options

Dynamic Audition Skills (8 weeks)

This on-camera class will teach the essential skills film-actors need to get cast for the roles they audition for. Jessica Heidt, a multiple award winning director and producer, as well as a much sought after casting-director in the film industry, will train her students in perfecting two of the most useful and important audition techniques in today's market: cold reading and performing a short monologue.

She will also prepare her students to walk into any audition for film, tv or commercial with full confidence and make the best impression with their superior performance, as well as with their well-prepared headshots & resumes. (For essential and comprehensive information to prepare professional headshots & resumes, as well as for all the other aspects of "business" of film acting, please consider taking our "Career Management and Marketing for Actors" class by Hester Schell, below).

All students' class-work will be recorded with digital cameras on complimentary thumbdrives for their own records and further reviewing.

Start date: TBA (Spring Term, 2012: April - June)

Instructor: Jessica Heidt
Prerequisite: "Film Acting I" or equivalent
Tuition: $320

Ready to enroll? See our payment options

Business of Acting: Career Management and Marketing for Actors (6 weeks)

An in depth training for the business of acting. The various tools used by actors to find the hidden job markets, how to search for projects, and what kind of marketing materials to acquire in order to compete and succeed as a professional, working actor.

Topics that will be covered include understanding what is needed for successful auditions; preparing effective and professional-quality demo-reels and headshots & resumes; learning your casting range and type; registration with casting offices; marketing strategies and the use of Internet for enhancing your career (For the actual on-camera training in audition techniques such as cold-reading and performing monologues, please consider taking our "Dynamic Audition Skills" class by Jessica Heidt, above).

Start date: January 28, 2012 (You can join this class later, with a prorated tuition, Please inquire.)
Class time: Saturdays, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm (6 classes on: Jan 28, Feb 4, 11, 18, 25, Mar 3)
Instructor: Hester Schell
Prerequisite: "Film Acting I" or equivalent
Tuition: $200

Hester Schell is the author of the highly acclaimed book "Casting Revealed: A Guide for Film Directors" (available at amazon.com).

Ready to enroll? See our payment options

You're welcome to visit & observe any of our ongoing classes before deciding to enroll for the following term. Please email ahead for your visit: info@filmactingbayarea.com