Creative Actors Lab

This week, Kelley and Max discuss the documentary series Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV  from the perspective of acting coaches and people who have also faced sexual assault. They discuss how important it is to listen to your gut instinct and how their experiences have helped them help others.  Please note that this episode discusses sexual assault.  

It's not an easy topic, but it needs to be discussed be...

Max and Kelley discuss the importance of creativity and how it affects your brain when you do or try something new. They also discuss some of the scientific findings and a podcast by Dr. David Eagleman called The Inner Cosmos.  Max also talks about different problem-solving approaches, such as the SWOT analysis, Business War Games, and Brain Storming and Brain Writing. We also discuss how important it is to seek out new adventures ...

Join Max and Kelley as they discuss why someone like Max might need to step away from acting for a few decades. In the interim, he found a new love of writing poetry, cooking as a chef, and expanding his painting ability.  Kelley talks about leaving an improv company after some bad experiences and finding the love of her life (spoiler alert - it's Max). 

Thanks and have a great week. 

For more on Creative Actors Lab, c...

This week, Kelley and Max explore how to act like a private detective when you're creating or playing a character. They explore the process of researching a character's motivation by pretending that you were hired to follow the character around. They delve into various aspects, such as how the character would cross the street, how they would perform household chores, or how they would get ready for work.

Kelley and Max als...

This week, Max and Kelley discuss the importance of meditating and reflecting on your art and what creativity you can accomplish. We discuss different meditation techniques, including Yoga Nidra it is considered sleep yoga, non-sleep deep rest,, and it's meant to reset your nervous system.

If you want to check out some of the practitioners, here are a few that Max suggests:
Ayla Nova - Yoga Nidra - here is a link...

This week, Kelley and Max look at the person who has influenced Kelley's acting journey the most: Viola Spolin.  Viola Spolin was an actress, educator, director, author, and the creator of theater games, a system of actor training that uses games she devised to teach the formal rules of the Theater organically. Her groundbreaking book Improvisation for the Theater transformed American theater and revolutionized how acting is t...

Join Max and Kelley as we look at iconic character descriptions in screenplays from Rick Blaine in Casablanca to Annie Wilkes in Misery to Apollo Creed in Rocky and Rose Maxson in Fences, and many other characters in between. We discuss the impact these characters had in their films and why writing good descriptions is vital for both the actor and the writer.  You get to hear the actual description as it was in the script and how a...

Max and Kelley discuss the importance of Set Etiquette whether you're on stage or on a TV or Movie set. They use personal examples of the do's and dont's such as:

• Do be kind and show good manners. 
• Don't ask for a selfie with a lead. 
• Do be on time. 
• Don't try to manifest by telling a lead you will be their co-star one day. (Yes, we saw that happen)

We also talk about how being professional and nice to ...

This week, Max and Kelley interview fellow podcaster and the person who gave us great advice on starting our own show, Hersh from HERshyt Show. She's a retired combat veteran and also a FEMA hero who helps people and families get the help they need during a disaster.  One huge suggestion, keep an inventory of what you have in your home and put special documents in safe place, either a fire proof box or safe deposit box or have...

Max is flying solo in this episode as he talks about doing something he's always wanted to do - voice-over work.  He'll take you through his journey and even cold read a few scripts from Edge Studio, which specializes in voice-overs and has a library of over 6,500 free voice-over commercial scripts, narration, and animation. It's a great place to practice your voice-over skills.  Here's the link to the Edge Stud...

This week, Kelley and Max interview their student, Brandon Winget and talk about the acting and writing process. Brandon recently played Keith the Ghost on When a Bell Rings as well as also doing work with Brett Newton of LA Reels for a short film as well. We also put Brandon in the Hot seat and ask him probing question like his favorite sandwich, favorite action movie and we learn more about the love of his life, his wife, Jessie ...

Kelley is flying solo this week and talks about how to make a resolution to allow yourself to be more creative and not block ideas that might some when you're working on another project. It's those creative detours that can often produce amazing results because you didn't plan them.  We're also looking at having guests on to discuss their creative process and how they get to where they're going. 

For more on...

This is our homage to It's a Wonderful Life.  A ghost hunter whose life seems to be in decline learns what the world would be like without him with the help of a fallen angel and a ghost on a fateful Christmas Eve.  

We have a wonderful cast of voice actors, including: 
Mezi Mulugeta as Em 
Dean Atkinson as Jack Bronson
Brandon Winget as Keith the Ghost 
Shiyla Gantt as Jack's Mom, Angela
Just...

This week's special guest is Queen Evi who talks about a wide range of subjects from first loves, how to govern, and favorite sandwiches.  She talks about her kingdom and how to teach her daughters how to stand in their power. 

It's also a good way to explore any characters by asking them questions and then answering as that character. The questions include: 

• Who was your first love?
• Favorite foods as a child. 
• ...

Max and Kelley discuss a long-lost performance piece Max wrote over twenty-five years ago when we first moved to Atlanta.  The piece examines our inner voice and how important it is to give grace to ourselves even if things are not going as well as we hoped.  He found it recently and wanted to perform it for our podcast audience for the first time.

We also talked about our history of doing radio theater, including for a p...

In this episode, Max and Kelley discuss the importance of having consent from your acting partner before doing a romantic scene or a fight sequence. Too often actors might feel pushed into doing something that they are not comfortable in doing. If you don't  have the experience to see if something doesn't pass the smell test, it can be daunting and you can be told you're not being a team player or helping the project...

Join Max and Kelley as they explore different interpretations of a monologue from the catalog of The Screenwriter's Grimm. Max offers to coach Kelley on different interpretations of Hey There, Neighbor, in which Detective Angela Johnson confronts her neighbor Kurt, who has been abusing his wife and family. She convinces the wife, Gail, to leave with the children to a safe house and is there to tell Kurt that his family has lef...

Join Max and Kelley as we coach on a Shakespearean Sonnet 116 entitled Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds.  Max is launching a series of The Bard's work on TikTok and would like to work on some sonnets. We look at the poem from different vantage points: as a sermon, a proposal, with different emotions, and from the POV of a wolf. This sonnet was the favorite of acting legend Laurence Olivier. 

For an actor, it&...

Join Max and Kelley as we discuss more ghost experiences with Paranormal Investigator and fellow actor Dean Atkinson.  They first met Dean while doing coaching for Acting Out Studios (now 541 Productions) and learned about his fascination with ghosts and otherworldly experiences.  Dean talks about how his wife has been so supportive and even purchased some of his paranormal equipment. We also discussed a few of his acting jobs and ...