Building characters

Summer camp offered for budding actors

By Keith Loria, Special Writer

There are a number of places in the area where teens and young adults can get acting lessons or take theatrical training, but when Jody Wood started JW Actor’s Studio in Princeton in 2006, he wanted to provide something a little different. Rather than just offer your run-of-the-mill training exercises, Mr. Wood envisioned a place where students could go to learn about all aspects of the industry— the crafts of acting, writing, directing and improvisation as well as the practical aspects of the business.

”I had known about a place in Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) where kids would create characters in improv and this inspired them to write their own plays, and I thought it was such a great idea,” Mr. Wood says. “I thought, ‘Why wouldn’t this work in Princeton?’”

Mr. Wood is going to find out this summer when his studio teams up with Shadowland Productions to offer “Empower Play,” an immersive theatrical and writing camp for middle- and high-school students from Aug. 6-17.

Shadowland Productions is a professional film and television production company run by Kevin Fox that has produced shows for FOX and CBS and is an umbrella company for screenwriting consultant services, screen and television script analysis, and the development of all areas of the writing craft and business. Mr. Fox is an established Hollywood screenwriter with credits including “The Negotiator” starring Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson. When his daughter took a class at JW Actor’s Studio, he befriended Mr. Wood and the two developed the idea for the camp. ”When Jody brought up the idea, I thought it was great. It’s always amazed me how few actors understand the writer’s process,” he says. “Acting and improv is a great brainstorming method for writing; they work naturally together.” Mr. Wood has been a professional actor for the past 25 years, working in films like “L.A. Confidential” and “Halloween,” TV shows like “Boston Public” and “NYPD Blue” and numerous theatrical productions. He hopes that his rich experience in the field will help teach aspiring actors how best to be successful in the challenging field.

The camp will start off with the students brainstorming and doing improvisation exercises, developing ideas for characters, lines and scenes.

”We’ll have a lot of creative sessions and then start the writing process,” Mr. Wood says. “They will break into groups and continue to create characters and work with Kevin in the writing lab, and I will work with the kids on the play.”

Mr. Fox adds that the fun part about it is that toward the end of the first week, they are going to discover that they have actually been writing all along.

”You start combining the ideas and lines that got a good reaction from improv and once they start getting it down, making their characters and working on a beginning, middle and end, they will realize they have a complete outline from what they did all week,” he says. “They’ll learn it can be fun and collaborative.”

At the end of the two-week camp, each “mini troupe” will perform a work that they have written and directed, with industry professionals in the audience to watch.

”I have some contacts with talent agencies who expressed interest in the showcase and are open to seeing what we do,” Mr. Wood says. “It’s an excellent opportunity for kids. This will show the kids that not only is it fun, but that it’s an industry that should be taken seriously and be respected.”

While the camp is targeted toward actors, the lessons learned can help any child succeed in other areas of their life as well.

”Most kids I work with are not going to become professionals, but parents have said to me time and time again how their children are more confident, raising their hands in class more and their listening skills have gotten better,” Mr. Wood says. “They become more creative and communicative and those benefits can be seen during presentations at school.”

Mr. Fox says the class does a great deal to up the emotional quotient of a youngster.

”The camp will help them understand people and how to connect to people better,” he says. “When you understand character and understand motivation and all the pieces that acting and writing brings to the table, it helps with many communication skill sets in life.”

After the summer, Mr. Wood and Mr. Fox plan on continuing their approach and future plans include one-day seminars during the fall, holiday breaks and hopefully a repeat camp next summer.

”We think we’re bringing something unique to the Princeton area and it’s very exciting and kids will walk away having learned something,” Mr. Wood says. “Not only will they learn a lot about acting and writing, but they will leave with something that serves them in life in so many ways.”

The two-week camp costs $995.