Film and TV acting courses in Sydney: which one is for you

Foundation is eight weeks and needs no experience. Screen Craft Intensive is thirty weeks and is for actors who already have some screen experience or training and want to work at a professional standard. Both run on weeknight evenings in our Surry Hills studio, both cap the class at eight, and both end with Cinema-Quality Showreel scenes shot on RED cameras and directed by Dean Francis.

Side by side

Screen Academy Foundation, in eight weeks

Foundation is not a taster. It is the same studio, the same production standard and the same director as the Intensive, compressed into eight Wednesday or Thursday nights. Weeks one to five are rehearsal and scene work: you learn the principles, meet your scene from the inside, ground it in the real world, and rehearse on a two-camera set that is switched live in front of the group and played back on a 10-foot screen. Weeks six to eight are shoot weeks. You and your scene partner shoot your scene on professional motion picture cameras under studio lights; when you are not filming you are on the crew. A bonus screening night after week eight puts your finished scene on the big screen alongside the graduating Intensive cohort. You leave with one Cinema-Quality Showreel scene and a clear answer to whether you want more of this. Full details and dates.

Screen Craft Intensive, in thirty weeks

The Intensive is built around two nights a week. Night A is the inner life: character, story, truth. Night B is the externals: the technical craft that gets your performance onto the screen intact. Phase one (weeks 1–16) moves from script analysis and improvisation through multi-cam scene work to a single-camera production block where you shoot your first scene with cinematic lighting, sit in the edit suite with the director from 3pm on shoot days, and present it at a week-14 screening night with a mock media junket. Two offsite weeks bring in guest actors and tutors by video from around the world. Phase two (weeks 17–30) is your own choice of script and scene partner, with dedicated nights on lighting, lenses, blocking and coverage, then a second production block and a final screening. You leave with two Showreel scenes, two monologues, ten weeks of workshop recordings and a page on casting.directory. Full curriculum and dates.

How to decide

If you have never worked on camera, or you are not yet sure you want to commit thirty weeks, start with Foundation. Many actors do Foundation and then move into the Intensive. If you have screen experience or prior training and you want the full professional toolkit and a portfolio to send to agents, apply for the Intensive; if the intake interview suggests you are not ready yet, you may be offered a Foundation place instead.

Both courses are a commitment to the whole term. Enrolling is not drop-in; the curriculum, scene pairings and shoot schedule are planned around a confirmed group of eight, and if you withdraw part-way the remaining fees stay payable. If you change your mind within 24 hours of your intake interview you get a full refund. The FAQ covers payment, dates and what to prepare.

Apply

Apply now for either course, or book a free strategy call if you want to talk it through first. You can also read why the showreel is part of the training.