BIG CHANGES FOR HOOKS THIS YEAR!
The most fun and rewarding toy in any person's possession is his or her own life. Given your good health, you can do with it pretty much what you want to, no matter how unconventional. In that spirit, I am announcing an upcoming big change in my life: Before September, I will move my family from the Bay Area to Chicago. Lock, stock and barrel. This is the first step in a longer-term goal that my wife, Cally, and I share, namely to divide our time between the U.S. and Europe. It makes a lot more sense for us to be in Chicago than San Francisco if we want to make this plan a reality, and at the risk of giving you more information than you require, I'm going to tell you why.

Chicago is, first of all, a great place to live, a city in a renaissance mode right now. Cally was born and raised just across the lake from there, in Three Oaks, Michigan. She has a brother and sister and close friends in the area, so for her, this will be something of a homecoming. Second, Chicago is a world-class theater town, a factor that is important to both of us. It is home to almost 3,500 SAG-member actors, over 200 theaters and is a conduit to both New York and Hollywood. It is the third largest market income-wise for Screen Actors Guild, behind New York and Los Angeles. Actors in Chicago earn $24 million per year from commercials, in comparison to $8 million in San Francisco. Third, Chicago operates the nation's busiest international airport, and the round trip fare between Chicago and Rome, Italy, where we will establish a second residence within the next couple of years, is half what it is between San Francisco and Rome. And as a purely personal preference, I happen to like a lifestyle amid four distinct seasons, even if one of them is bone-chilling cold. I happily spent the first nine years of my professional theatrical life in New York City, an environment not unlike that of Chicago, and I am looking forward to experiencing it again.

As with any major transition, one should always consider the strategic value of simply maintaining the status quo. I have carefully considered the option of remaining in San Francisco, but the positives that are drawing me toward the mid-west share the spotlight with the increasing frustrations of living in the Bay Area. The commute from Palo Alto to my San Francisco acting studio used to take forty minutes, and now it routinely takes me almost two hours. In Chicago, we plan to live downtown, sans car. We'll ride the El and buses. And no Bay Area resident needs me to tell him about the insane cost of living here, the soaring rents and all the rest of it. The San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News are full of this distressing information every morning. Like many others here, my family and I have been dismayed by the inflationary spiral, and it appears the local situation will get worse rather than better over the next few years. Local economics makes a huge move like this one, if not easy, then at least common-sensical.

As I gaze into the crystal ball that contains the next twenty years of my life, I envision being far more global than I have been. I love to travel, to meet new people and experience different cultures, and my Acting for Animators workshops have made that more possible than ever before. I will, for example, be in Teeside England Feb. 1-3 for Animation 2001 and in Stuttgart, Germany June 24-30, teaching at Filmakademie Baden-Wortemberg. Once we are set up in Rome -- in the Piazza Farnese area, we hope -- I will be able to range out into Europe and Asia to teach. Again, the finances of it all make sense. It is much cheaper for me to travel from Rome to, say, Singapore or London than it is to travel from San Francisco. Increased international work for me in the animation field will help offset the increased cost of a new global life style.

Finally, underlying all of these strategic considerations is this: I relish change. To me personally, change is growth, and life is not a dress rehearsal. A person should do what he wants to do with his life. He should be guided by his dreams, keeping a clear eye focused on the horizon, always moving toward an ever more rewarding tomorrow. That is what brought me into acting in the first place, and it is my inspiration as I prepare for the next leg of my exciting journey.

BUT WAIT! BUT WAIT! BUT WAIT!....

I am not gone yet! I will teach in San Francisco and Palo Alto through August, and I hope that Bay Area actors will find a way to study with me. We still have time, and I would love the opportunity.

ED'S WANT/NEED LIST

1) Friends in Chicago. Maybe even an assistant in Chicago when the time comes. There will be a transitional period this summer during which I will physically still be in the Bay Area but will actively be involved in establishing myself in Chicago. I can use all the help I can get with that transition. Ideally, I'd have two of me for a couple of months.<g>

2) A home in Chicago. Beginning early summer, I'll be looking for a three-bedroom rental in one of Chicago's northern or western neighborhoods, perhaps Lincoln Park or Bucktown, some place convenient to downtown and public transportation.

3) Space for an acting studio in Chicago. I haven't decided yet if I will teach for an already-established school or will open my own studio. I'm leaning toward the latter and will be looking at potential studio space within the main theatre district. I'll need about 1,000 sq. feet on a 24/7 rental basis.

4) Expanded Newsletter mailing list. If you know actors or animators in Chicago, please tell them I am coming and suggest that they subscribe to the Hooks Newsletter. I will be announcing more specific Chicago plans here and in my web sites during the coming months.

ARTS & LETTERS WEB SITE IS TERRIFIC!

For the literary eggheads among us, I recommend Arts & Letters Daily (http://www.cybereditions.com/aldaily/). The web site is operated by Denis Dutton, a 56-year old philosophy professor and is a monumental time-suck. It receives 760,000 hits per month. Go see.

Film Demo Workshop STILL OPEN

There are still a few spaces in the upcoming Film Demo Workshop. In this workshop, you develop two scenes that are shot on digital video and edited for a demo reel. Actors get their hands on the actual editing, and the class is chock full of good lessons about the differences between acting for camera versus acting on stage. The Film Demo Workshop is limited to ten students. Given that I will only be teaching a few more of these workshops in the Bay Area, I strongly encourage you to do it soon if you intend to do it at all. The Tuesday night class begins February 13th, and the Wednesday class begins February 14th. Tuition for eight weeks is $575.

UPCOMING CLASSES

Commercials workshop --March 10-11

Acting for Animators --March 24th (Saturday), 10am-5pm

Scene Study SF -- Monday nights, 7-10:30

Scene Study Palo Alto - Thursday nights, 6:30-10pm

Film Demo Workshop --New classes begin Feb. 13th (Tuesday nights) and Feb. 14th (Wednesday nights)

HOOKS ACTORS WORKING
SHANNON VANN (comml - '99) has been cast in a play, "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up" at Las Positas college in Livermore. JEANNETTE HARRISON (Film class - '00) is in "The Diary of Anne Frank" (the revised version), running through February 17th at Bus Barn Stage in Los Altos. For tickets, call 650-941-0551. NICOLE DOHERTY (comml - '00) has been cast in "The Little Prince", playing at City College in March. She also shot a short film called "Unacceptable Offer" for a grad student director at the Academy of Art. LISA WISEMAN (s.stdy - '94-'95) shot three industrials for Playback Media, playing characters with multiple personas . She also shot an industrial for Penrose Productions. ANNIESCOTT ROGERS (s.stdy - '95) has been cast in an indie film entitled "Seeking Felicity". CAMILLE MANA (comml - '99) booked an episode of "Angel" for Warner Brothers. DAVID WALLACE's (s.stdy - '94-'98) film "The Homeboy" will be seen next month at a brand new film festival in San Francisco called "Film Junkie". Check out the web site at http:// www.filmjunkie.com. FRED OCHS (comml - '98) is in "Prelude to a Kiss" at Role Players Ensemble in The Village Theatre, 233 Front Street, Danville, running through Feb. 10th. For ticket info: 925-820-1278. AWELE MAKEBA's (comml - '00) "Rage Is Not A 1-Day Thing!" has been chosen to be a finalist in the LA Women's Theatre Festival, 3/22-24 & 3/30-31. AFTRA/SAG member KATHRYN DE YOUNG (comml - '95) shot a Wal-Mart industrial. TERRY LAMB (f/tv -'97) and LEWIS SIMS (f/tv-'95) are appearing in "Rachel and Charlie" at Yugen/Noh Space in the Project Artaud Complex in San Francisco. Through Feb. 25th. For info, call 415-621-7978.

CRAFT NOTES
ON ACTING CLASS

I teach mixed-levels acting classes. That means I put beginners side-by-side with more experienced actors instead of separating them into "Basic", "Advanced" and "Masters" groups. I have always been skeptical of such divisions because acting techniques have historically been learned through a process of apprenticeship. New actors need to be exposed to experienced ones, and the sooner the better. If a teacher segregates beginners into a group of their own, it fosters the notion that acting is something learned progressively, like accounting or medicine. A student in such a system is encouraged to believe that, as a "Basic" actor, he is not yet an actor; when he enters the "Advanced" class, he is more of an actor; when he gets into a "Masters" class, he is the Real McCoy, a total actor. I'm here to tell you that it just isn't so. I have seen raw beginners that have far more artistic integrity than some actors who have spent years in Masters classes. An actor is an actor is an actor, even from the first day in an acting class. The true actor must act with authority, not as a student. He must lead on stage, not follow. Far too many acting schools and acting teachers are more interested in perpetuating students who write checks rather than training actors. It is easier to do that if the students are required to jump through a bunch of beginner-advanced-masters hoops before they are allowed to experience themselves as legitimate.

I also insist that a prospective new student audit my acting class before I will accept her into it. That means I want her to come to class for free, sit there and watch actors acting. I want her to see how much fun, how difficult and unpredictable it can be. She may audit on a night when presented scenes soar to thrilling heights, or she may observe an artistic melt down. If she is really fortunate, she'll see both situations in the same class! Approximately half of the auditors who visit my classes are so intimidated by the process that I never see them again. Some of them slink out the door after class without even saying good-bye and thanks. That's okay with me. If a simple class audit can dissuade a person from pursuing an acting career, then his desire to act was not very deeply felt in the first place. I feel that I am doing such a person a great favor if, after visiting a class, he decides not to act.

Acting springs from religion. Its roots are in ancient shamanism. Actors take to the stage the way a religious leader, a priest or rabbi, takes to the pulpit. Just as a person wakes up one day and realizes that he must follow God, so too does a person realize profoundly that he must act. A talented actor feels the power of moral leadership at the same time that he is approaching his art with humility. Acting is not about becoming a movie star or being famous. It is an honorable and important profession.

The audience is like a congregation. The people in the audience gather together to share a tribal experience and to hear the wisdom of their chosen religious leader. Think for a moment how you would feel if you went to church and the pastor seemed uncertain of his sermon. You would be uneasy, wouldn't you? That is similar to the way an audience feels when confronted by a tepid or uncertain performance by an actor. This is why the best acting training encourages actors to lead from Day One. In order to act with authority -- that is, in order to act at all -- an actor must believe in her bones that she already is an actor, even if she has a limited resume of acting credits.

I cannot make anybody an actor. Neither could Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner or Constantin Stanislavsky himself. All an acting teacher can reasonably do is help someone who is already an actor to become a better one. Acting class is where we work on technique. The perfect acting student, in my opinion, is one that is passionate about communicating with other people; he feels like he has something to say about life, and he can't stop trying to figure out why we humans do the wonderful and awful things we do to one another. He is an autodidact, likely to keep by his bedside books on philosophy, history and politics as well as texts about acting technique and great novels. He sees the comedy in the human drama.

In other words, a great actor is a person of substance and humanity. The fact that a new student in acting class may never have acted on stage in her life is irrelevant and unimportant to me. There is no "right" time to act, and no resume is required. Passion is all.

Return to Top