STAFF
To truly be able to guide an actor, the best instructor is not only fluent in the language of acting with decades of experience to back it up, they must also come equipped with unequivocal professional experience in directing, writing and producing.
ActorClass is taught by founder and teaching-artist, David L. Epstein, an NYU Tisch alum and proud member of Actor’s Equity and the Screen Actor’s Guild. David’s career began after starring in and associate-producing the award-winning film, Ground Level B, written and directed by Andres Heinz (screenwriter of Oscar-Winner, Black Swan), with cinematography by Edward Berger (Oscar-Winning director of, All Quiet on the Western Front). Their film won the highest honors at NYU Tisch’s prestigious film school, including Best Picture for Mr. Heinz and best actor for Mr. Epstein.
On the wings of this early success, David produced and directed the Off-Broadway hit and New York Times Critic’s Pick, Coronado, co-produced and written by Dennis Lehane (author of Shutter Island, with Leonardo DiCaprio, and two-time Oscar-Winner for acting, Mystic River). Their production together was nominated for Best Original Play at the Independent Theatre Awards and published by Harper Collins. David also produced and directed, Airport Hilton, written by Anthony Jaswinski (screenwriter of, The Shallows), and wrote and directed the development production of Go West, produced by Broadway Across America, Moritz Borman (producer of Terminator Salvation), and Daniel Sladek (Emmy-Nominated producer of Prayers for Bobby).
David performed and wrote for the Drama Desk Award-Winning theater company, Godlight, and toured internationally with The Periwinkle National Theater, where he worked on stages as far as Cairo, Egypt. He also spent two seasons acting at the famed Amato Opera House in New York where he was directed by legend Tony Amato himself.
As Artistic Director of Invisible City Theatre Company for three years, David produced, directed and acted in dozens of plays, including his own which are now published in The Best Men’s Monologues 2019, The Best Women’s Stage Monologues 2014, The Best Men’s Stage Monologues 2014, The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2006 & 2005, The Best Contemporary Monologues for Kids, 221 One-Minute Monologues for Women, plus the global anthology, NEW PLAYWRIGHTS: The Best New Playwrights of 2003, from Applause and Smith Krauss Books. These plays have been performed at theaters around the world including Venice Playhouse of Los Angeles, Mirror Stage of Seattle and Soho Theatre of London. His work as a director, writer, actor and producer has been reviewed in The New York Times, Time Out New York, Show Business Weekly, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, BroadwayWorld, Backstage Magazine and dozens more.
In recent years, David was a guest speaker at NYU Tisch’s Master Program for Acting and Singing. He has also developed projects with Gloria Gaynor (Emmy-Winning singer of I Will Survive). David’s LGBTQ feature film screenplay, Girls Don’t Ride, was optioned by two-time Spirit Award-Winner Rene Bastian (creator of Oscar-Nominated, TransAmerica), and Jonah Markowitz (director of HBO’s, Room 104 and the award-winning documentary, Political Animals). In 2023, David was hired by media mogul, executive producer, and ActorClass alum, Ryan Serhant, to consult on Netflix’s hit reality show, Owning Manhattan. In 2023, ActorClass was the recipient of a generous grant from Guaranteed Income for the Arts.
“Early in my own acting training, I spent years at a prestigious studio where I was bounced between teachers who had conflicting ideas about acting. It wasn’t until years later, after I directed and wrote professionally, did I realize why my early acting teachers couldn’t provide the clarity myself and so many others felt was missing. The simple truth was that none of those teachers had ever directed. None had ever wrangled a cast full of twenty performers who all worked differently and had vastly different approaches, gifts, talents, hangups, quirks and personalities.
Actors who write and direct have a much clearer understanding of the task of the performer because they’ve experienced the process from more than one angle. People who have only ever acted, no matter how good they are as performers or even how much professional work they’ve landed, don’t always make the best instructors.
With professional acting, writing and directing under my belt, I not only guide actors toward becoming stronger and more confident, I also want them to know the most efficient ways of communicating with a director, understanding the script, and working vulnerably with fellow artists.
At our studio, we’re not working on an “approach” to acting, but rather, we work on acting itself.”
guest artists
Jarrett Reiche - Casting Director / Theatrical
Ben Durocher
Canadian-born ActorClass alum and Emmy-Winner, Ben starred in 1200 Performances of Broadway’s Avenue Q (Princeton & Rod), the National Tour of Toy Story (Woody), John Tartaglia’s ImaginOcean (Puppeteer), and is working on Disney’s, Winnie The Pooh, coming to Broadway. Durocher’s first professional acting job in New York was the lead role of legendary producer Henri Belolo, in Go West, produced by Broadway Across America, written and directed by David L. Epstein.
MARK TALLMAN
Mark Tallman is an ActorClass alum now filming season three of Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV. He starred in First Wives Club, Rise, State of Affairs, The Last OG, Law and Order, Dietland, Damages, Single Ladies, Step Up, All My Children, Guiding Light and dozens of national commercials. Mark enrolled in ActorClass in 2012 and trained for six years, never missing a class while simultaneously building his TV career.
Ryan Serhant
An ActorClass alum who began training with us in 2006, Ryan is now a top American real estate broker and the star / executive producer of Owning Manhattan on Netflix. He’s a best-selling author whose career took off on Bravo’s hit series, Million Dollar Listing New York, and its spin-off, Sell it Like Serhant. Other credits include While We’re Young, by Noah Baumbach; Inside Amy Schumer and On The Money. When they were both starting out, Serhant produced plays with AC founder / teacher David Epstein, including Purple Hearts which premiered Off-Broadway.
Be sure to watch Serhant’s ActorClass interview to get insight into why he chooses to work with us.
