Eugene Buica (Founder and Artistic Director of The Acting Corps, Resident Writer and Director, The Master Class)

After graduating from both the University of Pennsylvania and The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, where he studied with the legendary Sanford Meisner, Mr. Buica went on to work at length with Michael Chekhov’s associate George Shdanoff and master teacher Michael Howard.

Mr. Buica has appeared in over 50 plays, films, television shows and commercials. Stage appearances include The Sound of Music on Broadway, Coriolanus at Princeton’s McCarter Theater, as well as a starring role in his own adaptation of The Swan at Lincoln Center. Film appearances include major roles in 14 Roger Corman features, as well as Chicago Film Festival winner The Infidel, Glass Necktie, The Group and Playing God with David Duchovny. Recently, in 2007, Mr. Buica appeared in two more award wining feature films, Deception and Float. Notable television roles include ER, Good Behavior, Days of Our Lives, Another World, and Becker, as well as appearances in twenty national commercials.

As a writer and director for the stage, Mr. Buica has written and directed a number of plays, most notably winning critical accolades from The Los Angeles Times for Parachute, a play in which he also starred. His work as a screenwriter and director includes co-writing and developing a number of projects for Stephen Baldwin’s production company, as well as his own feature length documentary called Mania.

Mr. Buica’s work in the narrative film medium include the shorts Bazin, Sleeping Beauty, Out of Town, as well as the the iFilm Award winner, Chip, which he wrote and directed under the banner of Comedy Troupe.com, a company which he co-founded. Another notable film, Frijole, was chosen as the Best of Los Angeles in the international film making competition called The 48 Hour Film Festival. Recently, Mr. Buica wrote and directed a collection of five short films starring all Acting Corps actors, entitled Spiritual.  In 2007 he also wrote, directed, and acted in another Acting Corps film called Repetition Man, which will soon be released. He is currently under contract to write and direct a feature film in 2008 for an independent production company, for which he will cast once again, mostly Acting Corps actors.

Mr. Buica has been coaching and teaching actors since 1991, leading workshops in the Grotowski, Michael Chekhov and Meisner approaches in Malibu, Los Angeles, Bucharest, and New York. As Artistic Director and Founder of The Acting Corps, Mr. Buica originated and implemented the unique training processes reflected in the Actors’ Boot Camp and all the other programs at The Acting Corps. As a result of The Acting Corps’ growing national prominence, Mr. Buica was asked to judge the TNT Dramatic Auditions National Competition in 2005 and 2006. TNT then selected The Acting Corps as the school to train the winner of its National Competition. Mr. Buica has spoken about acting widely, most recently on the BBC, MTV, and at Universal Studios.

Sydney Walsh (BCI & BCII Scene Study/Cold Reading, BCII On Camera Audition)

Sydney Walsh received her B.A. in theatre from Williams College. Shortly after graduating, she worked for a summer as part of The Second Company at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Born and raised in Manhattan, she returned to New York for what was supposed to be a short time, but ended up staying to play a psychopathic drug addict on The Guiding Light. She also appeared off-Broadway at The West Bank and The Ensemble Studio Theatre.

In 1985, Sydney moved to Los Angeles with plans to stay long enough for pilot season, and has never left. Her television credits include over 75 guest starring roles on such hit shows as CSI: NY, Without a Trace, Crossing Jordan, Nip/Tuck, The Division, NYPD Blue, ER, Medium, Nash Bridges, Touched by an Angel and The Practice. She also held series regular and recurring roles on such shows as Hooperman, Melrose Place, True Believer and Dream On. For Disney’s animated series, Teamo Supremo, she provided the voices for many villainous evil doers. Sydney won a Cable Ace Award for best supporting actress for her work in HBO’s Viet Nam War Stories. Her film credits include-- American Gun, Auggie Rose, Point Break, 3 Men and a  Little Lady, Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2, and the award-winning An Early Frost.

Sydney performed in and helped produce many one-act festivals, as well as playing the lead in an adaptation of Hedda Gabler. As a founding member of Plymouth, an avant garde theatre company, she worked as a moderator, teacher and actor for four years. She has been teaching acting since 1995 and is very happy to be a member of The Acting Corps faculty.

Sean Dougherty (Acting Corps Technique, Daily Acting Workout, BCI & BCII Scene Study/Cold Reading, BCII On Camera Audition, Advanced Acting Corps Technique)

Sean Dougherty received his MFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University under William Esper and Maggie Flannigan, also studying the Chekhov Technique with Lenard Petit. 

Sean’s stage work includes over 50 productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and regionally at such theaters as The Alley, the Actor’s Theater of Louisville Humana Festival, Papermill Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Studio Arena, Milwaukee Rep and Yale Rep. He has worked with such directors as Eric Simonson, John Rando, Mark Wing-Davey, Joe Dowling and Barry Edelstein. In addition, he created roles for Jeffery Hatcher, Amy Freed and Allison More. 

Sean’s television work includes over twenty commercials and voiceovers, Law and Order as well as many appearances on All My Children, Another World, and The Guiding Light. His film work includes the award winning short Significant Romance in Compressed Time and the upcoming New Line feature Pride and Glory with Colin Farrell and Edward Norton and directed by Gavin O’Connor.

Dariush Kashani (Acting Corps Technique, BCI & BCII Scene Study/Cold Reading, Business of Show Business, BCII On Camera Audition, Advanced Scene Study/Cold Reading, Advanced Acting Corps Technique)

Dariush Kashani received his MFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where he studied acting with William Esper, Maggie Flanigan, Michael Chekhov technique with Leonard Petit and masks with Pierre LeFevre. Dariush also worked closely with Declan Donnellan on his book 'The Actor and the Target'.

Theatre credits include Homebody/Kabul (Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mark Taper Forum & New York Theatre Workshop), East is East (Manhattan Theatre Club) and several plays at McCarter Theatre Center, Cooper Union and The Joseph Papp Public Theatre. Film: Eagle Eye and Wasabi Tuna. Television: Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, CSI, Drive, Lost, 24, JAG, Without a Trace, Law & Order, Law & Order:Criminal Intent, and Guiding Light.

Benjamin Mathes  (BCI & BCII Scene Study/Cold Reading, BCII On Camera, Actors' Instrument, DAW, Advanced Scene Study/Cold Reading, Advanced Acting Corps Technique)

From Atlanta, Ga, Benjamin Mathes began his actor training at the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and later completed his Masters of Fine Arts in Acting at the University of California, Irvine. His professional career has led him to leading roles in Off-Broadway classical theatre, Regional Theatre, Soap Operas, Network
Television, Film, and even as a Food Network Host. He has worked with Andy Garcia, Alan Arkin, John Witherspoon, and Chris Rock among others. His one-man show Fallujah Good, based on his brother's combat journal during the Battle of Fallujah, has played in Orange County, NYC, and will continue its run in Knoxville, TN in the Fall of 2008. He is a member of AEA, SAG, AFTRA.

Benjamin is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, and has taught acting and voice at the University of California, Irvine, and the University of San Diego. As a vocal/text coach he has assisted and worked for the Denver Center Theatre Company, the Fugitive Theatre Ensemble, and numerous University productions. In 2007, the Y.W.C.A awarded him the Educator of Empowerment Award for his work with Atlanta youth.

Lisa Robinson   (Business of Show Business)

Lisa has been acting since 1991, when she guest starred and recurred on shows such as The Wonder Years and Brooklyn Bridge. Since then, her credits include work on CSI: Miami and the upcoming features, This Side of the Truth and The Rebound. She has worked in the casting offices of Juel Bestrop & Jeanne McCarthy, Dori Zuckerman & Cathy Henderson and Linda Lowy. Lisa received her BFA from Emerson College in Boston and her MFA in teaching from Pepperdine University.

Adam Smith (Actors’ Instrument, BCI Scene Study/Cold Reading)

Adam is an award-winning actor, as well as a playwright, teacher and coach. He received his MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego (UCDS/La Jolla Playhouse), and a BA (magna cum laude) from Duke University. He has also studied at the Michael Howard Studios in NYC. As an actor, he has worked in countless venues Off-Broadway (Adobe Theater Co, Cherry Lane, HERE), regionally (Pasadena Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Falcon, Black Dahlia, Manbites Dog, Tennessee Williams Festival) and internationally (Edinburgh Fringe Festival).

His TV/Film credits include: Without a Trace, Numb3rs, As The World Turns, Zombie Strippers, Vardell Duseldorfer, Deceit, among others.

In 2006, he won an Emmy Award for starring in and hosting When Things Get Small, a comedic look at the world of nanoscience. Additionally, he worked as a professional dialect coach on the set of Splitsville (Fox-TV). Finally, W=S, a play he co-wrote with a world-renowned physicist, was workshopped at the Magic Theater in San Francisco last summer. Prior teaching experience includes the University of California, San Diego.

Scott Conte  (Acting Corps Technique)

Scott Conte received his MFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where he studied the Meisner technique with William Esper and Maggie Flanagan, also working with Charles Marowitz, Leonard Petit (Chekhov), Pierre LeFevre (masks), and Harold Scott (Shakespeare). Scott Conte has appeared in numerous theatrical productions in both New York and Los Angeles, including the award-winning Big Love, directed by Mel Shapiro, as well as Birdbath, Rocket to the Moon, Anna Christie, Everyday Life, Lulu, Aven’u Boys, and Golden Boy. Recent credits include the feature films Never Say Macbeth and Red Sky Morning. Television appearances include Criminal Minds, NYPD Blue, Boston Legal, Joan of Arcadia, and Seinfeld.

Scott Conte has taught acting at Rutgers University, and he currently teaches acting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Adrian Alita  (BCI Scene Study/Cold Reading, Actors’ Instrument, BCI & BCII Acting Corps Technique, BCII Scene Study/Cold Reading, Advanced Acting Corps Technique, Daily Acting Workout)

Adrian received his BA in Theater Arts from San Diego State University and his MFA in Acting from the University of California, Irvine. His credits include performances in England, South Africa, Italy and Romania. He is a founding member of the theater troupe, Clownzilla, whose last show was chosen as LA Times Critic's choice.

As a teacher, Adrian has taught on a university level, improvisation, scene study, monologue work, movement, voice and speech and clown characterization.

Corey Sorenson   (BCII Acting Corps Technique, Actors' Instrument, BCI Acting Corps Technique, Daily Acting Workout)

Corey Sorenson received his MFA in acting from Temple University, where he studied with Fitzmaurice Master teacher Donna Snow. While in Philadelphia, he also worked and studied with Tony Award winner Bill Irwin before moving on to New York to continue his professional career.

Performing in over 50 plays, Corey has appeared in productions across the country and internationally, including work at The Old Globe, The New Group, and The Walnut Street Theatre. Some of his film and television work includes: The Wire, Law & Order:SVU, State of Mind, Rescue Me, Greek, Heartland, and the upcoming series The Circuit which he also wrote..

Leonora Gershman Pitts   (BCI Acting Corps Technique, BCI Scene Study/Cold Reading, Daily Acting Workout)

Leonora Gershman Pitts was born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied with the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. Upon graduation, she joined Atlantic's faculty, where she taught Speech for three years. Her theater credits include Last Night of Ballyhoo, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the long-running off- Broadway hit The Donkey Show, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival world premiere of Choke Point. She is currently appearing in the international hit Inside Private Lives at the Fremont Center Theatre, a show that she's been performing for over two years.

Her television credits include Law & Order: SVU, Boston Public, and I Hate My 30's. She is proud to be a frequent performer and collaborator with Drama 3/4 Productions, and has appeared in many of their short films, pilot presentations, and in their infamous live sketch show, Another Showcase Showdown, or A.S.S. She has studied Improv at the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and has performed on their stage many times. Leonora has also collaborated with Liam Sullivan, of Kelly's "Shoes" fame, appeared in many of his "Kelly" shorts, and is very proud of their online serial, The Misadventures of Purple Man.

Leonora lives in Atwater Village with her new husband, and serves as co-chair of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council.

David Johann Kim   (Daily Acting Workout, BCI Acting Corps Technique, BCI Scene Study/Cold Reading)

David received his MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego. He also studied with Earl Gister and Ron Van Lieu at the Actors Center in NYC and in LA with Jeffrey Tambor. As an actor, he has performed at regional theatres on both coasts including: NY Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, The Huntington Theatre, Lincoln Center Institute, Syracuse Stage, La Mama NYC, El Teatro Campesino, The Magic Theatre and NYS Theatre Institute. David received critics choice awards for his performances in John Steinbeck's East Of Eden and Han Ong's Reasons To Live as well as for Neil LaBute's Bash directed by Les Waters.

As a filmmaker, David's long form short film Lossed recently received worldwide distribution. As writer and director, he developed Lossed with the lead actresses for 5 weeks prior to writing the script. His film, $/Dream won a Motor City Film Festival Award in Detroit. His newest film Mommy recently screened here in LA. He is currently developing several other projects.

David has taught acting in San Francisco, San Diego, and LA. His coaching in LA led to his being on (and off) set acting coach to the lead actor in Put It In A Book directed by Rodrigo Garcia. David has also been an Artist in Residence for The Kennedy Center's Imagination Celebration.