Film Actors' Studio

Lon Bumgarner has been a producer, director, and teacher of film and theatre for over 28 years. He holds two Master of Fine Arts degrees; one in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University and one in Film from the University of Southern California as well as graduate hours from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford, England. He has directed over 100 plays professionally (including The Laramie Project, Take Me Out, King Lear, The Three Sisters, and Much Ado about Nothing). Between 1984-1991 he served as Artistic Director of the Charlotte Shakespeare Company, a professional theatre which he also founded. In 1990, the Company's production of The Merchant of Venice (directed by Lon) was featured in Charleston South Carolina's Spoleto Festival. That same year he was awarded one of the first Excellence in English Awards by the International English Speaking Union which was presented to him in New York by HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinbourgh. He has directed and produced features, shorts, as well as over 50 national and international commercials and served on the faculties of four Universities. He presently holds the post of Lecturer at UNC/Charlotte. In 1999 he was awarded the North Carolina Screenplay Fellowship Award.

Between 1997-2002, Lon served as arts critic and theatre writer for The Leader Newspaper. From 2003-2006 he served as film reviewer for Charlotte Arts Magazine. In the summer of 2007 he will team teach a Shakespeare in Performance graduate workshop in London as well as cities and towns throughout Britain. View Lon's Resume

Marilyn received her BFA in Play Production from the University of Arizona , and her MFA in Acting from Yale Drama School. She lived and worked in New York City for six years before coming to Charlotte where she has taught acting and speech classes at Central Piedmont Community College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Queens University.

Ms. Carter has years of experience in film and commercial work, including The Prince of Tides, and has directed numerous plays.

Brian has been working as a professional actor in Film, TV, Commercials and Theatre for 14 years. He has worked with and taught actors of all ages in North Carolina, South Carolina and Los Angeles. Brian started out as a stand up comedian and performed up and down the east coast, as well as Los Angeles where he had the opportunity to perform at the famous Laugh Factory on the Sunset Strip. He began, like most actors, honing his chops on stage where he met and was directed in his very first play by Lon Bumgarner in which he won Best Actor and Best Newcomer for his performance. Brian has been an actor ever since.

Brian has appeared and been heard in over 100 commercials for TV and Radio. His acting credits include Guest Starring and Co-Starring roles on Surface for NBC, One Tree Hill, Dawson’s Creek, and the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon. He is also the commercial Spokesperson for First Citizens Bank in South Carolina and Georgia, and the radio voice for KS95 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

John Cane has been in stage and film productions for fifteen years. He has taught Introduction, Commercial and Advanced Acting Techniques to teenagers and adults for eight years in Charlotte agencies as well as through private coaching.

John works with teenagers doing self-confidence workshops in high schools in North and South Carolina. He visits over one hundred schools per year and has done seminars for over one hundred thousand students.

Laurie manages the business of FAST, and is the one you should contact with any questions or issues.