Teachers
The teachers at the Hollywood Acting Workshop range from professional, well-recognized and respected Casting Directors…to…acting coaches trained directly by Sanford Meisner, giving our students not only a comprehensive curriculum of acting classes but also first-hand insight to the realities of the acting industry.
Frederick (Fred) Ponzlov
Acting Coach, Actor, Writer, Director (and former HBO Casting Director)
Frederick (Fred) Ponzlov is a renowned New York and Los Angeles acting teacher with over 25 years of show-business experience. He was trained by Sanford Meisner of the world famous Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He is a television and film actor, screen writer, theatre director, and acting teacher known for his work on stage and for writing the award-winning film “Plots with a View” (USA title “Undertaking Betty”). Frederick is also a former Casting Director for HBO. Currently, he teaches and coaches acting classes, specializing in the Meisner Technique.
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Jenn Gaw
Casting Associate / Casting Director
Jenn Gaw is the Casting Assistant to Carol Goldwasser Casting. It is only Jenn and Carol in the office. Carol is one of Los Angeles’ busiest kids casting directors and has an amazing reputation as a veteran of kid’s television (imdb.com), including credits such as the Casting Director of Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (2006-2010; 97 episodes). In December 2010, Jen just finished assisting Carol in the casting of Disney’s XD show “I’m in the Band” Season 2. NOW (2011), they are casting a NEW “undisclosed” pilot (for teens)!!!!!! Jenn’s past credits include: “The Dilemma”, a Ron Howard feature film (with Vince Vaughn); “Ghost Whisperer”; “Castle”; an ABC pilot “Matadors”; and a Comedy Central pilot “The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down”. Further, she has worked as the Head Casting Director on the SAG webseries “Smoked!” Jenn’s IMDB.com page is under construction and still needs to list her credits.
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Scott Wissner
Producer /Casting Director
Scott Wissner of ASG Casting has over 20 years of experience casting for commercials and television. He has directed 1000′s of commercial auditions, including “award-winning” campaigns for McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Little Caesars, Doritos and Bud Lite. He has worked on numerous major network campaigns such as Mattel, Ford, Toyota, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr., etc., etc., etc…as well as a recent commercial for the new Michael Jackson video game for Ubisoft. Regarding television, he has cast many network reality shows, such as ABC’s “SuperNanny” and “The Mole”. His casting credits also include shows from a variety of networks, including ABC’s “Ultimate Love Test” and “The Benefactor”, NBC/USA’s “The Start Up”, Discovery Channel’s “Top Gear”, TLC’s “One Week to Save Your Marriage”, Sci-Fi Network’s “Master Blasters”, and Spike TV’s, “Joe Schmo Show”. Scott knows what the networks and advertising agencies want and why they cast “who” they cast. He loves actors, loves kids and teens (as he has two teenage daughters), and he truly wants to help actors get the callbacks and book the jobs. He is known throughout the industry, as an “actor’s director”, helping actor’s find their best performances. Currently, he is very busy casting for several commercials, as well as writing and developing a half-hour comedy for television and a network reality show.
Marisa Rodriguez
Casting Director for Independent Films
Casting Associate for After Dark Films (Mark Teschner of General Hospital) & Sally Lear Casting
Marisa Rodriguez has been working as a casting professional in the Los Angeles area for almost 10 years. She began her career (in 2002) working as a casting associate for the daytime soap series “Young & the Restless” for several years. Since then, she has been casting for feature films (including dramas, horror, science fiction and romantic comedies) and other projects (such as several recent music videos and short films). In 2010, she was the casting associate for 8 (eight) films, including “Husk”, “Fertile Ground”, “Prowl”, “Seconds Apart”, “51″, “Scream of the Banshee”, “And They’re Off”, as well as “Elephant White” where she cast Kevin Bacon and Djimon Hounsou for the Nu Image Millennium Film production. More recently, she has been the Casting Director of various independent film projects including “1,001 Ways”. Currently, her next scheduled projects are as Casting Director of two films: “In Search of Michael Keaton” and “Karaoke Man”. (See imdb.com).
Ruth Conforte, C.S.A.
C.S.A. Artios® Award-nominated Casting Director
Ruth Conforte is a C.S.A. Artios award-nominated Casting Director with over 25 years of experience casting for commercials, television, films, industrials and voice-overs in Los Angeles and New York. She has held staff casting positions at Disney Studios, Warner Bros, Universal Studios and Lorimar. Her flourishing career includes hundreds of casting credits ranging from the casting of such television series as “Dallas” (original cast in 1978), “Eight is Enough”, “B.J. and the Bear” and “Santa Barbara” (soap opera) to current-day commercials and industrials such as Clairol, Chanel, Colgate, General Motors, Washington Mutual, Microsoft, Western Dental, Mattel toys, etc. Currently, she is very busy casting for several commercials, as well as casting and participating in the development of independent feature films.
