Career Mentoring/Audition Technique Program
Ten years ago, long before it became "hip" to have a career coach, the Ward Studio developed its Career Mentoring program because we identified a need that no other acting school in New York seemed to be addressing -- 'now that you're trained, how do you actually go about the business of building a career?' Ten years later, our curriculum has become exceptionally well tuned and remains strategically bold. The Program is divided into two segments, which most students elect to take simultaneously.

Career Mentoring Workshop
For six weeks, actors in the career workshop develop and apply new strategies to kick-start their careers and obliterate old patterns of thinking and behaving that impede career growth. Through a rigorous examination of the details of their lives and the strategies (or lack thereof) they are currently using to get work, our students begin increasing their productivity and develop better habits that support the advances they need to make to have a more successful career.

While the course offers an abundance of practical information and advice, the spirit of the class is far more creative and imaginative than a simple business course. Because the industry is glutted with too many people wanting to become actors, we believe that only the most tenacious and inspired performers will be able to survive. And we know how to teach inspiration and persistence to our students.

Our success stories include our students getting seen by casting directors based on the strength of their cover letters, publishing books in a year's time, signing with major agents, acting on soap operas, producing comedy shows, developing scripts for television, launching non-profit theater companies, and leaving their meaningless day jobs for a full-time pursuit of an acting career!

Audition Technique and Monologue Coaching
Most of our students elect to take part in our Audition Technique course concurrently with their Career Mentoring, acknowledging that they must be prepared for all aspects of the audition experience -- cold readings, prepared sides, agent interviews and the dreaded two-minute monologue. This two-month course puts actors through the paces of mock auditions and interviews, provides monologue coaching and is an all-around hands-on approach to improving audition performance. It is a critical part of our Career Mentoring and Six-Week Intensive programs.