Immerse yourself in the world of acting this summer at SOCAPA Acting Camps. SOCAPA Acting is hands-on and fast-paced. Each week of camp is a balance between in-class exercises, acting in student films and summer fun. In-class, students work with master actors to learn to "live truthfully" in the moment under imaginary circumstances. Each exercise introduces or builds upon acting techniques and theory that help prepare students for working on set and on stage. When working with SOCAPA's filmmaking students to make their short films, SOCAPA's acting students have the opportunity to put their acting techniques to work by taking on new characters, working with student directors and performing in multiple films a week in a fun and nurturing creative atmosphere. On nights and weekends, SOCAPA's residential staff arrange trips and evening activities so that students can put work aside and just have fun!
Perform on stage for the entire camp and watch yourself featured in films on the big screen!
Collaborate and work in a creative environment that encourages new ideas, first tries, and bold experiments.
"My daughter had the most wonderful time at the California SOCAPA location! She learned so many valuable skills, and just as importantly she gained lifelong friends. The experience she had out West was... read on google"
"My daughter had the most wonderful time at the California SOCAPA location! She learned so many valuable skills, and just as importantly she gained lifelong friends. The experience she had out West was so fantastic that she plans to expand her horizons even more by attending the SOCAPA New York campus this summer. I would highly recommend SOCAPA to any parent whose child is interested in film!"
"Our daughter has attended SOCAPA acting camp for the past two summers in Vermont. The first year was such an amazing experience for her she couldn’t wait to return the second summer. The staff at ... read on google"
"Our daughter has attended SOCAPA acting camp for the past two summers in Vermont. The first year was such an amazing experience for her she couldn’t wait to return the second summer. The staff at SOCAPA are dedicated and truly supportive. SOCAPA inspired our daughter, improved her confidence, and gave her the opportunity to make lasting friendships. This summer she will return to SOCAPA once again but will be attending the NYC campus with friends that she has made over the past two years. Thank you SOCAPA for this exceptional program!"
"SOCAPA was my daughter's dream- she just couldn't believe she was going to go! And then the world shut down with COVID. She was devastated. But then SOCAPA regrouped and offered an online version. Wh... read on google"
"SOCAPA was my daughter's dream- she just couldn't believe she was going to go! And then the world shut down with COVID. She was devastated. But then SOCAPA regrouped and offered an online version. While it obviously wasn't the same as in person, she still got so much out of the experience and made friends from literally around the world. She is going back this year and can't wait. I highly recommend this camp- it fosters such a love of learning and growing their creative abilities."
SOCAPA offers four intensives in Acting. For new students, we recommend CORE ACTING - our most popular intensive! - or, if your time with us is limited, our one-week ACTING BOOT CAMP. For return students, we offer ADVANCED ACTING which builds on our Core Acting foundation and pairs actors with Advanced Filmmakers. We also offer MUSICAL THEATER!
NYC, LA, and VT
NYC, LA, and VT
NYC, LA, and VT
SOCAPA also offers a 3-week musical theater camp in both New York and Vermont. Classes in musical performance and vocal instruction build towards performing a selected scene from shows ranging from “Dear Evan Hanson” to “Wicked.” Musical theater actors “sing out” in show-stopping live performances at our final showcase. Musical Theater students also take acting for film classes and have the oppotunity to perform in student films each week.
Star in your friends' films this summer!
SOCAPA’s Acting Program is closely tied to our Filmmaking Programs. When the filmmaking students go out to make their assigned films each week, they utilize the talent in the Acting Program to bring their stories to life. This provides our acting students with immediate on-camera experience and allows them to walk away from the program with an online portfolio of films in which they have performed.
Each film is as much about our actors as it is our filmmakers, and SOCAPA's film teaching assistants accompany each film crew throughout the shoot to provide guidance and direction in film coverage, story, and acting direction when needed.
Every Friday night the student films will be screened for the whole camp at our weekly showcase. The actors will have the opportunity to see themselves appear on the silver screen, often for the first time. At the Final Showcase of student work, acting students will perform the live scenes they prepared during their time at SOCAPA for their family and friends.
From NYU to Pace University, Occidental College, and Champlain College, all of SOCAPA’s programs are run directly on college campuses, using the classrooms, dormitories, and facilities of undergraduates. Residential SOCAPA students enjoy the emerging independence of dorm life together with roommates and floormates under the supervision of SOCAPA’s staff.
Attend SOCAPA as a day student and save on room & board.
SOCAPA was founded by a culturally and artistically diverse collective of New York City artists and that's the way we run our camps. SOCAPA fosters an accepting and nurturing culture of creativity and collaboration that allows students to be themselves and to express themselves. Collaborate with SOCAPA's four other programs and make friends with and learn from young minds from around the world.
Michael has taught and coached actors in both New York and Los Angeles. He has served as an Artist-in Residence and Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance at Cornell University, and as Assistant Professor in the BFA Acting and Musical Theatre Program at Ithaca College. In 2015, he directed IC's Senior Industry Showcase at New York City's Signature Theatre. Michael has been a professional actor for over 30 years. Recent Off-Broadway and regional credits include The Night Alive, Red, Opus, A Splintered Soul, Miss Julie, Intimate Apparel, A Christmas Carol, Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music, The Government Inspector, Our Town, It's A Wonderful Life Radio Play and Those Learned Ladies, as well as the American regional premieres of Oblomov, At A Loss, Ants, God's Ear and The History Boys. His Television credits include Seinfeld, Saved by the Bell, Unsolved Mysteries and Law & Order. He received his training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Yale Drama School, American Conservatory Theatre and UCLA.
Kelsey Siepser is an LA-based actress who holds an MFA from USC’s School of Dramatic Arts. While still in graduate school she worked on the award winning feature Public Hearing and the short, "The Price We Pay." Since graduating in May 2013 she has acted in many films, notably West of Her, The American Side and The White Orchid. In 2014 Kelsey was cast in TNT's series Cocaine Cowboys. Her most extensive experience is in theater where she has performed at Dixon Place, NYC Fringe Festival, The Vineyard Theater and The Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Lysie graduated Magna cum laude and with Distinction from Ithaca College, where she earned a BFA in Musical Theatre. Lysie was most recently cast in the U.S. National Tour of School of Rock, and traveled the country with the show from 2017-2019! Her regional credits also include Dead Mum in Billy Elliot (Ogunquit Playhouse), Marty in Grease (Summer Theatre of New Canaan), and The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse). Elysia has been a featured soloist at various New York City venues including 54 Below, Playwrights Horizons, the Manhattan Theatre Club Creative Center, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, and the Lincoln Center Songbook Series. Nationally, she has sung at Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Fransisco and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Madison Tinder is an Actor, Singer and Dancer with a BFA in Musical Theatre and Dance from Otterbein University. Madison also attended the North East School of the Arts High School in San Antonio where she double majored in Musical Theatre and Dance. She comes from a family of professional performers so her passion for the arts is as much a part of her as is breathing. After finishing the Disenchanted North American Tour, Madison booked one of her ultimate dream roles and shows, A Chorus Line, directed by Baayork Lee, where she has been playing Cassie since December! She also had previously been in the China Tour of My Fair Lady as a Busker, Maid, and member of the ensemble.
Michael Patrick Kane is a NY-based actor who received his MFA in Acting from Harvard University. He has experience working in theater, studio films, national commercials, web-series and television pilots. In theater Michael's experience ranges from Shakespeare in the Park to the National Tour of The Miracle Worker. On-screen credits include The Judge (2014), Saving Borshia (2015), and Central Intelligence (2016).
David Rysdahl is a New York-based actor and writer known for That's Not Us (2015) Black Swell (2016) The Revival (2017) and Dead Pigs, which premiered at Sundance in 2018 and won an award for Ensemble Acting. He can also be seen in a variety of shorts and television productions. You can catch David perform live as part of a duo team, True East, where he and his acting partner create improvised one act plays on the spot.
Every evening, Monday through Friday, we plan an activity for the students, whether it be a barbecue on campus, a dinner in the city, a cool-off swim, a theater/musical performance, or a film screening. On the Saturday afternoons that are not devoted to shooting and performing, we organize a group excursion. This could include a trip to a museum, the beach, or a show in the city. Past evening and Saturday excursions have included trips to Coney Island Amusement Park, live tapings of MTV's TRL, outdoor concerts (The Roots, OCMS, TV on the Radio, etc.), Universal Studios, Pilobolus Dance Group at the Joyce, Disco Bowling, Broadway Shows such as Wicked, Kinky Boots, Rent and Avenue Q, Six Flags Amusement Park, Fourth of July Fireworks, Bryant Park Film Screenings, and off-Broadway hits such as Fuerza Bruta and Stomp, to name a few.
At least once per session, SOCAPA invites a top industry professional from the New York or Hollywood film or performing arts scene to come to campus and lead a master class for all students, regardless of focus. Some past guests include Academy Award-Winning actress Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Frozen River, 21 Grams), writer/director John Hamburg (I Love You Man, Along Came Polly, Safe Men, Zoolander, Meet the Fockers, Little Fockers), actor Luis Guzman (Traffic, Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, Carlito's Way, Anger Management), writer Hawk Ostby (Iron Man, Children of Men, Cowboys and Aliens), actor Brendan Sexton III (Empire Records, Welcome to the Dollhouse), the four lead characters from American Teen, filmmaker Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Raising Victor Vargas), actor Sarah Clarke (TV show 24, Thirteen) screenwriter Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One, End of Days, Hollow Man), director Morgan J. Freeman (Hurricane Streets), comedian Matt Walsh (The Daily Show, Bad Santa, Upright Citizens Brigade), and the cast of Hair and Spring Awakening on Broadway.
If you have any questions, please send us a message. We will contact you ASAP.
Manhattan Campus
Los Angeles
Burlington, VT
