Mindset Artistry
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Mindset Artistry
Igniting the Stage: The Symphony of Mindset and Mastery with Scott Freeman
What drives an actor's soul to ignite the stage when the spotlight hits and the audience falls silent? Scott Freeman, a maestro of the acting craft, joins us to unravel that magic on the Mindset Artistry Podcast. Together with Amanda DeBraux and myself, Janel Koloski, we traverse Scott's illustrious journey as a mentor, his studio's foundation, and the intertwining of rigorous training with the threads of personal growth. His narrative offers a backstage pass to the often unseen rigor that shapes a stellar performer, proving that the confluence of genuine passion and relentless work ethic can sculpt a career and a legacy.
Scott's insights into the acting industry are not just theoretical musings, but practical lessons that can guide aspiring performers. He takes us through the crucible of training, where raw talent is honed into captivating artistry. We learn from the wisdom of his instructors and the importance of empathy in every role. Scott's understanding of the evolving acting landscape paves the way for those with dreams of the stage, emphasizing the necessity of adaptability and continuous learning.
Our conversation transcends the stage, touching the lives of models, actors, and life coaches. We share the trials of our paths, the transformative power of mindset during the onslaught of the pandemic, and the unique kinship within the arts community. The episode culminates in a celebration of the human spirit—through Scott's joy in teaching and the shared growth in the performing arts, we're reminded of the extraordinary potential within each of us to both lift ourselves and elevate others in the enchanting dance of life. Join us and discover the symphony of mindset artistry that orchestrates a performance and the essence of our being.
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This is the Mindset Artistry Podcast. I'm Amanda DeBraux, an actor or actress per your reference, and an inner voice life coach, and I'm Janel .
Janel Koloski:Koloski, an actor and career and mindset coach. We're your hosts and we're here to flip your mindset, to teach you the artistry of what we learned to keep your mind in check Over the course of our lives.
Amanda DeBraux:we've taken on the journey of healing, living and being authentically ourselves, as we successfully built our individual careers in the entertainment industry.
Janel Koloski:This podcast is designed for you so you can discover your goals and courageously reach them at your highest potential, while being a hundred and thousand percent yourself.
Amanda DeBraux:What you'll get from us is real, dirty and okay, a little more like a lot of quirky, along with special elite guests that nurture empathy and create a safe space without judgment. So get ready to build a mindset that is unapologetically you and excel beyond the stars. Welcome to the Mindset Artistry Podcast. That's good. Welcome back to another episode of Mindset Artistry and we have an amazing guest, scott Freeman. A round of applause. I'm so excited. So let me tell you a bit about Scott.
Amanda DeBraux:For over 30 years, the studio head, scott Freeman has taught at many of the nation's premier acting training programs and is recognized as one of the leading acting teachers in the country. Mr Freeman was a member of the founding faculty of the Actors Center in New York City, where he taught throughout the 11 years of his existence. In addition, he's enjoyed a long association with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco as a core faculty, member of its MFA program and a member of its acting company faculty member of its MFA program and a member of its acting company. He also serves as the founding head of the University of Minnesota Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. He has also taught at the Rutgers University, nyu, suny Purchase and the Atlantic Theater Company, as well as the Stella Adler School of Acting. Welcome, scott Freeman. Yay, I'm so excited to have you on our episode today, so let's just dive right in. So tell us a bit about why and how you started the studio that both myself and Janelle have been privileged of attending.
Scott Freeman:Before I answer your question, I want to say thanks for that introduction and I'm happy to be on the podcast and chat with you about anything but specifically about the kind of work you do and the kind of work I do and how there's a lot of overlap in what your mission is and what my mission is, so I just wanted to lay that out there, which is a good segue to why and how I started the studio, because they are connected.
Scott Freeman:I've been teaching for a long time already. I taught at a lot of the things you just laid out a lot of my resume there all over the country San Francisco and Minnesota and New York specifically. So I taught for a lot of organizations. I ran programs, I was on the faculty of them, I sometimes guest artisted them, but without any kind of criticism or disparagement. I found that I started to lose my desire because the way things were administrated and the way things were, the aesthetics did not fit mine. That's not a criticism of them, that's just my own personal way of training actors and what interested me.
Scott Freeman:I found that the money became so predominant that these institutions were scrambling to make it work, and so I found myself in classrooms with, maybe, actors that were too many actors or not enough time or was costing so much money, and I started to feel like I couldn't change any of that. Nor was it, you know, my wasn't my job to change that. My job was just to teach. So I got to a point where I thought I want to start on my own. I'd been at the Active Center, as you mentioned, for many years and I admire the way a guy named Micah Miller, an amazing man who started that place because he had run NYU a grad acting how he built that place, which was based on professional actors or actors who are on the verge of being professional, deepening their training, working out like a violinist or a ballet dancer, somebody who needs to keep training, and it was serious. And he got really great teachers from around primarily the New York area, from people teaching at Juilliard and NYU and Yale.
Janel Koloski:And we had a great thing going all those years.
Scott Freeman:But it eventually disbanded for a lot of different reasons and in the wake of that, that's when I started the studio, because I thought I can borrow some of the best things about that and I can improve by the things I thought didn't quite work. And so that's kind of why it happened. The how is probably more important because I decided I want to do this. I've never been a small business person in my own business. There's a lot of moving parts in it and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. It started out with me renting a studio with literally a notepad and a pencil and asking people to take class. That's how it started. And as I built it I thought the aesthetic I'm going to stick to no matter what, and eventually I'm going to go backwards here. We can follow this Going forward. Eventually I hired this business consultant. It was recommended through a friend. That's when I was deeper into building the studio. But it was expanding like mad and I was scrambling. I don't know how to do this. I mean, it's getting ahead of me and I'm exhausted from teaching all day. I'm trying to do this. I also had a new baby, you know, and then eventually a toddler and that was a huge part of my life that I wasn't going to sacrifice my professional life to miss out on that. So I had this, you know, almost classic work balance thing that I was dedicated to and I had to figure it out. But what this guy told me, I sat down with him. I said I'm just so frustrated I feel like I'm what the hell am I? He says well, just tell me. He says what you want this thing to be. And I said I don't know, these things cost too much. And the places where they because I hadn't got my space yet there's places where they train or you know, dirty or smelly or badly lit or noisy as hell and crappy parts of town where people don't want to walk through. And I just hate that. I was like right complaining, and the quality of the teacher, the quality of the students is like eh, because the body's just kind of getting shoved in there for money. And he said stop, you're telling me all these things. You don't want it to be. Get up, there's a whiteboard. He goes get. You're telling me all these things. You don't want it to be. Get up, there's a whiteboard. He goes get up and write all those down. He made a line. He says on the left side, just write all those down Like this, not like that, wah, wah, wah. He said okay, now on the other side, just write the opposite of every one of those things you just said.
Scott Freeman:And oh, I want it to be affordable, I want it to not eat up too much of an actor's time. I didn't want to get into these long conservatory things. I want a place to be clean and respectful. I want the teachers to be great. I want it to be a peer level. That was insisted upon.
Scott Freeman:We didn't just take anybody, I just wrote those down. I said wow and he said that's your studio. So I said wow and he said that's your studio. So I've stuck for that all these years. I've never lowered my standards. I've never done something because it would be a good. I can make oh, we can make some really good money off that Scott. Yeah, but at what cost? I will, I've lowered my reputation and there'll be an actor who knows that the guy scenic was only there because I'm trying to make money off, can't do it. So that has been incredibly successful because word of mouth got out that this was a great place and it's a great place to go to. The teachers are great. Everybody I hired no crazy gurus, nobody doing it for any reason, but just to help actors. And it's worked and it's awfully gratifying and fun that way, because you're in a room with really cool people all day long, you know.
Janel Koloski:There are really cool people. I don't know if you haven't lowered your standards because you let me and Amanda in, but I'm going to say no, I make exceptions. You do make exceptions. Sometimes it's like a rough month. We need a little bit more cash. You know it's still form.
Scott Freeman:I mean pity. Does you know, pity does add to it.
Janel Koloski:Oh, but I appreciate your studio. I'm so grateful that it's just been over a month, but it's definitely what I was looking for. I wanted to be with my peers. People cared about the art of acting, the craft of acting, and not these casting director classes where I'm like that's not about the acting, ah, so um, I don't know. I just wanted to be surrounded by people that wanted to go to the gym, as I said, just like get their reps in and work, because, coming from a dance background and playing two instruments, you're saying it's just, you're always doing fundamentals for scales, because that's the basics of everything, and you talk about the 10 is a 10 points, 10 something points it's yeah yeah, yeah, um, and it's.
Janel Koloski:It's always a great reminder because you know, acting is not just talking. So why is training so essential for an actor? Scott?
Scott Freeman:Well, you kind of just said it, Janelle. I mean, the big answer is that any creative?
Janel Koloski:artist should stay fit.
Scott Freeman:And that means not just acting but going to see acting, observing, reading what's going on in the artistic life as well as the business life, and to be current on all those things. To be current on what plays and movies and TV shows are being done, because that's food. That's food for an actor. So that's the big, the big reason to stay in shape.
Scott Freeman:But the other answer is that you are growing. You're not done. We have actors, as you know, in our studio who are in their seventies and they're thrilled. Maybe not seventies I've had people in their seventies. I've got some of their sixties right now and they're thrilled. Maybe not 70s. I've had people in their 70s. I've got some in their 60s right now and they're thrilled because they're figuring new things out, things they couldn't do before because they hadn't lived as much.
Scott Freeman:They bring some personal wisdom to it and you'd be foolish to think you had it. Okay, I'm trained, I got it. But some actors do think that you know, and then they get to a situation where, oops, training does it, ups your average, because you can be an amateur, you can be somebody who never trained in their life, you can be really successful and you can be really good. But every time you get a script, the chance that you're going to be able to hit it is not as high. When you have technique and you know what the hell you're doing, you could look at it and go oh, I know what to do with this one Because you practiced more, you know. That's why it's important. It's important for the soul.
Amanda DeBraux:It definitely is for the soul. I think acting is rooted in the soul of storytelling. We are storytellers and it has to be sold to it. It has to be a life to everything that we do. And if you don't know how to connect with that and sometimes we kind of get lost and don't know how to connect with that because we're either disconnected with ourselves or with society or distracted so it's always good to go back to training. I try to go back to training as often as I can and just to add stuff to my repertoire and I call it my toolbox I can just pull from. Anything is one thing doesn't work, so I have to try to figure out what does work and what can bring me into this character or connect with it in a way that feels real and authentic and grounded. So I love that.
Amanda DeBraux:I'm curious you talked about you know building your, your studio, and I've had the privilege of working with you know a couple of your teachers. You have Maria Desi, who I love. She's amazing, she's fantastic. Um, tell me a bit about how you went and approached that, the training to bring to the actors and really making it where it's universal it's almost groundbreaking in its way and then grounded in the work and also something that you can take with you throughout your career, not just like, oh, it's worse in the moment, but it can build and become like a part of your toolbox. So tell me a bit about just how you expanded that, what went into it, and thinking about it from an actor's perspective as well as a teacher's perspective, and then incorporating the industry as it changes quite often.
Scott Freeman:That's great because you just covered a lot of ground. That is all connected, really, and I'll try to put it together for you. You start with the soul. You mentioned the soul. If you start there, because people don't become actors, some people do.
Scott Freeman:I think the actors we really admire and love watching they did it because they wanted to express something about the world they live in. They admired the writers who were doing that. Maybe they write their own material because there's something, just like a poet, where I feel this and I want to express it. I feel it, I want to sing it, I want to act it and that's why they use that. That's why they got it, not just to show off or I think I'll be famous or I'll make a lot of money. Those are those obviously aren't the kind of actors that interest me to train, but the ones who are in it because they have an incredible curiosity about each person they meet and if they have to or get the opportunity to portray them, they can give a full characterization because they have that humanity and empathy that never goes away. That should be your base. But you've got to train that. You've got to train that so that you're really good at it in order to convey that feeling in those people. You, as I said a moment ago, you have to keep observing, keep watching. You're never done watching people listening. The great thing about being in a class is you learn from watching other people and I think sometimes I can watch and I think I'm going to shut up because there's something going on here where they're listening to the other actor. They seem over between scenes or after class, something talking, getting something to drink in the kitchen and having a conversation. I'm staying out of this. Something good's going on over there. Somebody got so inspired by their work. They're talking to them and that's a spark that I just try to keep from going out and that's part of my job really.
Scott Freeman:As I started, as I said, it was just me, it was called Scott Freeman Studio because it was just me and I was renting space. And then, as it got caught on, I was teaching more and more classes and I thought I need to get my own space and that's when I went. I was down in Tribeca. I had that space before the pandemic for many years and it built that space out and I was able to ask other teachers that they wanted to teach, because I couldn't teach everything and I had all this space and so I started connecting with old friends, people I knew. Bob Krakauer was an old friend. He started teaching on camera. Then some other teachers started.
Scott Freeman:Then I just started chatting with people and telling them what was going on. Reed Burney, an old friend of mine. I said Do you want to teach? He goes, ah, I don't know. I said You're a teacher. Cheerleading people say you are a natural teacher, you should do this, I'm going to give. Should do this, I'll give it a try.
Janel Koloski:And then I met Maria.
Scott Freeman:Dizia through, I think, maybe through Reed, and we got along. No, maria was doing a workshop with Sam Gold and Annie Baker, and maybe it may be her, so I can't remember, but she was there as one of the actors in the workshop doing, you know, talking to the actors, and I was just watching and she sat through the whole class she could be one class and at the end we had like no time left and we had to stop and she said can I just say one thing and I'm like yeah, you haven't said a damn thing the whole time.
Scott Freeman:She says and she looked at this actor and she's just sitting a few feet away and started talking to her and the whole room stopped and her comments were so specific. She waited until she had something really useful to say and the other actor just lit up. I could tell there was a connection and afterwards I said can I talk to you about this? He goes, you're a teacher. He goes no, no, I said you're a teacher, I can teach you form, but you have it. I'll teach you how to do the whole, how to run a classroom and all that stuff. I'm good at that, but you can't necessarily teach that. And so I look for those teachers that are like-minded and I found just great, great people and it allows an actor to have some variety to work with different people. We have on-camera, as you know. That's something I don't teach. I can teach it, but I don't have the expertise in any way. The other ones do, and we have people come in like casting people who come in and do a workshop about what that, what that is like to be going in other rooms, auditioning, and the new challenges of self-tip, et cetera, and I have a good.
Scott Freeman:I brought people in for dialect work and Shakespeare work and movement work and then you know we have should. I just go on? I'm just rattling. At this point we have this thing that we used to call it actors allowed. We're going to probably bring that back. We're actors allowed, because it's really funny, right, actors allowed but also they're allowed to come. You know, it's a double meaning of the word is hilarious. I thought of that myself. No one gets it. I have to explain the joke. But because actors need to be allowed to do stuff and actors need to speak out.
Janel Koloski:That's why and yeah, there's great guests.
Scott Freeman:It's archived on somebody. Everybody, from Marissa Tomei to you know I can't think right now. Just so many great actors have come in and that became over the pandemic. We wanted to do something called Freeman Fridays so that people are going, you know, stir crazy cabin fever. Well, at least on Fridays we'll have this get together, I'll get somebody to come in and I'll chat with them on Zoom and bring your own beverage.
Scott Freeman:And we just did that and that was successful. So now we do something called Freeman Fridays free events. Another bad joke Freeman Fridays, and you went to one, you know, you saw.
Janel Koloski:No, Amanda went, and then she for one, Jen did.
Amanda DeBraux:Yeah, I went and then we brought yeah, Jen on Jen Jacob, she was on our podcast.
Scott Freeman:Did you have Jen? Yes.
Amanda DeBraux:Yes.
Scott Freeman:Pat, who is the, you know, right there at the beginning of the public theater with Joe Papp Amazing event we had a couple weeks ago. We had one with Aubrey Panaschili. She's going to do something about how do you market yourself with social media. That's really helpful. Fellow actor Bob Krakauer is going to do one for us later in May and we have other people just lined up. They're going to do these events where I just interview them, we chat, there's free wine and beverages and we hang out and they're great because people get a chance to be out of their apartments, out of their usual, and just meet all these new people, see old friends it makes me so happy to see people jamming and we'll do a lot, lot more of those. So it's all those things. Amanda, make the place what I want to make it and we're not done. We're going to keep building this that. You just look at the website. You get the newsletter's going on there. All just pop by. There's some interesting event.
Janel Koloski:We'll eventually have, um, a performance where you could do some things, uh, to perform and just keep it moving, you know yeah, and it's nice to get together in person because the online you know, we had to do so many online classes and it got to be very old and when you said the allowed actor, is that like okay, no, but speaking to that, I was just talking to an agent in LA earlier today and I was saying how my self-tapes have gotten a lot better because I allow myself to act and just go full out and obviously there's technique.
Janel Koloski:But I had, I don't know, I studied with Barbara Marchant which, scott, you know her and she's like just let it all out, like really live it out, and then you can pull it back. But she's like how can you really find anything if you're? You know, the theater actors told, oh, you have to be so small and it just takes all the fun out of it and it might be you look crazy, but then you can always bring it back in. So I would love if you would talk about that, because so many actors are, they want to do it right and no that ruins it, but I bet you had with jim that we had with j Jacob.
Scott Freeman:We did it twice actually she and her manager, corey Wang, who's also amazing, and she said that at that event that the best thing you can do is act. You know what to do, and not try to fashion it and try to give them what they want, because they don't know what they want until they see it and all these rules about how to do it can kind of cripple an actor. So the great thing about the self-tape you can do many tapes and go oh, that was too much, but at least I found out what I was afraid of going too far and then you can pull it back. I always you know in class going too far and then you can pull it back. I always you know in class. I always say that Don't edit yourself ahead of time. That comes later, but first you just put it all out there and then you trim yeah, that's you know your mindset.
Scott Freeman:Artistry, aesthetic is similar to that. It's about empowering yourself in any profession. But empowering yourself to do your best, that's the very frustrating thing If you're performing in any industry, whether you're applying for a job in corporate America, I suppose that's something I know about. But if you blow the interview because you knew you could have done better, you knew you could have aced that interview and you beat yourself up. But it's the same principle as acting when you go. I really blew that audition. Or I was terrible on set in that take.
Scott Freeman:It's because you haven't prepared emotionally, mentally. You're letting all the distractions in life win and there are just so many of them. They're not going to stop. They're not going to stop, do you do? I don't know exactly what you preach, but is your philosophies on your podcasts? I think of it. I'm not a Zen Buddhist by practice. I've studied it a lot and I borrow some of the principles respectfully. Borrow some of the principles. I hope I'm being respectful and I borrow some of the principles respectfully. Borrow some of the principles. I hope I'm being respectful.
Scott Freeman:But the because for actors, oh my God, it's just so easy to get knocked off your game because no one is helping you with that You've got, whether it's an audition, it's the self-tape, we have a little control. But I mean, if you're going to an in-person audition, if you're about to walk on stage and there's an audience, if you're about to go on set and there's tons of crew people and there's all this other stuff going on plus your own nerves and not knowing what's going to happen, it's easy to get distracted. So that's one of the things I teach you know from class I do my humble exercise at the top is to get people to find a center, find a zone that you can live in, and the Zen Buddhist part of it is that you invite the distractions to exist. You don't try to knock them out. You don't say okay, there's somebody screaming over there, I've got an upset stomach, I'm nervous. This other person's not looking at me in my scene.
Scott Freeman:It's easy to get knocked away off your game. So you go oh, that person needs to do that, that person needs to scream, that person needs to gurgle. Okay, it's the concept of letting the great world spin. You ever heard that you let the great world spin? You ever heard that you just let the great world spin. You don't try to control it, you go. This is big, but I'm busy doing this.
Janel Koloski:Yeah, I think Amanda and I have both brought different ideas of what mindset artistry means to the podcast. But for me, I mean, I started out as a model and it was always kind of funny because the people weren't like you should model I don't know where it came from Like I was this really awkward girl, this Irish dancing clarinet, playing competitive book reading participant, but I was like I don't know, I just see people in magazines and I love fashion and that's what I want to do, and I love fashion and that's what I want to do. And so it really just comes down to mindset. Because when I started studying, people that are successful or whatever you want to say that is success is, but people that are living the life that they love and want to have I just noticed they always had really good craftsmanship, whatever it was it could be a designer or a model or a teacher, anything and they were completely authentic.
Janel Koloski:It's just like the confidence could come through because they know who they are and what they want and they care about the craft of what they do. And so the mindset just comes into that, because your mind can really get in your way on top of the distractions. If you, if, if I had to always say to myself you're meant to do this because you want to, so don't let the what do you call it, amanda? The mean green monster or something that's saying these mean things yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the mucinex monster anyway. So you, you could be so talented and have a great craft or something, but if you let your mindset get in the way and your ego and you, it's over yeah, an actor friend who used to called it the asshole in my head.
Scott Freeman:Yeah, so that's. I love what you just said. I could borrow it or steal it or both, janelle, because I strongly I don't just believe it, I've witnessed it that for longevity, in any profession, whether you're a plumber or you make shoes, or you're a creative artist like a, an actor or writer, painter, you have to have technique, you have to have craft, you want pride of craft. Otherwise you're just hoping. You get lucky. And it feels good. It feels good that you've actually worked at something practiced. It feels good, it feels good that you've actually worked at something practiced. It failed, figured it out, learned from it. It's exciting. And then you get good, whether it is playing the flute or Irish dancing or modeling or acting. All those things you do and you're in. Weren't you in corporate America or were you in legal or law enforcement? No, which one I was?
Amanda DeBraux:in the corporate world. So I worked in human resources or talent acquisition and got my degree in forensic psychology. So, yes, right, right, right. So I didn't. I'm the person that didn't know. I wanted to be an actor and it kind of I always wanted to, but I didn't think it was accessible to me. Is what I say is that I, you know, as a kid, imagine the world of watching cartoons and the TV and the movies. It was like, oh my gosh, it's so amazing. But I never thought it was possible for me because I didn't have any examples around me. So to me it was unattainable, it was inaccessible for me and it didn't reach me until I was in college and someone told me about background work and that's kind of how the seed flourished within me and I was like, oh, it is accessible to me now. It always has been. I just didn't know how to get into the industry. It always has been I just didn't know how to get into the industry. But I love that because when I started, craft and figuring out the business was very important to me. That was the only way that I was going to beanship. That goes into it, the business side, that goes into and understanding it and it all links together.
Amanda DeBraux:But for me, mindset artistry really came about and is really important to myself and janelle's, because during the pandemic, mindset was really important and we didn't. We weren't working but no one was doing anything and we kind of disconnected from the craft and the pressures of like how do we survive, how do we keep intact with the industry? What's going on? It was the uncertainty and we just didn't know how to like navigate that. And as we started to, we discovered how important the mindset is and how we were already doing it. We just didn't have a name for it, we didn't know how we were nurturing that mindset and so Janelle and I we would do voice messages to each other. And then, you know, mindset Artistry kind of came about a year later when we got certified as life coaches.
Amanda DeBraux:But as an actor and as a creative and as a storyteller, I am really adamant on mindset and that inner voice, because that's the only way that I feel I am grounded and able to drop into these characters without conflicting with them and then incorporating them with myself as well. And so that's where I think mindset comes in for me specifically, and what I like to tell people is like get step, step aside, don't worry so much about oh, I'm going to do it wrong, I'm going to do it right. Or like I'm afraid to let my truth come out with this character because I'm trying to disconnect from it. It's like use it all, learn how to encompass all of those attributes and your experiences into the work, without it being, I guess, specific, or it has to be a certain way, and just allowing the free flow. And then, once you understand mindset, whenever those moments of fear or anxiety or stress come up, you hopefully are in an awareness where you can navigate them and understand what you need and what you don't and we talked about this recently with a couple of guests of ours and being able to sit down and ask yourself the question of, like, what do I need?
Amanda DeBraux:I'm the actor, but I'm also a person, so what do I need? And tapping into that, and even when I'm studying or when I'm preparing, and understanding that, those are things of recognizing your mindset and what you need, because sometimes I can pick up material very quickly and then sometimes I'm struggling. So it's like if I'm aware of those things and I'm able to navigate them without feeling like I failed, and even if I feel like I failed. I know that's a part of the craft too. So it's embracing that failure without reprimanding myself or feeling disappointed, and just using that in part of my craft and understanding that it's all purposeful. So thank you for bringing that up about mindset, because I think it's being more talked about now and more welcoming, and I love that you encompass that with your classes and the.
Amanda DeBraux:You know the grounding before you even get into the work, so you can set like recognizing yeah, world is always going to be moving around you, even if you're at a standstill, the world is going to constantly be moving around you. It's now how do you navigate through that world and what do you choose to do? And so I love that you're doing that. And I attended the workshop and I can't wait. Unfortunately, I'm no longer in New York so I won't be able to attend them very often, but when I am I will. But what is something that you want actors to go away with when they attend your studio, whether it's a workshop, whether it's a class or meeting you? What is something that you want them to go away with after they leave your studio or even talk to you?
Scott Freeman:Well, it depends how long they stay. Frankly, you know, if they come to one class and never come back it's not built that way They'll say they'd come to one session, maybe four weeks, six weeks, but even if it was just one class, the work is so prescriptive. You know, I'm teaching. It does really feel like I'm teaching If I have 12 people in class. It really does feel like I'm teaching 12 classes in a way, because I don't teach a blanket. It's not a PowerPoint presentation that I'm downloading on people's heads. It's so particular because you're giving them material to help them access the thing that they came here. They don't even know that. They came here to develop.
Scott Freeman:So what makes me happy is when people walk out, however long they're there, and they know how to do something they didn't before, or they might have known how to do it, but it's so much stronger and reliable and they have a lot more confidence. That's the big thing. You feel people, you can see people lift and they just walk with more confidence. They think with more confidence. They pick up a piece of dramatic material with more confidence, like, oh God, I hope I can do something next time. Okay, what's that? I don't get that. Let me see if I can figure it out. It's like you do the crossword puzzle every single day. The first week or so you're like, oh God, I'm an idiot, I don't even know if I can't pull five squares in. And then after a couple weeks you're like, no, that was easy, give me a tougher one. You know, and they go yeah, I got the whole puzzle done. And you know because you just practice, practice. Every acting assignment is a puzzle of trying to figure it out.
Scott Freeman:Writers are detectives. You have to figure out who makes this person tick. What does the writer have to do? How can I fulfill this? What does the writer have to do? How can I fulfill this? And so you walk away with that. That's the best thing. When I see people, it happens all the time.
Scott Freeman:You might have been in class where I say, okay, amanda or Fred or Mary Lou, or whatever. I say that was great and you couldn't have done that X amount of months ago. You couldn't. You would have really failed because you didn't know how to do that. And now you do. I just want to point that out to you Because a lot of acting training is critical, because you have to analyze and say, oop, you're doing that wrong or you're not doing that effectively enough. I would say how do you use the word wrong? It's not strong enough, it could be truer. And when you start getting good at that, it's great to also compliment people so that they know it's working, and that's just a thrill. And it's a thrill for the other people in the room to see the growth. They're always so congratulatory to each other about that. And you know when you were online doing it, amanda people would do the little.
Scott Freeman:Oh yeah, yeah, that's great, it's great, it's yeah. It's sharing I appreciate that.
Amanda DeBraux:Thank you, cause I feel because it feels so competitive in this industry and we feel like we have to constantly be perfect, whatever that may be, or if we're doing something wrong, as you said is I love the word ineffective. I think that's actually really great that you use it and I'm probably going to take that, scott, because ineffective I like that way better than wrong. I don't like saying wrong, but, and I love and I think that is so great.
Amanda DeBraux:I think when I attended the studio and even when I left, I learned so much about myself. I learned so much about the craft in a way that I didn't think of, and I think that's what we should all be taking from any work that we do, and just learning is that don't go in it thinking that like, oh, I got to get this. Be open to whatever you discover and learn, and you never know what you can use that you learn today, 10 years from now, because our body and our mind retain all of that subconsciously, and so I love that you have such diversity within your courses and your workshops and the things that you offer and your teachers, and I think that's great. So whoever is in New York or even online, check out Scott Freeman's studio. So whoever is in New York, or even online, check out Scott Freeman's studio. And now do you have any last words darling, as we kind of wrap this up?
Janel Koloski:Yeah, yeah, I think.
Scott Freeman:Oh, Janelle, sorry.
Janel Koloski:Oh God, I was about to compliment no, oh, wait, wait, I have to say something to Scott. No, no, what I love about Scott's class is that is that you want to like help us get the work done quickly, because that's been the hardest thing for me. I'm a very empathetic person when I'm not, you know, pulling people's chains, and I'm very curious, and I minored in psychology and it's not always too hard for me to try to see someone's perspective, even if it's so different from mine. And maybe because I grew up with my dad's a journalist and he was always like there's two sides, he's like it's good to try to understand both.
Janel Koloski:Yeah, so my biggest thing is the time limit really ruins the art for me because of the pressure and it makes me feel like I'm incapable. But I'm not so as I appreciate about your class, it does make it like more and more comfortable, because then I can become very frustrated. I'm like, oh, I'm not good enough to do this, I'm not meant to do this, so why can't I figure this out? And the more you look at it, like clay or like dance or music, and you know, I was like all right, I just got to get the reps in. So that's what I've gotten out of your class, you know, because I'm getting more auditions and they're becoming easier because I'm not so intimidated by them.
Scott Freeman:We're animals. Humans are still their animal, but the difference is we have the opposable thumb. We can walk upright. We have this amazing brain power and we shouldn't squander that. But the big thing we have is a heart that can feel for other people and we can recognize that. We can make choices, and that's something that we're lucky to have, that we should use it for to help each other. To help each other, I mean. You know, life's crazy out there. We only have each other.
Amanda DeBraux:That's a beautiful agenda and that's a great way to end this. I think it just reminds us to be human. At the end of the day, humanity exists and we have to look at each other and I love that. You said that I think as I got I'm going to say older, mature and more experienced is I get to recognize that all the characters that I've played anybody who had I have crossed paths with I could have that could have been my story, that could anything they go through I had went through that could have been my story. And I'm also curious.
Amanda DeBraux:I think that there's this aspect that actors have to maintain is be curious. Just be curious in your art and, like you know, and it's like why, okay, how, when? Ask those questions when creating and never judge them, because you really don't know what circumstances put them in that place. And I love that you shared that and reminding us to be human, to be nice, to be kind. And yeah, I think we tend to forget that because we're so consumed by society and all the things and the chaos and everything that's going on that we get distracted. At the end of the day, we're all human, we're all trying to do our best.
Scott Freeman:Thanks for asking both of you. Thanks for asking me to do this. Yeah, you can find more information. Obviously, just to plug the studio, like you already have. The website, but especially our Instagram feed is really active. That's probably the best way to get information on what's current, but it's just great to see you two and talk with you and if I'm in LA which I do get to. I'll have to look you up, yes which I do get to.
Amanda DeBraux:I'll have to look you up. Yes, yes, please come visit. I'm not too out of reach of New York, but I'll be here for a while. So, um, but I appreciate that and, uh, thank you again, and we'll um drop all your info on the comments and where to find you and all the upcoming events. So thank you so and we'll see you next time. And that's a wrap on this episode of Mindset Artistry Podcast. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe. Catch us every Thursday for a new episode to help you master the art of your mindset.
Amanda DeBraux:Got it? Yes, okay, cool.