Welcome to Houde Summit 2024!
August 22-25, 2024, at Houde School of Acting in Cleveland, Ohio
What is Houde Summit 2024?
The Houde School of Acting Summit is a 4-day, in-person, interactive weekend of acting workshops, seminars and networking! This year our guest teachers will be Wendy Alane Wright, Kurt Yue, Alex Collins, Demitri Daniels, Marcy Ronen and host Jessica Houde-Morris.
See what past attendees have to say
What to expect at Houde Summit 2024
Opportunities to learn from industry pros who know how to navigate the business.
Small group interactive workshops with each of the guest teachers. Each actor will work and receive critiques from the teachers.
Guest panel discussion with a Q&A. Prepare your best industry questions!
Networking cookout with food, games and friends.
4 days of absolute FUN!
About the workshops and what you will learn
The Meisner Technique with Jessica Houde-Morris
Jessica is an expert in the Meisner Technique having studied and taught alongside Robert Carnegie, who studied directly under Meisner himself, at the prestigious Playhouse West. She is the founder and head instructor of the Houde School of Acting.
Jessica will be teaching ‘The Meisner Technique’ at this year’s Summit. Attendees will work in person - and Jessica will instruct each actor at the level they are currently at.
Crafting Character Relationships with Kurt Yue
Kurt is an actor and founder of The Acting Career Center. His popular YouTube channel, The Acting Career Center, boasts over 160,00 subscribers, and is a great resource for actors aiming to break into the film industry. Kurt is known for his roles in Haunting of Hill House, Insatiable, Cobra Kai and many more.
Kurt will be teaching ‘Crafting Character Relationships’ at this year’s Summit. Students will work on making strong choices with an audition scene focusing specifically on character relationships. This will be an interactive workshop with plenty of real world examples.
The Business of Acting with Wendy Alane Wright
Wendy is a former Hollywood Talent Manager, the author of ‘Secrets of a Hollywood Talent Manger,’ and the founder of ‘The Hollywood Winners Circle,’ the #1 online business training for actors worldwide.
Wendy will be teaching ‘The Business of Acting’ at this year’s Summit. Wendy will focus on what it takes to make it in this industry, working with each actor to make them stronger actors and better business representatives for themselves.
Comedy Intensive with Alex Collins
Alex is a 19+ year member of SAG-AFTRA, with experience in both the L.A. and Atlanta markets. In addition to acting - with credits like Stargirl, The Accountant, Lovecraft County, and Cobra Kai - Alex is a teacher, industry consultant, founder of The Approach, and co-founder of Beyond Acting.
Alex will be teaching ‘Comedy Intensive’ at this year’s Summit. This will include dynamic instruction on the various genres of comedy, examples of the 'rules' of comedy, and live 'on your feet' work sessions. Students will work on examples from popular multi-cam sitcoms, featuring broad characters, bold choices, and big laughs.
Scenes will be assigned the week of the Summit and must be prepared for the workshop.
Kick, Punch, React! with Demitri Daniels (Receive your own fight clip!)
Demitri is a Chinese martial arts instructor, actor, and performer of over 37 years. He trained at the famous Shaolin Temple, in China, for traditional martial arts and performance. He was on the Shaolin Temple's international traveling stage performance team. His TikTok channel, Jade Jackhammer has over 200,000 followers.
Demitri will be teaching ‘Kick, Punch, React! Basics of On-Screen Fight Choreography’ at this year's Summit.
Demitri will review the basics of on-screen fight choreography. Kicking, punching, throwing and joint locking, while being conscientious of camera angles and rhythm. We will focus on reacting to various attacks and what techniques are used to make a visually stimulating fight scene. In addition to that, students will pair up to film their own short clip that can be used for their demo reels.
Finding Your Type and Preparing For Headshots with Shannon Ahlstrand (Receive one headshot)
Shannon is the preferred photographer for Midwest Talent Agencies. She is a proud supporter of the American Advertising Federation of Cleveland, Women in Film & Television Ohio, and the Short Sweet Film Festival.
In the ‘Finding Your Type & Preparing for Headshots’ Shannon will help each actor learn their type and explain the difference between commercial vs film and television headshots. She will go in depth and give tips for industrial, commercial, corporate, and independent films. You will learn how to dress properly for your type, and everyone will work on how to pose in front of the camera naturally so you can go into your next headshot session confidently and fully prepared!
Improv with Tony Robinette
Tony is a working actor with representation in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Chicago and New Mexico. Recent credits include NCIS, Dahmer, Night Court, Tacoma FD, This Is Us and many more familiar shows. Most recently you may have saw him as one of DunKings on the Dunkin Doughnuts Superbowl ad starring and directed by Ben Affleck. Improv has been a part of Tony’s life since he began his career in Orlando, Florida where he worked doing improv for Walt Disney World under an Actors Equity Contract. He’s trained at SAK Comedy Lab (Orlando), Gary Izzo (NYC), and The Groundlings School (Los Angeles). “Improv is a daily tool in our industry, on and off screen” Tony founded ‘The Working Actors Coach’ where he provides audition, career coaching and mentorship from a working actors perspective.
The Agenda
Thursday, August 22, 6-9 PM - ‘Meet & Greet’
Take an opportunity to meet your teachers and fellow actors at the venue. We will have time to tour the venue and run through some warmup exercises, followed by improv games.
Friday, August 23 – Workshop, Day 1
All actors will be placed into small groups and each group will work with a different guest teacher, swapping every two hours.
Saturday, August 24 – Workshop, Day 2
All actors will be placed into small groups and each group will work with a different guest teacher than the day before, swapping every two hours.
By the end of the workshops, all actors will have had the opportunity to work with each guest teacher.
Cont. Saturday, August 24, 6-8 PM - Panel Discussion/Q&A with Industry Professionals
Let our industry guests help you in your acting career. Come prepared with industry questions!
Sunday, August 25, 12-4 PM - Networking Cookout Join us at one of Cleveland’s beautiful MetroParks for some great food and fun games. (Food, drinks and games provided)
Who is the Summit for?
Houde Summit is designed for new actors and experienced working actors. Wherever you are in your acting journey and if you are interested in taking your career to the next level, join us for a jam-packed weekend of learning essential skills and tools while having fun and creating memories.
See what attendees from last year have to say
“I enjoyed the Summit so much that I practically registered for Houde Summit 2023 while I was still at the 2022 Summit”
“My experience at Houde Summit was nothing short of transformational”
“It was three days jam-packed with fun! We were able to learn about the industry and ourselves”
“The energy of the entire event was so electric!”
“The energy we have online was multiplied ten-fold at the Summit!”
