Los Angeles based actor and artist Benson Simmonds has been acting, singing, teaching, directing, writing and painting for most of his life. Recently, Simmonds combined many of his talents and much of his life experience into an unique and exciting business venture – a breakthrough audition program designed to help actors at all stages of their career take control of their auditions, impress casting agents, and land more and better acting roles.
Master Your Audition is a 90 minute downloadable DVD that teaches cutting edge audition techniques. The video demonstrates how actors can build their confidence, overcome anxiety and personalize their auditions, while enjoying success and having fun in the process.
“The more fun you can have combined with your craft,” says the ever exuberant Simmonds, “the more likely you are to book the job you're auditioning for.”
Simmonds launched his DVD program late last year, and has already attracted wide interest from both experienced and novice actors.
“I developed the program because I put up a few free acting lessons on YouTube, got thousands of hits and had people from all over the world asking me to put together a DVD,” he explains.
“It's been exciting starting this business,” he adds. “I'm getting amazing feedback from actors that makes me realize that this is a really good product.”
The product evolved from Simmonds’s own vast experiences studying acting, auditioning for roles and working as a drama coach. A long time student of renowned acting teacher Ivana Chubbuck, Simmonds combined many of her techniques with his own innovations to develop what he refers to as the three "C"'s of auditioning well - Craft, Confidence and Contribution. The video meticulously demonstrates how to master these three Cs, and successfully audition for film, television and theatre.
“I really wanted to share my years of experience both acting and teaching with actors from all over the world.” Simmonds says. “I know what it's like to walk through that door into the audition and want to do your best,” he adds.
Simmonds was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, and honed his love of acting in community theatre, school and at Camp Massad. He enjoyed his theatrical debut at age seven, playing Tevya the Milkman on Winnipeg’s Tiny Talent Show, and years later landed the role of Oliver Twist in his high school production.
After graduating from the University of Manitoba, Simmonds moved to New York City to study acting. He got his first real taste of the auditioning process there, landing roles in an off Broadway production and in numerous indie films and commercials.
In the ensuing years, he has lived and worked as an actor and acting coach in Vancouver and Toronto, as well as Los Angeles. He has been featured in a variety of theatre and television productions, and has written and starred in two short films, including the award winning Applaud or Die. At present, he is in the post production phase of a third film project, and in the midst of writing a feature film that he hopes to shoot in Winnipeg next year.
To learn more Benson Simmonds and his various projects, visit
www.masteryouraudition.com
http://www.spike.com/video/applaud-die/1247533
http://bluefivedesign.com/artists/b_simmonds/