Accents are beautiful!

We love accents because they add richness, uniqueness and cultural depth to the world and by extension to film, television and commercials. And while we wait for Producers, advertisers and show runners to embrace more diversity of accents in front of the camera, the reality is that for many productions shot in Montreal, our beloved city is often pretending to be an American city. As a result, Casting wants the illusion that all the folks speaking are also Americans or native English speakers.

Think of American Standard as a tool in your Performance toolbox. It takes work and dedication, but it is possible, with practice, to learn lines for an audition and or role. This workshop is for you if you want to open more work opportunities as an Actor, Principal Performer or Stunt Actor (and you are not afraid to put in the work!).

Acting With Accents: The Standard American Accent, How to Americanize your Performance will teach you how to incorporate the sounds and rhythms for American English and give you the knowledge of vocal mechanics that create a Standard American Accent.

The workshop will offer 12 hours of group instruction, initial feedback, two Zoom practice sessions as well as an hour of one-on-one coaching. Built to set you up for success to help you nail that audition, book the role and do it all sounding like a Hollywood native speaker.

Learning Objectives:

Assisting the actors in finding the freedom to perform “moment to moment” truthfully and creatively, while using an accent. Starting with the use of rhythm, then vocal placement, vowels, syllables, slang and song.

Key dates:

Zoom One-on-One Coaching to be scheduled between May 20th and June 31st (you snooze you lose…)

Deadline to apply: Friday, May 8th at noon.

Application process

• Headshot
• Resume
• Acting or voice demo reel (links to both English and French samples if applicable) and a voice recording introducing yourself and why you want to participate in the workshop.

Cost: $225 (Great Value = $15.50 per hour!)

Duration: 12 hours of instruction plus 2.5 hours one-on-one coaching

Number of participants: 30 (2 groups of 15)

Admission criteria

• Age range: 18+
• Proficiency in English
• Must be an active member of ACTRA Montreal

Instructor

Christopher B. Maccabe attended; The Banff Centre; School of Fine Arts and studied extensively with Warren Robertson. He dedicated himself to the Theatre for seven years in the beginning; but then got the Film and Television bug. Christopher is a highly sought after Acting/Accent/Audition Coach and is renowned for his inspirational, inventive approach to understanding human dynamics. He works regularly as an Accent/Dialect coach for Film, television and theatre; where he specializes in training actors, especially British and French actors to perform with a Standard American Accent, as well as increasing their vocal range for Animation, Narration, Video Games and Commercials. He has also performed and coached accents from Regional America, The British Isles, German and Russian, to name a few.