Kimberly Jentzen Studio

Kimberly Jentzen has taught acting since 1987, collected multiple Backstage readers' choice awards for favorite LA coach, and distilled her approach into the Jentzen Technique, Power Tools drawn from Stanislavski, Strasberg, Adler, Hagen, Meisner, and Chekhov, organized around essence, choices, and emotional courage. Her book Acting with Impact carries the same system.

The in-person room is a Monday night advanced scene study at the Whitefire Theatre on Ventura Boulevard, limited in size, with every actor working weekly and industry guests visiting. Online, an ongoing foundation-to-master class runs a rotating six-month curriculum (fear release, emotional range, cold reading, auditions) at a published $300 per month, and a script analysis course and weekend intensives, the Essence Intensive and a cold reading weekend, fill out the calendar on request. Private coaching is limited to students and industry referrals.

Admission everywhere is by interview, not audition, and payments are transferable but non-refundable. No public calendar is posted, so email for current dates. Jentzen also directs award-winning short films, and her classes reflect a director's eye: actors who want their choices interrogated, not just their feelings validated, tend to thrive here.

Techniques taught

• Eclectic / multi-technique: Schools that draw on several lineages and fit the tools to the actor, not the reverse.
• Chekhov: Michael Chekhov's psychophysical approach: imagination, gesture, and atmosphere.
• Adler: Stella Adler's imagination-first approach: given circumstances and script analysis over personal memory.
• Method (Strasberg): Lee Strasberg's Method: affective memory, relaxation, and sense work developed from Stanislavski's early system.
• Meisner: Listening, repetition, and truthful response under imaginary circumstances, in the lineage of Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse teaching.
• Stanislavski: The root system of modern actor training: objectives, actions, and given circumstances.
• Hagen: Uta Hagen's substitution and object exercises, grounded in truthful behavior.

Class types

• Scene study
• Cold reading
• Audition technique
• On-camera
• Improv

Enrollment and schedule

'Actors are accepted by interview only'; online class requires interview and deposit; private coaching by referral or prior study. Schedule: In-person Advanced Scene Study: Monday nights at Whitefire Theatre; Foundation to Master, Script Analysis and private coaching on Zoom; weekend intensives scheduled periodically, no public dates posted, contact studio. Duration: Ongoing monthly enrollment; online foundation class follows a rotating 6-month curriculum; intensives are weekend-format.

Published pricing

Prices are the school's own published rates on the dates shown. We never estimate prices. Always confirm before enrolling.

Instructors

• Kimberly Jentzen, Founder/Head Teacher. Teaches all classes and coaching; also credited on X/Twitter @KimberlyJentzen and LinkedIn

Location

Questions actors ask

Sources and verification

• Kimberly Jentzen, Classes, accessed 2026-07-16
• Kimberly Jentzen, Contact, accessed 2026-07-16
• Kimberly Jentzen, About, accessed 2026-07-16
• Acting With Impact Online Class (product page), accessed 2026-07-16
• In-Person Advanced Scene Study at the Whitefire Theatre, accessed 2026-07-16
• Third-party IG reel promoting Jentzen class (Feb 16, 2026), accessed 2026-07-16

Researched 2026-07-16, last verified 2026-07-16. Facts above come only from these sources. Anything we could not confirm is simply not shown. Report incorrect information or claim this listing if you represent the school.

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