Carol Hickey Acting Studio: Austin, Texas

ADULT COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

FOUNDATION CLASS - REQUIRED CLASS FOR STUDENTS NEW TO OUR STUDIO.
This class lays out both logically and experientially our approach to the work. The student recalls acting as a child's game played by children's rules. Identifying the muscles needed to play the game and eliminating concerns of the ego allows students to rediscover the joy of playing pretend. This simple approach is then applied to scripted material using both monologues and scenes from plays.
Taught by Jenny Frame and Nancy L. Gray

SCENE STUDY - PRE-REQUISITE FOUNDATION CLASS
This semester class helps students develop and strengthen the muscles of child-like mentality, focus and concentration, vulnerability and imagination to in order to more productively create a second reality. Challenging scenes from plays are assigned and the student is challenged with the discipline of homework.
Taught by Kim Jackson Davis or Sarah Marie Curry

WORKING ACTOR - BY INVITATION ONLY
Professional level training for actors who currently have agency representation and are actively auditioning for theatre, film and television. This class provides a healthy environment for a challenging workout and focuses on accuracy, simplicity, and artistry in the work. This class also serves as an on-camera audition work out and business development class. The combination of attention to both the business and the art helps get the actor to the next level in their career.
Taught by Kim Jackson Davis and Carol Hickey

VOICE AND MOVEMENT TOOLKIT
This class will introduce participants to the fundamentals of voice and movement for actors, providing individual tools that constitute building blocks for success. Classwork will be focused on an introduction to various techniques, methods, exercises, and explorations pertaining to vocal production and effective movement for stage and screen.
Taught by Adam Roberts
Limit 8 students

FILM FIGHT
This class provides 4 weeks of weapons training and safely - how to check, load, draw, hold and fire a pistol, rifle, shotgun and knife. The following 4 weeks you will learn fight choreography and basic stunts and be filmed acting while demonstrating both stunt and weapon capability. Film editing is optional for an additional fee. Level 1 is for actors with little experience in fighting/stunts. Level 2 is for those with a year or more of martial arts training and previous stunt or fight training.
Taught by Mark Cabrera
Limit 8 students

IMPROV
This is not improv comedy. This is while new way to improvise. This is learning how to play like a child with an adult's ability to focus and concentrate for powerful storytelling. Students will learn more about the mentality of creative energy and use the techniques of improvisation as an active, iterative, learning process to become more open and aware, increase presence, and play pretend at the highest level. Basic improvisation scene and structure education is given with the goal of creating real, vulnerable, human beings in imaginary circumstances. Sarah- Marie Curry has built upon her decades-long career as a teacher and performer in the national improv community to create a profound experience for actors willing to lend themselves fully to create powerful stories.
Taught by Sarah Marie Curry
Limit 8 students

THE COMMERCIAL GAME - ON ZOOM
Commercials are often comprised of very simple patterns and ideas. Knowing what to look for and recognizing these patterns can be the first step in getting more callbacks, avails, and bookings. In this class, we look at informative to camera copy, work on setting up and landing reactions while connecting them to thoughts. We work on relationships in commercials, how to handle props, food, and specificity of movement. We also focus on improv within the context of copy and look for opportunities to add when it fits.
Taught by Oren Skoog
Limit 10 students

SCREENWRITING
This class will provide a foundation for understanding the basic elements of a screenplay. We will focus on creating a safe environment that encourages experimentation and freedom. We will develop a common core vocabulary for how to analyze scripts and identify the characteristics of an effective script with the understanding that while scripts are meant to be instructions for a visual creation, they can be poetic and beautiful in their own right. We will explore the rules of traditional screenwriting and learn when and how to intentionally break those rules. We will play with creativity and build a capacity for risk-taking. This class is designed around each writer choosing their own goals and projected outcomes with the guidance to help you get there.
Taught by Nichole Abshire

Tuition and Policies