Veteran film/TV producer/director Gary Sherman is heading a one-of-a-kind Actors Workshop as the first program to be held at Flashpoint Academy’s new broadcast media studios at the Merchandise Mart.
Starting June 23, the one-of-a-kind workshop series will offer professionally trained actors “the skills necessary to feel at home on a film set,” says Sherman.
“We believe Gary’s workshops are a much needed program and we’re delighted to having found a way to work with him and having the Workshop inaugurate the new studio,” says Howard Tullman, Flashpoint president.
“The great part about a workshop like this is the symbiotic relationship that can exist between actors and directors,” says Sherman, who will teach along with other experienced Hollywood film directors.
Instruction will take place on actual, custom-made sets, with a professional crew that will be supported by Flashpoint students.
Flashpoint is currently constructing three-wall, two-wall and moving-wall sets for the workshops. They will be decorated according to script specifications from which Sherman and the other directors will be working.
Explanations and exercises have been devised to familiarize and hone the skills exclusive to filmmaking. Sherman says they include matching actions, understanding eyeline, movement within the frame, the importance of hitting marks, feeling for the camera, finding the key light and not blocking other actors or other actors’ light.
During his 30-year Hollywood film career, Sherman wrote, directed and produced studio and indie features (“Poltergeist III”), TV movies and episodic shows (“Missing Persons,” “Sable,” were filmed in Chicago), documentaries, shorts and commercials.
