| • Caymichael Patten | • Charles Tuthill |
| • Carol Reynolds | • Frederick C. Waggoner |
| • Christopher McCann | • Susan Shopmaker |
| • Melissa Smith | • Emily Caigan |
• Lev Gorn |
|
Caymichael Patten has been teaching and directing in New York for more than 25 years. She was a founding member of The Women’s Project and the Casting Director for The American Place Theatre. She studied with Wynn Handman and established The Caymichael Patten Studio in 1988. Ms. Patten has directed extensively in New York City at Manhattan Theatre Club, Circle Repertory Company, Second Stage, The WPA, Playwright's Horizons, American Place Theatre, and The Women's Project. She has also adapted numerous plays for the stage. Some of the original New York productions she has directed include Rapmaster Ronnie by Elizabeth Swados and Garry Trudeau, Hold Me! and A Think Piece by Jules Feiffer, A Foot in the Door by Bruce Jay Friedman, Lady With A Braid by Dory Previn, Jacob's Ladder, Conversations with Don B. and George F. Walker’s Beautiful City. Ms. Patten has also directed many revivals in the city and productions outside New York. Among her favorites are: Sam Shepard’s La Turista, Uncle Vanya, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and Corinne Jacker’s Bits and Pieces. Most recently, she has been adapting and directing Side Dishes, which has been performed in half a dozen regional theatres and in New York at the Nuyorican Poets Café.
Christopher McCann NY: Future Me (SPF'08); Charles Mee's Paradise Park at The Signature Theater, The Wandering Boy (SPF'07), Everything Will Be Different, True Love, Attempts On Her Life, Lydie Breeze, Impossible Marriage, Mad Forest, The Devils, The Lights (OBIE, Drama Desk Nomination), Richard III, Richard II, Pericles (BAM) and Robert Woodruff's productions of The Changeling and Buried Child (Premiere). He's appeared at theaters throughout the country. Film/TV: Tim Disney's American Violet, Afterschool ('08 NY Film Festival), Michael Glawogger's The Father Game, Mary Harron's The Notorious Betty Page, Buy It Now (1st Prize, Cinefondation, Cannes); Damages, The Bronx is Burning, Sidney Lumet's Strip Search, & numerous episodes of Law & Order. He has directed the plays of Quincy Long, Will Eno, Jessica Goldberg, Y. York, Sam Shepard and Joe Chaikin.He currently is on the Acting faculty at the Conservatory for Theater Arts & Film at SUNY's Purchase College, where he recently directed the 3rd year students in Jose Rivera's Marisol.
Carol Reynolds An actress and dancer, Carol Reynolds is affiliated with the American Dance Therapy Association, The Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis and the T. Schreiber Studio. Previously with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she has tailored a specialized program for actors and has been teaching it for over 25 years. She has taught dance at several colleges across the county and at the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Susan Shopmaker is the founder of Susan Shopmaker Casting and has cast many feature films. Most recently, she was the New York Casting Director on Disney's ENCHANTED directed by Kevin Lima, for which Susan was nominated for an Artios Award in Outstanding Achievement in Casting.
She was New York Casting Director on Nancy Meyer's SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE (with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton), and THE HOLIDAY (Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet) Mark Water's MEAN GIRLS (written by Tina Fey produced by Paramount) Mark Water's SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (Paramount), as well as his GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST and GLORY ROAD (Directed by James Gartner, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer).
Other credits include casting John Cameron Mitchell's SHORTBUS (Cannes 2006) and JCM's HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. She cast Robert Altman's TANNER ON TANNER (written by Garry Trudeau) for The Sundance Channel. Casting Director on, SERIES 7 (written & directed by Dan Minahan), produced by Killer Films & Open City Films, and Michael Kang's WEST 32nd STREET (produced by Teddy Zee) & THE MOTEL ( produced by Miguel Arteta, Matthew Greenfield, Gina Kwon and Karin Chien) nominated for a 2006 Independent Spirit Award. Susan also worked on the Wachowski's SPEED RACER (Warner Brothers Films), JUSTICE LEAGUE, & the search for Daniel Craig's' 'Bond Girl. '
Charles Tuthill has taught acting for film at the International Film & Television Workshops for the last six years working alongside many of this country’s leading creators. Some of the actors he has worked with can be seen in The Terminal, Pirates of the Carribean, Center Stage, Life of David Gale, Miracle, Mothman Prophecies, many episodes of Law and Order, and the upcoming films The Village, and MR 2000. As an actor, Charles has appeared in many short films, most notably the Academy Award nominated Speed for Thespians, as well as several episodes of Law and Order and all the NY Daytime Dramas. www.charlestuthill.com
Frederick C. Waggoner studied acting for a number of years with Cay. He has also studied with with Susan Batson, and explored much about the physical instrument through Alexander work, Feldenkrais work, the sensory exercises and Chekhov's 'Psychological Gesture'. He went through the acting program at The Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, currently teaches a exer/actor scene study at Black Nexus for Susan. Frederick has worked frequently in New York with the Common Basis Theatre Company, the daytime drama 'One Life to Live' and also played Dr. Randall Adams on 'As the World Turns' (a coroner from Canada!). In addition, he assistant directed "Glengarry/Glen Ross" at Steppenwolf for Amy Morton, who was nominated for a Tony for best actress for August/Osage County.
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Emily Caigan has been teaching Chuck Jones Vocal Production for 15 years.
She was personally trained by Chuck and is a featured educator and contributing writer for his book, Make Your Voice Heard, now in its second edition. Emily's students have worked extensively in theater, film, television and voice-overs. As a teacher, she focuses on an individual's needs while concretizing a clear practice with the Jones technique.
As an artist, she uses voice to create installations that have been seen in the Capitol Building in Albany, NY, the AIR Gallery in Chelsea, NYC, and throughout New England. Her work has been written about in many publications, including People Magazine, Allure Magazine, and the NY Daily News.
Emily currently teaches at SUNY New Paltz and previously served as Head of the Voice Program at the Atlantic Theater Company Studio for New York University and their Professional Program as well as a coach for their main stage and stage two productions. She also has taught at Michael Howard Studios, and has a private practice for individuals, film and theater.
Melissa Smith has served as Conservatory Director and Master Acting Teacher for the American Conservatory Theatre since 1995. In that time, she has expanded the Master of Fine Arts Program from a two to a three-year program. In the third year, students perform in full-scale productions at such San Francisco venues as the Zeum Theater, Theater Artaud, New Langdon Arts and The Magic Theatre. The Third Year MFA productions have quickly developed a reputation for being some of the best alternative theater in San Francisco.
Prior to her work at A.C.T., Melissa was the Director of the Program in Theater and Dance at Princeton University where she also taught all levels of acting. She has taught acting and improvisation to students of all ages in various high schools, colleges and universities in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii. Among other plays, her directing credits include The Lady From DuBuque, Red Cross, Forensic and the Navigators, and Life Under Water for ACT’s MFA Program, Tennessee William’s The Eccentricities of a Nightingale at Lang College and Eugene Ionesco’s The Killing Game at Princeton University.
As a professional actress, Melissa has performed in the New York premieres of plays by avant-garde playwrights David Greenspan and Mac Wellman. She has worked extensively in Off-Off Broadway theater and in regional theater. Her performances include Rebecca McKeene in Continental Divide at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Birmingham Repertory (UK), and the Barbican Centre (London), Sonia in Harold Pinter’s Celebration at American Conservatory Theatre, Sonya in Uncle Vanya at Yale Repertory Theater, Laura in The Glass Menagerie at Liberty Stage, Sally in Lips Together, Teeth Apart at the Hangar Theater, and Fefu in Fefu and Her Friends as well as a solo piece, The Miller’s Daughter, at Princeton University.
Lev has been shooting professional headshots in NYC for 10 years. He is an inspirational and passionate photographer and a delight to work with. Lev has traveled throughout South and Central America, India, Israel, Western and Eastern Europe, England and Detroit…always with his camera and the desire to capture human stories. He understands what gets actors work and his headshots open doors to getting that work. He not only has an incomparable eye for light and composition, but he will capture what is inside of you every time. You can trust him with your story.