We know what they want. . . we know how to do it.
BIANCA AMATO * University of Cape Town - Audie & Earphones multi-award winner
Bianca's distinguished international career began in her home country of South Africa, on stage film and television - most notably as the lead in Isidingo, South Africa's premiere drama series. Her portrayal of Phillipa De Villiers, a "feisty Englishwoman in a groundbreaking interracial storyline for post-Apartheid television", made her a household name in South Africa. Bianca moved to New York in 2001, appearing in celebrated plays including Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy, Arcadia and Macbeth on Broadway, Importance of Being Earnest at BAM, Top Girls, Pride & Prejudice, As You Like It and Pygmalion at the Guthrie, and the "stunning" Neva at the Public Theater, among others. TV & film include Sex & the City, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, The Big C, Elementary, The Adventures of Sinbad, Alpha House, The Kissing Booth 2, and Bianca's prolific voiceover career includes narrating over 60 audiobooks, including several Earphone Award winners and an Audie for Listening for Lions.
Bianca's natural warmth, precision & passion for the craft of acting has made her a resource for aspiring artists for over 20 years - from stage & screen auditions to Shakespeare, dialects, and VO. She splits her time between New York and Johannesburg, South Africa, with her beautiful family.
* STAGE | TV (Drama) | BFA & MFA | Shakespeare | Voiceover (Audiobooks) *
$100/hr
* currently Video Session only
GINIFER KING
* BFA Western Michigan University
Broadway & TV, Musicals, Comedy
Ginifer is a charismatic, successful stage and screen actress with a love for mentoring and coaching people to be their best in the room, whether auditioning, on set, or interviewing for an agent. She made her Broadway debut right out of college in Sam Mendes’ revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters, playing the title role of Gypsy Rose Lee on numerous occasions. Other Broadway credits include playing Shelby in Steel Magnolias opposite Delta Burke and Christine Ebersole, and Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner (also filmed for PBS).
In 2010, Ginifer moved to Los Angeles, where she studied for 9 years in the Professional Class at Lesly Kahn & Company where she also assisted in teaching classes and coaching auditions. She starred for two seasons on the Nickelodeon series “The Haunted Hathaways” -- other TV/Film work includes: Struck By Lightning, Confessions of a Shopaholic, "Law & Order", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "Cold Case", "Medium", "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior" (opposite Forrest Wittaker), "CSI", "Flash Forward", "Hawaii 5-0", "Rosewood", "Baby Daddy", "The Kicks" (Amazon), "The Librarians", "Code Black" (opposite Marcia Gay Harden), "Good Trouble", "Sydney to the Max" and most recently opposite Rob Lowe on the upcoming "911: Lone Star". Ginifer is a founding member of LA’s “For The Record” series; a live, one of a kind celebration of the soundtracks of motion picture masters. Shows performed include Baz Lurhmann (LA & Vegas Cirque du Soliel collaboration), The Coen Bros, Tarantino, Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, The Marshalls and a live performance of the holiday favorite “Love Actually”.
Musical Theater | TV & Film | Comedy & Improv | Career Consult
BEN TOLPIN
* BFA Marymount Manhattan
On-Camera Commercial & Comedy Pro
Ben's been a successful actor & prolific on-camera commercial performer for nearly 25 years, having appeared in more than 90 national campaigns including Super Bowl spots (Anheuser-Busch, Fed Ex, Motorola, Samsung) and a stretch as the national spokesperson for TGIFridays. With his natural chops for comedy, improv and the camera, Ben's also booked numerous film & TV appearances, working with legendary directors such as Doug Liman, Michael Bay, Bobby Farrelly, Tony Kaye, Phil Morrison, and Errol Morris - credits include Weeds, The Loop, NCIS, Off Centre, Wilfred, The Island, Charmed, Twins, How I Met Your Mother, and a memorable series regular stint on sitcom, The Mullets. On stage, Ben's most proud to have played Roy Selridge in Biloxi Blues (for Neil Simon himself) at the Pasadena Playhouse; his comic short film, Broken Up, won numerous festival awards.
A member of SAG, AEA & the Television Academy, Ben's a proud alumnus of acting studios on both coasts, and he now teaches in Los Angeles, New York, Austin & New Orleans, often leading large groups with his On Camera "Commercial Game" intensive. This year, Ben has added to his skill set by diving into the LA standup comedy scene, an amazing feat of courage, growth and hilarity. Keep plugging!
On-Camera Commercials | Comedy & Improv | Career Consult
JEREMY O'KEEFE
* BFA UNC Chapel Hill
Casting Associate & Indie Filmmaker
Jeremy is an accomplished casting director, writer, director and producer. Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Jeremy began his career in the arts at the Wilmington Drama League. At 16, he had his first internship on Broadway shadowing director Mike Ockrent on "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden. Jeremy studied with Fiona Shaw at the British-American Drama Academy in Oxford, which he attended with Melissa Claire Egan. Jeremy has worked as a casting associate on projects including "Sean Saves the World", "Playing House", "Alone Together ", "Teachers", "Sex Life", "BH90210", "Punky Brewster", "Untitled Mindy Kaling/Netflix Project", "Outmatched", Household Name, Same Time Next Christmas, and Menendez: Blood Brothers.
Jeremy's work as director includes theatrical feature Somewhere Slow (2014 - Winner: Best Narrative Feature / Brooklyn Film Festival) starring Jessalyn Gilsig , Graham Patrick Martin and Academy Award Nominees Lindsay Crouse & Robert Forster, Wrestling (2008) and the shorts Closure (2008 – Official Selection Frameline, Festival Mix Milano, Hollywood Attack of the 50 Foot Reels) and Finale (2013 - San Jose International Short Film Festival ). Additionally, he directed a music video for Marriage Equality with Brendan James' "Nothin' But Love". Jeremy directed successful readings of Hit the Wall for Sixth Avenue Productions, the NYC Fringe hit The Boys Upstairs and produced the GLAAD-nominated West Coast premiere of Haram Iran, both at Celebration Theatre.
On-Camera Auditions | Kids & Teens | Career Consult
NEIL SHAH
* MFA The Old Globe/USD * BFA MMC Award winning actor & narrator
Over the last decade, Neil has drawn from his experience as a classically-trained actor to bring to life 200+ fiction and non-fiction audiobooks, as well as long-form journalism, from just about every genre that exists. Known for his facility and versatility with dialects from all over the world and for his larger than life characterizations, he has received multiple AudioFile Earphone Awards and has been nominated for an Audie Award (I Am An Executioner: Love Stories by Rajesh Parameswaran). Other favorites include The Test by Silvain Neuvel, The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard Morais, A Burning by Megha Majumdar, and Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
As an actor, he has appeared on Off-Broadway and Regional stages including The Old Globe: Much Ado About Nothing (with Billy Campbell & Dana Delany), Julius Caesar (Dir. Daniel Sullivan), Antony & Cleopatra (Dir. Darko Tresnjak) and the West Coast Premiere of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues (Dir. Mark Lamos); The Oregon Shakespeare Festival: A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Clay Cart (Dir. Bill Rauch); Jean Cocteau Repertory: A Merchant of Venice, Medea, and The Balcony; David Hare's A Map of the World at The Burning Coal Theatre. TV & Film: Law & Order, Once Upon A Time in Vienna, and Death Comes to Berkley Nixon.
As a coach, he has assisted authors with producing and narrating their own works, but his most rewarding experience was as a guest artist at Washington & Lee University where he played the title role in Othello and guided and conducted master classes for his co-star students. At this stage in his career, nothing is more gratifying than fostering the growth of aspiring talent and he is honored to work alongside the amazing group of coaches at Acting (Actually)!
Audiobook Narration | MFA & BFA | Stage, TV & Film |
Shakespeare | Voiceover & Dialect Coaching | Career Consult
BIANCA AMATO
* University of Cape Town
Emery Battis Award, Elliot Norton Award,
Helen Hayes & Irene nominee, Audie & Earphones multi-award winner
Bianca's distinguished international career began in her home country of South Africa. She moved to New York in 2001, appearing in celebrated Broadway productions including the Tony award-winning Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy, Arcadia and Macbeth, The Importance of Being Earnest at BAM, Top Girls, Pride & Prejudice, As You Like It and Pygmalion at the Guthrie, King Lear at TFANA and the "stunning" Neva at the Public Theater, among others. TV & film include Sex & the City, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, The Big C, Elementary, Alpha House, HBO’s Warrior, The Kissing Booth 2, Our Girl, and Unforgettable, and Bianca's prolific voiceover career includes narrating nearly 100 audiobooks, twice winning the Audie Award and several Earphones Awards. Recently, Bianca co-founded a company focused on VO artists and narrators in South Africa, Narrate Africa.
Bianca's natural warmth & passion for the craft of acting has made her a resource for aspiring artists for over 20 years - from stage & screen auditions to Shakespeare, dialects, and VO. She splits her time between New York and Johannesburg, South Africa, with her beautiful family.
BFA & MFA | Shakespeare | Stage & Screen | VO & Audiobooks
