ASU screen-acting workshop offers students chance to learn from LA-based industry professionals

Gene Ganssle, a lecturer in the School of Film, Dance and Theatre, will work with Los Angeles-based coaches to teach the Screen Acting Summer Intensive workshop.

By Sarah A. McCarty |
January 30, 2019

The School of Film, Dance and Theatre in Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts is launching a new workshop this summer for screen actors. The Screen Acting Summer Intensive workshop will be held over two weekends in July at ASU Film Spark in Santa Monica at the ASU California Center and also will be available as an online workshop.

Students will participate in small workshops and learn about auditions, tools of the trade, monologues, improvised scenes, teleprompter techniques and voice-over.

Gene Ganssle, a lecturer in the School of Film, Dance and Theatre, will work with Los Angeles-based coaches to bring students a dynamic live and online experience on the business of screen acting. Ganssle has been acting professionally on stage and screen for 30 years in the Phoenix area, with more than 500 films, radio and television commercials and industrial projects and dozens of stage roles to his credit. He has directed plays and feature films, runs his own video production company and has taught classes to thousands of students, including almost 10 years teaching acting and video production at ASU.

The continuing education workshop, which also features practical advice on the Los Angeles and Phoenix markets, is for actors of all skill levels, including community college, college and ASU alumni in the LA area. For students unable to attend in person, online enrollment is available at a dramatically reduced rate for online viewing of recorded workshops, submittal of questions and professional evaluation of self-recorded exercises.

The workshops are limited to 20 slots for the in-person workshop to ensure individual attention.

Dates and times:

• Weekend 1: Friday, July 12–Sunday, July 14. Cold reads and improvised scene work, on-camera auditioning workshop with LA coach and ASU faculty, scene/monologue work with LA coach and ASU faculty, voiceover workshops with ASU faculty, shooting and review.

• Weekend 2: Friday, July 19–Sunday, July 21. Scene/monologue work and self-taping with ASU faculty, rehearsal and casting workshop with LA casting directors, prompter workshop with ASU faculty, scene shooting, final assessment.

• Classes run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with a break for lunch.

Cost for in-person workshops in Santa Monica:

• $400 — Early registration (by March 15).

• $450 — Regular registration (March 15–April 30).

• $475 — Late registration (May 1–May 15).

• $250 — Single weekend.

Cost for online workshops:

• $200 — Early registration (by March 15).

• $225 — Regular registration (March 15–April 30).

• $250 — Late registration (May 1–May 15).

• $125 — Single weekend.