Ivana Chubbuck Studio

The rules help. Although a lot of judgement and long talks by the teacher that doesn’t really improve the scene. No exposure for the actors.

Ivanna is a living legend in the acting industry. She is literally the da vinci of acting, brilliant in so many different ways. Her insight is not just valuable in acting but in everyday life. I’m so blessed to be a part of her studio. I urge those who have the passion and desire for acting to come check it out. It’s not too often you get taught by such a remarkable teacher.

Excellent training which brings it back to what acting is really about– NOT acting. Michael and Ivana are skilled communicators/​teachers. They are genuine and passionate about seeing actors develop his or her craft. Many acting coaches get to involved in the technicalities of the camera etc, while these teachers focus on the scene and relationships at hand. Well done!

I took the Beginner and Intermediate classes with Deryl Carol. Awesome coach.
You don’t get to go up and perform every week, but the value you get from other people’s performance is still worth the money, especially because, as a student, you can seat in any of the advance classes that Ivana teaches herself, and gain precious insights.
Right now I’m investing in some workshops, but I will definitely be back!

I attended her studio during the summer for 5 weeks. I LEARNED ALOT by just reading her book and auditing her masters class for free, i was in the beginners class with Deryl. Ivana DOES NOT sugar coat you, she critiques your performance for the better, and honestly people that are writing bad reviews are pissed off because they just want to listen to people sugar coat them and not point out to what they can fix and work on. Take this class if youre serious and not flaky! Was worth it for me :)

Ivana’s studio is the best and has produced more award winning actors, writers and directors than any other studio currently around.

Smart lady, she knows her comedy. She is a great teachers and definitely worth the money. The students can get a little intense at times but it reads as competitive spirit. Read her book. It helps with auditions.

This is an amazing studio! The teachers here are passionate about their work and train you to be the best out there. I cannot recommend Ivana Chubbuck’s studio enough. There are plenty who also agree and have similar experiences. I’d ignore the personal rants (low reviews) of those who obviously couldn’t make it through this rigorous course and took it personally. It is good to go in with a positive attitude and an open mind as this is one of the best studios out there if you want to continuously improve your acting abilities. Nothing worth it comes easily. So, go out into the world and chase your dreams — one foot into Ivana Chubbuck’s studio and you’re one step in the right direction!

My two children recently completed the Youth Program at the Chubbuck studios on Melrose, and we were thrilled with every aspect. The Chubbuck techniques are powerful and they had an immediate impact on my kids’ acting abilities. I learned a TON as well as a parent witting in the audience and listening to all of the direction and advice. The training and direction the kids received from Amy Dudgeon, Jen Collins and Susan Olsen was invaluable. The videos by Ron Williams were timely, and it was great for the kids to be able to view and study their scenes by seeing themselves on camera. Everyone at the Program took great interest in all of the kids and went above and beyond the call of duty to help further the kids’ acting skills and careers. The instructors were all kind, caring and instructive (which is no easy task when dealing with a bunch of kid actors!). The exposure my kids received through the Showcase at the the end of the workshop series has also opened doors. Five stars!

Wow. My very first Unilocal review. I hope to make the Unilocal gods proud. I have been lucky enough to be with the studio for six years now. Being overly confident as i am when i first joined, I expected to start at the master level with Ivana immediately. She kindly burst my bubble and explained that i would have to work my way up through the ranks and get well versed with her technique. So when i arrive in her class we can work together most efficiently. I met and worked with many of the teachers at the advanced level and I fell in love with all of them. However I never lost sight of the fact that I read Ivana Chubbucks book and joined her school to work with HER. I was eventually moved up and after my first scene… OMG i received very few notes and even a compliment. However, on my second scene she dropped the Chubbuck hammer on me. She was very tuff on me and the «amazing» choices i thought i had made ;). She spoke to me in a way that motivated me to prove her wrong. She then had me restart the scene, what happened in that work opened the door to everything that would come over the next five years. All things in life are subjective, i am sure someone in the audience would have said she was hard on me. I would have said she directly spoke to my heart. If you join the Ivana Chubbuck Studio, PLEASE wait until you work with Ivana directly until you form any real opinion of her, the studio, or her technique. I would challenge any reviewers of the studio, to work up to her class stay with her for six months and then review or re review the studio and have an informed point of view. Further if i was reading reviews on this studio i would only trust and consider the reviews of people who have directly worked with her for some time as everything else is colored bubbles. You see what i just did there…

I am a workingl actor, I audited the master class on various occasions, and yes it can get very tense, but that is the business we are in. If you are looking for sugar-​coat ego stroke… keep on moving, Ivana will find that little secret and expose it in front of the whole class if necessary to keep the integrity of the technique in focus. I am currently enrolled in the advanced class and every single one of my mates is a professional working actor. We all are gone fro time to time on different projects, but you dont just stumble into the class. If you dont have the goods, you will get exposed and moved down to introductory class and learn the technique, if on the other hand the hard work in advanced is sincere, you move up to Master level where you are among the best students working in the industry at any given time. Most of us are already SAG/Aftra.like that means anythhing anymore lol, but the craft is honed here, and Ivana and company churn out great actors. I have been lucky enough to become part of the crew and am very proud to be in the company of amazing artists.
Born and raised in Hollywood see em all, studied under some great teachers, Ivana Chubbucks’ technique is the closest I have seen to using a formula which encompasses the actor and creates a realism rarely seen on stage. Generally in the advaced level you are assigned a scene with partner and expected to put up the scene within 2 weeks folowed by an adjustment by Ivana or Chris or Darry. and re-​up the scene using the notes you wrote and rehearsal with partner for the next week.
To all the serious actors who arent afraid to take the leap of faith and do something they will be out of their comfort zones… audit the class and you tell me you gots the chops.

There has been a buzz at Chubbuck studios about Unilocal that had been recently posted. I read them and it was obvious to me, as it would be to anyone reading, that it was an attempt by someone no longer with the studio using Unilocal irresponsibly to vent personal issues. Kudos to Unilocal for recognizing and having the original post removed. The person has since reposted an edited censored version of their post. They still have issue with a teacher being removed, but concede that «the method is fine…» I’ve been with the studio a number of years. I am familiar enough with the studio to know a teacher replaced without warning must have done something extraordinarily wrong; As I know Ivana to be very forgiving. It’s unfortunate the teacher used Unilocal and an uniformed student to vent. It happens.
Ivana’s studio is one of the best around. I’ve also read her book. The approach to the craft that she has developed works for many in achieving their goals in entertainment (…and life in general.) Many actors, writers, directors and producers incorporating the Chubbuck approach, have made outstanding contribution in the industry. They’ve brought depth and dynamics to their work that audiences want to see. Ivana teaches each person how to use their «stuff» to bring depth to a performance that only the individual would be able to bring. She often shares her own experiences to help students open up and not be owned by their traumas or triumphs in life, but to own their traumas and triumphs and use them to make their work unique and memorable. Good or Bad reviews are all a matter of opinion. Sometimes the process of bringing a performer to their best is not a pretty sight on a working set or in the class room. When it happens at the classroom, the actor is always at the point of a breakthrough; and is pretty interesting to watch.
Most are not going to go solely by reviews we read, we will go check it out for ourselves. Actors are dramatic, sensitive, over the top and emotional people. It’s what we do, and it’s all good, learn how to use it to win. So if you’re interested, read the book and audit a class. If what you see rings a chord for you, go learn, do the work, (be patient it doesn’t happen overnight) do the work… yep said it twice, and bring your performance, or writing or directing to a next level. It’ll happen.

This place is stale and tired. They replace teachers without warning and all the negative reviews about Ivana are true. My original review was removed and so are other reviews praising the other teachers. I was at this studio for a few years and they replaced the teacher without warning after taking payment for class. The method is fine, but it’s nothing new and you don’t need to filter through this studio for success.

This woman is very rude, she calls you names, humiliates you, screams at you, cusses at you. It has nothing to do with acting or art.
She tells you that you never will achieve anything, that you are worthless etc.
Ivana doesn’t deserve even to be called a teacher, let alone a guru.
Teacher is supposed to be able to give something, to love her students, to care about them and their success.
The so called «her» method is nothing new, and nothing she teaches or writes about in her book is «her’s». She takes the Stanislavski’s system and calls it her method, which is a bs, not her invention. Read and study Stella Adler, Robert Lewis, Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg, Chekhov — those were the TEACHERS. This woman Chubbuck isn’t. Never will be.
She thrives off of humiliating and degrading others. And all she cares about is money and herself, of course.
She is extremely disrespectful, aggressive, mean and plain evil. She bring her own personal problems and spills it out on you. She is full of hate towards her own family and people in general and forces you to feel the same: hatred for your family and yourself. And if you don’t agree, you are immediately being harassed and humiliated. She forces all negativity and bad emotions on you. She clearly needs to get some help.
No nurturing, help, advise or even a tad bit of respect to you. Don’t expect it here in her studio.
She is self-​proclaimed psychologist. Well, is she herself ready for the ugly truth? She is horrible at feeling people and being a psychologist. She is full of herself and her own problems. I am afraid no therapist will ever be able to help her, too late.
She is extremely greedy, be prepared to pay at least 5 grand to even see her highness.
But on the other hand when she hires you, she thinks everybody owe her and she doesn’t have to pay. The payment is to just to see her.
The atmosphere and vibe of those classes just leaves you full of negativity, bad thought and emotions.
I wonder if anyone who are truly an artist can find anything useful there.
She just tries/​pretends to be more respectful if you pay more money and have some weight in the industry. If you are a big name or maybe a toady, yes, she will try to be nicer. Just pay a bunch of money so she can go to nice restaurants. It is mandatory you meet with her at the restaurant across the street and leave quite a bit of money there, perhaps, she gets a percentage of the checks left by her students?
Find people in your life who inspire you, move you, make you a better self and make you feel good about who you are it is so important for an artist and a human being.
Fellow artists, actors and performers stay away!
Save money and find a nurturing and inspiring place and nice people to practice and work on your craft! You have only one life don’t let such people into your life! SO many nice people, good souls and kindhearted human beings — they deserve your time, not this evil old woman chubbuck.

My review is based on an audit of the master class. I came in knowing her reputation for being an outstanding coach and based on my previous acting education I knew her style was what fit me best. Walking into it, her «monitor» Cameron can be very abrupt which is initially very off putting but overall she was efficient and very on point with making sure everything was covered as far as details and answers to questions. There were 5 scenes and the students were good but after Ivana went in and made adjustments they went to great. She really DIGS into you to pull out whatever personal experience you have in order to make the scene amazing and the results were immediate in each scene. Yes there is alot of smoking and cursing like the other reviewers say but I don’t mind it for the type of camaraderie and outstanding education I witnessed at the studio. Ivana is very no BS. She will not allow you to be lazy in your work. The energy of the place isn’t that of flowers and warm hugs but more so like how you feel walking into a Crossfit studio. People are there to work, to challenge themselves, and to learn. Overall, the experience was intense but I enjoyed it.

the studio is awesome! coaches really help you move further in your craft. attention is given to each student. my coach is Chris and he is the best! He is brutally honest and really pushes to get the best out of you. This studio is not for wannabees cuz you won’t like the truth and will leave feeling unhappy and angry. if you really want to work with your inner self, then this is the place.

I love my craft and my school.
Again, this technique is NOT for everyone, but I am glad I was introduced to it by a Master Teacher about 4 ½ yrs ago.
Since relocating to Cali, I have decided to go to the source of the technique.
Needless to say, I am pleased.
Great technique and great people to work with.
Everyone is committed.
Worth the time, effort, energy and $, but not for the faint of heart.
You might even be in a class or audit a class or two with other celebs trying to improve their craft or just stay sharp.
On another note, they need to keep that bathroom clean or perhaps just expand. By the time the end of the week rolls around, its gross. :-(
Im sure Ivana makes enough $ to move the school to another, more roomy location, but thats just my opinion. Thats my only negative.

***REVIEW OF MY 1ST AUDIT OF THE IVANA CHUBBUCK MASTER CLASS***
How it works:
1) You call to set up an appointment to audit her class (Thursdays @ 6:30, by appointment only).
2) You show up with plenty of time before: the acting studio doesn’t have a private parking lot. You park on the street and make sure it’s a non-​residential area. Parking IS enforced.
3) The entrance is on the N Formosa Ave side. The door has a green little curtain that says 7201 (someone uploaded a picture of it here — thanks, btw). There’s a GNC at the corner of Melrose & Formosa Avenues that faces Melrose, and the Ivana Chubbuck studio is right behind/​next to it, around that corner.
4) Go upstairs, turn right and there’s a patio where everyone is waiting.
5) At 6:30PM an assistant comes and calls everyone inside the auditorium, sits the auditors in the last 2 rows, asks everyone for their name (which should be on the list), confirms their phone number, checks them from the list and takes their $ 20 (CASH ONLY). There’s a brief orientation and auditors get some paperwork.
6) At 7PM the students and Ivana come in and the first 2 students present their scene. They present once and Ivana does her critique, and allows them to repeat the scene applying her insight. You see the before-​critique and after-​critique difference very boldly. Ivana uses a microphone so people in the back can also hear.
7) After scene presentation, critiquing and final presentation of that scene are done, there’s a 10 minute break, during which people go to the bathroom, chat, smoke or whatever outside, and the students presenting next prepare the stage for their scene with all props, etc. Everyone comes inside again, «rinse, repeat.» For my audit there were 5 scenes in total.
8) Cellphones must be off, not even in silence/​vibrate mode. If they see as little as light coming from your phone, even with no noise, you have to pay a $ 20 fine… Extreme, but it works.
9) After class is done at 10PM, all auditors meet individually with Ivana in her office and hand her an artistic resumé (if experienced) that she uses to determine what group/​level suits you best, based on your experience and knowledge of her technique.
10) If you’re a female, at the end of it all, Ivana asks that you should wait to be escorted back to your car by a male of the staff — a nice courtesy to ensure you’re OK, since you leave at around 11PM and probably parked on a side street.
11) After that, when you go to your 1^st class, you will listen only, and you must have read the first 12 chapters of her book to understand what goes on in the classroom.
One unfortunate thing everyone has mentioned here that I, too, don’t quite love is the smoking frenzy. However, Ivana does NOT smoke inside the auditorium. But all the smokers do smoke in the patio just outside the auditorium doors during the between-​scenes breaks, and the doors remain open while this takes place. It sort of defeats the purpose of smoking outside, doesn’t it??? And for those who not only aren’t smokers, but are singers, it’s venom to your respiratory system and your chords. I can’t imagine how it should be for asthmatics.
Sitting in the back, it was hard to see with students wearing hats. The staff should make them sit at the ends of rows.
I was expecting a very «We’re painting the roses red, don’t tell the Red Queen» /​«Miranda Priestly’s here, quick, put on the Jimmy Choos» attitude from the staff regarding Ivana; yet I did *not* see that. I read a Unilocal review here saying something like that, and was sort of expecting it, but the only thing I saw that *might* have been a tad exaggerated in that direction is the fact that they do ask you to please not ask Ivana questions that already appear on the website’s FAQ, which you get a copy of the very moment you sit in the auditorium, right before the class, so you get a chance to review it then, or during the 10 minute breaks between scenes. I think it sort of makes sense, because if you have a printout of that info, you’ll have a chance to read through, and therefore can leave that limited time for other undiscussed subjects. It’s sensible, I think.
It’s Hotel California-​ish: «you can never leave» until the entire thing is done (about 4.5 hours in total). They ask the auditors from the get-​go if they can stay until the end, and if you say you have to leave early, they’ll say you have to leave then and reschedule when you actually have the entire time available. They also require the $ 20 CASH — no cards or checks. And they’re very strict about being there sharply on time.
I think her insight is powerful. I saw the results immediately in her students when they presented their scenes again after her guidance. She won’t sugarcoat, but I didn’t perceive it as traumatizing. Also, she curses but it’s never against the student in a personal, offensive or aggressive way. It’s more of an earthy, no b.s. tone.
I look forward to my first class. :-)

Quick background: I have a degree in Acting from UCLA and went to a High School for performing arts. All told, I’ve studied with at least 20 different teachers over the course of my career. I know the difference between a teacher who’s just good, and a teacher who is truly WORLD CLASS. There’s no doubt that Ivana is a world class teacher. If you’re looking for a class in LA, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Ivana’s technique works, and it works consistently. The more scenes you do in class, the better you get at applying the technique. It produces REAL human behavior that’s goal-​oriented and action-​driven. This is very different from a «Method» approach that focuses on getting you to «feel» something. Good acting is about FIGHTING to get what you want. Ivana will teach you how to fight in interesting, dynamic, and totally unpredictable ways — exactly how people do in real life.
Also, Ivana’s understanding of human behavior is phenomenal. Just by being in class, you’ll begin to have a much deeper grasp of people’s hidden motivations. Things people do that might have seemed strange, odd, or out-​of-​the-​blue will suddenly begin to make perfect sense to you. You just start to «get» people’s behavior in a way you never did before.
I’ll be honest. It’s a very challenging class. Ivana will not sugar-​coat her critiques. She’s not harsh, but she’s fair. If your work sucks, she’ll tell you, but she will ALSO tell you how to make it better. And her critique won’t just apply to this one scene, but to EVERY OTHER scene you do. This is key — anyone can watch a scene, make comments, and make it better. But Ivana will teach you a technique that WORKS, so if you improve in one scene, you improve in all of them.
The class is pure scene-​study. No warm-​ups. No exercises. No pretending to be an ice-​cream cone. You’re assigned a scene and a scene partner, and you’re expected to rehearse outside of class. You put the scene up once, get about 30 – 45 minutes of critique on it, and then put it up a second time. The quality of work that’s expected of you is VERY HIGH, so be prepared.
The class is also very sexual. It teaches you to use your sexuality, and to create real, hot chemistry with your scene partner — even when you’re not especially attracted to him/​her. In my experience, most acting classes totally ignore sexuality. You MUST know how to use it in your work. Think of ANY great performance by any great actress — she was using sexuality to win, and doing it in a way that’s real and authentic. That’s what you’ll learn here, and you’ll learn it better than anywhere else.
The class is tough, but if you stick with it, you’ll be not just a better actor, but a better, tougher, more driven human being. And once your work gets good, Ivana will do everything in her power to open doors for you, advise you, and help you in your career. Until you’re consistently good, though, she’s all business. You have to earn her respect, and that’s way it should be.

She obviously has a good technique (her book is good) and is well known in the city of Los Angeles as being a great coach. I decided to audit a class to see what all the fuss was about. Going in there with rave review from a friend who studied with one of her partners, I was super surprised at how disappointed I was with the entire experience.
First off, just audit and sit in the waaaay back of the theater with the other 20 auditors trying to see and hear whats going on in the front, set me back 20 dollars. (she probably made over $ 200 just on us auditors!) I figured if the class taught me something, whatever, it was it was worth it, right? Wrong. Can’t say I learned much except for not to eat, talk, pull out my cell phone or disturb anyone in the class. I usually leave with some notes or a better understanding of the process etc when I check out a class. I didn’t feel inspired to pick up my pen once.
The scenes that were put up were good, the students were mostly out of work former soap stars. However it was so hard to hear the notes Ivanna was saying to critique them. She spoke into a microphone sometimes which sort of helped, but not really. It was truly just all about observation and not really learning anything.
At the end she had a «Q and A» to which every question that was asked was answered with, «Did you read my book? The answer is in my book. Don’t ask stupid questions!» I didn’t bother to ask her why she had such a huge stick up her butt.