One On One NYC

I recently auditioned for One on One and was extremely disappointed by the whole audition process. From start to finish it was cold, impersonal and close to unprofessional.
The person who interviewed me told me his name, asked me how I heard about One on One and then didn’t speak more than five words to me. He didn’t even give me the typical «Whenever you are ready you can start». There was an awkward silence and I ended up saying «Sooo… Do you want me to start???»
He was extremely disinterested from the very beginning and looked bored and as if he didn’t wanna be there. I finished my first monologue and again he didn’t say anything, not a simple «thank you, you may proceed with the second monologue». I was the one to speak first again and ask if he wanted me to continue with the second monologue. He kept looking disinterested through the whole process and there were moments when I could tell that he wasn’t even paying attention to me.
I left and a few hours later I got an email saying that I «needed to work on my audition pieces for another three months and apply again». Now I don’t mind the rejection — being a professional actor for years I have learned to deal with it and not take it personally. But I find it almost insulting that someone would not accept me to study in an acting studio when he didn’t even pay attention to me or seem to have any interest to what I had to show him.
Also the site mentions that actors are going to be judged by their performance as well as their professional conduct and behavior. So with that in mind and considering that you are given a 10 minute time slot I expected that there would be some sort of conversation and a chance to show your professional conduct. Now I was definitely not given the chance to do that and the whole thing lasted less than 4 minutes.
Given the whole experience and the fact that I have friends who are great actors and have also been rejected by One on One I get the feeling that this is tactic they use, rejecting people who audition for the first time (they do make you fill out a form and ask you if you have auditioned before) in order to pretend they have a screening system to keep their «rigorous and very high standards».
Honestly in my case there was no attempt of screening, just plain ignoring from the very first moment I set foot in the room.

Here are my direct results from One on One:
1. The commercial acting teachers are excellent, specifically David Bellatoni & David Cady, they don’t settle for less, and through my commercial teachers I got called in and signed to my commercial agent and have booked 3 spots with them so far.
2. I’ve learned a lot through one of their specific teachers: Bob Krakower. He cares about his students and wants to make sure you ‘get it’.
3. I’ve met hard-​working, like-​minded, professional actors in classes.
4. They make you audition with 2 monologues because to them it’s a weed out process. Don’t go in unprepared, thinking you can just wing it because you will pay them. I know people who have been rejected.
(Legit/​Theatrical) Some of the CDs/​Agents have been incredibly helpful, encouraging, and sharp with high standards BUT I’m not going to lie — others have been the opposite.
Part of the policy is that if agents/​CDs don’t call in One on One students in to audition on a regular basis they’re not invited back again. Whether this is true or not 100% I can’t confirm.
If you don’t have representation and you haven’t had luck meeting reps through shows you’re doing, videos you’re making, plays you are writing, venues you are performing at whenever you get a chance, etc. — I’d definitely suggest One on One — they are a clean, efficient option as to opposed to other ones that will take ‘just anyone’.

You’ll thank me later when I say to skip this place. Impersonal and greedy, I got the impression that they’re not in business because they love doing what they do. They’re in business simply to make money, ’nuff said. And please, don’t fall for the «membership» scam. The best studio in NYC that’s known for their casting workshops don’t have a membership. None of the best ones do. They claim it’s to keep their studio with «high standards», but I’ve been to their classes and can say that many of the actors there suck, so it makes you wonder what kind of standards they’re holding! More like «who’s got the most money to pay us» standards!

It’s sad how actors fall for the, «you must first pay to become a member because we are an exclusive club». This is just a way for them to make extra $$$. Regardless of their «membership» policies, everything about this place is still terrible; they don’t care about the actors, and they don’t care about helping you out. All they want is your money. They’re in it purely to make money and not because they enjoy what they do. There are a few other studios out there who do the same thing One On One does, but unlike OOO they have smaller class sizes, genuinely love helping out their actors, and don’t charge you to become a member! And you actually get more professional actors at the other studios… do your research! Run run run from this place, you’ve been warned!!!

I went in for an audition and the staff was rude (ie I heard the woman who auditioned me talking about me while I was leaving the lobby). Shameful, unprofessional and unbecoming of an industry «professional.» If I could give 0 stars I would.

In a city chock full of «workshops» and «intensives» and «classes but not really classes», One on One at least gives the hustling actor a shred of dignity. Yeah, I paid for that dignity, but the facilities are warm and inviting, the bathrooms are somewhat clean and functional, and staff is actually nice in a «we’re in this together» kind of way.
Best of all, I’ve heard a lot of casting directors say that they’re comfortable too, and I’ve never heard that anywhere else. And we want our CDs comfortable and open, right?
Yes — when I look at the big picture, I could do much more fiscally responsible things with my cash than throw it here. But these workshops keep me in shape and remind me that those mysterious casting people are, in fact, people.
I’ll add that extra star when the investment pays off and I get a new agent or get called in for a role due to a workshop. Them’s the ropes, kid.

Worst experience ever. I’ve been a member of both unions & working & training professionally for more than 20 years & have never seen such rudeness. The auditor showed up 20 minutes late. The first person auditioned for the receptionist. When he arrived, he was rude & had written me off from the moment I walked in the room. He corrected me (incorrectly) on the title of the play for my second monologue. Every question he asked, he cut me off before allowing me even a few words out, especially on my training. He sneered everytime theatre was mentioned, eventually comparing all theatre to children’s theatre. All they want is your money. I could go on, but the bottom line is, don’t waste your money.

You gotta audition (and pay for it) in order to become a «member» of OneonOne. I would just as soon attend their classes and seminars and not be considered a «member». That said, I did go ahead and audition for these guys — per their requirement, two contemporary monologues. I frankly hadn’t had a monologue audition in over a year and was probably a bit rusty. Their rejection letter/​email alternates between self-​reverent «our standards are rigorous» (not to mention subjective) and fawning «you’re still a member of one on one». I’m perfectly willing to come back, pay another 10 bucks and perform my two monologues again, after taking some amount of time to shake the cobwebs out. But then their letter says you must wait 3 months for the privilege. Seriously? I was thinking like a week. So yeah, irritating guys to deal with. I take comfort in knowing I’m still a member of OneonOne…

I’m giving them 1 star for «attempting» to help actors. I am not one to actually take the time to sit down and right a review about an establishment, but y’all need to know what type of ish they got going on at One on One before walking off that elevator.
This review is a amalgamation of the 4 times I have dealt with them.
I recently moved out to NYC from LA and am well versed in the industry workshop model promoted here. I was excited to get in front of east coast industry guests but was taken aback by the $ 10 «audition» and $ 40 «membership fee» at One on One. Uhhh, so I gotta pay to audition for someone I could care less about to then pay to be a part of their club and then pay again to ACTUALLY meet the people I want?!? Makes no sense. But I signed up anyway because I was told they were the place to go.
1. The day of my audition I was LITERALLY 2 minutes late (thanks MTA) and was rudely told I couldn’t audition. I was peeved, but I get it. I asked if they could transfer my $ 10 for another audition… that was a no.
2. I stupidly signed up for another audition and made sure to be there 20 mins before my scheduled time. But the MTA thought differently and I barely made it there on time. The same rude girl from my first visit greeted me, still just as rude. I was stressed because I was afraid to miss my time again and to top it off I wasn’t allowed a second to decompress from the travel before being ushered into the room.
I had the «privilege» to audition for Marc, the owner and some other girl. He made me stand so close to the back wall I could practically turn around and pick up the bag I set against it. He made sure I didn’t look at him but at the corners and side walls as I performed. Weird, but okay. After, he asked how I felt about my audition. I barely got a word in about my time issues when he interrupted me and insulted my talent and my work ethic. I’m a trained professional working in the industry for the last 10 years and was flabbergasted. Things went downhill from there. I told him I thought it was bad business to make people pay to be told whether they were good enough to be in his «club». His response was the screening process was to insure guests see people who are ready to be cast and repped. Good idea, but there are plenty of bad actors getting cast everyday. So why is he hating? It’s his place, so it’s his discretion, but why make someone who you think isn’t ready pay to be denied? Never was I rude to this man, but I can see where his staff get their rudeness from. My 2 minute audition lasted about 20 minutes.
Needless to say I didn’t make it into the club. But I realized all the things I wanted to do were for non-​members anyway so I was cool. $ 20 poorer.
3. I thought hard about stepping foot in that place again, but one of my target list agents was going to be there and it was cheap so why the hell not?
That was actually a pleasant experience. Got there in plenty of time, the vibe was nice, got to read a couple times with the reader and did my thing. Would have bumped my rating up to 3 stars.
4. I signed up for a 4 week intensive and noticed I hadn’t received a confirmation. I called to check up on it and was told they didn’t have a payment for me even though it had been debited from my account. I called my bank and was told that there were 3 separate charges from One on One on my account. One that went posted, one that was denied by the bank because it was a copied transaction, and one that was refused by One on One days later. I spoke to Adrian at One on One and asked him what happened. His response was that there was never any attempted payment on my account which I thought was weird because a) it had posted to my account and b) when I signed up for my initial audition their website was having issues but they could see that I attempted payment then. So why not now? And why had they refused my payment? Adrian could care less to find an answer and since the intensive was sold out his response was, «I don’t know what to tell you?». Great. Thanks so much for your great customer service.
All in all, the actual workshop was good. It was what I expected and on par with other places. But the «membership «scam and the horrible customer service are a big deterrent. I’d recommend going somewhere else first. But if you do go don’t pay the membership fee. One one One doesn’t have any exclusivity with CD’s and agents. The same CD’s and agents make the rounds to other companies and they are SOOOO much nicer, courteous, and in the same price range WITHOUT a «membership» fee.

When I first came to One on One, I liked what I saw, for the most part. They market themselves as a place for actors to meet with industry people that are normally very hard to reach. It’s a great idea and definitely has potential – and One on One often boasts their «success stories” – actors being called in for interviews, getting signed, or even booking major work. They also claim to keep track of clients’ record on calling in or further pursuing the One on One actors who enroll, and then bump off clients those who routinely don’t make any effort to court their actors. So points on that front.
However, every actor should know that the vast majority of their customers will not hear back from these agents, CD’s and managers. No surprise here – that is how things often work in this business, right? But herein is the problem with this model – you are basically paying to play the same game you were playing without this kind of service. Which is, in a different way, misleading, since One on One bills their sessions, classes and workshops as purely for educational purposes – not guaranteeing any employment or promise of employment. That’s fine, but the problem is, their one-​on-​one sessions in particular are not truly educational at all. In fact, they are just auditions. I say this having gone to 3 of them and received virtually no feedback at all, aside from fairly obvious notes («you’re ethinic: that’s good»). If this were educational, I would expect to go a bit deeper into either the material or the projects that this particular client might be working on. Instead, what I got was mostly like a «thank you very much for coming in». Paying to solely audition is not something an actor should have to do. The classes and intensives might be more useful in learning things, but those are often very expensive and you may or may not learn anything you didn’t already know. I think the whole idea that these are actually educational might be misleading.
In one particular instance, a talent manager, whose session I paid and signed up for, neglected to send me the sides she wanted me to prepare. I did not find this out until a few hours before the session. She apologized and I ended up doing a very unprepared monologue. She asked some questions about my resume and that was all. Is that worth paying any money for? I get that that was, perhaps, a human error, but I get the feeling that these clients aren’t seriously trying to teach or scout new talent here.

I love One on One. Ive been going for years. The staff is amazing-​so kind and helpful, and they really root for you! I think it can be frustrating in terms of seeing casting directors, and not hearing from them, but its a great learning tool, with the best casting directors in the biz, and the best staff!

It has the potential to be a great tool, if you know what you’re doing. If there is a casting director you are trying to meet and have a connection to, or have been wanting to get in front of a specific agent. While I like the business model here, this is a review of those who run it. First of all, you do have to pay, and you pay a lot. Second, the staff seems like the tired and bitter sort, who answer any question you have as if you are really disturbing them (i.e. trying to charge $ 5 to print something because «they want to discourage that behavior because we are not a print shop», and other snarky remarks/​attitudes [if you’re tired of the service industry or dealing with actors, perhaps you should find something else to do]). And lastly, I have discovered that a lot of the credits they try to publish on some of the people you meet aren’t backed up anywhere but the One on One website (IMDB, casting websites, etc.). So if you do your research and know who you’re meeting, then this is a decent tool, but if you’re trying to get started in this business, most of the people you meet with here will say «let us know when you’re in something» and expect you to have lots of connections to make their job easy already. So save your money and invest it in some good training, maybe one that has a showcase.

I’m giving them two stars for attempting to help actors.
Plain and Simple. Actors are broke. We don’t want to pay $ 50 to join your professional club. I’ve toured, bway, and have done a ton of commercial, film and tv work. I’m professional and don’t have to prove that to anyone esp. an acting studio/​rental space where I go to audition for commercials!!! Clearly, one on one doesn’t make enough money with the overpriced acting classes in addition to the $ 50 fee, they have to rent the studios out to casting directors!
Why do you give actors the run around? I’m professional, why are you wasting the little time I have to audition for a freaking class!!! To be apart of your club? Really? Shouldn’t everyone get a fair chance to take classes from professionals in the business?
People go to Actors Connection (its the same price and if the «so called professionals» go to one on one why do you want to go there and have competition? You’ll stand out more at actors connection. OH and guess what… they have the SAME teachers at Actors Connection), you want footage for your reel… find friends ask around Columbia see who is shooting a student film… Don’t fall for the trap. 30% Success rate?! Really?!? That’s all, and I’m having to starve to pay you $ 50 to join plus class rates, which I’m having the hardest time finding on the website… hmmm very smart.

I have had immediate results from one on one. It took me YEARS to bite the bullet and pay the membership fee, but I quickly earned that back and wish I would have done so earlier. I have literally only been to one seminar (and intend to go to more) but have been signed with a talent manager and called in for major feature film projects and several smaller projects all through one on one. If you actually are working, professional and serious and looking to meet more CD’s and Managers/​Agents, do it.

Eric E. hit it on the nail with this one. Definitely a wonderful place to hone your craft, but not a place to learn. They have top casting directors teach workshops. They bill themselves as «where talent meets opportunity.» It’s true you will get a chance to meet and get feedback from people who you would never be in contact with otherwise.
I took the on camera class with Clint Alexander. You get to watch the other students run through their sides and get notes. His feedback was great and you could see a marked change in most every actor by the second run-​through.
And yes, they audition you to even get access to the classes here so the talent is pretty high quality. It can be intimidating to the unseasoned actor, and of course there are plenty of «actor snobs.» The space is clean, well-​maintained and the staff is friendly though.

As a life-​long actor, I really like One on One. There are several places like this in the city, that cater to actors by providing practical classes geared toward the TV and film industry, and seminars by professionals in the business. This is not a place to study acting technique in-​depth, but to hone specific skills and to have a chance to meet and get feedback from specific agents and casting directors that you may not otherwise have access to.
The thing I like most about this place is that it respects its customers. It is clean, relaxed, the staff is helpful and not condescending or harried, and you feel like you’re getting a fair deal. As for the one-​on-​one seminars, they schedule you by appointment time, so you don’t have to first attend a forum at the beginning of the night and sit through questions that can most likely be answered by some Google searches. Also, they give you several minutes – no rushing through your prepared scene or monologue so that you can have a chance to talk for only a minute. Also, to sign up you have to… audition! It’s not an intimidating process, but I think it’s as much to make sure that you’re a prepared actor who is ready to take the work seriously. Finally, they are up on their technology. They’ve had a simple, practical website for years, and their on-​camera classes are great. By the next day you have all of your on-​camera work from the class the night before online, as well as your classmates, so that you can watch your own work, see others’ work, and really get the most out of the on-​camera aspect of it. Ted Sluberski’s audition class is fantastic.
All that said, this is not a place to come in and instantly get an agent or a movie role. Sure, sometimes they’ll call you in, but it’s about forming and sustaining professional relationships. It’s the only company of its kind in the city that I find worthwhile.