Rachel Adams! This is her screen test for “The Notebook”

She received the script the NIGHT BEFORE her audition not leaving much time to prepare…

This is the “bar” we should be striving to reach and extend!

It’s an important thing to “feel” and more importantly to feel the “freedom” to be who you are within your learning within your craft! In the classroom it’s important to be able and to have the freedom to express and investigate. A strong sense of self comes from this freedom.

Actors need to know that freedom comes from “within” that we learn to understand the self, we learn to be courageous, we learn acceptance and learn to change the things we feel do not allow our energies to flow naturally, organically, unconsciously.

This all takes courage, allowing oneself to stand naked, as it were, infront of an audience and feel safe in showing your fears and vulnerabilities.

Actors MUST feel safe within the learning environment, NOT rush the process and immerse in this precious craft!

Let it be the EXPRESSION, let it be the EXPLORATION, let it be the PLAY, allow yourselves to IMMERSE in these wonderful characters that we all will have the opportunity of playing….

It shouldn’t be about the FAME, it shouldn’t be about the FORTUNE, it should be something that makes you smile and that you’d do for NOTHING!! Its the CRAFT….

Nicholsons’ Academy of Screen Acting (NASA) is proud to announce that its co-founders Fern and Wayne Nicholson have been invited to teach at the prestigious French Woods, described by the New York Times as ‘the gold standard of theater camps’.

Dedication to the craft and considerable professional achievements have culminated in the local industry icons being invited to teach at French Woods: Festival of Performing Arts – an elite New York summer camp that caters to the children of America’s most famous and wealthy families.

Notable parents of French Woodites include Will Smith, Jada Pinkett, Forest Whitaker, Steve Buscemi, David Hasselhoff, Carrie Fisher, Magic Johnson, John McEnroe, Jason Alexander, Christian Audigier (fashion designer), Debra Winger, Paul Simon, Paul Stanley, Dave Stewart, Rosanna Arquette and Jon Landau (producer Titanic/Avatar), to name a small few.

News of this opportunity comes at an auspicious time for the Nicholson siblings who this week opened their doors to the wider Australian acting community with the launch of NASA.

Based in Perth Western Australia, NASA is a training academy dedicated to the serious screen actor. It was established by all accounts ‘to fill a resounding gap’. Classes have been operating at maximum capacity for the past six months by word-of-mouth alone – a feat made possible by the pair’s exceptional reputation.

IF MAGAZINE:
Click on the link below to read the whole article.

http://if.com.au/2012/01/24/article/NASA-launches-in-Perth/JBQBGOWAPI.html

THE FIRST CLASS for 2012!

All refreshed and ready to go! That pretty much explains the attitude of NASA’s first class for this year! On each face looking up at me, determination, excitement and a need to push forward in technique and skill is the energy zapping around the room. Listening and questioning, a need to create and push themselves outside what they have already learned! What an attitude! “That’s what I’m talking about”…

It takes a “star” to continue the journey.

Expectations:

- Thinking outside of the box – what else can I see – what else can I do?

- Creating by yourself

- Scene work – not reliant on the lines

- Seeing the bigger picture

- Correct use of inner dialogue/subtext

- Emotional levels within a scene

- Listening to what you say

- Understanding it isn’t just telling a story, words are NOT just words

- Connecting with emotion THROUGH a story

REMEMBERING: TOO MUCH ANALYSIS CAUSES “PARALYSIS” – Keep it “SIMPLE”

- Nothing is every “WRONG“! It’s all about what WORKS!

“IF YOU DON’T BOX YOURSELF, YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PUTTING THE “LID” ON IT!”

Lets get real guys…I realise that it’s exciting, that it’s giving you that feeling that you’re off to bigger and better opportunities in bigger cities but it can be a terrible let down when you find yourselves heading back home to Perth wondering what tale to tell to your families and friends who eagerly wait to hear all the “big” news!

Training, training, training! This without saying should never stop, whether you’re in a classroom, short film, tv series or feature film….you’re training!

If you’re setting your heights on leaving Perth, here’s a few things to think about:

1. Showreel – nothing fancy…it doesn’t have to be the production value of “HOLLYWOOD” – Director and casting agents are interested in “PERFORMANCE”…not the fancy shots or editing skills.
2. No more than 3-5mins duration and make sure you save a piece “with no dialogue” and if possible a monologue.
3. Don’t make your showreel MENU driven. Agents and such do not have the time to click on menus to see your work!
4. Your BEST pieces FIRST! You want them to WANT to see more!
5. Your resume – check with the industry standard resume.
6. Your head shots – DONT check to see which photographer is the cheapest! You pay for what you get! As to look at their work first. If possible, go on recommendations and REMEMBER…Agents here in Perth work quite differently than those in the Eastern States and overseas. DO YOUR RESEARCH!
7. Make appointments! Research, call, check, and organise this BEFORE YOU GO!
8. Keep pushing, knock on as many doors as possible. Join acting groups and keep up your research on all productions
9. Get a job! Not all of us have the opportunity of living in another city and not having to work! I hear lots and lots of “two minute noodles” are the go!!
10.LAST BUT NO LEAST….DON’T FORGET “WHO YOU ARE”!!!!

This industry doesn’t wait around for anybody and it WILL be a waste of time “waiting by the phone”….

Just recently a few actors that I’ve had the privilege of training, who have gone on to bigger and better opportunities, gave their views…

“I don’t understand…so many are turning up unprepared and what’s worse is they don’t seem to realise that ‘everything’ gets harder. Jobs, rent, fighting for roles and suddenly now being 1 in 1000s applying! I didn’t realise how ‘strong’ one needed to be to keep it all going and how attitude played such a large role”

Yes, it’s going to be hard…did you really think it was going to be an easy ride? You need more than just PASSION folks! It’s going to take “EVERYTHING” you’ve got! Your dreams and career will depend on it!

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.

KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

I know I can speak for Fern, when I say that FTI was one of the best places we’ve worked at. We had a blast over the years, we would witness the fruits of our labour when we see and hear about the success of our students in the industry. This made us proud and gave us a little strut in our stride, knowing we had something to do with that. FTI was a place where students could come and chat about their next big project, be taught by professionals in the industry and tell their stories. But now this has all changed. The training department has left the building. The fat lady has sung her last note and the clapper board as CLANGED shut for the very last time – its a wrap!  The echoes of students chatting in the hallways, rehearsing their lines and discussing final cut, is now a thing of the past – Sshhhhhh.

With two of FTI’s head lecturers now “unemployed” we thought to ourselves – what now? Do we find another job? Do we go back to freelance work? But the question we kept asking ourselves was, “What do we do best?” This question eventually led to the idea of starting a brand new training Academy. Why not? We are good at what we do – probably the best. This can be an Academy where the rules can be twisted, screwed up and thrown out, once and for all. An Academy where the serious actor can tread a path of self-discovery and face the honest truth by teachers who aren’t afraid to passionately yell critique like an army drill sergeant. A place where training methods can be designed for each class without fear of falling outside the lines of the “Education System“. We finally have no red tape – no rules. A relief. In fact, the harder we push our students, the better – right? Isn’t this what the serious actor wants? Hard and honest critique? If not, then tough!  If you are wanting to be mollycoddled and receive confidence boosters with little taps on your back so you can forget your 9-5 day, then I say, this isn’t the right school for you. There are plenty of other acting workshops and schools for that, where the craft of acting is only a hobby. WE ARE NOT THAT KIND OF SCHOOL. Acting is a serious business to us and we take it seriously.

It’s funny that as teachers and mentors, this form of hard disciplinarian-type training is the reason for our success in the industry.  Oh yes my friends, the chatter engines are all go and the chinese whisper machines are buzzing in Perth. The phones have been ringing and the in-boxes are glowing – the movement has begun.  NASA is here. Yes, you now are aware that this Academy is for the actor who is serious about their craft and it seems, serious actors are talking.

We do realise, however, in every journey there has to be a starting point; the beginning. The very first step. We are not saying, if you are a beginner then don’t apply. We are simply asking that you take the craft of acting seriously. Every great actor we now know, once decided to take that fearful leap of faith into the abyss. We now read about them in tabloid magazines and watch them on our televisions sets. We say, “Living truthfully in an imaginary circumstance comes so easy to them. They got lucky! ” Bullshit! The talent you are witnessing is a result of years of hard work, continuous training and sticking to the craft when everything else is falling by the wayside. Sticking to the craft when everyone close to you is saying, “give it up and get a real job!” So much so, that even we begin to question our motives for acting in the first place. Let me tell you, It’s those that push through the hard times and put in the hours of training, we eventually read about and see on the big screen – never forget that. It has nothing to do with luck. Luck is when talent meets hard fucking work – plain and simple!

I often say when you try and please everybody in life, you end up pleasing nobody – especially yourself.

So do yourself a favour, if you think you are ready to take that fearful first step into a journey that will test you mentally and physically yet be the most rewarding experience in your life –  then the ‘Nicholsons’ Academy of Screen Acting’ is your place of choice.

Who knows, we might even make an actor out of you.

Wayne Nicholson.