TEXT TO SCREEN-TEST

TEXT TO SCREEN-TEST with Award Winning Actor KESTIE MORASSI (Home & Away; Black Snow; Wolf Creek) and Special Industry Guest, NCIS:SYDNEY Casting Director, Leigh Pickford (Maura Fay Casting, Sydney).

6 Week Program (18 Contact Hours)
Mondays I 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Commencing June 16, 2025 

Self-Taping and ZOOM Auditions/ Chemistry Reads are here to stay. Actors all over the world are being cast using this fresh and effective way of Screen-Testing, providing exciting opportunities for everyone from Show Creators and Casting Directors to emerging and professional actors alike. It is a skill set that must be honed in order to be seen by key industry professionals. Feature Films, Television Series, TVC’s (even entry into major drama schools): no one is exempt. 

Whether you are new to the industry or simply need to work out the best way to navigate Self-Taping & ZOOM Auditions, this practical, hands-on program could be a major key element to assist you in gaining traction. In your first week, you will be joined by Artistic Director and Talent Agent Craig McMahon (In Studio/In Person), who will commence the casting process with you, ensuring you select the best possible audition scene(s). Then enjoy 4 engaging weeks prepping your scene(s) with one of Australia’s most prolific Television Actors Kestie Morassi (In Studio/In Person), followed by a virtual (online) meet and greet and performance evening with Leigh Pickford, Casting Director of the hugely successful USA series franchise NCIS:SYDNEY currently airing in Australia on Paramount+ and CBS America, rating well over 5 Million per episode.

Program Summary:

This 6-week workshop series (6 x 3-hour sessions) provides actors with comprehensive training in professional self-taping for screen tests and auditions. The course combines technical instruction with advanced acting technique in a practical, masterclass format.

Participants will Develop:

• Professional-quality self-taping skills
• Strong scene analysis abilities
• Clear process for self-directed performance
• Confident in technical setup and execution
• Screen-specific acting techniques

Course Structure:

• Week 1:  Casting // Scene Work
• Week 2:  Foundations of scene analysis, creative state, and technical setup
• Week 3:  Foundations of scene analysis, creative state, and technical setup
• Week 4:  Advanced performance techniques and reader work
• Week 5:  Advanced performance techniques // Performance Feedback
• Week 6:  Screen-Test Evening with Casting Director Leigh Pickford

Your Trainer:

KESTIE MORASSI is one of Australia’s most prolific actors. Her career has seen her work steadily in the Australian Film and Television industry for over 28 years.

Film Credits include Dirty Deeds, Thunderstruck, Strange Bedfellows, The Wedding Party and Wolf Creek, for which she was nominated for an Australian Film Industry Award for Best Supporting Actress. Other accolades include taking home the Best Actress award in at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival for her role in Canne favourite Birthday. She was also nominated for a Critics Circle Award for her breakout role in Dirty Deeds and scored a nomination at the Monte Carlo TV Awards for her role of Nat in Foxtel’s Satisfaction.

Her television appearances include Black Snow; Underbelly; Offspring; The Doctor Blake Mysteries; Harrow; Satisfaction, and most recently playing Maggie Astoni in Home and Away.

Kestie brings a wealth of knowledge, passion and empathy to her sessions: beginning with a variety of script analysis techniques and discussion, culminating in creating dynamic scenes from contemporary scripts and encouraging the actors to fully personalise and ground themselves in their characters and to breathe life, originality and absolute authenticity into the text.  

Special Guest:

Joining us as our Special Guest is leading Feature Film and Prime-Time Television Casting Director, LEIGH PICKFORD from MAURA FAY CASTING, Sydney.

Leigh Pickford joined Maura Fay Casting in 2004 and since that time has cemented his place as one of the most respected and sought after casting directors in Australia and across the world. Recent film projects include Audrey with Jackie van Beek directed by Natalie Baily, Late Night with the Devil with David Dastmalchian directed by the Cairnes brothers, Woody Woodpecker 2 for Universal Studios and Netflix with Mary-Louise Parker and Josh Lawson, docudrama The Speedway Murders, Poker Face with Russell Crowe, RZA, Elsa Pataky and Liam Hemsworth, Mercy Road with Luke Bracey, Hotel Mumbai with Dev Patel, Jason Issacs and Nazanin Boniadi, Winchester with Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook and Jason Clarke and Three Summers with esteemed writer/director, Ben Elton. Recent television projects include Good Cop Bad Cop with Leighton Meester and Clancy Brown for the CW Network, Optics with Jenna Owen and Vic Zerbst for ABC TV, NCIS Sydney with Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance for CBS and Paramount +, The Artful Dodger with Thomas Brodie-Sangster and David Thewlis for Disney +, North Shore with John Bradley and Joanne Froggatt for Paramount +, Ten Pound Poms for BBC and STAN, The Tourist with Jamie Dornan for BBC and HBO Max, The Commons with Joanne Froggatt for Sony Pictures Television, Hungry Ghosts for NBC Universal and series four of Preacher for Sony Pictures Television and AMC. Leigh has been twice nominated for Best Casting by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award (AACTA) for his work on Hotel Mumbai and the Easybeats biopic Friday on My Mind.

Text to Screen-Test has been meticulously shaped to guide and encourage students to work on their specific areas requiring development, whilst bringing forth their strengths when screen-testing for prime-time drama.  Kestie will work with actors both individually and as a company, assisting students to POP from moment one of an audition. Scenes are assigned to students prior to the commencement date, along with prep work for each session. For actors who participated in previous terms, they have another opportunity to work in this ongoing manner with our outstanding trainers & special guests. Continuing across the terms ensures stability in training & rehearsal, and consistency in terms of the guidance & feedback offered, with scenes selected to target specific areas of weakness and strength. The studio also welcomes actors to the program who have not participated in previous terms as they can begin this process, leading to a stronger understanding of the requirements of acting for camera and preparing to screen-test.