Private Acting Coaching in Auckland

When One to One Coaching Is the Right Choice

A weekly class builds technique over a term. Coaching is for the moment when you have a particular piece of work in front of you and limited time to get it right. A session with Elena Stejko Actors Studio is useful in four situations.

• An audition. You have sides and a brief, and you want a clear, playable take on the character before you record or walk into the room.
• A self tape. You want another pair of eyes on your choices, your framing of the performance for the lens, and which take to send.
• A role you have booked. You are preparing for rehearsals or a shoot and want to arrive with the character built.
• A block. Something in your work is stuck, and you want individual attention on it that a group class cannot give.

How Elena Prepares an Actor

The coaching uses the same method as the studio's classes, the Michael Chekhov technique, because its tools are fast. Elena teaches audition preparation as a five step process for preparing effectively and efficiently, even under a tight deadline, using Michael Chekhov screen acting tools. The technique gives an actor quick ways into a script: reading what the scene is for and what the casting brief is asking, finding the atmosphere of the scene, and giving the character a psychological gesture and a quality of movement that can be held through every take. Our page about how the Michael Chekhov technique works explains those tools.

The aims are the ones the studio sets for all its teaching: a deeper understanding of the script and the casting brief, and confidence in the choices that are yours rather than a copy of somebody else's.

Coached by Someone Who Auditions

Elena Stejko is a working actor and director. She played the lead in the feature film Russian Snark and was nominated for best actress at the Qantas Film and Television Awards for it, won the Chapman Tripp Award for Actress of the Year in 2012 for her stage work, and has recent credits on Sweet Tooth and I, Object. She is represented by GCM Artist Management, where her credits are listed. She has seen auditions from the other side as well, having helped with casting on Christine Jeffs' film Rain. Her full background is on the About Elena Stejko page.

In Person or Online

Coaching can be done in person in Auckland or online. In person sessions are held at the studio, Studio 3.2, 1 Cleveland Road, Parnell, and give more room for the physical side of the work. Online sessions suit actors outside Auckland and anyone preparing a self tape, since the session takes place in the same frame the audition will.

Getting the Most From a Session

It helps to send three things when you request a session: the script or sides, the casting brief or character breakdown if you have one, and the date the audition or recording is due. Learn the lines as well as you can beforehand, so the time is spent on the character rather than the words.

Coaching Beyond Acting

Elena also offers individual sessions in mindset, confidence, voice and public speaking for people who are not actors. Those sessions are tailored to individual goals, can be requested the same way, and are described on the page about confidence and communication workshops.

How to Book

Request a session on the booking page. Say whether you would like to meet in person or online and when would suit, and the studio replies by email to arrange the time and confirm the fee. If your deadline is very close, phone 021 675 977.