Learning improv techniques doesn't just make you a stronger actor, it also makes you ready for all kinds of situations in your day-to-day life. When actors hear "improv," they usually think of live comedy shows, which is definitely an exciting route for improv actors to pursue, but this kind of improv I'll be discussing and teaching is based on an outline, or "soft script" that actors follow, which is rooted in reality for TV.

Improv-based & soft-scripted TV programming is becoming more and more popular and successful, especially if it's crime-related or comedic, thanks to the many shows that air on cable networks like Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, Lifetime, MTV, TruTV, A&E, Comedy Central, and broadcast networks like ABC and NBC. If you can do it, it's a fairly fast and fun way to make some money as an actor, add more credits to your resume, and strengthen your skills to be able to change the direction of your performance quickly and seamlessly.

I've been casting these kinds of roles for five years now, and it's always exciting for me to see actors who can be flexible in their performances. After taking this webinar, you'll have a better understanding of this particular "style" of acting, and feel more confident auditioning for these kinds of roles, and for any role in general.

This is a completely interactive online webinar limited to 12 actors. You will be interacting as an acting group online with your instructor. Attendees must be prepared to share their webcams and workshop acting techniques with one another.

Part 1: Overview of casting & improv for camera

Introduce myself, talk about my experience, and also about how popular soft-scripted/recreation/improv-based shows are today. I'll focus on casting shows/specials like ABC's "What Would You Do?," A&E's upcoming "Kids & Guns," Investigation Discovery's "Adnan: Innocent or Guilty?", Hulu's "Swiped," Lifetime Movie Network's & Bio Channel's "Celebrity Ghost Stories" and "I Killed My BFF." I'll go around and meet the actors and learn their experience doing improv-based work (experience not required!).

Part 2: Online group workshop - soft-scripted & recreation scenes

Begin doing soft-scripted & recreation scenes. We will send out sample outlines ahead of time for you to look over. I'll pair people up, or do single person scenes, and do recreation moments, ranging from a police interrogation, to a ghost story, to a funny fake commercial, a hostage situation, etc. These are all real things I've had to book actors for. I'll feed direction, as if I were the director on set guiding them through the scene. I'll give any notes/feedback to the group about these scenes.

Part 3: Online group workshop - improv scenarios

Move onto improv scenarios. I'll assign different scenarios to actors in pairs, mostly all based on "What Would You Do?" moments but maybe also other shows as well. Anything from harassing someone, to stealing something from someone, to persuading someone to do something. Since we're doing this online, this will stretch your imaginations even more. Once I assign everyone one or two scenes, we will take a 5 minute break so they can prepare.

Begin the improv scenarios. I'd feed them lines and direction cues as they're doing improv with each other. Whenever there's a lull in their improv, I will chime in to give a line and see how they do repeating it/adding it in without breaking character. I'll give any notes/feedback to the group about these scenarios

Q&A

12 actors maximum. Any actors in the US age 18 to 60 who have at least a basic knowledge of improv, and are comfortable performing on the computer. Since I'm based in NYC, it'd be great to get some NY/Philadelphia/Boston/DC/east coast actors, but I'm open to everyone.