Mac Soto

Nancy Berwid’s First Take Acting Program provides a holistic approach to acting.

Along with a Method that students can use to hone their craft, Nancy provides a keen eye for logic, a sensitivity to human behavior as well as the human heart. She possesses a great understanding for the human experience which she ultimately uses to guide her acting students in performing their scene as true to life as possible.

Belonging to a family closely involved in the Hollywood industry, students can benefit from learning the business aspects of acting as well, a knowledge imperative for any actor desiring to break into the competitive LA film and television market. Nancy’s candor, coaching and genuine interest in the careers, lives and well being of her students have strongly contributed to the on-going success and growth of her students.

She approaches teaching from a comprehensive standpoint, covering topics that many other acting classes of this nature gloss over or neglect entirely. Many of these aspects are what set First Take apart and have proved fundamental to its success as the choice acting school in San Francisco.

This is an acting class designed both for students who have had no previous acting, performance, or any arts class experience, as well as for students who have had a fair amount of acting experience and are interested in pursuing a career in acting. The focus is on scene and monologue work using contemporary texts from theater, television and film. Core components of the class include the idea of navigating a situation as you actually would in real life, how to read a scene or monologue to figure out what your character might want from a situation, “action-based acting” (how a person might go about getting what they want from the other person), how to find a personal connection to a character, and how to choose material that best suits the individual actor for auditions and scene work. The focus is on scene and monologue work as well as learning how to audition. 

We’ve designed the class around very tangible and concrete ideas and techniques, so that those who might be intimidated by the idea of an acting class, or an arts class in general, will feel exceedingly comfortable. We always have a lot of students from non-art concentrations who have had no previous art class experience, and they have found the process quick and easy to learn. It is important to note that while the class is intentionally designed to be un-intimidating, friendly and warm, the class does require a great deal of outside work. Students should expect to spend 4-6 hours per week outside of class, including memorization and rehearsal time for scenes and monologues.