Acting Istruction

Emily Skinner

www.emilyskinner.net

From the film “Sodales”, directed by Jessica Biel

Emily with the cast of “Numb3rs”

From the film “Sodales”, directed by Jessica Biel

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Daniel Martinez has been working with Emily for almost one year now and we feel so blessed to have him as her acting coach. Initially, we had worked with some other coaches, but saw Emily grow the most under Daniel’s tutelage. Daniel always goes beyond the call of duty for the children he coaches... he cares about their successes and failures... and about their emotional response to the acting industry, which can be daunting to a young child.

However, although he cares greatly for Emily, he is not afraid to pick apart Emily’s performances, sometimes changing very subtle pieces which one might not think would have much of an affect on her total performance... always delivering a better end product which gives her an edge at her auditions. Daniel has taught us that the difference between good and great acting lies in the subtleties of her performance.

Emily has walked out of auditions on numerous occasions saying, “When (this) happened, I did just what Daniel coached me to do.” For example, one time she forgot a line, but knew not to break character, and to stay in the emotion her character was portraying when asking for the line. She did... and got a callback. On another audition, someone entered the room when Emily was in the middle of a monologue; because of Daniel, she knew not to turn her head and break character... but to just keep going, ignoring what was going on behind her. Recently, she auditioned with a casting director who delivered the lines extremely fast, but Emily was prepared, and did not let it influence her performance as she delivered her own lines slowly and took her beats at the appropriate times. This is the type of training Daniel delivers because he has been there. He has done numerous auditions and prepares his actors for every possible scenario.

In addition to audition training and scene work, Daniel has worked with Emily on object training, monologues, interviewing techniques, improvisation, crying on command, cold reads, and comedic timing. He has worked tirelessly with her. I remember one night at around 7:30 when Emily and I were driving home from an audition in LA and I received a phone call from Emily’s agent that she had received an audition notice for a pilot requiring her to be there the next afternoon. She had school the next day and we were going to need to leave for the audition straight from school, so I phoned Daniel from the road and asked if there was any way he could work with her that evening. I was still an hour from home, so Daniel agreed to meet us at 8:30 that very night... and worked with her until 10:00 (it was a 7 page script). This is not an isolated incident. He has met us early, late, for a short time, for a long time... all to ready Emily for important auditions. In addition, he never fails to follow up on how the audition went, so he can figure out where he needs to focus his next lesson.

Daniel is extremely honest and we trust him! There have been times when Daniel reads through a script for an audition, or watches Emily perform something, and he doesn’t feel that she needs to work with him on it. He is extremely honest and he won’t waste Emily’s time or my money working on something that doesn’t need to be worked on. Daniel’s favorite saying is, “Acting is hard work Emily”. Daniel knows when to push Emily and when to let her rest. When he pushes her for more, he does so in a loving and patient manner... but Emily knows that he will not settle for anything less than the best she can give him. I would not hesitate to recommend Daniel as an acting coach! I just hope Emily doesn’t have to compete against one of his students in the future... because that would be some stiff competition!...............................Jennifer Skinner (Emily's mom)

AALIYAH MAGCASI

Aaliyah with Luke Perry

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Dear Daniel..........I want to thank your for all you have done for Aaliyah. She’s known from very little what her dream is. But we know that without your teachings she would not have the confidence and/or knowledge she has now. Before we met you she went on several auditions not really knowing what to do or what they expected of her. Your knowledge of the industry has been most helpful. Incredibly after she started working with you her resume grew within a short period of time. Not only has she landed jobs, but she landed a great agent as well. And we both (my husband and I) know it is thanks to you.

Aaliyah has received great comments from producers and directors alike, on what a professional she is. She most recently filmed a commercial where the producer asked if she could give me a hug for having such a “wonderful and professional daughter.” When she asked Aaliyah how she knew what to do on set, Aaliyah didn’t mention her experience. She said “oh Mr. Daniel taught me.” The producer then said, “Mr. Daniel sure knows what he’s talking about.” I have to agree.

I have to be honest with you. When I first met you, I thought to myself this man looks a little intimidating for the kids. Boy was I wrong. I don’t know how you do it. You have so much patience with those little ones. Getting them to pay attention when they are alone is hard enough, let alone in a large group. You seem to hold some sort of magic over the kids, because you can actually get those little ones to listen. My hat goes off to you.

So once again, thank you. Thank you for being there last minute every time we need you. We are so grateful to you and admire how you are willing to go above and beyond for your students. Like the time you went over lines on the phone when Aaliyah received her sides at 8pm, for an audition the next morning. It definitely shows that you care about your students and their success.

We wish you the best of luck and hope that when you become a famous writer/producer, you still have time to give Aaliyah her lessons. ......Take care Daniel and God bless..........Martha Magcasi

DANYA WILLIAMS

http://www.imdb.me/danya.williams

Empty Sandbox

Danya Williams

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When navigating through this entertainment industry there is so much to try to figure out and lots of things you will go through. Now add to that to doing this with something more precious to you than life itself, your child/children. One thing I can say, with all certainty, is that it is very important to have at least 3 things; patience, an organic talent to work with, and a great coach!

Danny Martinez began working with my daughter in February of 2010. He taught her how to block a scene, monologues, dialogue techniques, and how to make the audience believe the scene. Ok let’s fast forward, to where we are today, almost, a year later: We are now preparing for my 3 year old to attend her first movie screening, where she has a speaking role for Empty Sandbox, January 27th, 2011. My daughter had no training ever, but she is uniquely talented and a huge ball of energy. If she is in the room, you can’t miss her! The delivery of that, had to be shaped and we were blessed enough to find an amazing, honest, acting coach who could teach DanYa how to do just that. Danny coached her twice a week, for several months prior to her life changing audition. Upon arrival, she was able to deliver her lines in a way that made the casting director take notice. I didn’t know it at the time but they had chosen her. We got our call back, she read lines with some adult actors and DanYa was cast for her first ever speaking role in an independent short film that will debut at a Film Festival. Yes, I did say film, talk about exciting! It’s an amazing feeling to know that she has the ability to go in, hit her mark, and really perform. She is confident on set because she has had some awesome training! We continued our lessons, and she then auditioned for a web-series with AOL. She was selected to shoot a pilot for the Internet Giant, called “Advice for Mama”.

Did I mention she is only 3? If you know anything about this business, nothing really happens until children are usually 4 or 5 years old. In short, if you work at it……THIS CAN HAPPEN!

There is a lot to say about the people who we have met and will meet along the way, but it is rare to say that you will find people with integrity that will help you along the way, in this business. Danny is one of those people! Having Danny be a part of this team, and on our side, to help DanYa mold her craft, is an invaluable part of this journey we now find ourselves on. I am truly excited about having my daughter work with Danny, for some upcoming projects and cannot wait to see what he brings out of her and what the future holds!

See you at the movies!

IVY GUERRUERO

Ivy Guerruero

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Ivy has been working with Dan for almost two years. When I first met Dan, he was working with a room full of kids with very short attention spans. I always marveled at the way he could get the kids to listen to him, focus on the work and stay seated. He has a lot more patience than I do. He doesn't take any nonsense from the kids and they respond well to that.

After the group sessions, we started semi-private coaching sessions with Dan which I feel is really the best use of our time. The girls really get a lot of attention from Dan and it definitely shows. It's hard to explain the atmosphere that he creates without seeing it. Think of the Dog Whisperer, how he can get the most uncontrollable dogs to listen to him. When Dan says "No, don't do that. Don't fidget. Look at my eyes when you are speaking." in a firm but kind voice, the girls just magically do what he says without questioning him. But he also understands it should be fun for the kids and never pushes too hard.

Dan has taught Ivy how to prepare for all sorts of auditions by walking into the room like she owns it, speaking clearly, and most importantly making eye contact. He's worked with her on improv skills, monologues, and scene work. On some occasions, he even writes custom scenes for her to work on. He's met with us last minute to help prep for important auditions. I have tried to prepare Ivy myself and even though I have some experience with teaching acting in college, I just can't get the same level of performance that he does. Since he has been in the industry for a long time, he is very good at interpreting the scenes. For one audition, she was supposed to repeat something she heard an upset grownup say. I just had her say the line in a normal delivery. But Dan asked her yell it a little, imitating the way the grownup would have said it. His interpretation helped Ivy to stand out.

I hope Dan is always available to us. I plan to keep using him for a long, long time. Ivy has learned so much from him. It's not just that she is confident and outgoing in every audition that she goes to, she has also learned communication skills that she can use for the rest of her life.

Thanks Dan.

ABI KALCHMAN

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When you first meet Daniel, you would not expect him to be able to develop incredible relationship with kids. But that is so far from the truth. Daniel is one of the most amazing people I have ever seen work with kids. He really knows how to get the best out of them. For nearly two years now, Daniel has been my 4 year old daughter’s acting coach. I can’t even begin to tell you what an incredible person and coach Daniel is. When we first enrolled Abi, my daughter, into the school where he was teaching, our goal was just to help Abi develop confidence, a positive presence and eventually get an agent. Abi used to be very shy and rarely made eye contact. Since taking classes with Daniel, everything has changed. Abi is very confident, understands the importance and impact of eye contact and now leaves an incredible impression on just about everyone she meets.

Daniel is definitely one of Abi’s favorite teachers. I constantly watched Daniel interact with the 3-6 year old kids and I don’t know how he does it…he keeps them focused and learning for the full hour. What he accomplishes with these kids in just one hour is more than my wife and I are able to do in a week. Abi now has AKA Talent representing her for both commercial and theatrical and is represented by Ford Kids for Print. Having this great team backing us, Abi does get sent on auditions on a fairly regular basis and its incredible to see how professional my daughter acts at these auditions. Daniel really knows how to properly prepare kids for just about any audition situation that can come up. When Abi hears her name called at the audition, no matter what she is doing, she stops and walks over to the person coordinating everyone to properly introduce herself and ask where she should wait. It usually catches everyone off guard to see a 4 year old act this way.

Abi now works privately with Daniel every other week, practicing commercials and monologues written by Daniel specifically for Abi. Daniel understands what to expect from kids at every age and pushes Abi just enough to continue developing her skills. Again, I am amazed at what he has accomplished. My daughter now understands how to use her voice and emotions to emphasize sections of her scripts and gain someone’s attention.

I could go on and on about Daniel, but it would just be repetitive from what I’ve written above. Daniel has become an important part of Abi’s development as a person and potentially as an actor. If you have a young child and are considering an acting school or coach, I would highly recommend contacting Daniel Martinez. I know you will be blown away by results he gets from your kids.

Yours truly............Brian Kalchman

ANTHONY KEYVAN

www.anthonykeyvan.com

Danny Martinez was right there at the start of my son, Anthony’s, acting career at the age of six. He is now nine. Danny quickly saw potential in Anthony and started giving him more challenging monologues for his age. Anthony loves working with Danny because he knows how to “deal” with him. Being a father of four boys, Danny knows that children have a limited attention span. He quickly figured which teaching method to use on Anthony to bring out the best performance in him, without pushing him too hard. He knows too when Anthony has “clocked out,” so he backs off and he’ll suggest a short break before going back to run the lines with him. He has a caring and patient approach to his teaching, but he also knows when to draw the line with his students.

What we appreciate the most about Danny is his sincere interest in Anthony’s success. Danny often calls to speak to Anthony to follow up on an audition and ask him how he felt about it. On several occasions, he has also called right before an audition to give him words of encouragement and/or final reminders on what to do at the audition. Furthermore, even with such short notice, he makes himself available to work with Anthony for an audition the next day. He knows just how to tweak Anthony’s performance so that he delivers a great audition. He makes sure to suggest the right body language to use when delivering a line or performing a scene to make it more effective. This is why Anthony, without fail, gets callback auditions. We feel very fortunate to have Danny Martinez guide Anthony’s training and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone.

Joyce & Ali Keyvan

Anthony’s parents

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