Jacob Burns

Start by taking Errol Flynn at the peak of his career and casting him as a dashing English pirate. Add stirring music and rich Elizabethan costumes. Combine it with a rousing story that includes a despicable villain, a passionate romance, and plenty of battle scenes with a climactic swordfight. It’s the recipe for a great film adventure, based on the escapades of Sir Francis Drake.

 "Every second Helen Mirren is on-screen in The Last Station is a study in peerless talent." (USA Today)

Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer, both nominated for Academy Awards for their performances, dazzle in this captivating look at the turbulent final year in the life of Leo Tolstoy. As Tolstoy (Plummer) becomes increasingly radical with age, he decides to reject his vast wealth—much to the dismay of his wife, the Countess Sofya (Mirren). The desperate countess is soon employing every trick she can muster to seduce her husband’s loyal disciple (James McAvoy), the man she blames for Tolstoy’s new will. Much more than a simple period biopic, The Last Station is high drama, filled with intrigue, sensuality, and a classical marital showdown featuring two legends in prime form.

 "Few American actors over the past 35 years have flickered and smoldered with such craft and resilience." (New York Times)

Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a hard-living, fading country star reduced to playing bowling alleys and hoping for complimentary drinks to get him through the night. Overshadowed by a former protégé (Colin Farrell), Blake eventually seeks redemption from a sympathetic and lovely young journalist (Maggie Gyllenhall).Crazy Heart features nuanced, understated performances by Farrell, Gyllenhall, and Robert Duvall—but the real story here is Jeff Bridges. In a career filled with “career performances,” Bridges manages to top himself. Oozing authenticity and gutter charm, Bridges sings and strums his way through a set of original songs and embodies this beat-up country sage with incredible ease. A remarkable turn, it’s no surprise Bridges has been nominated for the Academy Award (Best Actor), alongside fellow Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal (Best Supporting Actress).

When a dying prince shuts himself away in his palace, he is assailed by the memories and guilt associated with his family’s long, cruel reign. “As beautiful as it is tragic” (LA Times), Prince Ehtejab won Best Film at the 1976 Tehran International Film Festival.

"Rarely has the tinderbox nature of the Middle East been so accurately lensed, on such an intimate scale." (Variety)

Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, Ajami tells the interwoven stories of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian neighbors living in an impoverished neighborhood of Jaffa, whose lives collide dramatically around a revenge killing and a drug deal gone bad. Codirected by Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, this gritty urban crime drama is a taut, razor-sharp exploration of the complexities and tensions simmering beneath the surface. One of the most exciting films to come out of Israel this year.

Course: A19SP10A

The casting director is charged with the job of finding the actors who can accomplish the director’s artistic ambitions for a film. This encompasses approaching established and well-known actors as well as discovering new talent to create true-to-life characters.

Cindy Tolan is a highly regarded casting director for theatre, film and television.

Credits include: The Namesake, Avenue Q (Broadway), Flight of the Conchords (TV), and Sugar (Theatrical Film).

Please submit the registration form by mail or fax. Walk-ins are also accepted on the day of the class. Questions? Call the Registrar at 914.773.7663, ext. 8.