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One-on-One Rehearsal Techniques for Directors

A Rehearsal Techniques Consultation offers directors hands-on experience working with actors, under Judith’s guidance. The goal of this work is to increase your skills and confidence while casting, during rehearsal, and on the set. 

This one-on-one work is offered for directors who are prepping for a particular project. Here are some of the areas that can be covered: 

  • How to communicate your vision to actors;
  • How to maintain your vision without shutting actors down;
  • How to use the tools creatively in practical situations – intention, objectives, emotional history, subtext imagery, emotional event;
  • Demonstration and practice with blocking, improvisation and warm-up exercises;
  • How to get proficient, agile and faster at “scene-making” – shaping the scene to tell the story;
  • Blocking (movement and activities) for the story and emotion as well as for the camera;
  • Issues of pace, tempo-rhythm, tone, and style;
  • Directing the scene, not the actors;
  • Script analysis and preparation for rehearsal. 

It is a requirement to have read one of Judith’s booksDirecting Actors, or The Film Director’s Intuition. It is preferable to have read both. 

The cost is $200 per hour, with a minimum two-hour session. Plus $90 for the time I spend reading your script (if I haven’t read it already). The charge for script-reading may be higher if the script is over 90 pages. If it is a short script, the charge for reading it is pro-rated to a lower amount. 

It is required to have had a one-on-one script consultation with Judith on the script you choose prior to the one-on-one rehearsal techs session. It is preferable to engage a series of both types of sessions. 

Here is a suggested format for your consultation: You have two hours to rehearse with your actors, with me observing. The director works uninterrupted for the first hour. Then the actors step out of the room while I speak with the director for 15-20 minutes. Then the actors return and the director again works uninterrupted. At about 10 minutes before the end of the session I step in and work with the director and the actors. That format is flexible – it can be adjusted any way you need to meet your goals. 

The director provides the location and the casting. It will be up to you to find actors and provide them with a script, and have them read the full script and learn the lines to their scene. You are not restricted to two-person scenes (although they are easier to set up).  

To arrange a session, contact John at john@judithweston.com or Judith at judith@judithweston.com

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    TAIKA WAITITI, writer-director, JOJO RABBIT, THOR RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, BOY, EAGLE VS SHARK, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
  • “I took a seminar with an acting teacher named Judith Weston. I learned a key insight to character. She believed that all well-drawn characters have a spine, and the idea is that the character has an inner motor, a dominant, unconscious goal that they’re striving for, an itch that they can’t scratch. I took to this like a duck to water.”

    ANDREW STANTON [from his Feb 2012 TED Talk] writer-director, FINDING DORY, WALL-E, FINDING NEMO, A BUG’S LIFE; director, BETTER CALL SAUL, STRANGER THINGS; writer, TOY STORY, TOY STORY 2, TOY STORY 3
  • "Judith's method is wonderful because it is practical. She has given me numerous tools to solve problems on the set and to earn the trust of actors. Her classes and her book are invaluable resources to any director."

    LAWRENCE TRILLING, director, GOLIATH, RECTIFY, PARENTHOOD, MASTERS OF SEX, PUSHING DAISIES, DAMAGES, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, NIP/TUCK, MONK, SCRUBS, INVASION, ALIAS, FELICITY
  • "Thank you for teaching me how to direct actors. Taking your classes made me believe I could direct. Taking your classes gave me a base, a foundation, a framework to find my own style. To step out on faith. I'm forever grateful. Love and respect to you, magnificent Judith Weston." 

    AVA DuVERNAY, director, WHEN THEY SEE US, QUEEN SUGAR, A WRINKLE IN TIME, SELMA, SCANDAL, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
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    ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU, director, THE REVENANT, BIRDMAN, BIUTIFUL, BABEL, 21 GRAMS, AMORES PERROS