YC Industry Workshops
In addition to classes, private coaching and by-audition performance opportunities, the YC offers special "Industry Workshops" each season that will feature one-day workshops, panels, and information sessions specializing in skills and knowledge for students and families about the business of theater and acting.
Upcoming Workshops
Schedule: Sunday, September 27 from 6 p.m.–7:30 p.m. via Zoom
Tuition: $75 per household
The world of casting and finding representation for young actors can be daunting. In this 90-minute online workshop session, commercial actor and A.C.T. Acting and On-Camera specialist Baily Hopkins will cover the following topics:
- Understanding the industry landscape
- Setting up an online profile
- Meeting with agencies
- Headshot and resume resources
- Field questions from participants.
This online workshop is open to both parents and their children, with a one household per tuition price. While this workshop is geared toward actors under 18, anyone with an interest in understanding more about the world of agents in the industry are welcome to register. Need-based scholarships are available; please email YoungConservatory@act-sf.org to request an application.
About the instructor:
Baily Hopkins has been acting on-camera for over a decade in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and has a degree in Theatre from UC, San Diego. She's worked with director Joe Robert Cole (Netflix: All Day And A Night), Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Pre-production VFX for Gravity), Academy Award-winning director Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins (Venmo spot), and Emmy award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore (Stella Artois national spot). Commercially, she’s had principal roles in campaigns for over 60 nationally recognized companies including Comcast, Toyota, Rocket Mortgage, Uber, NerdWallet, Roku, Credit Karma, and Visa. When not in front of the camera, Baily can be found as a Casting Associate at Nancy Hayes Casting in San Francisco. She's also helped cast national SAG and non-union commercials with Kristen Beck, Gregg Cohen, Kristen Armstrong, and Cathi Carlton, so she has her finger on the pulse of what TV and commercial directors are looking for. Going back to her roots in the theater, she's had the opportunity to perform with The Shotgun Players, New Conservatory Theatre Center, We Players, The Speakeasy SF, UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre (Youth Company), Contra Costa Civic Theatre, and Masquer’s Playhouse
www.bailyhopkins.com
Schedule: Sunday, October 11 from 5 p.m.–6 p.m. via Zoom
Tuition: $50 per household
Ever wondered who voices the characters in animated films? Led by Lexi Diamond, Casting Associate with Pixar Animation Studios, this informational online session offers a behind-the-scenes look at how filmmakers find the right voices for their animated characters.
Students will learn what casting professionals listen for in auditions, how scripts are approached in the booth, and how actors can hone their skills and prepare to give their best performance in a VO session.
Perfect for actors, singers, and anyone curious about the world of voice acting.
Schedule: Sunday, December 6 from 3 p.m.–7 p.m. i
Tuition: $295 per student
Register through the YC's College Prep Group Workshops
Rehearse for live auditions and interviews with the Young Conservatory Mock College Audition. The mock audition will occur on Sunday, December 6 from 3 p.m–7 p.m. and will include:
- Group dance audition & feedback
- Performing audition song(s)
- Performing audition monologue(s)
- Interview workshop
- Personalized feedback from a panel of coaches and industry professionals
Interested students can register for the mock audition by following this link to the YC's College Prep Group Workshops.
Past Workshops
Schedule: Sunday, January 11: 1 p.m.–3:30 p.m. at 30 Grant Ave.
Tuition: $50
Instructor: Valerie Weak
Are you planning to audition for the 2026 YC summer musical Twelfth Night, but a little unsure about performing the words of William Shakespeare? OR, have another Shakespeare audition coming up? OR, just want to build confidence around the world of Shakespeare? This workshop has the answers!
YC instructor and experienced Shakespearean actor Valerie Weak will introduce students to the basics of decoding Shakespeare's language, and share tools and resources for everything from how to pronounce the words to how to recognize the acting clues and hints Shakespeare has left us in his verse and structure.
- Using fun exercises, we'll explore concepts like:
- verse vs. prose
- Rhythm and iambic pentameter
- rhyme schemes
- Sound devices like onomatopoeia and alliteration
- Monologue selection
- The cultural and historical context of Elizabethan Theater
For students auditioning for the YC Summer Musical Twelfth Night, we will also have time to cover an overview of the plot and characters.
With this workshop, students will leave with strategies for how to prepare an audition for any Shakespeare play.
Biography
Valerie Weak is a union actor (AEA & SAG-AFTRA), teaching artist and communications coach with 25 years of teaching experience at companies including Word for Word’s Youth Arts, California Shakespeare Theater, and ACT’s Young Conservatory and Studio programs. She has performed everything from Shakespeare to world premieres at theaters including CenterREP, Shotgun Players and the San Francisco and Marin Shakespeare Festivals. Valerie's on camera & media credits range from 13 Reasons Why (Netflix) to indie films, commercials and voiceover. Additionally, she is a Theatre Bay Area TITAN winner and a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominee, has trained with Anne Bogart/ SITI Company (NYC) the Linklater Center (NYC) Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA) Dell'Arte School (Blue Lake, CA), and holds a BA in Theatre Arts from UCLA.
Credits
Schedule: Sunday, April 26 from 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. via Zoom
Tuition: $75 per household
The world of casting and finding representation for young actors can be daunting. In this 90-minute online workshop session, commercial actor and A.C.T. Acting and On-Camera specialist Baily Hopkins will cover the following topics:
- understanding the industry landscape
- setting up an online profile
- meeting with agencies
- headshot and resume resources
- field questions from participants.
This online workshop is open to both parents and their children, with a one household per tuition price. While this workshop is geared toward actors under 18, anyone with an interest in understanding more about the world of agents in the industry are welcome to register. Need-based scholarships are available; please email YoungConservatory@act-sf.org to request an application.
About the instructor:
Baily Hopkins has been acting on-camera for over a decade in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and has a degree in Theatre from UC, San Diego. She's worked with director Joe Robert Cole (Netflix: All Day And A Night), Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Pre-production VFX for Gravity), Academy Award-winning director Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins (Venmo spot), and Emmy award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore (Stella Artois national spot). Commercially, she’s had principal roles in campaigns for over 60 nationally recognized companies including Comcast, Toyota, Rocket Mortgage, Uber, NerdWallet, Roku, Credit Karma, and Visa. When not in front of the camera, Baily can be found as a Casting Associate at Nancy Hayes Casting in San Francisco. She's also helped cast national SAG and non-union commercials with Kristen Beck, Gregg Cohen, Kristen Armstrong, and Cathi Carlton, so she has her finger on the pulse of what TV and commercial directors are looking for. Going back to her roots in the theater, she's had the opportunity to perform with The Shotgun Players, New Conservatory Theatre Center, We Players, The Speakeasy SF, UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre (Youth Company), Contra Costa Civic Theatre, and Masquer’s Playhouse
www.bailyhopkins.com
General Information
Location
All fall classes will meet in-person at our 30 Grant Ave studios in San Francisco.
Enrollment Info
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Classes will have limited capacity—enrollment is accepted in order of registration until all spots are filled. To be added to the waitlist, email YoungConservatory@act-sf.org.
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A minimum number of students is required to run each class. If a class has insufficient enrollment and is cancelled, students can choose to attend another class, or for their tuition to be refunded.
Refund Policy
- Courses with insufficient enrollment will be canceled and all tuition and fees paid will be refunded in full.
- Withdrawal and refund requests for any other reason must be made in writing and emailed to youngconservatory@act-sf.org.
- Refund requests will be honored in full if received at least two full weeks (14 days) prior to the start of the first class meeting. Class tuition will be refunded while the non-refundable registration fee will be withheld.
- Should a refund request be made after the above deadline, a withdrawal fee will be withheld in addition to the standard non-refundable registration fee as follows.
- After the refund deadline but before the first class date: $25 withdrawal fee
- Refunds of any kind cannot be processed on the day of or after one-day or two-day workshops
- Please allow 10-14 days for your refund to be processed.
Scholarship Info
- We provide partial and full scholarships to students who may need financial assistance to attend any of our YC classes.
- Scholarship applications are due at least two weeks before your desired class is scheduled to start.
- Scholarships are awarded on a need-basis and are subject to class availability.
- Once registration opens industry series workshops, you may request a scholarship application by emailing us at YoungConservatory@act-sf.org.
Questions
- Visit our FAQ Page if you haven't already!
- If you have additional questions, feel free to email us at YoungConservatory@act-sf.org.