Conservatory

Confidently memorize, audition and be on-set while protecting your peace and owning your space in a stress-free sustainable way that unapologetically works for you. As with every workshop with Vanessa, you’ll come away with quick stress hacks you can use starting today!

Vanessa has been performing for over 25 years and has experienced countless roles both on stage and in front of the camera, including editing, directing, producing and casting. She has spoken on industry panels during TIFF (2019) and Sundance (2019, 2023) about the importance of a confidently balanced acting life within our demanding industry. She began hosting stress-management workshops for actors in 2018 and is happy to return to host another SAG-AFTRA workshop!

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023, or Oct. 31, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

Character voice is typically associated with animation and video game work, but the manipulation of voice and speech is just as applicable to our work in VO, Audiobooks, and on-camera. In this course, we’ll look at many of the manipulatable facets of speech and apply them to some character copy examples. We’ll talk about the difference between character and character voice, define the primary expectations of character voice, explore physicalization and facial manipulation as rough tools for character voice creation, and then work through changing several facets of speech through exercises. We’ll end by applying what we’ve learned to a few character sketches from animation. Through it all we’ll have a lot of fun! 

Keith Flippen, a film/tv/VO actor for 30+ years, is the owner of The Actors’ Place, Inc. (www.BeAnActor.com) in Fredericksburg, VA. He has taught camera and on-mic acting for 20 years through his studio as well as Speech, Voice, and Dialects for Old Dominion University from 2004 - 2021. In the last year, his audition coaching clients have booked projects for Netflix, Hulu, FX, a recurring guest star for the CW series Walker, and a recurring role in Fox’s The Big Leap.

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023, or Oct. 31, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

Times are tough. Our profession is tough. It’s more important now than ever to protect our mental health. Let’s explore different skills, which anyone can use, including kids, to calm our minds, improve communication, and handle stressful situations. 

Nicole is a Peer Recovery Specialist for depression. She has studied under Craig Hedley CPRS, Lane Pederson, Psy. D. LP, Megan Boardman, LSCW, ACADC, CCT P-11, EMDR-C, Charles Jacob, PHD, and Katelyn Baxter-Musser, LCSW, CDBT.

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023, or Oct. 31, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

THE PHILADELPHIA CONSERVATORY IS BACK!
Philadelphia Local members are invited to a FREE SAG-AFTRA Philly Local Conservatory Workshop. Instructor and SAG-AFTRA member Bryan Fox will delve into the audition and co-star audition process (post-COVID) with what’s new and what you need to know, including self-taping and Zoom auditioning.

-masks recommended-

About Bryan Fox
Bryan Fox grew up on the Main Line of Philadelphia. He moved to New York where he studied and worked on the off-Broadway stages of New York City. He then moved to Los Angeles where he worked behind the scenes on music videos, commercials, independent films and Emmy Award-winning television shows. At the same time, he studied his craft and became a professional actor in both television and independent film. He has been a teaching artist in both New York and Los Angeles with over 20 years of real-world theater, film and major network television acting and auditioning experience. Bryan now owns and teaches at his own film and television acting studio just outside Philadelphia.

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1484007
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gd3rct2GD4
THE ACTORS LAB: https://actorslabphilly.com

RSVP: Reservations are required. This event is reserved for adults (18+). Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

Seating is limited. We are only accepting the first 25 RSVPs. You must receive a confirmation to attend. 

A waitlist notification is NOT a confirmation.

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

This workshop is not intended to imply an endorsement of any individual or company by SAG-AFTRA. The information provided through the workshop is given for informational purposes and may not be a suitable substitute for the advice of other industry professionals. You should always use good judgment in these matters and should not act or refrain from acting based solely on information provided through the workshop.

Join the SAG-AFTRA NY Conservatory for a kickoff workshop, Booked It! with Jill Stern. Check-in at 12:45 p.m.

Moving from script, to self-taped audition, to final cut, this workshop will highlight NY Conservatory actors’ recent work to provide a glimpse into self-taped auditions that booked jobs. We will delve into the elements of putting a winning self-tape together. After viewing the audition tapes, we’ll see how the scenes looked in the final production clips. Then in real time, working with actors in the room, we’ll put scenes on camera. If you would like to be considered to work on a scene provided by the instructor, please complete the form link found in the confirmation email.

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below by noon on Wednesday, March 29 to RSVP. Please bring your SAG-AFTRA member ID card, or digital card in the Member App (paid thru April 30, 2023) for admittance. 

Please note, all members and guests who attend a meeting or event at a SAG-AFTRA office must wear a mask and will need to confirm that they have been vaccinated and have received at least one booster through the use of the CLEAR Health Pass. This is a free app available for you to download on your smartphone. You may recognize CLEAR as its services are used by travelers in most major U.S. airports; and the free CLEAR Health Pass is used to validate vaccination for entry to stadiums and venues across the country. 

Here are the easy steps to get set up with CLEAR’s Health Pass:

• Download the free CLEAR app to your mobile device and tap the white Health Pass tile.
• Select ‘Have a code?’ and enter SAGAFTRAOFFICE.
• Easily enroll with your government issued ID or if you are already a CLEAR member, verify your identity with a quick selfie.
• Follow the prompts to provide proof of vaccination. Please allow 24 hours for CLEAR to validate your information.
• Upon arrival at a SAG-AFTRA office, reopen the CLEAR Health Pass and show your pass at check-in. Green is good to go!

If you need additional help with the app, contact CLEAR’s Member Care team directly in the CLEAR app, by calling 1-855-CLEARME (1-855-253-2763), or through email at memberservices@clearme.com. For any other questions, you can contact SAG-AFTRA at info@sagaftra.org or (855) SAG-AFTRA.

If you have questions about the event or need to request an accommodation please email us at ny.conservatory@sagaftra.org. 

This workshop is not intended to imply an endorsement of any individual or company by SAG-AFTRA. Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed are those of the individual guests, not of SAG-AFTRA. The information provided through the workshop is given for informational purposes and may not be a suitable substitute for applicable professional advice. You should always use good judgment in these matters and should not act or refrain from acting based solely on information provided through the workshop.

This event is only open to SAG-AFTRA NY Conservatory Members.

Join us April 24 for our Chicago Local virtual Conservatory - Surviving the Actor's Journey: Finding Mental Health in an Uncertain Business, as we gather together to identify the tools you need to ditch the anxiety and reclaim the joy in your acting pursuits. We will be joined by a host of experts, both peer and clinical professionals alike, including:

• Actor and educator Michael Kostroff, who will take us through some entertaining and enlightening concepts from his course/book Audition Psych 101.
• Elizabeth Clare (Chicago Local member and Ally Advocate at NoStigmas, a mental health non-profit) who will provide some resources on how to set boundaries and how to be an ally for your fellow actor's having a rough time.
• Fizzah Zaidi (licensed clinical therapist)
• Dr. Jason Washburn (Director of Clinical Psychology, Northwestern Hospital) who will help us navigate all the tough questions, and point us to where to get additional support when it's needed.

About:
Michael Kostroff
Kostroff is an established stage and television actor best known for his five seasons on HBO’s The Wire and a long list of appearances on shows including Billions, The Blacklist, NCIS and Law & Order: SVU. He toured with The Producers and Les Misérables and has starred at regional theaters all over the US. He’s a teacher, author, audition coach, former Backstage advice columnist, and the creator of Audition Psych 101, which is an online course on the psychological side of the audition process. Books by Kostroff include Letters from Backstage, Audition Psych 101, and the recently-published The Stage Actor’s Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), which was listed as one of Playbill.com’s 12 must-read books.

Elizabeth Clare
Clare is an actor and musician based in Chicago and Los Angeles. Her background as a jazz musician lends itself to her work as an on-camera talent, scoring her multiple national commercial spots as well as her recent focus on TV/film roles.  She is also a mental health advocate, having created core programming with NoStigmas (a local non-profit) that includes general education as well as trauma-focused training. As a survivor of intimate partner violence, she understands how peer support from a lived experience perspective can support living in recovery. Claire connects this to the entertainment industry with her work as an intimacy coordinator to help tell stories responsibly. Claire loves baking, adores cats, and holds a 1st Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.

Fizzah Zaidi
Fizzah Zaidi, LCPC, is a Chicago-based psychotherapist who is trained in EMDR and CCSP-ADHD certified. She specializes in working with adults with ADHD to identify and treat their comorbidities and trauma. Psychology is her second career after spending several years in traditional animation, where she worked on independent cartoons, Sesame Street games and commercials for General Mills and Hasbro. Fizzah uses behavioral and existential perspectives to advocate for breaking cultural and societal stigmas around mental health. She focuses on learning unique patterns in human development to collaborate with compassion and honor the authentic selves of her patients, as well as constantly working to improve her competencies in other modalities and theories. For more information, visit her website at www.fzpsychotherapy.com.

Dr. Jason Washburn
Dr. Washburn is Director of Clinical Psychology at Northwestern Hospital, whose overarching interests include science-based practice, practice-based clinical research, and education and training in Health Service Psychology. His clinical interests include psychodiagnostic, personality, and neurodevelopmental (ADHD, Learning Disorders) assessment. His research interests include nonsuicidal self-injury, suicide, and the implementation of psychological practices, including digital mental health.

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA Chicago Local members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

“Can I work on this job?”

Yes, you can! It can be a union job with the right contract.

Join local leaders, staff, and fellow members, via Zoom, to learn tools for getting work covered under SAG-AFTRA contract. You’ll learn:

• How to get a local made in, played in commercial covered under the New England Regional Commercials Code
• That corporate training and educational video producers can work with professional actors by using the local Co/Ed Code
• Why the Micro Budget Agreement is a quick and easy tool for dramatic content with small budgets
• How to talk to casting and producers to get the job union so you can do the work. It’s a lot easier than you might think!

When: Both event dates will have the same content. Choose the one that best fits your schedule.

        Monday, March 13, 2 p.m.

        Monday, March 13, 6 p.m. RSVP BELOW. You must be logged in to see the RSVP form below. 

Where: Online via Zoom

Visit sagaftra.org/ne for more info on the New England Local!

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

“Can I work on this job?”

Yes, you can! It can be a union job with the right contract.

Join local leaders, staff, and fellow members, via Zoom, to learn tools for getting work covered under SAG-AFTRA contract. You’ll learn:

• How to get a local made in, played in commercial covered under the New England Regional Commercials Code
• That corporate training and educational video producers can work with professional actors by using the local Co/Ed Code
• Why the Micro Budget Agreement is a quick and easy tool for dramatic content with small budgets
• How to talk to casting and producers to get the job union so you can do the work. It’s a lot easier than you might think!

When: Both event dates will have the same content. Choose the one that best fits your schedule.

        Monday, March 13, 2 p.m. RSVP below. You must be logged in to see the form below.

        Monday, March 13, 6 p.m.

Where: Online via Zoom

Visit sagaftra.org/ne for more info on the New England Local!

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

Join acting teacher, coach, director and writer Deryn Warren for an informative and engaging online workshop. In Warren’s workshop you will receive scenes and have an opportunity to hone your skills. 

• Learn how to use vitality, energy and silence filled with subtext to book jobs
• Learn the importance of humor in every performance
• Learn how to use a strong voice and express passion
• Learn how to make first and last lines exciting that get you noticed

RSVP: Reservations are required. SAG-AFTRA members, please log in and complete the form below to RSVP. 

Non-members can attend for a fee of $20. Please click on this link to purchase a ticket and secure your spot.

About Deryn Warren

Deryn Warren is a leading acting teacher and coach in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “No wonder students clamor to take Deryn’s class. Her comments are dead-eye accurate.” Warren attended the American Film Institute as a Directing Fellow. Her book, How to Make Your Audience Fall in Love with You, was recommended by Harvard University and UCLA. Warren has directed three feature films including Black Magic Woman starring Mark Hamill. She also directed theater in Los Angeles, including A Garden of Snow, starring Angelica Huston. 

This event is free to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023, or in compliance with the November 2022 Dues Relief Extension). Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome. Non-members can reserve their spot for $20.

This event is not intended to imply an endorsement of any individual or company by SAG-AFTRA. The information provided is given for informational purposes and may not be a suitable substitute for the advice of other industry professionals. You should always use good judgment in these matters and should not act or refrain from acting based solely on information provided through these events.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

Do you wish for more work for you and your fellow performers as Northern California SAG-AFTRA members?  Why not create those opportunities yourself?  

Come join us for an informative and inspiring SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California Local Conservatory virtual event with panelists who will share their career-changing strategies.

The panel includes LIZ ANDERSON, RAJIV SHAH and WYLIE HERMAN — all local actors who broadened their skills as writers, directors, and producers. You'll learn their strategies for success in utilizing the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Low Budget agreements to produce award-winning work. This event is co-sponsored by our recently formed local NextGen Performers Committee.  

Get a start on making 2023 the year you take control of your career!

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023, or in compliance with the November 2022 Dues Relief Extension). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event.