Menu
When an actor (Age 14+) is ready to move beyond drama games, this structured, practical course gives them the craft skills that they actually need to set them apart onstage or screen, whether getting an agent, applying to drama schools or just getting serious about their craft.
Whether your future is in Stage or Screen acting, in order to get anywhere in the industry you must make the move from ‘performing’ to ‘acting’. This intensive course will use scripts, acting exercises from the greatest acting practitioners, cutting edge neuroscience tools, and a professional camera crew to teach you the actual craft of acting. You will learn skills that are normally reserved for second year drama school students. These can be used in stage or screen work. You will be given tools and worksheets to make self-tapes and auditions that are effective, authentic and all the while, more fun.
I’m Bryan Bounds (MFA Acting, University of Texas), an award-winning actor, screenwriter, director and teacher from Texas, based in Yorkshire since 1999. I’ve been an actor for over 40-years and I’ve worked with artists such as Colin Firth, David Tennant, Emily Watson, Elizabeth Moss and many more on stage, TV and film. And from what I’ve heard from frustrated parents, I’m probably the only acting teacher within a 100-mile radius from Harrogate who can teach young actors the craft. For the last ten years, I’ve taken my experience of professional acting and teaching and boiled down Actor training so that young people can learn it in a supportive, nurturing, fun but challenging course.
Acting (that is, professional acting) is about creating behavior that’s exactly like how we behave in real life – but in real life we do it without thinking. We professional actors learn to do our homework before the scene, then set that aside and then let the animal within us create the drama.
From the first session you’ll be adding tools to your acting toolbox, working with dramatic text and learning how to dig deeper into a script to unlock its drama.
We’ll draw from the experts in classical method acting: Meisner, Adler, Hagen, which I’ll pass onto you in an easy-to-grasp way, blended with my own exercises which I’ve specially developed for young actors.
The goal is to make you look so good that 1) they can’t ignore you and 2) they can’t even see you acting. You’re just a believable person in an imaginary situation, struggling with a dramatic problem. This works with stage plays or screenplays – and Shakespeare.
And you’ll graduate from the course with a professionally-produced showreel clip produced by the award-winning company BoundsFilms. What I’ll need from you is your commitment. Read on…
How can I join the course?
First talk it over with your young actor and get their assurance that this is what they want. Then contact me at info@neuroacting.com for an interview over Google Meet or in-person at my studio in Huby, near the Weeton Train Station, outside Otley. Then enroll on the course on this website.
What if the student is neurodivergent or has learning challenges?
I’m renowned for my sensitive coaching (DBS certified), and I’ll work with your child’s needs. Many of my acting exercises have developed from working with neurodivergent students (their needs are very similar to children everywhere when it comes to focus, compassion and social skills). If your child has challenges learning text, we’ll give them plenty of techniques for getting the lines into their memory.
Is it actually any fun?
Definitely. Students enjoy working and playing with like-minded young people, and many are astounded how enjoyable it is just truly listening closely to another actor. We keep the activities varied, so that the ones that require sustained focus are balanced with out-there creative exercises, students also enjoy exploring more deeply their own personalities and strength. Parents will also appreciate that the sessions are held in a “digital detox” environment, so that the students are free to explore and develop their individualities.
Why so serious about the requirements for completing the exercises and learning the monologues or scenes?
Because, as Michael Caine says, “acting is b***dy hard work.” My goal is to prepare the young artist for what it’s like in the real world or in a performing arts school. And we’re successful at it. In the real world, you’re given a script a few days before the audition. Likewise, my students will regularly be given an acting exercise to prepare for the next week. Much like an agent or director, I will allow you to miss one of these opportunities. After that, they will be suspended, exactly as an agent would. It’s a painful lesson that I too had to learn early in my career!
For the monologue or scene, the actor’s performance will be captured by a professional film crew so that you can use it as a self-tape. Previous students have gained agency representation on the evidence of their self-tapes. Consequently we require that your child learn the script completely before rehearsals began, so that we can help them deliver a professional performance.
How does this translate to the real world?
You’ll be able to:
Get in touch HERE if you need help with an upcoming audition, American accent training or questions about a NEURO ACTING course.
