Richard Seyd Acting Studio
Who are we?
In short we are a comprehensive acting studio committed to teaching the art, craft and realities of professional acting.
Richard Seyd, a professional director familiar with the obstacles many actors face (both creative and career), started teaching acting in the 1980’s in San Francisco. (See "instructors" for Richard’s Bio) Richard saw a need for a professional level acting studio outside of the university system. A studio where each student worked every day, where the environment was safe but professional, and where actors could learn to be in the moment and nurture their imaginations. Richard was soon considered by many to be the best acting teacher in the Bay Area and within a few years he was teaching multiple classes in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Based on his professional experience as a director and as a teacher working with thousands of actors over the last 20 years, Richard created techniques to help actors overcome the most common obstacles. His classes are built around the foundation of three techniques.
- Be effortlessly in the moment (Trigger Approach)
- Expand their range as actors (Stretch Work)
- Nurturing their imagination (Sense Memory Work)
Now the studio consists of a small group of professional teachers hand picked by Richard, each with a strong background working in the industry.
With Richard we teach his techniques as well as other specific classes including voice work (Fitzmaurice), film acting, commercial acting, cold reading, and acting fundamentals.
All of the teachers here recognize the personal and vulnerable nature of the actor's exploration. For this reason there are a few guidelines we promise to stick to.
- We promise to provide a safe, intimate environment in which your imagination can be inspired. For this reason, we keep our classes small. (12 max for ongoing classes). This intimate setting allows each actor to discover their unique voice while exploring the elements and boundaries of their craft.
- We promise to increase your range. Since the primary life journey of each actor is to increase the range of humanity that he or she can experience and express. We train actors to find the range in themselves to play a wide variety of characters in specific, imagined circumstances.
- We promise to make the training process a healthy one. This is to ensure that the challenging job of acting might be a more sustainable life choice. We create a noncompetitive environment in which risks can be taken and real learning is encouraged over the production of finished product.
- We promise to be practical. We believe that actors need to understand the technical aspects of the business in order to succeed. To that end, we teach theory but also practical business implementation. We occasionally offer courses in the technical skill-sets that actors need for their professional work in theatre, film, and television: audition technique, on-camera technique, voice over, business practices, creative writing, etc. These classes are usually offered in a series of ongoing workshops in addition to our regular class schedule.
I hope that gives you a better idea of who we are and what we do. Please if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call 323-668-1475 or email Studio@seydways.com.
Seydways Acting Studio and its studentsadhere to a strict policy of equal opportunity in which no member shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age or any physical or mental disability. Seydways Acting Studio seeks to provide an environment free from verbal, physical or sexual harassment. The studio and its members will not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or any other conduct that has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual's training and experience. All members are expected to be sensitive to the individual rights of everyone affliated with the studio.
The following is a list of policies, which apply to all of the members of Seydways classes. When you enroll at Seydways Acting Studio, you must agree to follow these policies.
Seydways Acting Studios is based on a "pay-as-you-go" policy. Payment is due at each session. We encourage everyone to pay on a monthly basis whenever possible. Should you fall behind in payment for more than two (2) weeks, please make arrangements with the individual instructors. All checks should be made payable to "Seydways Acting Studio" and given to your instructor. At present, we are not linked up to accept credit card payments. Receipts will be distributed to each student on a monthly basis with detailed payment information.
A $ 20.00 processing fee will be charged for any RETURNED checks and a $ 20.00 fee will be charged for any STOP PAYMENT placed on checks.
There are no refunds for missed or dropped classes.
You should feel free to talk to your individual instructors with any questions regarding class. For business related issues, please contact us here.
The Studio has a "no audit" policy due to the private and personal nature of the classes. Anyone interested in applying to a class should make arrangements with the administrator to take a demonstration session (usually 4 - 8 weeks). Completed materials (headshot, resume and info sheet) are to be submitted by the beginning of each demonstration session.
Late arrival and early departure from class is not encouraged. It is your responsibility to arrive on time and plan to stay throughout the duration of class. We recognize the nature of the business of acting; however, the studio works to create a cohesive, supportive environment for work. It is extremely harmful for the spirit of the class for a student to have early departures from class. Likewise, do not underestimate each member's presence as support.
If you must be late or miss a class, please notify the administrator as soon as possible. If the notice is less than 24 hours, please call the individual instructor's at home. There are no make-up classes or rescheduled sessions. You are responsible for the payment of each class whether you are able to attend or not. This payment insures your space in the class.
If you need to take a leave of absence for any reason, you have two options: 1) you may pay to reserve your space in the class; or, 2) you may drop out of the class and go to the top of the waiting list once you want to return to class. There are no guarantees as to how quickly a return request will be honored. Note: a leave of absence cannot be taken retroactively, for instance after missing class for a month without contacting the administrator, you must first pay for that month and then you may take a leave of absence.
Eating, snacking, drinking, and gum chewing in class is not allowed. The exception to this is water. Please consume before, after or during the breaks outside of the studio. We also ask that attention be paid to placing any and all garbage in the correct receptacles.
Ah, the age of technology! All pagers and cellular phones must be put on silent/vibrate upon arrival to class. We encourage everyone to get in the habit of turning off all electronic devices upon your entrance into the studio. We all know how disruptive it is to the creative process to have pager/phones sounding class work.
NO SMOKING is allowed in class except during scenes…and only during the scene. Please make arrangements to provide the proper receptacle for extinguishing your smoke.
If your scene involves any physical violence or specific physical combat, REHEARSE IT, BLOCK IT, PRACTICE IT. Be sure that no one will be injured. It is your responsibility to keep your scene work as safe, spontaneous and creative as possible. In this case, "safe" means that everyone involved in the scene as well as in the studio is in no danger from your carefully considered actions. Spontaneous and creative does not mean out of control. If at any time, you or a partner does not feel safe, you should stop the scene immediately.
If you are doing a scene that requires a gun or weapon, insure the safety of these props. Real weapons are not allowed in class. You should also inform your instructor that a prop weapon is being used for the scene. A scene that introduces a weapon without prior knowledge to the instructor will be stopped.
During the Stretchwork / Improvisational work in the class, there is NO VIOLENT PHYSICAL CONTACT ALLOWED WHATSOEVER. This includes shoving, kicking or throwing of objects. There are two reasons for this rule: One is clearly safety, but it is also a less creative form of outburst than expressing the anger through language or sound.
You must pay for any and all damages/holes in the performance space that you caused. Set pieces and their surroundings are the responsibility of the actors. If the actor needs to destroy something during a scene, the student must bring that object/set piece to class.
Do not leave props in class. If you bring valuables, please take special care of them. If you leave something in the studio unintentionally, call our administrator immediately and ask that they secure it for you.
Each instructor is asked to assess the student's participation in the studio classes. If you are not committed to the class, are repeatedly late or absent, are repeatedly late on payment, are abusive or disrespectful to any member of the class, are repeatedly unprepared, you may be asked to leave the class after one written warning from the instructor.
The nature of any in-depth exploration remains very personal and often times very revealing. With that understanding, we ask that all members of any studio classes sign an agreement of confidentiality. Therefore, anything that is said, done, written or occurs in class remains confidential. No information, professional or otherwise, regarding other class members or instructors, should be discussed beyond the confines of the specific class. In signing below, you are also agreeing to this contract of confidentiality. Any breach of this confidentiality in any manner could result in removal from class.