Private Live Online Film Acting Lessons

Kathryn was everything I was looking for. Knowledgable, funny, supportive and down to earth. I feel like I’m on the correct path to start getting more and better parts. I’m excited and looking forward to the next lesson!

Absolutely the best! She knows her stuff. I've been working with her for 6 months now and I can't think of a better person to work with! She knows what/how the industry works and is always available for questions. She has become my backbone for all things acting and the business of acting.. Five stars isn't enough...

Kathryn is so very easy to work with. Very knowledgable about her work.

Dominic gave me great advice to start learning how to sing !

He is great Trumpet teacher. He is professional and friendly. My son enjoyed his first lesson. Thank you

Dominic is fabulous. if you have a chance to work with him, do yourself a favor and do it!

My son really enjoyed his first acting lesson with Kelsey. He learned so much, and can't wait for his next lesson.

great

Very comfortable to work with and a great teacher. She really wants you to grow and succeed. I have learned a great deal from her so far and look forward to our classes in the future.

She is very nice and knowledgable about acting. I have learned a lot from her in a short period of time.

David is amazing! I came to him as a beginner in January, and within a few months he introduced me to methods of acting, taught me the business side, developed monologue & scene work, AND he helped me find, pick, and breakdown two monologues for my school auditions. (I got into all three schools and was given an audition based scholarship for one - so yeah, he’s pretty good)

He’s fun, flexible, and genuinely cares about his students’ success. Super happy with my decision :)

David is amazing! He makes his classes so fun. My daughter looks forward to his classes every week and has already grown so much in her acting. I highly recommend David to anyone wanting to learn how to do film acting.

My son was interested in acting and wanted to start auditioning for local plays. David helped him prepare to audition, and when he got one of the leads(!), David helped him get ready for the role. He has been very patient with our technology troubles and is a great teacher. The online format has actually worked very well. We highly recommend!

Normally, I don't write reviews for teachers until a couple of months have passed, but I acquiesce as TakeLessons keep on spamming me to write a review. Unlike other reviews, I'm not going to act as an echo chamber for five-star reviews. This review is based on two months with her after ten one hour online lessons through Skype.

Let's start with the positives. Denise puts in a good amount of effort in teaching you. She's flexible with accommodating your schedule, and she tailors her lessons based on what your goals are. This is evident from her referring to her notes when beginning her lessons with me. She also isn't a clock watcher who makes sure your lesson ends straight on the minute unlike some other teachers.

Is she effective as a speaking voice teacher? So far, yes there has been some progress made. Her methodology might be a bit more different than other speaking voice teachers I studied under. Other teachers focus more on the phonetic sounds, while Denise linger more toward stretches probably due to her dancing background. If you don't like Yoga type of stretches, you may be in for a bad time.

Keep in mind that due to my focus on developing a voice for acting, I'm also not having a pure speaking voice lesson as my lessons are intertwined with monologue work too. If you wish to take speaking voice lessons for public speaking, your mileage may vary.

So why a one-star deduction? Denise at the start can be pushy with trying to sell you more lessons. I mean it goes without saying that of course you'll see improvements faster if you can devote more time to any class, but time and money are factors that everyone should always consider. Let's be frank, private lessons on TakeLessons aren't cheap (unless you're rich of course). I was annoyed when she repeated her tactic three times, enough that it affected my decision to nearly not renew my monthly lessons with her.

She did cease when it seem like I wouldn't budge. Nevertheless, the pushiness did leave my experience a bit tainted, which made me question her sincereness with her excitement and positive reinforcement at times. I continue to give her a chance though because I do feel there's an ongoing improvement with my speech and line delivery. Also because we get along despite being complete opposites in some ways (which seem to frustrate and intrigue her). Despite being my teacher, I see her as a peer in a way because of how close in age we are, but I digress as this review is about her effectiveness as a teacher.

I would recommend giving Denise a try if you’re an actor seeking a speaking voice teacher. In person lessons are still best, but she has proven to be effective as an online teacher despite being a tad pushy with having you buy more lessons from her.

Denise did an amazing job. She had great energy and helped get me more excited about learning the proper skills. I wasn’t able to continue classes at the moment but when I do she is the only person I will learn from. Was understanding of my odd schedule and very flexible which I appreciated very much.

If you need an amazing teacher, Denise is the one you've been looking for. 100% the best teacher ever.