Acting Classes in Hollywood, CA

Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio, Hollywood:
Conveniently located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood CA, the epicenter of the Los Angeles’ entertainment industry, the Elizabeth Mestnik Acting Studio is a boutique studio that provides 12-week to 9-month beginner and advanced acting lessons for students who want to learn the art of acting in a challenging and inspiring environment. We are here to offer you more than just an acting class; we are here to help you develop a comprehensive set of acting tools that will support you as you pursue your acting career.

12-week to 9-month Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced Acting Classes

The Basic Technique Series (12-weeks)
This program gives student actors the opportunity to develop skills that can be applied easily, effectively and specifically. We discovered that most beginning acting classes in Los Angeles were scene study classes, where students who had never acted before were given a scene, told to perform it, and then critiqued.

That is like someone who wants to dance going to ballet class the first day - told to dance Swan Lake and then told how to do the steps afterwards. It just doesn't make much sense to us. Acting, contrary to popular belief, does have a finite number of concrete and learnable skills. Those include the ability to:

- Access the creative imagination
- Break down a script
- Create a truthful character
- Master a strong and flexible body and voice

This program was developed to give those skills to the actor first, and then apply them to a performance. It is a great program for the Beginning Actor or for the more experienced actor who wants to refresh his or her tools. The Series is divided into three 12-week sessions:

- The Character
- The Script
- The Foundation

The Meisner Technique
The great strength of Meisner Training is that it gives you a clear, step-by-step approach to the craft of acting that allows complete freedom of expression and confidence in your abilities. In EMAS’ Meisner Technique program, we teach The Meisner Technique, period. It is not a blend of other techniques or “methods”, or an innovative new spin. It is a pure Meisner Training program.

Year 1
The first year is dedicated to you learning who you are and bringing that self-knowledge to your craft. To be a great actor you absolutely must know yourself. You are introduced to the fundamentals of acting through improvisational exercises that gradually become more challenging. You develop skills such as listening and emotional availability, working moment to moment to create the sense of spontaneity that is necessary to all great acting.

Year 2
The second year’s acting classes introduce Character Development, Script Analysis, Voice and Movement as well as Auditioning Technique. If the first year is learning the steps, the second year is when you get to dance.

Scene Study
In the film and television industry, even working actors rarely get to live through an entire scene. Until an actor is at the top of their profession, acting opportunities consist of small vignettes. We all want the opportunity to sink our teeth into a meaty character or a dynamic conflict. After all, that’s why we’re actors.

Scene Study is the acting class where students take all of their technique and harness it for performance. It is a weekly workout where actors test their performance abilities in a safe and playful environment. Through working on scenes of various genres, the actors discover their strengths and weaknesses with the help of a trained director’s eye. Because class size is restricted to 12-14 actors, each actor works in every class.

Supplemental Acting Seminars
Throughout the year, EMAS offers a variety of workshops taught by some of Los Angeles’ top industry professionals. They are great supplements to your core-acting classes. Workshops range from 1-day seminars to 6-week courses and are offered in the following areas:

- Improvisation
- Voice and Movement
- Commercials
- On-Camera
- Auditioning
- Shakespeare
- The Business of Acting