13-Week Training Program for Actors Aged 10-17
NEW!! Junior Academy for Ages 7-9
Ready for some on-camera acting training? Ready to have fun, make friends, and learn about filmmaking?
The Actor Factory Young Performers Academy’s semester long program offers a full-service training ground for beginners or seasoned actors. Students will receive fun and specialized training from industry professionals in auditioning, improvisation, building a character, and on-camera acting!
They will build friendships and hone communication skills while working together with other students to build scenes and characters. Each semester ends in an exciting showcase for friends and family!
Student Success Stories
Check out what some of our previous students have been up to!
Lane Factor
Series Regular, FX on Hulu's Peabody Award-winning Reservation Dogs
Steven Spielberg's The Fablemens
Addison Hambright
Reagan
The Unbreakable Boy
Feature Films
Madilyn Kellam
Disney's The Naughty Nine
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Run with the Hunted feature film starring Melissa Leo
Reylynn Caster
Series Regular,
CBS's The Young & The Restless
CBS's Me, Myself and I
Thatcher Ridings
Lifetime's Southern Christmas
Addie Hoppers
Lotus Entertainment's Starbright
Riley Kahn
What Josiah Saw
Feature Film
Camille Columbus
FOX's Brooklyn 99
Chole Davis
Whaling starring Tammin Sursok, Tom Felton,
David Koechner
Chole Wyatt
Painted Woman starring Stef Dawson, Matt Dallas
Winner: Best Actress at Wild Bunch Film Festival
Owen Joyner
Nickelodeon's 100 Things To Do Before Highschool
Noah Crawford
NBC's My Name Is Earl and CBS's Criminal Minds
Atreyu Mansker
Young Prince in Scandal Made Me Famous TV series
Jada Williams
National commercial
for Crew 82
Gavin Taylor
Christmas in the Heartland starring Bo Derek, Shelley Long
Victoria Scott
ABC's Modern Family
Days of Our Lives (CBS)
Young Performer Academy Session
AGES 10-17
TUESDAYS
5:00-6:30 pm
Beginning January 14, 2025​​
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12-Student Limit
THURSDAYS
7:00-8:30 p.m.
Beginning January 16, 2025
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12- Student Limit
Junior Academy Session
AGES 7-9
MONDAYS
5:30 - 7:00 pm
Beginning January 20, 2025
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10-Student Limit
Weeks 1-4 | Acting for Camera
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Students will jump right in with acting for camera lessons! This fun and informative section will teach kiddos skills like:
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Working within the frame (Crossing, eye-line, etc.)
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The difference between film and theatre
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Taking direction
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Character development
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Film terms and more!
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Each week students will work on scenes from film and television, pushing their craft forward.
Weeks 5-7 | Improvisation
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No acting training is complete without the most fun training of all: Improv!! These three weeks focus on improvising and learning skills like:
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The basics of improv
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Improvising in auditions - It happens more often than you'd think!
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Working with scene partners while improvising
Weeks 8-10 | Audition for Camera
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Working with working professionals in the casting office is the best training around! Casting associate Tiffany Feese and casting assistant Bethany Bourland will work with kiddos on:
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Translating acting for camera skills to auditions
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Taking direction quickly
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Cold reading
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Dos and don'ts
Weeks 11-12 | Workshop & Rehearsal
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Casting Director Chris Freihofer, CSA will also come in for a mock audition scenario to give kiddos the feel of an actual audition. This is a great opportunity (and lots of grown-up actors would love this chance!)
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Finally, some rehearsal! The group will work on their best scenes from the course, practice their favorite improv games for the showcase, and tie up any loose ends.
Week 13 | Showcase
We invite family to come see what these kiddos have worked so hard on!
Advanced Academy
Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Or
Thursdays, 5:00-6:30 pm
Beginning January 14 & 16, 2025
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10-Student Limit
The Actor Factory Young Performer Advanced Academy includes all of the aspects you LOVED about your first Academy experience but with elevated training and new areas of film to explore.
Not only will all Advanced Academy sessions offer training in a variety of areas, but we will also focus on a specific area of training each semester. Options for specific areas of training include:
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Filmmaking (Including making your own short film!)
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Dramatic Acting
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Comedic Acting
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Cold Reads
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Auditioning
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Commercial Acting
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Improvisation
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Workshops with a variety of professional teachers.
Each semester, the teaching team will determine which area we will focus on and parents will be notified via email.
Every student starts in THE ACADEMY, no matter what classes they have taken or where they have studied acting in the past. Students will not be invited to join The ADVANCED ACADEMY until they have completed our introductory program, an important building block before moving on to more elevated training. If you are sure that your student is an exception to the rule, email chris@actorfactory.net and we can discuss.
Advanced Academy Enrollment requires
completion of YP Academy and Special Permission.
To apply for one of the 20 seats in Advanced Academy, click HERE
Meet the Young Performer Academy Team
Chris Oz McIntosh
Award-winning filmmaker
& Young Performer Academy Director
Chris Oz McIntosh is a Young Performer favorite, and Director of the Young Performer Academy, beginning his 11th year of teaching kids at The Factory. He is an award-winning filmmaker and editor with a degree in Broadcast & Electronic Media from the University of Oklahoma,
Chris’ short film MOVIE MAGIC, starring Factory Young Performers, screened at festivals across the country, including the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival and received top honors at several festivals nationwide. His next film, STICK UP, was either nominated for or won top honors at several festivals across the country.
He is an editor (editing Film Camp demo reels for 10 years), along with the feature film FRACKERS.
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Academy segments: Acting for Camera, Audition for Camera
Emily Bertels
Professional Actor
Head of Film & Broadcast Production
at Putnam City West High School
Emily Bertels is a professional actor as well as a high school educator, the head of Film & Broadcast Production at Putnam City West High School.
Factory Film Campers know Emily as the sound recordist of all the demo reels, but Emily is a longtime Actor Factory student, having taken nearly every class offered.
She has worked on countless film & television sets as a stand-in, body double and background performer, and can be seen in principals roles in Lifetime's Deadly Seduction, the 360-degree VR feature All Terrain, ABC's The Last Defense, the features The Pale Door, Hosea, Spectre and many more.
Academy Segment: Acting for Camera
Clarissa Cozzoni
Producer at Prairie Surf Media, Professional Actor, Award-winning filmmaker
Clarissa Cozzoni is an award-winning filmmaker, an experienced producer at Prairie Surf Media, and a professional actor, who recently starred in the feature film WHATEVER IT TAKES.
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She is the class assistant in Chris Freihofer's Audition for FIlm & Television Class at The Actor Fcatory, and returns to Young PErformer Academy for the second semester.
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She holds her BFA in Acting Performance from the University of Oklahoma.
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Academy Segments: Audition for Camera
Madison Niederhauser
Improvisor
University Professor
We are thrilled to have University of Oklahoma theater professor Madison Niederhauser join the Factory staff, teaching improvisation to adults and Young Performers.
His improv roots come from his study at Chicago's IO. He has taught improv in Chicago and now at the OU School of Drama, where he also directs and teaches acting.
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He has appeared on stage for Chicago Shakespeare, Actors Theater of Louisville, The Commission Theater (Chicago) and more. In addition to stage acting, he is an experienced voiceover artist and audiobook narrator.
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Academy segment: Improv
Meet the Junior Academy Team
Melanie Baxter
Professional Actor
Director of Junior Academy
Two-time awrd-winning actor Melanie Baxter has her BFA in Acting from the University of Oklahoma, and has appeared in multiple commercials, film and television. She is the back-to-back Best Actress winner at the Oklahoma 48-Hour Film Project Awards. Look for her in the Crackle series Fairwood . She is a staple at The Actor Factory, having taught several camps for both adults and kids. She also is the teaching assistant for the adult classes Acting for Camera, Advanced Camera and Scene Study.
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Junior Academy Segments: Acting for Camera, Auditiioning
Kristen Dickey
Improvisor
Professional Actor
Kristen Dickey is a professional actor, co-starring in the feature film WHATEVER IT TAKES, to be seen next year. She is a senior Acting Performance major at the University of Oklahoma, where she serves on the improv and sketch comedy team.
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She is a three-time counselor at Actor Factory Film Camp, where she has also studied acting under Jonathan Lipnicki.
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Academy Section: Improvisation
Let's do it!
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*Schedule is subject to change due to weather
Young Performer Academy $550
Advanced Academy $450
Junior Academy $450
(Monthly plans available)
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Stay up to date!
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Want to be the first to hear about the new enrollment? Join our email list!
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Questions about the current session?
Email chris@actorfactory.net
Deposits are not refunded. Enrollment cannot be canceled within 72 hours of the start of the first class. If cancellation must be made outside of 72 hours before the start of the first class, your account will be refunded all monies paid on top of a $100 deposit. There are no refunds within 72 hours of the start of the first class and after the class session has begun.
In the event of inclement weather, a determination will be made on the safety of road conditions within a 30-mile perimeter of The Actor Factory. If class is rescheduled, parents will receive an email and The Actor Factory will update its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. If there is time, parents will be sent a text to the number on their Active account. In the event of a reschedule, an extra week will be added to the end of the class session to assure students receive the entire amount of training paid for.