Excellent, excellent, excellent. Many thanks for sharing this interview. I've been teaching acting for almost 25 years now, using a method I learned from my mentor for 10 years and, like Jim, teaching this to students as pure and sincere as possible. My mentor died last year, and I feel it as my responsibilty to keep his method alive. It's a wonderful gift to share it with students and watch them getting in the moment of their conflict on stage.
Thank you so much for this interview and putting it out for all to see. I ESPECIALLY appreciate that you had a backup camera recording and that you weren’t afraid to use it for your edit! You’re a true professional! 1:09:47
Great video! I do think it’s okay for a technique to be developed over time. There is nothing wrong with that. That’s exactly what happened with the Stanislavski system into Adler, Strasberg, Hagen, and the Meisner technique. If a teaching is stagnant it could be a problem. I don’t know who he is throwing shade at about a falling out with a certain teacher. I believe he is talking about Bill Esper and bill just added to the technique. That’s why he has so many successful students. Bill also didn’t change much from the teachings at all. So if it’s not Bill Esper I have no clue who he is talking about. .
Great interview and video. The only thing I'm afraid I have to disagree with is what the interviewer said. Involving martial arts, "You learn the exact same thing going from one teacher to the next." This isn't true, acting and martial arts are very similar. Whenever you're learning anything like acting, music, or martial arts. It can be the same if you go to someone else who teaches the same technique, obviously! Nonetheless, there are many different teachers, styles, and techniques to learn from. You need to find the right one that suits you. The worst teacher/trainer in any industry is the cookie-cutter trainers. Or like Jim said, teachers who parrot their version and every time that style gets passed on without following it directly from the source. It ends up getting diluted and weaker every time!
Thanks Matthew! Glad you liked it. Yes, techniques end up diluted when protocoles aren't clear or proper training and certifications are not in place to make sure that a field is properly taught. Everyone can change a technique and make it their own and that is fine, or create new ones and mix a few. But when I started discovering the "Meisner technique" I trained with different teachers who were speaking "different languages", as Jim says. To the point that they were giving contradictory advise and rewarding completely different types of behaviours, and all calling it "Meisner". And they did so because of ignorance, not because the technique itself couldn't be properly laid out or because it was so subjective that it didn't have a clear curriculum, with clear exercises with specific names and functions at each step. Martial arts, or therapy techniques, which also deal with unique human beings, their experiences and emotions, have developed clear protocoles and have specific structures and history. Every practitioner is different but there is some basic clarity for each approach instead of esoteric discussions about "letting go", or "being yourself", or "being free". One person can be trained in Gestalt, ericksonian hypnosis, and NLP, and another one in cognitive behavioural therapy and EMDR. They can mix things, but they have proper trainings for each tool. Otherwise you'll have no idea what you're in for as a student or customer. I meant to highlight the discrepancy between the seriousness that is required in other fields, and the casualness with which so many "acting teachers" research and train at their craft and approaches. The whole point of this channel is to clarify what techniques are, how they work, and where they come from. Hope it makes more sense.
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Many thanks for sharing this interview. I've been teaching acting for almost 25 years now, using a method I learned from my mentor for 10 years and, like Jim, teaching this to students as pure and sincere as possible. My mentor died last year, and I feel it as my responsibilty to keep his method alive. It's a wonderful gift to share it with students and watch them getting in the moment of their conflict on stage.
Hey! That's my teacher :)
Thank you so much for this interview and putting it out for all to see. I ESPECIALLY appreciate that you had a backup camera recording and that you weren’t afraid to use it for your edit! You’re a true professional! 1:09:47
Très instructif, merci.
avec plaisir 🤓
Great video! I do think it’s okay for a technique to be developed over time. There is nothing wrong with that. That’s exactly what happened with the Stanislavski system into Adler, Strasberg, Hagen, and the Meisner technique. If a teaching is stagnant it could be a problem. I don’t know who he is throwing shade at about a falling out with a certain teacher. I believe he is talking about Bill Esper and bill just added to the technique. That’s why he has so many successful students. Bill also didn’t change much from the teachings at all. So if it’s not Bill Esper I have no clue who he is talking about.
.
fun topic
Great interview and video. The only thing I'm afraid I have to disagree with is what the interviewer said. Involving martial arts, "You learn the exact same thing going from one teacher to the next." This isn't true, acting and martial arts are very similar. Whenever you're learning anything like acting, music, or martial arts. It can be the same if you go to someone else who teaches the same technique, obviously! Nonetheless, there are many different teachers, styles, and techniques to learn from. You need to find the right one that suits you. The worst teacher/trainer in any industry is the cookie-cutter trainers. Or like Jim said, teachers who parrot their version and every time that style gets passed on without following it directly from the source. It ends up getting diluted and weaker every time!
Thanks Matthew! Glad you liked it. Yes, techniques end up diluted when protocoles aren't clear or proper training and certifications are not in place to make sure that a field is properly taught. Everyone can change a technique and make it their own and that is fine, or create new ones and mix a few. But when I started discovering the "Meisner technique" I trained with different teachers who were speaking "different languages", as Jim says. To the point that they were giving contradictory advise and rewarding completely different types of behaviours, and all calling it "Meisner". And they did so because of ignorance, not because the technique itself couldn't be properly laid out or because it was so subjective that it didn't have a clear curriculum, with clear exercises with specific names and functions at each step. Martial arts, or therapy techniques, which also deal with unique human beings, their experiences and emotions, have developed clear protocoles and have specific structures and history. Every practitioner is different but there is some basic clarity for each approach instead of esoteric discussions about "letting go", or "being yourself", or "being free". One person can be trained in Gestalt, ericksonian hypnosis, and NLP, and another one in cognitive behavioural therapy and EMDR. They can mix things, but they have proper trainings for each tool. Otherwise you'll have no idea what you're in for as a student or customer. I meant to highlight the discrepancy between the seriousness that is required in other fields, and the casualness with which so many "acting teachers" research and train at their craft and approaches. The whole point of this channel is to clarify what techniques are, how they work, and where they come from. Hope it makes more sense.
*PromoSM* 🙌