Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Archibald.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Back in 1995, I worked as a cameraman for the New York casting sessions of the film Jerry Maguire. A friend, the actress Kathryn Erbe, informed me that she was coming in to audition for the role of Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger ultimately booked it). Katie was nervous and said, “Craig, you have to coach me on it.”
I had never coached anyone. The night before her audition, with considerable trepidation, I worked with her. We had a great time, and as we were winding up our session, Katie kindly said, “You’re a really good coach. You have a talent for it.” I replied with a solid “Fuck you!” and we both laughed.
You see, to my immature ego the idea of my being a coach meant that I would be a complete failure. I was, after all, Craig Archibald! I was a Broadway- and Oscar-bound world-class actor/writer and soon-to-be legend!
But Katie was right. I do have a talent for it, a love of helping others grow, and a commitment to exploring and understanding the art form of acting. Over time, coaching became not just a way for me to stop tending bar and waiting tables; it also gave me almost constant immersion in the discovery and definition of the craft, discipline, and business of acting.
Gradually, coaching became the answer to my career crisis. When I moved from Manhattan to Malibu in 2007, I also made the professional adjustment to full-time acting coach. It took lots of personal work to temper the ego I’d attached to my career as an actor and writer, and to accept coaching as a considered option rather than a future arrived at by default.
As it turned out, coaching led me on an immensely rewarding spiritual journey. In time I came into flow, into the zen zone. Weeks and months of work go by these days, as I work with actors at the Archibald Studio, and all I feel is the beautifully gorgeous now—the joy of truthfully living in the discovery of every creative moment.
I found that I haven’t limited myself by becoming an acting coach—quite the opposite. Paradoxically, coaching, which I feared would narrow my life, has opened it up. I am connected to more writers, directors, producers, agents, managers, casting directors, and actors than ever before. Each day is new and exciting. Unexpected opportunities come my way.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, there certainly have been challenging days. Mostly surrounding being a businessman and entrepreneur. As an artist, I always looked at business as a wrong side of the brain subject. Like math, I thought it was something I didn’t understand and didn’t enjoy.
Over the years, I’ve had the great pleasure of working with two great business coaches; Les McGehee and MaryCay Durrant. Without those two holding my hand through difficult times I wouldn’t be where I am that’s for certain. And I’m slowly learning to enjoy the business side of the business.
The biggest consistent obstacle is the deep sense of disappointment my clients feel when they don’t book a job. It’s a difficult moment, of course, they feel a deep rejection very personally. One of my cornerstones here at the Archibald Studio is that we make everything make us better. I’m always training my clients to see the positive or how to take a negative and turn it into a positive. I like to say that I create champions, not victims. So we allow for a day of disappointment and then get back in the game.
I have been graced with a great number of very talented artists who have trusted me to help them on their journey. And for that, I will always be grateful.
Please tell us about The Archibald Studio.
The Archibald Studio was established, to offer instruction to actors, writers, and directors of all experience levels, even training new hopefuls entering the field.
As a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse where I studied with the acclaimed acting teacher Sanford Meisner and as a lifetime member of The Actor’s Studio I teach different approaches to the Stanislavsky Technique. Also, I have a Canadian college degree and studied for two years in London under the mentorship of Sir Ian McKellen so I have a good taste of the British influence on our work as well.
I think one of the things that sets us apart from other acting studios in Hollywood is that we don’t advertise. My client base is entirely word of mouth. I’m not interested in being a factory. I am very interested in helping artistic souls find themselves.
I am very proud of being a part of some amazing artistic journeys. Sure I have celebrity clients like Constance Wu, Duane Henry, Dan Futterman. Gale Harold, Kathryn Erbe, etc. But I enjoy my work with my beginners just as much!
We have had some high water mark successes such as major award nominations and box office hits but the greatest rush still comes in the studio – when an actor, famous or not, makes a breakthrough or new discovery. Thats the joy point.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
A summer vacation with my five siblings and two parents. Eight of us packed into a station wagon with a tent trailer being pulled behind. A western Canadian adventure across the prairies, through the Rocky Mountains and out to the majestic Pacific and back. I was very lucky to be part of that particularly great group of people.
Pricing:
- Group Classes are $70 per class, once a week. Must pay one month at a time.
- Individual classes are $150 per 50 minute sessions.
Contact Info:
- Address: 153 N. Irving Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004 - Website: www.thearchibaldstudio.com
- Phone: 323.522.4595 or 646-567-7210
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archibaldstudio/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Archibald-Studio-90631678811/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArchibaldStudio
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-archibald-acting-studio-los-angeles?osq=The+Archibald+STudio
Image Credit:
Kim Peacock
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