The Sanford Meisner Center

I came to The Sanford Meisner Center because I thought it was the only school in LA that taught the traditional program the way Sanford Meisner intended. That is not the case. It is easy to think it is because of the name. There are other places that teach a two year program. Please do your research. I’m writing this review strictly for that reason. Choosing the right teacher is extremely important. This may or may not be the place for you. Just because I had a bad experience doesn’t mean you will. I refuse to write a nasty demeaning review to take down a business. I recommend meeting with at least 3 teachers before you decide. Don’t be in a rush. This is your career after all. Best of luck to you.

Truthfully, any serious performer should feel completely justified in supporting the Meisner Center. My two years there were challenging, yet loaded with constant growth and discovery. If you respect the method and are willing to endure whichever emotional realm you may end up in on any given day, you will change. You will grow. You will begin to notice your skills sharpen; your taste refine. It isn’t about your comfort — thats entirely besides the point. Whether you like what you discover in yourself or not is entirely up to you (albeit you probably should).
It was to my observation that students who took issue with class were often the same students fighting the process, or coming in with ego or their own preconceived expectations. Many of those types came and went. Don’t be that person.
I recommend The Sanford Meisner Center to any individual passionate enough to truly endure the actors journey. Period.

I recently started the program with Martin Barter. He is an amazing teacher. He is tough… but brilliant.
I highly recommend The Sanford Meisner Center to any serious actor.

If you can take yelling then go to this guy. He yells a lot. If you can’t take it don’t be an actor. He tells you the harsh truth of Hollywood it’s a bitch. He was nice when he wasn’t teaching me. Don’t go in and be cocky. Don’t do what I did in class which was test him. Show your passion for acting. That’s a mistake I will never make again. I have changed. I could go back to him but I had enough of the yelling.

Full Disclosure: I am a Meisner Student but I only studied part time for the first section of the first year intensive and then for the last week of the second section of the first year intensive with the Sanford Meisner Center’s teacher: Martin Barter.
I am a fan of the Meisner method and it has helped me lots (and lots and lots and lots). It is based on truth and it forces you to look at yourself, get to know your own core truths and accept yourself for who you are. It has been a fantastic tool in discovering who I am and becoming confident in myself. I’m making great leaps and bounds in my personal and creative life thanks to this method.
On to this particular teacher:
The Marty I knew was difficult to work with as a new artist trying to find my own voice and honestly I don’t think I could have ever found my own voice if I had stuck with him as my teacher. He is a very «Do it my way» kinda guy, but funny thing was that the directions would change on different days, even different times of the same day. He is effective at getting you to an emotionally raw state, but he rips it out of you instead of making you discover it on your own. WHICH, I would imagine, would lead you to being dependent on him to create emotional life, WHICH would result in you not having your own voice, but only be a replicate of his voice. I also believe that being exposed to his rip and tear method over a long period of time would wear down your soul so much that you wouldn’t have the energy left to believe in yourself as an artist. He is a powerball of ego and in my opinion that has no place in the teaching world, especially as an acting teacher. I don’t care how long you’ve taught something (unless you only teach adding 1 and 1 (psst…hey, it’s 2)) there’s always a chance you can learn something new and grow from your students, you cannot berate people and expect them to respect and follow you blindly, there is no place at all for that in art, especially in the Meisner method. This method is based on YOUR core truth, not your teacher’s truth, not your parent’s truth, not even Meisner’s truth, ONLY YOUR’S. Such pigheaded egoness is just disrespectful to Mr. Sanford Meisner.
That said, his way might work for some people. But I would recommend finding a teacher that respects what you bring to the table, that supports your journey, and pushes you to do it on your own (but also knows when they need to come in guns-​a-​blazing, we all need a good shove now and again)
p. s. And for you math nerds, sure, 1+1 could equal 10, but that’s only in binary and we use base 10 people. BASE TEN. and 10 is still 2, it’s just written different.
p. p. s. And for you ubernerds that could point out that 1+1 equals anything you want, I’m not that smart, I don’t know, are you happy now? ARE YOU? I’m just going to go look up that space time continuum thingy… figure that stuff out… grumble…grumble…show you…*sigh* nah, no I’m not. I’m lazy. You win ubernerds.

This school changed my life.
As far as acting is concerned, until you learn to stop acting and completely live a life on the stage, you are just lying.
This school forces you out of your boundaries and pulls anything you are hiding out of you to the forefront and the spotlight.
After you are finished being embarrassed, you find yourself.
And once you’ve found yourself… ooooooooh.
This school is the best.