IN THIS SECTION
Faculty
ANDREA BENDEWALD
Andrea taught Acting for the Camera at UCLA’s Professional Programs for four years and happily steps in as a guest teacher. As a private acting coach, she has worked with notable actors at the height of their film and television careers. Her clients have starred in TV series and movies on NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW, PARAMOUNT and NETFLIX, along with notable roles on the big screen.
Andrea is a graduate of the acclaimed drama department at LaGuardia High School of the Arts in New York City, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Wright State University. A professional actress for over twenty five years, Andrea has appeared in over thirty television shows and films, The Morning Show, Brand New Cherry Flavor, and such favorites as Legit, Entourage, CSI Miami, Without a Trace, Mary+Jane, Good Luck Charlie, Ellen, Seinfeld, Friends, Suddenly Susan and Two and a Half Men. She was nominated for an Ovation Award for her performance in Girls Talk, which premiered in LA and was selected to perform her one-woman show, Above and Beyond, at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival.
Andrea is founder of The Art of Circling: A group mindfulness program that uses ancient ritual in a modern setting to empower individuals, strengthen communities and enhance productivity. Through sharing stories, deep listening and interconnected meditation, the Art of Circling empowers, heals and transforms lives. Her virtual circles have connected women from all over the US and around the world.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor/writer/director Mitch Rouse, and their two children, Tennessee and Strummer.
David Dean Bottrell
David is the author of the acclaimed book WORKING ACTOR: Breaking In, Making a Living, and Making a Life in the Fabulous Trenches of Show Business (Random House). A veteran bicoastal actor, his many credits include guest star roles on FBI: Most Wanted, Blacklist, Modern Family, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SUV, Mad Men, Justified, True Blood, Ugly Betty, Boston Legal, Rectify and iCarly. His theatre work includes stints at the Long Wharf and Second Stage. His sketch and cabaret work includes shows at the Comedy Central Stage and Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre in New York. He has taught scene study, camera technique and audition technique for UCLA, Temple University, USC & American Academy of Dramatic Arts. David's solo show David Dean Bottrell Makes Love: A One-Man Show has played to sold-out audiences in New York and L.A. He co-wrote the screenplay for the hit Fox Searchlight film, Kingdom Come and co-founded the critically acclaimed Sci-Fest LA: The Los Angeles Science Fiction One-Act Play Festival.
Cate Cohen
Cate is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. An actress and writer, her career encompasses a wide range of work in theater, film, television, commercials, and voiceover. She has recently been seen in recurring roles on Grownish, Silicon Valley, and Jane the Virgin. Other TV credits include Truth be Told, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and Lucifer. For her role in the film, Gods of Circumstance (opposite John Schneider), she was awarded Best Actress at the British Film Festival. On stage, she’s been seen in the critically-acclaimed productions of Broadway Bound and Dinner with Friends at La Mirada Theatre as well as in the long-running hit comedy, It’s Just Sex at the Zephyr Theater.
Cate also spent several years dancing with the Radio City Rockettes. Her experience in the world’s most famous chorus line is the basis for her critically acclaimed one-woman show, Out of Line, which was subsequently developed into a half-hour comedy pilot for ABC.
Cate is currently a Master Teacher at BGB Studios, alongside Risa Bramon-Garcia and Steve Braun, where she enjoys guiding and inspiring students as they navigate a career in the entertainment industry.
Alicia Coppola
Alicia Coppola has recently reprised her roles as FBI Special Agent Rand on NCISLA Season 14 and as Wanda Taylor on Season 3 of OWN’s All Rise. She recently co-starred in the critically acclaimed Lena Dunham HBOMax Series Genera+ion. Alicia can also be seen in the highly regarded Season One of Paramount+ Television Series Why Women Kill created by Marc Cherry starring alongside Ginnifer Goodwin. Alicia also starred as Dr. Ana Castillo in the CBS summer action/adventure blockbuster series Blood And Treasure and can also be seen as Meghan Conway in the last half of season 5 of FOX’s Empire. Alicia recurred in the 6th and 7th seasons of Showtime’s Shameless as the gutter mouthed Sue.
Alicia has starred in television series such as CBS’s Jericho, TNT’s Bull, NBC’s Cold Feet, and Trinity, to name a few. She has recurred on CBS’s, NCIS and NCIS LA, ABC FAMILY’s Nine Lives Of Chloe King and USA’s Common Law among many other shows. During Alicia’s career, she is known for the role of Lorna Devon on NBC’s long running soap opera Another World and is highly recognizable for her roles on FX’s Sons Of Anarchy, CBS’s Criminal Minds, the Iconic role of Talia Hale on MTV’s TeenWolf, the Star Trek TheVoyager favorite Lt. Stadi, CBS’s CSI and Two And A Half Men, NBC’s Law And Order; Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan, USA’s Suits and the Feature film National Treasure 2, Book Of Secrets and We Are Your Friends.
You might also know Alicia’s voice as she has an extensive voice over career, as the tag voice of Acura, voice of Kikkoman, Publix, the trailer of Pedro Almodovar’s Volver, and as “She Hulk” in the Iron Man games to name just a few.
Alicia is also a published author. Her book Gracefully Gone was published in 2013. It is a decade long dialogue between her father Matt, and Alicia as he lay dying from brain cancer while she struggled to grow up within that murky shadow. It is a fusion of two journals; her father’s writings from his 1980 diagnosis until his 1983 remission and Alicia’s journal from 1989-1991 as she cared for him until his passing. In 2018, Alicia wrote, directed and starred in Between Us, a short film inspired by her book. Between Us has won Best Comedy/ Dramedy at The 2018 London Independent Film Festival, Best Short Narrative at The 2019 Artemis Women In Action Film Festival and Best Short Narrative at The 2019 MyHero International Film Festival.
Alicia is from Long Island, NY and holds a Bachelors Degree from NYU in Political Anthropology and Philosophy. She currently lives in California with her husband and their three children. Alicia is the creator of the BootStrapBitch Podcast and is the Co- Founder of TRANSMissionMoms, an organization created to bring awareness for medical providers and educators working with LGBTQ+ youth and is also on the Advisory Board of The Lollipop Theater Network bringing blockbuster films, celebrities and artists to ill children in hospitals across the nation, is a Global Ambassador for The Elizabeth Kübler Ross Foundation and sits on the Board Of Directors for HealGrief and AMF.
CATHERINE DENT
Catherine is an award winning director/producer and an actress best known for her seven-season run as the tough but vulnerable cop, Officer Dani Sofer, on the Golden Globe/Emmy winning drama, The Shield. Films include: Nobodyʼs Fool, The Majestic, Auto Focus, and 21 Grams. She has also appeared in over a hundred popular TV shows such as The Sopranos, Marvelʼs Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Mentalist, Arrow, Navy SEALS, and multiple Law and Orders. This year, she can be seen on Lucifer (Netflix) and FX’s Dave. She recently starred in the film, Rachel, written and directed by Victor Nunez to be released next fall.
Catherine is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Her short films have shown in festivals world-wide and garnered top prizes.
An avid reader, world traveler, and political junkie, Ms. Dent is married to Peter Eliasberg, Chief Counsel for The ACLU of Southern California. They live in Los Angeles with their 10th grader, Oliver.
FIDEL GOMEZ
Mr. Gomez is an Actor and Director who has been working professionally for over 15 years. He is a proud graduate of LACHSA and the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. While at NYU he was selected by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to participate in their study abroad program in London, where he received specialized training in classical theatre with an emphasis on Shakespeare. Mr. Gomez has performed in many regional theatres throughout the country including: Arena stage, The Goodman Theatre, South Coast Rep, Denver Center for the performing Arts, as well as The Oregon Shakespeare festival where he was a company member for 2 seasons. His Film and Television credits include: HBO’s Walkout, Sister Cities, NCIS, Undercovers, and Grey’s Anatomy among others. He can currently be seen opposite Christopher Waltz in the upcoming feature Dead for a Dollar written and directed by Walter Hill. Mr Gomez is also currently on staff at the UCLA School of Theatre Film and Television working in the MFA acting program. His directing credits include: Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (LA Weekly pick of the week), Anna in the Tropics, PLACAS: The Most Dangerous Tattoo (Written by Doris Duke award recipient Paul Flores), Estoy OKate (Starring international television star Kate Del Castillo). As a writer Mr. Gomez co-wrote and performed in the stage play Melancholia which toured the Edinburgh Fringe festival and was nominated for Amnesty Internationals “Freedom of Expression Award.”
KATIE AMANDA KEANE
Originally from Kansas, Katie Amanda Keane received her BFA and MFA in acting. Soon after making the transition from stage to screen, she landed the series regular role of “Audie Gallagher” on ABC Family’s, Ruby and the Rockits.. A working actor for over fifteen years, she has recurred and guest starred on many TV shows including: How I Met Your Mother, Agents of SHIELD, See Dad Run, Notes From the Underbelly, The Exes, NCIS, and Without a Trace. She can be seen this fall in the Blumhouse feature The Manor, opposite Barbara Hershey, on Amazon. While shooting a pilot with Tom Lennon and Ben Garant, she discovered her talent and passion for writing. She has since developed projects with Tom Lennon, Ben Garant, Eric Tannenbaum/CBS Studios, Nat Bernstein, Marla Sokoloff, Tom Bergeron, William Shatner, Linda Wallem, and Avalon Studios. Her latest feature “Rosé All Day” was shot in March, starring Jenna Ushkowitz, Briana Cuoco, and directed by Marla Sokoloff.
MICHAEL KOSTROFF
Michael is an established stage and television actor best known for his five seasons on HBO’s The Wire and a long list of appearances on shows including Billions, The Blacklist, NCIS, and Law & Order: SVU. He toured with The Producers and Les Misérables and has starred at regional theatres all over the US. He’s a teacher, author, audition coach, former Backstage advice columnist, and the creator of Audition Psych 101, an online course on the psychological side of the audition process. Books by Mr. Kostroff include Letters from Backstage, Audition Psych 101, and the recently-published The Stage Actor’s Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022)
Megan McNulty
Born on Long Island, NY, and raised in NJ, Megan graduated from the University of Virginia with her Master of Teaching and BA in Theatre. In New York, she worked in film, commercials, daytime drama, and on stage (Cherry Lane), then relocated to Los Angeles, accruing television credits (CBS, ABC, NBC, TNT, Netflix, Hallmark, Showtime, Lifetime, Disney and Nickelodeon) and originating stage roles (LA premiere Dog Sees God, ensemble nominations -LADCC, LA Weekly & GLAAD Awards). An in demand acting coach, Megan has served as a longtime Studio Director and Staff Instructor at Warner Loughlin Studios, and has been on the Acting for the Camera Faculty for UCLA’s Professional Program since 2017. As a writer, Megan has developed for MTV, Origin Entertainment, Imperative Entertainment, Hallmark, The Cartel and Muse Entertainment. She has also been an ATX Television Festival finalist. Megan and her writing/producing partner, Nikki DeLoach, have developed and sold an impressive array of projects across, including Hallmark’s highest rated/most watched movie of 2021. They have several other projects optioned and in development across networks and streaming platforms.
Judith Moreland
Judith teaches acting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She is a seasoned actress who has performed both on and Off-Broadway and has worked with many theater companies including the New York Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theater Los Angeles and Shakespeare Festival/LA. Additionally, she was a company member of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater for many years. Ms. Moreland won an Ovation Award for her performance in the Fountain Theater’s production of Miss Julie and a Bay Area Theater Critics Award for her performance in American Conservatory Theater’s production of Miss Evers’ Boys. Her film and television credits include Dark Skies, Eagle Eye, Blackish, Parenthood, Grey’s Anatomy, Parks and Recreation, General Hospital, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist and Castle. She has taught at Stanford University, American Conservatory Theater, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Oxford University for the British American Drama Academy. Judy is not only an instructor, but a co-creator of this program.
TAYLOR NICHOLS
Taylor has been working in the entertainment industry for almost 30 years. This has afforded him the opportunity to bridge generations by working closely with the likes of Angela Lansbury, Shelley Winters, James Garner and Charlton Heston to currently starring in Hulu’s Emmy nominated Pen15 and HBO’s Perry Mason. Taylor is an award winning short filmmaker having directed Two Heterosexual Men... and Last Train and is an experienced producer with feature credits including The Next Step and Case 219. But Mr. Nichols is best know as an actor beginning his career with the Academy Award nominated Metropolitan, Barcelona and Boiler Room to Godzilla, Chappaquiddick and 1BR. TV credits include series regular roles on HBO’s Mind of the Married Man, Man of the People and many recurring roles on shows such as Friday Night Lights, Criminal Minds and The Last Tycoon. He has over one hundred guest starring roles and is an experienced theater actor and director having worked at the Geffen Theater in Los Angeles and Playwrights Horizon in NYC. Taylor is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is a Creative Consultant at Meteor 17, a Los Angeles based production company.
Marek Probosz
Marek is an international director, writer, producer and leading actor. He is a Winner: Best Documentary Show Award for The Auschwitz Volunteer: Captain Witold Pilecki which he directed, starred in and produced at the world’s largest one actor show festival - UNITED SOLO on Broadway in NYC (2018). Probosz’s theatrical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Salome, which he wrote, directed and starred in, was cited by the Czech National Critics Poll as Best Theater Production of 1987. He starred opposite Oscar nominee Don Cheadle in Tower of Babel directed by Academy Award winner Jan A. P. Kaczmarek at Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles (1990). He also played the role of Odysseus opposite award-winning British actor Henry Goodman in the highly-acclaimed Philoktetes at the Getty Villa in Malibu (2008). Probosz made his U.S. feature debut with Y.M.I., an unflinching portrait of the dark forces lurking in the lives of teenagers, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in. The film won the Audience Choice ABBOT Award at The Other Venice Film Festival (2004).
Probosz has over 50 starring roles to his credit. In the United States, he guest-starred on CBS’s Scorpion (2015), ABC’s Scandal (2012), CBS’s Numbers (2005), NBC’s JAG (2000), USA’s Monk (2003). He received strong reviews from The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety for his portrayal of Roman Polanski in the CBS miniseries Helter Skelter (2004). Marek has worked with many of Hollywood’s elite filmmakers, Oscar nominees and winners: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, F. Murray Abraham, Katharine Hepburn, Don Cheadle, Conrad Hall, John A. Alonzo, Matthew Libatique, Ryszard Lenczewski, Milos Forman, Darren Aronofsky, Todd Field, Scott Silver, Agnieszka Holland,, Andrzej Wajda, Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, etc. Probosz starred as the Polish WWII hero Witold Pilecki in the film The Death of Captain Pilecki, which garnered the Special Jury REMI Award at the Houston International Film Festival (2007). Most recently, Probosz worked on the film Once Upon a Time in November (Best Film - Taormina Film Fest 2018), Valley of the Gods (2019), starring John Malkovich and Josh Hartnett.
Since 2005, Probosz has taught at the UCLA Department of Theater, Film and Television. He taught at Emerson College in Los Angeles (2001-2004), Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica (2010-2014), Williams College MA (2021). Probosz gave workshops at the Warsaw Theater Academy in Poland, acting masterclasses and lectures on screenwriting at international film events, and has been a distinguished jury member at film festivals around the world. Probosz is the author of two books: Eldorado (2009) and Call Me When They Kill You (2011). He has also written two plays, AUM, Or Torturing Actors (1990) and Auschwitz No.432 (2018), as well as several full-length screenplays. His work has been honored many times—most recently, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Vienna, Austria, awarded him with the Polish Diaspora “Oscar”, the Golden Owl, in the category of Film (2018). Probosz was awarded the Mortui Sunt Ut Liberi Vivamus Bronze Medal in London (2011) and the Gold Medal Knight of Humanity in Auschwitz (2011).
Probosz earned his M.F.A. in acting from the prestigious Polish National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź, Poland (1984), and M.F.A. in film directing from the prestigious American Film Institute in Los Angeles (1993).
Emily Rose
Emily received her B.A. in Theatrical Arts from Vanguard University and continued her studies at UCLA where she received her MFA in Acting from the School of Theater Film & Television. Rose most recently led five seasons of SyFy’s hit supernatural Stephen King drama series Haven playing FBI Agent Audrey Parker. Rose’s other TV series roles include Graceland, E.R., Brothers & Sisters, Jericho, and David Milch’s HBO series John From Cincinnati. Additionally she has guest starred in Private Practice, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace and Cold Case. Rose also has a cult following for her role in the popular video game franchise Uncharted for which she voices and portrays the game’s heroine, Elena Fisher. While at UCLA, Emily was an active participant in Arts Bridge America, a program that fights to keep arts education in public schools, and also taught at the UCLA summer Youth Performance Conservatory. Theatrical roles include Sylvia in I Gelosi, Dorine in Tartuffe, and Beth in Wounded with the Los Angeles Theater Ensemble. Emily currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, son and miniature schnauzer.
Emily Swallow
Emily graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Middle Eastern Studies but spent half of her time performing in the Drama Department. She attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to earn her MFA in Acting and has worked in theatre, tv, film, web series, video games, voiceover and streaming TTRPG. She is best known for playing The Armorer on The Mandalorian and Amara in the long-running series Supernatural and has been a series regular on the Mentalist and the David E. Kelly/Sanjay Gupta collaboration Monday Mornings. Other television work includes The Book of Boba Fett, Southland, Flight of the Conchords, How to Get Away With Murder, NCIS, The Good Wife and SEAL Team. She voices Lisa Tepes on the Netflix series Castlevania and played Emily, the Seraphite leader, in the video game The Last of Us Part II. On stage, she has performed on and off-Broadway, at regional theatre across the country, and in LA at the Geffen and Mark Taper Forum, among others.
Because Emily has worked in such diverse mediums, she loves discovering how interconnected these different forms of storytelling are. Delving into Shakespeare at the Old Globe helped her when she was creating a deity on Supernatural and her mask work at NYU instructs her work as The Armorer on The Mandalorian. She loves helping fellow actors find what they need to connect them to their instincts and spur their imaginations no matter how bizarre the technical specifications are.
Emily lives in Topanga with her husband Chad and their dogs Norma Jean and Arthur Miller.
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