CHARLOTTE ACTING

Highly regarded instructor, Linda Ann Watt is a member of Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), past member of Actors Equity Association (AEA) and a SAG-AFTRA Signatory Producer. As an actor, Watt has appeared in movies, television, theatre and many national commercials.

 

Watt holds an MFA in Theatre Performance Pedagogy. She was an Adjunct Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and an Instructor at Georgia State University (GSU), Atlanta, in the School of Film, Media and Theatre. Watt is a guest lecturer at the The Muriel Moore/Danny Nelson SAG-AFTRA Conservatory in Atlanta, teaching professional actors. She also teaches onset and conducts professional classes in Virginia, Charlotte, Atlanta and nationally online. Watt was nominated for a Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre Education in 2015.

 

Watt owns Corlin Productions, a SAG-AFTRA signatory production house. Through Corlin Productions, Watt produces and directs film, television, documentaries, commercials and educational programs. She directed Betty White, Nell Carter, Dom DeLuise, Aaron Neville, and Tippi Hedren for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations. Watt produced the educational DVD, Method Acting with Stanislavski and Strasberg with Cloris Leachman, Martin Landau and Shelley Winters.

 

As an executive board member of Women In Film in Los Angeles, Watt chaired and produced the largest Academy Awards Night Party four consecutive years, which became an annual Hollywood event with over 1,000 attending including the Oscar winners and nominees.

 

Watt relocated to Charlotte and was invited in 2011 to teach through the education department of Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

 

 

Through her not-for-profit organization, Learn with Laughter, Watt was the recipient of a Grass Roots Arts Project (GAP) Grant from 2008-2014, awarded through the Union County Community Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council to teach her acting and Filmmaking syllabus as an enrichment arts program for youth. Most recenty, Watt received a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council to finish her book The Actor's Manifesto: Create a Successful Acting Career published in 2022, available on Amazon Books and Ingram.

 

Training

 

In New York, at the age of 15, Watt received a scholarship to The New York Academy of Theatrical Arts. She attended the Stella Adler Conservatory, American Theatre of Actors (ATA) with James Jennings and studied voice at Herbert Bergdorf (HB) Studios and with speech pathologist Gertrude Orion Ph. D., Watt attended the State University of New York (SUNY) Nassau Community College, majoring in theatre, while appearing in commercials, daytime television, film and theatre. It was during this time, Watt produced her first documentary, Unicycle for national PBS television. Watt later graduated magna cum laude from UNC Charlotte, majoring in Theatre and received an MFA from VCU in Theatre Performance Pedagogy.

 

In Los Angeles, Watt studied extensively with Milton Katselas (director, Butterflies are Free, for film and Broadway, protégé of Elia Kazan). While in his class, she also had the privilege of taking classes with Jeffery Tambor, Joe Santos and Richard Larson. She studied voice with Bob Corff. She took Comedy Improvisation at the Skylight Theater with Walter Olkewicz and Standup Comedy classes with Greg Dean. She performed standup at Santa Monica Improv. She later studied “Method” acting with Lorrie Hull, Ph.D. (master teacher for Lee Strasberg).

 

While in a university setting along with studying the disciplines of Stanislavski, Strasberg, Adler, and Meisner, Watt also, studied physical techniques of Bogart, Landau and Lecoq.

Cory Riback, recently guest starred on The Inspectors on CBS television. Riback offers 25 years of expert experience in acting and film and video production. Riback worked as producer, director, director of photography, camera and editing on features. television and commercials.  Riback wrote and produced Unicycle, a documentary for national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). He produced and was the director of photography on Melvin Goes Disco, a 35mm film for HBO. He went on to create the series, Cory’s Learning Corner with robotic puppets for PBS member stations nationally.

 

Riback, a member of Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), also created a live show and performs nationally with the best variety performers in the world.

Riback lectures at the School of Art and Design and University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  He teaches a filmmaking course for professional filmmakers and has trained students from major universities on production, robotic puppet building, editing and animation.

 

Training

 

Riback attended School of Art and Design, The Leonard Davis Center of Performing Arts and the School of Visual Arts where he majored in film production and editing. For fluid camera movement, he studied mime with Keith Berger and master teacher, Marcel Marceau. He also attended Beverly Hills Playhouse under the direction of, Milton Katselas (director, Butterflies are Free, for film and Broadway, protégé of Elia Kazan), Lorie Hull (master teacher for Lee Strasberg) and HB Studios.

 

Highly regarded instructor, Linda Ann Watt is a member of Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), past member of Actors Equity Association (AEA) and a SAG-AFTRA Signatory Producer. As an actor, Watt has appeared in movies, television, theatre and many national commercials.

 

Watt holds an MFA in Theatre Performance Pedagogy. She was an Adjunct Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and an Instructor at Georgia State University (GSU), Atlanta, in the School of Film, Media and Theatre. Watt is a guest lecturer at the The Muriel Moore/Danny Nelson SAG-AFTRA Conservatory in Atlanta, teaching professional actors. She also teaches onset and conducts professional classes in Virginia, Charlotte, Atlanta and nationally online. Watt was nominated for a Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre Education in 2015.

 

Watt owns Corlin Productions, a SAG-AFTRA signatory production house. Through Corlin Productions, Watt produces and directs film, television, documentaries, commercials and educational programs. She directed Betty White, Nell Carter, Dom DeLuise, Aaron Neville, and Tippi Hedren for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations. Watt produced the educational DVD, Method Acting with Stanislavski and Strasberg with Cloris Leachman, Martin Landau and Shelley Winters.

 

As an executive board member of Women In Film in Los Angeles, Watt chaired and produced the largest Academy Awards Night Party four consecutive years, which became an annual Hollywood event with over 1,000 attending including the Oscar winners and nominees.

 

Watt relocated to Charlotte and was invited in 2011 to teach through the education department of Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.