Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Norris.
Hi Brian, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I guess the studio’s story is the same as my story, so here goes…
My story starts in San Francisco with me being a emotionally sensitive kid with terrible allergies who cried a lot. My parents were lawyers and my older brother was a prodigy, so I was the ‘challenging’ member of the family.
Things started to change when I found acting. My sensitivity had a purpose. I fit in. There were pretty girls everywhere. I was hooked, starting at The California Shakespeare Festival and then at Kids on Camera.
A showcase landed me an agent and suddenly I was auditioning. My childhood career highlights were a guest star on Nash Bridges that got me my SAG card, some great time with my mom (and our dog Nike) in the car driving back and forth to LA, some jobs, and a handful of industry close calls.
I went to UCLA and majored in Theater. Long story short… Governor Arnold Freaking Schwarzenegger slashed the budget and killed most of our opportunities. So a bunch of us formed a theater company outside of school to make our own opportunities.
I produced, directed, wrote, and acted. We got West Coast premieres of work by Labute and Rapp. We wrote original work and premiered it at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We had to sell tickets and get reviews and just do the damn thing. It was the best lesson and holy shit, it was it fun.
I’ve been working in film and tv since graduation. The last couple of years have been fun, with recent roles on Perry Mason (HBO), Walker (CW), General Hospital (ABC), and the political thriller feature 88 (Amazon).
Along the way, I fell in love with teaching and coaching actors. It helped me process the years of training I had bouncing around inside my head, and my clients were doing great. I found a niche as someone who could talk about the craft and the business together, and could speak from my own experiences auditioning and on set.
All of this led me to open my own studio, The Norris Studio, in early 2022. It’s a boutique studio for film and television actors. We cover the craft as well as the business of acting, believing that a successful career requires both working well together.
What started as small class of ten actors has grown into a thriving community I couldn’t be prouder of. Truly kind, talented artists supporting each other and growing together. We currently have five ongoing classes along with audition coaching and our Business of Acting Program. Our classes are in North Hollywood, our audition taping space is in Burbank, and we also teach and coach online.
Every moment I’m not working on the studio or auditions I’m home with my wife Cara, our 2-year old daughter Piper, and doggie Hazy. It’s tiring but it’s the absolute best.
And now you’re caught up!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The first struggle was just fear.
It all looks so much easier in hindsight. But I just so scared. I knew my current job wasn’t cutting it and I needed to make WAY more money fast or I’d have to rethink everything.
So I took a leap and quit.
I wasn’t sure what would come next, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen without something changing. I had a new baby and I was losing money and wondering if it was time to look for a job in marketing. And it was, quite frankly, totally terrifying.
I had a small class of long-time clients. I’d work with them and figure out a new plan. But holy hell those first few classes were magical. The group. The work. It was special.
Pretty quickly, emails and texts started to pop up. Folks asking about my “underground class,” which was wild. It worked out, but man, staring down the fear to get to that point is the ultimate gut check.
The other big struggle is time management. I was already and actor, coach, dad, and husband. How could I add becoming a small business owner? How do you manage the time.
The hardest part for me is accepting that there isn’t a clean answer to that. Sometimes I can’t do it all, and I need to be okay with that. And I don’t come by that easily.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At The Norris Studio we work with actors on their craft, careers, and auditions, to help them get more auditions and book more work. We offer ongoing classes and private coaching, working on currently casting material and working on camera.
But that answer feels kinda boring. Like, there are a lot of acting studios, so… what makes my studio different?
First, it’s that I’m still acting. Every teacher I’ve ever had has been retired. They’ve had wonderful things to say and share, but they weren’t in it. I wanted someone who was working more than I was to be leading the way. At TNS, all of the coaches are all in the thick of it, teaching and coaching from current practical experience.
In terms of philosophy, I come from a classic method background. But I think we need to go further than that to succeed in 2023. From a craft perspective, you need to take ownership of yourself and your story. The industry is asking us to play very close to our biographies. As auditioning actors, we need to take ownership of who the roles becomes when we’re playing them. This reframes the actor’s truth as the answer to casting’s question. It’s magic.
The flip side of that coin is that a lot of people use their technique badly. It gets them in their head and they stay there. So there’s a lot of work on figuring out how to get choices and process out of our heads and into our moment-to-moment storytelling.
The last major pillar is a belief that behind every successful actor is a successful business person. So we offer classes and coaching on all of the business elements – branding, marketing, relationship building, communication, etc. and create a container for folks to get their questions answered.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Well, my wife and I got pregnant during the height of the Covid lockdown.
I left my teaching gig of 10+ years without a clear plan.
I chose a career in the arts…
So, I guess risk is something that I feel pretty familiar with. I think it’s inherent to growth, and without growth we get stuck, and stuckness is death for artists.
So yeah… I think I’m pretty pro-risk if you’ve thought it through.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheNorrisStudio.
com - Instagram: @TheNorrisStudio
- Other: www.BrianNorrisActing.
com
Image Credits
David Chan took my primary photo as well as the one of me writing a note.
