The goal of Actors’ Studio is not only to develop your acting ability but also prepare and educate you on everything it takes make it in the industry. With our directors having had vast experience in the industry coupled with their obvious passion for acting and performance, they make excellent teachers and role models to learn from.
Tony Knight was educated at Sydney Grammar School and trained at the Drama Centre London, which includes in its alumni Colin Firth, Frances de la Tour, Paul Bettany, Penelope Wilton, Michael Fassbinder and Tom Hardy. Tony has considerable knowledge, experience and expertise as a professional acting teacher and director.
Tony has been the Program Leader for the Musical Theatre (B.A. Hons.) course at the LaSalle College of the Arts, Singapore, developing and implementing a new curriculum. He was the Head of Acting at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), training some of Australia’s most celebrated national and international actors, such as Cate Blanchett, Sam Worthington, Alex O’Loughlin, Sarah Snook and Miranda Otto.
Tony has taught, directed and lectured in many parts of the world, including Australia, the USA, Japan, Romania, Singapore and Tonga. He has spoken at numerous international and national conferences, including the annual ITI-Drama Schools Conference in Romania, and at the Musical Theatre Educators Conference, in Perth 2015, which included delivering a paper re current research – What’s Hidden Underneath: Secrets & Sex –The Pajama Game and American Drama n the early 1950s, the Age of McCarthyism, HUAC, and The Kinsey Report. Tony has a passionate interest in all the performing arts, and dedicated to improving the training of young actors. He is now freelancing and completing his PhD on Richard Burbage: Shakespeare’s Actor & the Art of ‘Personation’. Now resident in Adelaide, South Australia, he has teaching for many acting schools and directing and producing, many professional productions.
The best part about being a director is working with actors. Having worked with hundreds of actors over his career, Matt knows what directors expect of actors when developing characters, through script analysis and on the set.
There is no better way to communicate to an audience than through film, TV and video. Engaging with an audience emotionally is always my goal. Whether it is a documentary, TV Ad, or Film, taking the viewer on a journey through an emotional story that resonates with the attended audience will always produce a connection.
MATTHEW SHANNON
Matt is a member of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG), Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS), Australian Editors Guild (ASE) and AACTA.
Matt recently directed three commercials that received an two International Gold Award from LIT Commercial Awards. And Best in Show for M3 International Awards.
Peta Shannon has a Masters of Secondary Teaching, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Drama and holds an Associate Diploma in Speech and Drama Teaching. She has taught every age group for over 20 years at Mercedes College, Scotch College, Actors Ink, Unley High School and Clapham Primary School. She is also an examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board and an adjudicator. As an adjudicator, she has adjudicated for Speech and Drama Eisteddfods in the Gold Coast, Mt Gambier, Orange and Balaklava.
Peta is a member of Screen Producers Association (SPA) and Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA). Peta has been a Producer, Writer, Actor, Dancer and Singer for over 20 years. Peta has produced a Children’s TV Pilot – The Majestic Garden and numerous corporate videos for various clients such as SCL Schumann, Grandeur Wellington, Pura Tap, Barkuma, Oknalux, Allstate Pest Control, The National Agriculture and Related Industries Day and many more.
Her stage credits for major roles in various companies include; Salome in Salome, Nora in A Doll’s House, Wuthering Heights, Peggy – 42nd Street, Strangers on a Train, Play it Again Sam, Hope – Anything Goes, Amelia – Vanity Fair, All About My Mother, Elizabeth Bennett – Pride and Prejudice, Liz – Chicago and Solange in The Maids. Her screen credits include: Selling Gold, Here to Heaven, To Be King, No More Like My Father, Lullaby, 2:37, The Lady, The Majestic Garden, The Babadook, The Missing Years, August Watershed, I am What I am, Danger 5, Doomsdays, Raising the Bar, Dark Blue and The Stranger.