Acting Studio
The Acting Studio is an intensive, one-day workshop which encourages actors to broaden their awareness of themselves and their attentiveness to others.
The Studio is based on Alexander Technique, a method of self-discovery which focuses on the basic impulses of human movement and how we interfere with our own coordination. Aspects explored during Studio sessions include class and status, physical encounters, animal exercise and image and memory work. Participants prepare performances and create characters by focusing on the body and breathing, feelings and the subconscious.
Talent comes with the responsibility to share, and at the Studios you are invited to give your best to receive a lot in response. In this way, the Studios form one part of the entire Summit experience. Where the six-day Summit offers a breadth of opportunity to learn new things beyond your individual expertise, hear new opinions, experience new techniques and ideas, the Studios are a one-day microscope on your specific field of work, deepening and strengthening your overall Berlinale Talents experience.
Acting is a collaborative activity; it involves an exchange of ideas and energy between artists with a common goal - to serve the characters, the story, and ultimately, the audience. As the complexity of our world grows, seeing interrelationships rather than linear cause and effect chains becomes urgent.Jean-Louis Rodrigue and Kristof Konrad
Jean Louis Rodrigue
An internationally renowned acting coach, movement director and professor, Jean-Louis Rodrigue has worked on many award-winning films and plays along with television, opera and music events. He has worked with Berlinale Talents since 2009, developing the acting programme and mentoring its participants. His film credits include VICE; I, TONYA; THE SUICIDE SQUAD; and LIFE OF PI. He is a professor at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television and at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Kristof Konrad
Kristof Konrad is a Polish-American actor who studied and worked with directors like Andrzej Wajda, Kenneth Branagh, Ron Howard, Francis Lawrence, and Roland Emmerich. He taught intensive acting film workshops in New York, Los Angeles, Milan, Toronto and Melbourne. His screen credits include RED SPARROW, HOUSE OF CARDS, HOMECOMING, ANGELS AND DEMONS and INDEPENDENCE DAY.
We each did a monologue where we had to choose an animal to work with. Watching each other perform in their chosen animal was a source of inspiration. It showed me how to be limitless in my thinking when making choices for a character I’m playing. It showed me to say YES more often when it comes to where my character can go.Acting Studio participant, 2023