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 ComedyTroupe.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, Advanced 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, DAW, 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.

William Mesnik 

William Mesnik has earned some renown locally not only as an actor, but also as a playwright. His drama, Three Songs, was greeted with such critical superlatives as "flawless," "seamless," "brilliant" and "gorgeous" when it premiered as the inaugural production of The Fremont Centre, in 1997. Its revival in 2002, on the five year anniversary of the theatre, garnered the L.A. Times Critic’s Choice, subsequent regional theatre productions, and a film option. FCT has also produced Bill’s Jackson Pollock – Painting on the Edge, and Muckrakers - An Evening of Presidential Campaign Songs and Family Dysfunction, which opened on the eve of the 2000 presidential election. His comedy Lundquist in the Sky with Diamonds was produced by Los Angeles Clown in 2004.

As an actor, Bill's theatrical resume encompasses Broadway (La Bete, Oh! Calcutta!), Off-Broadway (Modigliani, A Weekend Near Madison, The Good Times Are Killing Me, The Rimers of Eldritch, among others), such major regional venues as Yale Rep, The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and Actors Theater of Louisville, and two European-American collaborations: Shakespeare's King Lear and Chekhov’s Ivanov. He is a familiar face on television from his numerous commercial, episodic and sitcom appearances. His feature credits include Minority Report, Titanic, Eye For An Eye, Stonebrook and John Schlessinger's The Next Best Thing with Madonna and Rupert Everett. Bill is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

Curtis Mark Williams (BCI Scene Study/Cold Reading, On-Camera Audition Workshop) 

Curtis Mark Williams graduated from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Acting and has since performed in numerous plays on and off Broadway and regionally across the country. Among his credits, he originated the role of Denis McCleary in Tony Award winning playwright Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour at the South Coast Repertory and the role of Sam Kennedy in Joan Vail Thorne’s The Things You Least Expect at the George Street Playhouse. He made his Broadway debut opposite Mary-Louise Parker in Reckless with the Manhattan Theatre Club in NYC and was an original cast member of Eat the Runt at the American Place Theatre.

Television and film credits include the lead in the Oxygen Channel’s original movie, My Sexiest Mistake as well as numerous guest star appearances on shows including The Unit, Shark, The O.C., CSI Miami, Without a Trace, L&O, L&O S.V.U., L&O Trial by Jury, Conviction, The $treet, Ed, Time of Your Life, All My Children, and The Guiding Light.

Curtis has directed shows as well including, most recently, working as assistant director to Obie Award winning director, Gabriel Barre on Pippin, starring Ben Verene and Rosie O’Donnell at the Manhattan Grand Ballroom and as Director for Tom Stoppard’s Dogg’s Hamlet at the Chelsea Living Room Theatre.

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

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: Wasabi Tuna, and Eagle Eye. Television: Drive, Ghost Whisperer, Lost, 24, JAG, Without a Trace, Law & Order, Law & Order:
Criminal Intent, and Guiding Light.

Joy Osmanski (BC I & II Scene Study/Cold Reading, BCII On Camera, Business of Showbusiness)

Joy received her MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego, where she studied with Kyle Donnelly, Les Waters, Andre Belgrader and Ursula Meyer.

Since moving to Los Angeles, Joy has worked regularly in theatre, television, and film. Theatre experience includes work at the San José Repertory Theatre, The Mark Taper, La Jolla Playhouse, and A Noise Within. TV credits include series regular work on The Loop, and recurring roles on Grey's Anatomy and Samantha Who? and On the Lot. Recent film work includes the award-winning Fat Girl's Guide to Yoga, and the indie feature White On Rice.

Aaron Ganz (Acting Corps Technique, Actor’s Instrument, BCI & BCII Scene Study/Cold Reading, Advanced Acting Corps Technique)

Aaron received his Masters Degree from Harvard University’s Graduate Acting Program at The American Repertory Theater. Prior to that he was trained at The Meisner Extension at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he received his B.F.A. in Theater and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Acting award.

Aaron’s acting credits include; Off-Broadway: The Phantom Lady, The Tempest (The Pearl Theater Company). Regional: The Front Page, Betty’s Summer Vacation (American Repertory Theater). Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, Measure For Measure and The Comedy of Errors (Utah Shakespearean Festival). The Cherry Orchard, A Soldier’s Tale and, his favorite role to date, Malvolio in Twelfth Night (Chautauqua Theater Company). Russia: Vanya in Zoya’s Apartment and Prince Andrei in War and Peace (Moscow Art Theater). Aaron has appeared in numerous films, the most recent being as The Point Man in The Ballad of Na.

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.

Leah Michele Yananton (BCI Acting Corps Technique, DAW)

A recent émigré from New York, Leah has extensive experience in film, both in front of and behind the camera. Her latest movie is an independent feature, Apology, which she wrote and directed. She is also a grant recipient from New York City Arts Council, Lower Manhattan Culture Council, and the Fund for Creative Communities for a number of short films.

Leah received her Bachelors of Arts from Columbia University in New York City. She also completed two-years of Meisner-based training with James Brill at the Neighborhood Playhouse and also with artistic director Lenore Dekoven at Our Workshop East, which focused on Dekoven’s approach to acting, writing, and directing actors. Leah has taught acting at Atlantis Preparatory School and for Larry Engel’s filmmaking class at The Maine Workshops, as well as having served as Artist-in-Residence at American University in Washington, DC.

Off-Broadway theater credits include productions with the Regroup Theater, Yahooo-Espadrill Theater, and Columbia University Musical Theater Society.

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

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.

Seamus Dever (Actor's Instrument)

Seamus Dever has been living and working in Los Angeles for over eight years. He was born in Flint, Michigan and grew up in Bullhead City, Arizona. The son of a drama teacher, he received his bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University and holds MFAs from both The Moscow Art Theatre and Carnegie-Mellon University. Seamus is a veteran of over 50 plays and is well known for his stage work in Los Angeles.

Most recently, he starred in the premiere of iWitness at the Mark Taper Forum. He also played the lead in the LA premiere of A Clockwork Orange and won a Backstage West Garland Award and was nom'd for LA's Ovation Award and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. Seamus appears in Hollywoodland and his recent television work includes CSI:Miami, Close to Home, Navy NCIS, CSI New York, CSI, Charmed, JAG, and Cold Case.

Marjo-Riikka Makela (Actors’ Instrument)

Marjo-Riikka Makela is an actress, director and an acting coach who has worked extensively in Europe. Here in the USA, her recent acting credits include Yelena in Uncle Vanya at the Classic Stage Company in NYC and Medea for the California Repertory Company. She received her training at the The Russian Academy of Dramatic Arts and also holds an MFA (in Acting/Directing) from California State University (Long Beach).

Marjo-Riikka started her career in Finland working as a full-time, professional actor for the Municipal Theater of Kemi, and she also hosted her own TV show for Finnish RTV 6. Ms. Makela continued her work and studies in Russia and Denmark, where she also established her own private acting and improv studio. Her work with Sarah Kane and Andrei Malaev-Babel at the Stanislavsky Theater Studio in Washington, DC brought her to the United States.

Recently, Ms. Makela has taught at CSULB, the Chapman University in Orange County, the INTAR Theater in New York City (working alongside director Gisela Cardenas) and, at the moment, is teaching at Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles). Ms. Makela has specialized in a variety of acting techniques and has a profound love for the art of acting - sharing this art form with her students is an extension of this joy.

Michelle Benes (Acting Corps Technique, BCI Scene Study/Cold Reading, DAW)

Michelle Benes trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and also studied the Folio approach to Shakespeare as taught and developed by Patrick Tucker of The Royal Shakespeare Company. Additionally, she holds a BA in Theatre and an MA in Education.
 
Michelle was a founding member and managing director of The 11th Hour Collective in New York, as well as a founding member and co-artistic director of Fairfield Rep in Iowa. Theatre work in New York includes Tales of the Lost Formicans, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Brilliant Traces, The Man Who Couldn't Dance, and regionally in Charlie's Aunt, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Kind of Alaska, Love letters, and The Foreigner. In Los Angeles, she was a member of Theatre East and West Coast Theatre Ensemble. Michelle has been a member of the Coronet Theatre Actors' Lab since 1998. Film and television credits include The Bridges of Madison County, Three Wishes, Weeds, Judging Amy, Seventh Heaven, NewsRadio, Felicity, On Common Ground (PBS) and Passions.
 
Directing credits in New York include Double-Crossed, Invisible, You Were Perfectly Fine, Reservations for Two, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and regionally, Miss Julie, The Bald Soprano, A Christmas Carol, and The Rainmaker - which she had the extraordinary privilege of co-directing with William Ball of ACT. She began coaching and teaching in 1992.

Michele Spears   (Actor's Instrument)

Michele brings a diverse background to her teaching. She has worked professionally as an actor, director, dancer, choreographer, singer, improviser and puppeteer. She is a graduate of New York University ’s Tisch School of the Arts where she studied with Stella Adler, Robert Wilson, Elizabeth Swados and other distinguished faculty. She has extensive dance training as well as experience in such movement disciplines as Suzuki/Viewpoints, mime, contact improv and mask work.  

As an actor she has performed in off-Broadway and regional theatre, national and European touring companies, television and film. She has been awarded LA Weekly and Dramalogue Awards for her stage work. Her recent acting credits include Malcolm in the Middle, the improvised comedy series World Cup Comedy produced by Kelsey Grammer, Shakespeare Unscripted at the International Improv Festival in Paris , as well as leading roles in the independent feature films Secret Crush and Self Storage. She currently performs improvisation with Los Angeles Theatresports, Impro Theatre and Inflatable Betty. She has taught at the LA Unified School District’s Artist In Residency Program, USC, and UCLA.