We coach actors with the winning tools of the trade. Our performing arts school was founded in 2000 by acclaimed acting coach Michelle Danner.
Acting in Los Angeles is more than acting techniques or simply taking acting classes. It’s about finding what you really want – more than life and breath itself. The Michelle Danner Acting Studio is an acting school that treats the craft less like a business and more as creation fueled by insight and wonder.
Our Los Angeles acting school’s philosophy is that artists can draw upon all different acting techniques and form a toolbox of their own, their very own Golden Box. Our actors develop a comprehensive set of acting tools when approaching a role or a scene whether it be for film, television or theater.
Michelle Danner’s Los Angeles acting school encompasses the Meisner Technique, Lee Strasberg’s Method, Stella Adler, Stanislavski’s System, Uta Hagen, and the Chekhov technique.
Our master teachers are working professionals, who prepare and inspire our students for acting careers with cutting edge technology.
Our acting studio is located in the heart of Los Angeles’ entertainment industry in Santa Monica, CA.
To be an actor is to recognize that you have a responsibility to the craft, you are contributing to the world by being a storyteller that embodies the human condition. Deep down you know it’s your destiny to express yourself as an actor and no matter what you cannot quit! – Michelle Danner
FAQ
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What is our teaching technique?The Michelle Danner Acting Studio recognizes that every actor is unique. We help students to develop their own “Golden Box.” You will accumulate a comprehensive set of “acting tools” when approaching a role or a script, whether it be for film, television, or theater. This Los Angeles Acting School’s acting technique encompasses tools based on Meisner, Strasberg, Adler, Hagen, Chekhov, & the Stanislavsky Technique.
We provide a safe and pro-active environment that fosters creativity in our students. Our students are encouraged to take risks and work on challenging and daring material that will stretch them as actors and push them beyond their limits.
Our classes are kept small so that each student has the opportunity to work in every class. We ensure that each student receives the care and attention necessary to grow as an actor.
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Where have our faculty trained?You will be taught by one of the most-well respected and in demand acting coaches in Hollywood. Michelle Danner has worked for years privately, and on set with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Our faculty of acting teachers have graduated from some of the most prestigious programs in the world, including Yale, NYU, and Juliard, and they are currently working as actors, and directors.
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What opportunities are there for actors?The Michelle Danner Acting Studio not only provides world class training; our students may have the opportunity, based on the timing of their attendance, to audition for parts in Michelle Danner’s latest movies, audition for the various theater productions, and participate in our annual film festival, Cinema at the Edge. These projects may give students the chance to build their resumes through practical training.
All In Films is an independent film production company. At the helm are Michelle Danner, Alexandra Guarnieri, and Brian Drillinger. The mission of All In Films is to produce high-quality, independent movies geared to entertain & spark social commentary. Check out the website at www.allinfilms.com.
Through the improvisational classes students may have the opportunity to be part of the latest Web Series “Uncensored Hollywood.”
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What experiences do our coaches have?Michelle Danner, who is the leading acting coach and director of the studio, is a renowned actor, director, and an acclaimed acting coach. She has worked with many A-List Actors privately as well as on set. She directed Hello Herman, starring Norman Reedus from the Walking Dead. The film opened nationwide and was distributed by Warner Brothers. It premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival and won the award for Socially Relevant Film at the Monaco Charity Film Festival.
She teaches internationally in Europe, Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai, Australia, South America, and New York. She was voted favorite acting coach by Backstage readers. Michelle trained with Stella Adler and Uta Hagen
We are considered one of the top acting schools in the country because of our acting techniques. The most in-demand and lasting acting techniques are taught, and this includes tools from the Meisner, Strasberg, Adler, Hagen, Chekhov, and Stanislavsky techniques. Students will have multiple options to select from for different ways of learning. We recommend methods that work for the individual actor and that inspire the actor to be the best that they can be..
Our faculty teaches our students to look at the craft of acting from a place that is non-dogmatic. They don’t limit students into thinking that there is only one way to find their way into a character script analysis and making choices. The faculty at the acting studio are highly trained professionals; graduates from Juilliard, NYU, Yale and working artists.
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What is the proven track record?To add to this drama school’s belt of achievements, A-list actors in Hollywood can attest to the quality of teachings. Michelle Danner’s roster of actors she has worked with include James Franco, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Rock, Gerard Butler, Seth MacFarlane, Kate Del Castillo, Michael Pena, Catherine Bell, Gabrielle Union, Michelle Rodriguez, and many others.
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Is there flexibility in scheduling our Acting classes?Our acting programs are customized for each actor. We understand that each student will have varying needs based on their skill levels and age. Development takes time, and this is why each applicant is personally interviewed before being fitted into one of our numerous programs. We have acting classes for children and adults of all levels.
Acting Techniques
Stella Adler Technique
The Stella Adler Technique deals with in-depth script analysis. The actors will master the breakdown of a script into beats and the use of action exercises and emotional doings to understand the character’s through-line.
Lee Strasberg Technique
Lee Strasberg’s “Sense Memory and Method Technique,” are used to help the actors develop and explore all their senses, bringing their instrument in tune with their environment and their emotional states. The use of imagery is introduced to connect with emotionality and body language.
Stanislavski technique
Stanislavski’s system is a progression of techniques used to train actors and actresses to draw believable emotions to their performances. The method that was originally created and used by Constantin Stanislavski from 1911 to 1916 was based on the concept of emotional memory for which an actor focuses internally to portray a character’s emotions onstage. Later, between 1934 and 1938, this technique evolved to a method of physical actions in which emotions are produced through the use of these actions.The latter technique is referred to as Stanislavski’s system.[1] This approach was developed by Constantin Stanislavski (1863–1938), a Russian actor, director, and theatre administrator at the Moscow Art Theatre (founded 1897).
Michael Chekhov
Following Stanislavski’s approach, much of what Chekhov explored addressed the question of how to access the unconscious creative self through indirect non-analytical means.Chekhov taught a range of movement dynamics such as molding, floating, flying, and radiating that actors use to find the physical core of a character.
Despite his seemingly external approach, Chekhov’s techniques were meant to lead the actor to a rich internal life. In spite of his brilliance as an actor and his first-hand experience in the development of Stanislavski’s groundbreaking work, Chekhov as a teacher was overshadowed by his American counterparts in the 1940s and 1950s and their interpretations of Stanislavski’s ‘system,’ which became known as Method acting.
Sanford Meisner Technique
The established Sanford Meisner Technique leads the actor through a procedure of self-investigation, the use of Independent Activities, Entrances, Point of View, Emotional Preparation, Action and Scene Work. The actors learn to craft their independent activities to their fullest emotional, sequential, imaginative and challenging possibilities as well as the crafting of their entrances and exits. Other aspects of the improvisational exercises include the Domestic Exercise, the Shared Circumstance and the Life Goes on Activity.
UTA HAGEN
Uta Hagen, a three time Tony Award winning actress, became a highly influential acting teacher at New York’s Herbert Berghof Studio and has authored several best-selling acting training books. She believed in being rather than acting and that the characters were not characters, they were a part of who you are. Her fundamental idea that she taught was that all of the roles exist within us.