The Instructors

DAVID KAGEN (IMDB) A Carnegie-Mellon University graduate who has taught and coached successful actors such as Ted Danson (CHEERS, BECKER, DAMAGES on FX), Alec Baldwin (30 ROCK, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, THE DEPARTED), Robin Wright-Penn (BEOWOLF), Giancarlo Esposito (Spike Lee films), Dale Mikiff (2 series regulars roles), Kyle Secor, Scott Lawrence (JAG), Stacy Edwards and Ally Walker for almost thirty years, Mr. Kagen works at the top level of the industry. Ted Danson is currently starring with Glenn Close in DAMAGES on FX. Alec Baldwin can currently be seen in 30 ROCK. John Allen Nelson starred in VANISHED. Kyle Secor starred on COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Ally Walker, starred in PROFILER. Stacy Edwards, another former student, and a lead in PRIMARY COLORS and was a regular on CHICAGO HOPE on CBS. MC Lyte got her first starring role in a movie and hired him to direct her performance. A number of his students have gotten their first series regulars after studying with Mr. Kagen. One got nominated for a Tony Award.And he's been acting over 30 years. Recent roles include: HOUSE, LIFE (Pilot), CSI, ENTERPRISE, WITHOUT A TRACE, FAMILY LAW and the feature film, ANNIHILATION OF FISH with James Earl Jones. Other credits include FRIDAY 13TH, Part 6, BODY CHEMISTRY, CHICAGO CONSPIRACY TRIAL, MELROSE PLACE, BEVERLY HILLS 90210, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, and many plays in New York and regional theaters. He's appeared in over 250 TV, film and stage productions. He was an observer at the Actors Studio in New York City under Lee Strasberg. And worked for famed Broadway producer Cheryl Crawford who co-founded two of the most influential acting organizations in America, The Group Theater and The Actors Studio. Ms. Crawford produced such legendary hits as THE ROSE TATTO, BRIGADOON and OKLAHOMA as well as working for the famed Theatre Guild. While working for her Mr. Kagen was privileged to meet and work with such luminaries including Tennessee Williams, Jerome Lawence, Robert E. Lee, Sam Waterson, Swoozie Kurtz, Betty Buckley, and Mercedes McCambridge. He's been teaching for over 30 years. In addition to private classes Mr. Kagen has lead acting workshops in such cities as Paris, London, New York, Toronto and Montreal and he's taught at such top schools as the Yale Drama School, Cal Arts and USC.

BRETT RICKABY (IMDB) is an actor and playwright whose film credits include THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON with Sean Penn, Wes Craven's CURSED, HOW TO KILL YOUR NEIGHBOR'S DOG with Kenneth Branagh, BUG, THE SCOUT and DIARY OF A HITMAN directed by the late Roy London, among others. He has appeared in numerous guest star and recurring roles on television including THE GUARDIAN, CARNIVALE, THE PRACTICE, JUDGING AMY, J.A.G., DRAGNET, ANGEL and LAW & ORDER. He appeared as young Frank Gorshin (the Riddler) in the CBS movie BACK TO THE BATCAVE. On stage he has worked at the New York Shakespeare Festival performing in TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, and RICHARD III with Denzel Washington, The Roundabout Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Asolo Theatre, SOHO Rep, HERE, La Mama developing the title role in director/innovator Richard Schechner's FAUST: gastronome, and at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles where he received an Ovation Award nomination for his work in the National Tour of CAROUSEL directed by Nicholas Hytner. He is a National Irene Ryan Acting Award winner, a Kennedy Center National Acting Award winner and is a recipient of the Seidman Award. His play 70 DOLLARS TO A BUS RIDE HOME (Garland Award Honorable Mention) was performed at the Hudson Ave. Theatre in Hollywood. His follow-up work, ASYLUM, was produced at the American Blues Theatre Co. in Stockton, CA and at The Court Theatre in West Hollywood. He is currently working on several pieces in conjunction with The Collective, here in L.A. Originally from Minnesota, he received his B.F.A. from the University of Minnesota/Duluth, and his M.F.A. from the graduate acting program at New York University.


TIM GLENN is an award winning actor and writer who began his professional career as a teenager at the famed American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where in addition to performing in main stage productions for three years he studied with legendary teachers like Alan Fletcher, Edith Skinner and William Ball. He went on to study at the Drama Studio London and earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of San Francisco. After a few years working in theatre and film Tim was about change careers to become a Naval Aviator when he received an offer to attend New York University’s Graduate Acting Program on a full scholarship. He attended NYU with many fellow students who went on to prominent careers including Camryn Manheim, Marcia Gay Harden, Rainn Wilson and Peter Krause. He studied with teachers like Ron Van Lieu, Michael Kahn, Zelda Fichandler, Rosemarie Tichler and Paul Walker, and worked with directors like Tony Kushner and Larry Sacharow. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree and is a member of NYU Tisch West Alumni Council

As a professional Tim has worked at theatres like A.C.T, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, B Street Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Native Voices, the Public Theatre and the New York Theatre Workshop, among others. He has played leading roles in film and television and worked with actors like Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Dennis Quaid, Gary Sinise, Goldie Hawn, Jack Nicholson, and Ben Gazzara. He has done many voiceovers for television, radio and video games. He was the Apple OS8 guy.

Tim has also written for film and television, his adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull, written with director Adrienne Weiss, is set to begin filming in May 2007. He is the author of several other screenplays in various stages of development. He wrote the award winning short A Tender Balance. As a screenwriter he is represented by manager Andrew Tennenbaum of Flashpoint Entertainment and attorney Geoff Oblath of Jackoway Tyerman.

As a teacher he has taught in conjunction with theatres across the country, was Artist in Residence at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and currently teaches at the David Kagen School of Film Acting.

Tim has traveled all over the world and has a passion for mountaineering. He has been part of two Himalayan expeditions; the 1998 Annapurna 1 South Face Expedition, which attempted to be the first American team to scale Annapurna’s South Face, and the Everest Friendship Beyond Borders Expedition, which succeeded in getting the first climber with an artificial leg to the summit of the world’s highest mountain.

Chief among his accomplishments, however, is being father to three wonderful kids, Lily, Austin and Joe.


MARK BRADY -- On television Mark currently has a recurring role on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and had a recurring role on the soap opera GENERAL HOSPITAL. His other appearances include PASSIONS, BLIND JUSTICE, NYPD BLUE and CITY OF ANGELS, among others. Mark wrote the TV pilot REFERENCE POINT and is currently finishing work on another one to be shot in New York. His film credits include THE LOST WORLD directed by Steven Spielberg; IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY written and directed by Susan Emschwiller, writer of Pollack with Ed Harris; THE WANT and SIDE TRACKED. Most recently, Mark can be seen in Nic Betthauer’s DUCK with Philip Baker Hall. Mark is an actor and writer who started his career after receiving a BFA in acting from New York University where he was exposed to the teachings of Strasberg, Meisner, Adler and Chekhov. He left New York for Los Angeles when he was cast in the play, The Rooming House by Conrad Bromberg. Some of his over thirty stage credits include: the world premiere of BRUSH STROKES which was produced by Amy Madigan and nominated for a LA Weekly Best Ensemble Award; FLIGHT OF THE PENGUIN which ran for three months to critical acclaim at the Limelight Playhouse; SUNDAY’S CHILDREN ALL FALL DOWN directed by Murphy Cross; BETRAYAL by Harold Pinter and the world premiere of TRUE BELIEVER. Mark also wrote a one man show, SCRABBLE, which he performed for over two years throughout LA. His most recent stage appearance was at the Redcat Theatre at the Disney Hall downtown in a piece he wrote called IDENTIFYING MARK. Along the way Mark was a founding member of both Nexus Ensemble Theatre and Plymouth, which were dedicated to discovering and producing original works. On television Mark currently has a recurring role on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and had a recurring role on the soap opera GENERAL HOSPITAL. His other appearances include PASSIONS, BLIND JUSTICE, NYPD BLUE and CITY OF ANGELS, among others. Mark wrote the TV pilot REFERENCE POINT and is currently finishing work on another one to be shot in New York. His film credits include THE LOST WORLD directed by Steven Spielberg; IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY written and directed by Susan Emschwiller, writer of Pollack with Ed Harris; THE WANT and SIDE TRACKED. Most recently, Mark can be seen in Nic Betthauer’s DUCK with Philip Baker Hall. As a teacher Mark is a firm believer of creating a safe environment for the actors to work in as they explore and express their emotional truths.


FRANK COLLISON (IMDB) comes from a theatre background. His first "role" was a six month old "theatre mascot" at a tent theatre in Granville, Ohio. His father, John, studied with Max Reinhardt in Hollywood and was also a playwright. His mother, Peg, directed him in a number of plays while he was growing up in Virginia and Ohio. Frank assisted his father when he toured with his one man Abraham Lincoln show.
Frank trained at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and with Nikos Psacharopoulos in New York. He earned his BA in theatre at San Francisco State University where he performed in antiwar street theatre productions. He  was a founding member of Pinecrest Summer Theatre in the Sierra Nevadas then went on to earn an MFA in acting at UC San Diego.  Here in Los Angeles Frank is a founding member of Pacific Resident Theatre which has won over 35 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards in the past 20 years. Appearing in over 150 productions, Frank has acted off Broadway and once toured 39,000 miles in nine months with Chamber Repertory Theatre of Boston. He has also worked at The Virginia Museum Theatre, Barksdale Theatre, Denver  Center Theatre Company, The Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, Los Angeles Theatre Center California and Solvang Theatrefest. His theatrical roles have ranged from "Puck" in Midsummer's Nights Dream to "Miss Havisham" in Great Expectations to "Mr. Peachum" in  The Beggars' Opera, a role for which Frank won an LA Weekly Award.
Frank  has appeared in over 35 films including The Village, The Whole Ten Yards, Hope Spring, Hidalgo, Suspect Zero, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Majestic, Mobsters, The Last Boy Scout, Buddy, Alien Nation, Diggstown, The Blob, My Summer Story and Wild at Heart which won the Golden Palm Award at Cannes. Frank is best known to television audiences as "Horace Bing", the bumbling telegraph operator, on CBS's " Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman . His extensive television appearances include guest-starring roles on My Name is Earl ,  Monk, HBO's Carnivale, Seventh Heaven, NYPD Blue, Star Trek, the Next Generation and Hill Street Blues.

JORDAN LUND (IMDB) Jordan has acted opposite Oscar-Winners Richard Dreyfuss, F. Murray Abraham, Mercedes Ruehl, Robert DeNiro, and Ben Kingsley as well as Michael J. Fox, Sylvester Stallone, Chevy Chase, Alfred Molina, and Samuel L. Jackson. He has been in feature films directed by Rob Reiner, Michael Caton-Jones, Michael Ritchie, Jan DeBont, Clint Eastwood, Rennie Harlin, Antonio Banderas, Sally Field and Roger Donaldson. He has done 25 feature films including ALEX AND EMMA, DOC HOLLYWOOD, SPECIES, LOCKUP, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, SPEED, FLETCH LIVES, LIFE, JACKNIFE, was a regular on the UPN series MERCY POINT, and was in the mini-series' THE STAND, CRUEL DOUBT and LONESOME DOVE. He's appeared in more than 50 recurring, guest-lead, and guest-star roles on shows like NYPD BLUE, ER, LA LAW, THE FUGITIVE, LIFE GOES ON, MURPHY BROWN, THE PRACTICE, CHEERS, LAW AND ORDER, CHICAGO HOPE, WALKER TEXAS RANGER, ENTERPRISE, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Jordan appeared on Broadway at the Belasco theatre for the New York Shakespeare Festival in MACBETH, ROMEO AND JULIET, and AS YOU LIKE IT all directed by Oscar winner Estelle Parsons. Other productions include: several summers at the New York Shakespeare Festival's Delacorte Theatre in Central Park in KING JOHN, THE GOLEM, and TWELFTH NIGHT, the world premiere of the stage version of ON THE WATERFRONT at the Cleveland PlayHouse, SCAPIN directed by Bart Sher at Portland Stage Company, WHAT THE BUTLER SAW at The Great Lakes Theatre Festival, and SCARAMOUCHE directed by BH Barry at TheatreVirgina. Jordan has appeared in a number of smaller productions in NY and LA. Some of those include in NY: I SAW THE SEVEN ANGELS at the Kitchen directed by and co-starring Eric Bogosion, Jack Gelber's SLEEP at LaMama as part of their 35th Anniversary season and TREASURE ISLAND directed by BH Barry for the Blue Light Company at The Ohio Space in Soho. In LA: The Blank Theatre Company's Award-Winning productions of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK (he's also on the original cast album), the Los Angeles premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's HELLO AGAIN and the original musical revue STARR STRUCK. In 2000 he was in Sir Peter Hall's Los Angeles production of ROMEO AND JULIET at the Ahmanson Theatre , in 2001 he played Falstaff in HENRY IV PART 1 both for the Bedford-Thompson Players and at Stages Theatre Center. More recently, he was in THE CHERRY ORCHARD starring Alfred Molina for Circus Theatricals at the Odyssey Theatre. He is an alumnus of Carnegie-Mellon University.

ANDREW BORBA (IMDB) directed HAMLET: THE FIRST QUARTO, A COMEDY OF ERRORS, MACBETH, TWELFTH NIGHT, Brian Friel's LOVERS and has written & directed three original plays titled GARGOYLES, PIECES, and REFLECTIONS OF A NAKED PRIEST. He is currently writing a new play about Punctuated Equilibrium and painting. As an actor, Andrew was a member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for four seasons, where he appeared in OTHELLO, ARCADIA, TWO GENTELMEN OF VERONA, and PENTECOST, among others. Other credits include THE COUNTESS, PERICLES (The Old Globe Theater, San Diego); CLOSER (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); THE MISANTHROPE (Dallas Theater Center); MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION, Tony Kushner's THE ILLUSION (Portland Stage Company); AN ENEMEY OF THE PEOPLE (Long Wharf Theater); A SHAYNA MEIDEL (Delaware Theater Company); THE TEMPEST & TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); H.O.M.E./H.E.R.E (York Theatre); and Howard Barker's UNCLE VANYA (Cucaracha). Andrew played a leading role in the award-winning independent feature, DISCHORD and can be seen in the recent HBO Movies PATH TO WAR and LIVE FROM BAGDAD. Andrew received his MFA from New York University's Graduate Acting Program and two undergraduate degrees from Brown.


BRAD GREENQUIST (IMDB) has been acting for over twenty years in film, television and on stage. His film credits include lead and supporting roles in such films as INHERIT THE WIND, GANG RELATED, CRIME OF THE CENTURY, PET SEMETARY, THE BEDROOM WINDOW, LOST SOULS and ALI. He has been seen as a Guest Star on such popular TV shows as THE PRACTICE, CHARMED, STAR TREK: VOYAGER andSTAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, NASH BRIDGES, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, V.I.P. and WALKER, TEXAS RANGER. He has worked with many legendary filmdirectors, including Michael Mann, Curtis Hanson, Dan Petrie Sr. and Mark Rydell, and has worked along side such actors as Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, James Earl Jones, Stephen Rea, Sam Waterston and Jeanne Moreau, to name a few. On stage, Brad has performed in nearly every venue, from Regional Theatre to Broadway. He has directed many Off-Off-Broadway productions, one of which, MEET FOR LUNCH, was also performed in Washington D.C. and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. RUN FOR YOUR LOVE, a short film Brad wrote, directed and acted in, won the Grand Prize and Best Acting awards from the EVOL Film Festival in Washington D.C. Brad has a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and has taught acting at The Michael Moriarty Acting Studio in New York and at The Governor's School in Virginia.

PAUL MESSINGER spent a summer, at age 17, as an acting intern with the Cleveland Playhouse. It was also in Cleveland that Paul made his professional debut in THE FRONT PAGE. He was directed by Margaret Hamilton, who was famous for her role as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of OZ. After High School Paul attended Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. While in Chicago, Paul worked with a number of theatre companies including The Goodman Stage and Travellight. He eventually moved to New York when an opportunity to study with Lee Strasberg arose. Paul studied with Mr. Strasberg for three years in conjunction with NYU’s School of Drama, earning his BFA in 1981. During his 16-year stay in New York, Paul continued his professional pursuits by becoming a founding member and ultimately Artistic Director of The Actor’s Complex, a company devoted to nurturing and producing works by new writers and staged by new actors and designers. He also worked extensively in the Off Broadway arena, including an extended run at Papermill Playhouse of SUITE IN TWO KEYS. He also helped to form and perform with The Improv Olympics. For three years Paul could be seen as Oscar on ALL MY CHILDREN. Paul has appeared in numerous TV shows including The Gilmore Girls, Seventh Heaven, The Practice, Santa Barbara, Party of Five, Close to Home and many others. He continues to pursue live projects and appeared at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles recently in STUFF HAPPENS. Paul has a distinct philosophy concerning the craft of the actor that meshes very well with the teachings of David Kagen. Paul believes that every artist, actors included, have a unique story that they are here to tell and that each actor is uniquely gifted to tell that story and is very enthused to be teaching in an environment that so honors the actor as an individual and the art form as a whole.

KIM ROBILLARD has been a professional actor in Hollywood for almost 25 years. You've seen him in some major motion pictures. RAINMAN, CLIFFHANGER AND TERMINATOR 3 are a few that come to mind. Kim has also appeared in numerous guest star roles on T.V.  WILL AND GRACE... CSI... THE X FILES..., etc. He was a recurring character on CARNIVALE  and COMMANDER AND CHIEF with Gena Davis. He has worked under or appeared with some of the biggest names in the business, including: STEVEN SPIELBERG, ROBERT DENIRO, ROBIN WILLIAMS, BARRY LEVINSON, TOM CRUISE, DUSTIN HOFFMAN, MICHAEL MANN, JON VOIGHT, WILL SMITH,  KURT RUSSELL AND HOLLY HUNTER... to name a few. Commercials? You bet.  GOT MILK? Industrials? More than was healthy. Before all of the above, he did theater in CHICAGO and CINCINNATI. He loves to teach and counts himself fortunate to return to the staff at THE DAVID KAGEN SCHOOL OF FILM ACTING.