Foundation Update: Liferaft

May 12, 2009

LifeRaft logo resizedThe LifeRaft program continues to bring valuable information to Guild members seeking career-enhancing knowledge in seminars that explore the business of acting, featuring established industry guests.

Every LifeRaft seminar is designed to address the practical needs of actors, and recent highlights include “Overcoming Career Sabotage” led by moderators Robert and Michelle Colt (pictured), whose sought-after “Acting Success Now” workshops survey the brain’s subconscious mysteries and their hold on the actor’s potential. Panelists for the evening included script supervisor Susan Malerstein-Watkins (Forrest Gump, JFK), veteran actor-teacher Tim Phillips (students include John Leguizamo, Justin Timberlake) and casting director John Levey (E.R., The West Wing).

The New Year brought January’s “An Evening with Casting Directors” featuring Deb Aquila (Dexter, Shawshank Redemption) and Donna Morong (The Princess Diaries, Gone Baby Gone), who shared their perspective on maintaining staying power, dignity and integrity in an industry that isn’t quick to foster stability and security.

“Your Money or Your Life” addressed the sometimes turbulent state of the actor’s finances, garnering raves. One actor praised the event as an “excellent and much needed seminar,” adding that it helped her to “connect with the idea of taking care of [her] financial health in a more creative way.”