Owner and Lead Acting Coach

Ron Weisberg 

Ron Weisberg (SAG-AFTRA) fell in love with acting when he was a young pup watching his grandmother Gloria grace the Santa Fe theater scene. He went on to achieve his bachelors degree from the University of Texas at Austin where he concentrated in acting and creative writing. Chasing his dreams west, Ron launched his career in the ever growing film industry in New Mexico where he had the honor to play in several network shows including Longmire, The Night Shift, Dig, Manhattan, The 6th Gun, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, as well as many independent projects such as Enter The Dojo.  Noticing the need for better actor training in New Mexico, Ron partnered with Chris Ranney and has taught classes for all ages since 2011.  After writing the scenes for his classes and a several short films, he was commissioned to write his first feature in 2012, as well as several pilots and episodic projects. Ron currently splits his time between Albuquerque and Los Angeles where he studies at the Groundlings Improv School and other professional channels of education that allow him to bring true value back to the Southwest. Ron is thrilled and humbled to partner up with Chris and pick up the torch for the Sol Acting Academy and is dedicated to making Sol the creative hub of the local film industry and beyond, making it possible for Sol actors to get real experience. With the firm belief that a healthy body creates a healthy and creative mind, Ron also practices a powerful body work called the Genius of Flexibility, through which he can help actors and other creatives unlock their potentials as artists and as humans.  Through his studies and experiences, Ron has created an audition technique that focusses on creating multiple characters for each script and is hungry to share this method with the film community at large.  

The New Business Of Acting Seminar for All ages

Brad Lemack

Brad Lemack began his professional career in his hometown of Boston hosting radio and television talk and interview programs, and as a news director and broadcast anchor. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s to work for noted TV pioneer Norman Lear as a publicity executive. He later established and continues to run his own agency, Lemack & Company Talent Management/Public Relations. He joined the faculty of the Emerson College Los Angeles Campus in 1985 and the Elon University in Los Angeles Program in 2010.

Voiceover Instructor and VO Demo Producer

Liz Reeder

​Liz Neubauer, a 40 year veteran of the business, trained in New York (La Mama, Neighborhood Playhouse, Actors Institute) and Los Angeles (Beverly Hills Playhouse, Actors Studio). As a director, producer and writer, her work has been seen on (among other places) NBC, ABC, PBS, Comedy Central, and screened at festivals including SXSW, Tribeca and Cannes. Liz runs Studio E, one of Austin’s most recommended performing arts studios for over 14 years. 

Method Acting For Teens

Rachel Bailit

Rachel Bailit (SAG-AFTRA) is an Actress, Journalist, Acting Teacher at The Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, The Getty Museum, and DreamWorks Animation.  Her acting credits include Paramount’s “Festival In Cannes” directed by Henry Jaglom. She played alongside Jim Carrey in Ron Howard’s “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”. Rachel has appeared in many television shows including “The Conan O’Brien Show”, “Desperate Housewives”,  “Jon Benjamin Has a Van”, “Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show”, “NYPD Blue” and the role of “Marissa” in “General Hospital”. She stars in two webisodes: “Diary of an Actress and “The Vamps Next Door”.  Rachel owned and operated her own casting company “Compassionate Casting” for over ten years. She cast television films, music videos and commercials.

Commercial Acting

Joe Smith

Joe Smith has been a professional working actor and writer for 25 years (not constantly – this includes sleeping and eating). He grew up in Worcester, MA where his parents founded and ran the Worcester Foothills Theatre Company. In Boston and now in Los Angeles, Joe has worked in theatre, film, TV, voice-over, commercials, storytelling/stand-up, live events, and in most other corners of show biz, plus one eulogy. He created the public radio parody IPR : Irrational Public Radio. He is a member of the performers unions SAG/AFTRA and AEA. He has taught acting and been guest lecturer at Clark University and Orange County School of the Arts.

Acting, Directing, and Screenwriting Coaching

Tamar Halpern

​​Tamar Halpern has written and directed 8 features for film and TV. Her sixth, the human trafficking thriller Missing In Europe, was shot in Belgrade, Serbia in 2017 and stars Miranda Raison (Match Point, MI-5,  My Weekend With Marilyn), Emmett J Scanlan (Guardians of the Galaxy, Charlie Casanova) and introducing Sophie Robertson. She has since directed two more thrillers for A+E in 2018. Her feature documentary Llyn Foulkes One Man Band, about the LA painter rediscovered at age 77 by the international art world, premiered in competition at LA Film Festival, had an Oscar qualifying run in 25 cities in the US and abroad, and is available on Amazon, iTunes and Netflix. “A joy to watch,” The Hollywood Reporter. “Undeniably fascinating,” Variety.   Halpern wrote and directed the feature Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, starring Mira Sorvino, Michael Urie and Joe Pantoliano. Prior work includes writing and directing the award-winning comedy Shelf Life, introducing Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad, Life in Pieces) and  called “a whip smart film that taps into a fresh source for American comedy” by Variety. Her comedic short, Death, Taxes and Apple Juice, has been invited to 40+ festivals and winning 16 awards including Boston Women in Comedy.

Meisner and Checkhov Instructor

Quinn Mander

Quinn Mander is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, from which he earned his MFA in Acting under the tutelage of William Esper and Maggie Flanigan, master teachers of the Meisner technique.  Upon graduating with honors, he was granted the Dean Bettenbender Award for Artistic Achievement. After leaving Rutgers, he continued his studies with Maggie, learning to teach the Meisner technique’s full two-year course of training.  He has since taught the approach at NYC’s prestigious New York Film Academy. Quinn has acted for over 20 years, performing in theatre productions in NYC, regionally, and in New Mexico, as well in television.  He has extensive acting and directing experience in both classical and modern theatre, and with both leading and major character roles.  He was a founding member of Threshold Art Collective, with whom he both acted and directed.

Youth and Teen Acting Instructor

Alaina Beth Reel

Actor/ Voice Over Artist Sag-Aftra- EMC

Matthew Van Wettering

Matthew began his improv journey at the Upright Citizens Brigade (LA) in 2015 and the Box (ABQ) in 2016, he finished both curriculums. Film credits include: Only the Brave, 12 Strong, Big Kill, Commando, Fast Color and more. TV credits: The Night Shift, Roswell, Briarpatch, Longmire, Preacher, Get Shorty and more. Theatre credits: Orlando in As You Like it (NM Shakespeare Festival), Antipholous of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors (NM Shakespeare Festival), Chris Keller in All My Sons (Adobe Theatre), Kenneth in The Night Alive (The Cell), Christopher Wren in Mousetrap (ALT) and many more. He hails from Thermopolis, WY and studied theatre at the University of Wyoming.

Actor/Filmmaker

Richie Kotwica

Richie is a vibrant Actor/Filmmaker from Colorado who has happily joined the mass of folks that found their way to New Mexico during the pandemic to join the ever growing film industry. Richie is an experienced filmmaker and has been working with kids as a teacher of acting and filmmaking in Colorado for over 5 years!

Actor

Monique Candelaria

Monique Candelaria is a Mescalero Apache Descendant mixed with Mexican and European Ancestry from the state of New Mexico. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2009 with a Fine Arts Theatre Degree emphasis in acting and by 2010 she became Sag-Eligible on the feature film “Bless Me, Ultima”. This was only the beginning for this ethnically mixed Two-Spirited actor. The 3 most recent works which show the trajectory of her work are “Driftless”, “Lovecraft Country: Episode 4 History of Violence” as the character ‘Yahima’ and “Spirit Rangers”. Here is Monique’s link tree to have the ability to follow all of her spiritual and artistic endeavors linktr.ee/MKC.369 .

Actor/Filmmaker

Karen Criswell

With history steeped in theatrical and performance art Karen’s experience has covered an expanse of creative experiences beginning with an education at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, heart of the Cherokee Nation; through a sojourn in productions of social, avant-garde, and political theater in San Francisco; to an extensive tenure as Vice-President of Operations at Dreamworks Studios.

Karen made her directorial debut with the short feature “The Other Side” starring Native American actors, Sheila Tousey and Michael Horse which focused her attention on formulating a production company of her own, Koncept Films. The company has since gone on to produce a prequel short, “Life’s Blood” starring Michael Horse (“Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”, “Passenger 57”, “Twin Peaks”), Alan Tafoya (“Maniacts”, “The Lost Child”) and introducing the young actor/artist, Tschetan.

Creative energy, dedication, and vision are only a few of Karen’s continuous contributions to the entertainment industry. At the beginning of 2014, she resigned her position at Dreamworks Studios to pursue Koncept Films, full-time. The wealth of operational and managerial knowledge accumulated over the years has garnered her the ability to set up a solid infrastructure from which to give a voice to her artistic endeavors and to honor her efforts to support underrepresented voices in unique and creative storytelling on the screen.