WELCOME
to The Coaching Academy!
Brain child of an award-winning group of working directors, producers, writers, editors & casting directors, The Coaching Academy is dedicated to helping you improve & elevate your craft.
Are you an established actor or filmmaker looking to hone your competitive edge? Are you new to the biz? Are you someone who wants to become better at public speaking or more aware of your brand? Are you looking to expand your offering? Our specialty courses are carefully designed to meet you where you are on your professional journey, bringing you practical real-life tips & intensive instruction to enhance your expertise, skills & efficacy.
Our mission is to help you excel, whether in the ever-changing Hollywood & international entertainment industry, or to apply the same techniques to your own professional field. Check here for additional intensives & level announcements soon!
NOW OPEN for enrollment - space is limited…
SCREEN AUDITION ACTING INTENSIVES - SPRING 2025
These classes are designed to help you hone & perfect your screen audition process. From self-tape to screen-test, we’ll help you build your confidence, competitive edge & overall technique. Pulling from our deep industry rolodex, the Screen Audition Acting Intensives will culminate with you presenting your "audition" to a guest casting director, where they will take time to share their wealth of knowledge. Our Spring CDs are, Intensive #1: Stacey Pianko, CSA (casting team for James Cameron's Avatar & Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle In Time, Breakwater etc, former Disney Channel talent exec), Intensive #2: Lesley Wolff (CD for commercials, comedy Fresh Faces & HBO, NBC, Lifetime etc) & Intensive #3: Kevin Scott, CSA (of Leah Daniels Butler casting, building the cast for hit shows like Will Trent, Artios winner for United States vs Billy Holiday etc & formerly in-house at Warner Bros. - West Wing, ER etc).
During registration you'll inform us of your experience & area/s of focus. From there, just come experiment, explore & expand your craft with brother-sister filmmakers, The Sibs, Colin K. Gray & Megan Raney Aarons, and their guest CDs!
Want the competitive edge as you prepare for a big audition? Landed a role & want to heighten your choices? Generally looking to hone your skills or refine how you present with focused instruction?
The Sibs are available for 1 on 1, customizable coaching for a competitive price - both in-person or remote. Contact us here for more info: coachingacademy@gpixer.com
COACHES.
Your ACTING INTENSIVE coaches are working directors and sibling filmmaking duo, The Sibs – Colin K. Gray and Megan Raney Aarons.
COLIN
K. GRAY
Colin has privately coached many A-List & working actors, including Lucy Liu, Demi Moore, Stephen Park & Ashton Kutcher, for films like Kill Bill, Domino & Bobby. Colin began his Hollywood journey as a working actor. His extensive credits include Broadway (The Buddy Holly Story) & Off-Broadway (My Son The Doctor), lead actor in the TV series The Hardy Boys (Frank Hardy), TV guest-starring roles (West Wing, Living Single, JAG, Saved By The Bell) & national commercial campaigns (Ford, Coors Light, McDonalds, etc). Colin then launched GRAiNEY PICTURES with his sister Megan & is now an award-winning filmmaker & social impact storyteller. His feature credits include UNZIPPED: An Autopsy of American Inequality (Amazon, Apple+), Atari: Game Over (Showtime), Being Canadian (eOne) and Freedom’s Fury (HBO). His ongoing commercial & advocacy work includes directing and writing campaigns for Google, Nike, Starbucks, Action Against Hunger and Habitat For Humanity, as well as producing & directing the recent viral Voting Booth presidential campaign spots narrated by Julia Roberts & George Clooney.
MEGAN
RANEY
AARONS
As a working director, Megan is dedicated to creating an environment on set where everyone from first time performers to A-List talent can craft their most powerful performances. On the heels of her festival winning short film, Demolition, Megan is now attached to helm thrillers, Illuminator (Spyglass) & Perdita (Inner Media Capital) - now casting. As a commercial director, she most recently helmed spots for Verizon, NHL & Harris Walz viral sensation, Voting Booth, voiced by Julia Roberts. After being selected for Handmaid’s Tale S4 directing program, she helmed multiple seasons of comedic short series for Amazon shows, The Lake & Kat. She's directed amazing talent, ranging from Yvonne Orji to Kristen Bell, Lucy Liu to Julianne Hough, Stephen Park to Marcus Scribner. Trained as an actress in the UK, Megan came up as a cinematographer, editor & casting supervisor. Now an award winning writer / director & all round multi-hyphenate, Megan is Groundlings trained & an occasional stand-up comic (Hollywood Improv & The Comedy Store). Megan brings this unique cocktail to her scripted work. Megan is committed to nuanced performance, character development & inclusion. Megan founded GRAiNEY PICTURES, a global collective of change agents, with her long time collaborator & brother, Colin K. Gray, together releasing 7 feature docs, including, Atari: Game Over (Showtime).
CASTING DIRECTORS.
Stacey Pianko
Intensive 1
Stacey (CSA) started her casting career on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was Director of Casting at Disney Channel & helped launch the careers of stars like Shia LaBeouf, Kaley Cuoco & Hillary Duff. As a trusted studio picture CD, she was part of the casting team for James Cameron's Avatar sequels & Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle In Time, also casting recent indie titles like Break Water. Stacey is dedicated to coaching & educating actors. Plus, especially helpful if you're looking for insider casting tips, she's branching into indie film producing as well.
Lesley Wolff
Intensive 2
Coined the "comic fluffer" by LA Weekly, Lesley Wolff's long list of commercial, TV & indie film casting director credits (for the likes of HBO, NBC, BET, Lifetime), is eclipsed only by her passion for helping actors find their brand & mine for comic gold. A dedicated actor's casting director & long time collaborator with The Sibs, she is known for her Fresh Faces comedy classes & unique ability to help new talent find & own their voice, plus their comic edge. Plain & simple, Lesley is the pure embodiment of joy.
Kevin Scott
Intensive 3
Long time collaborator with Leah Daniels Butler (sister of Lee Daniels) & LDB Casting, Kevin (CSA) is an Artios award winning CD, responsible for the cast of hit series Will Trent. Formerly in-house at Warner Bros. & known for his work with John Levey on The West Wing & ER, other notable credits include My Wife & Kids, Brian Banks & All of Us. He has known The Sibs since casting Lucy Liu in ER & Colin in Living Single. He is currently working with Byron Beane to cast Megan's thriller, Perdita. He is like family to The Sibs.
CLASSES.
SCREEN AUDITION ACTING INTENSIVE 1
475
When: Saturday April 19th & Saturday April 26th
Where: The Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291
Time: 10am-2pm
SCREEN AUDITION ACTING INTENSIVE 2
475
When: Saturday May 10th & Saturday May 17th
Where: The Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291
Time: 10am-2pm
SCREEN AUDITION ACTING INTENSIVE 3
475
When: Thursdays - May 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th
Where: The Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291
Time: 8pm-10pm
Our SCREEN AUDITION ACTING INTENSIVES are an 8 hour breakdown of the audition process. From self-tape to in-person callbacks, we de-mystify the process, helping you to understand your “brand” & hone your competitive advantage in the room. We'll provide practical insider tips on the audition process from the perspective of the decision makers, plus intensive scene work & rehearsals.
Each Intensive culminates with you presenting & workshopping your scene to one of our established Hollywood casting directors.
If you’re looking for a hands-on screen audition class with working directors & the chance to showcase your talent to actual casting directors - this is it!
GALLERY.
CONTACT.
If you have any questions or need support, please contact us here.
© 2025 by GRAiNEY PICTURES.