Jack Waltzer on the Craft of Acting

Jack Waltzer is one of the last great acting teachers still working today. A member of the Actors Studio since 1966 and New York City's Lincoln Center Repertory Company, he studied with some of the greatest teachers of the Stanislavski system : Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Robert Lewis, Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, and Uta Hagen. Inspired by their various approaches, he went on to develop his own original method enriched by his own experiences. He is an exceptional teacher who is constantly in demand by such renowned artists as Robert Duvall, Sydney Pollack, Dustin Hoffman, Sigourney Weaver, Paula Wagner, Jon Voight, Roman Polanski, David Proval, Ken Sylk, Richard Romanus, David Soul, James Caan, Ulu Grosbard, Stanley Beck, Julie Gayet, Elsa Zylberstein, Wadeck Stanczak, Emmanuelle Seigner, Thierry Frémont, and Tomer Sisley. In our documentary, "Jack Waltzer, On the Craft of Acting", they all share their personal and professional approaches to acting, and the influence Jack has had on them. Jack Waltzer has devoted his life to the craft of acting. In a sense, he's always there in the shadow of the actors he has taught from beginners to the world famous, guiding them toward a truthful, alive and sincere performance. By emphasizing and refining how an actor expresses emotions, he has taught them how to build and convey character. At the core of his method, Jack believes that actors need to work in a safe, sheltered environment. As actors and directors ourselves, we spent many years in his classes practicing and learning his method, which is why Jack trusted us to direct this project. We followed him for several years in Paris, London and New York, and met with numerous actors, directors, scriptwriters, and producers who have worked with him. Through our documentary, for the first time Jack Waltzer opens his workshop to reveal his work to a wide audience. In "Jack Waltzer, On the Craft of Acting", we go back to the origin of his method as it was first practiced at the Actors Studio, and look at how it has developed. Along the way, we dispel myths about what his is technique is or is not that have arisen with its popularization. The only way to achieve our purpose and carry it out honestly was to be part of his classes without disturbing the work of the students. We have endeavored to serve as an outsider's eye objectively exploring his methods and techniques. Our four-hour documentary is, in practical terms, a Master Class to really explain the acting process in details. We reveal the essence of Jack Waltzer's acting method as well as his great contribution over the past forty years to his craft and to actors worldwide. Today, film media is the best mode for spreading information and knowledge, and that is why we hope our documentary will be a useful tool for actors and other theater professionals, much as the Stanislavski books have been for years.