My Approach to Teaching:
Acting is the most personal of all the other arts because the only instruments at your disposal are your imagination and your willingness to dive into the material with a combination of intellect and fearlessness. It’s my intention to get a student to gain confidence in themselves in front of a camera or on stage. The goal is to fully engage in the process of meshing who you are with who the character is, their objectives become your objectives, and their joy or pain become your joy or pain all the while maintaining an objective and artistic distance from becoming too emotive, neurotic or “actory”. It can be a tremendous challenge but hopefully one full of fun and discovery.
My Perspectives on Training for the Industry
The entertainment industry is a full-contact sport filled with the highest highs and lowest lows. It truly is a roller coaster ride and the ones who successfully navigate it are the ones who have the tools to take and survive the ride. Those tools consist of all the things an actor needs to succeed – character and script analysis, understanding the nuances of on-camera acting versus the stage, listening, taking direction, and knowing how to integrate your own emotion with the inner life of the character. All these and more are what I call back pocket skills – a casting director or director or producer should never “see” these skills but what they will see will be a professional exhibiting their craft. Any accomplished actor is one who is curious about the world, literature, other artistic disciplines, and finally about themselves. The journey is the point, not the destination.
Meet Matthew Iott
Originally from Vermont, Matthew has an MFA in Acting/Directing from the University of Montana along with studying and performing in New York City, London, Regional Theater, and finally Los Angeles for the past 19 years. A member of SAG/AFTRA, Matthew has nearly 20 network credits, including Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and Bosch. For 11 years, Matthew studied in LA with Tom Irwin of the famed Steppenwolf Theater West as well as holding certificates of study from the Royal National Theater in London, The Actor’s Institute, and The Barrow Group in New York City. A long-time veteran of the acting trenches in major markets, Matthew has learned from some of the best casting directors, directors, and teachers about what makes a performance stand out from the rest. In his free time, Matthew is an avid golfer, sports fan, writer, devotee of too many podcasts, and amateur chef.