Michelle Danner
{{Short description|American actor, director, and acting coach}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
Michelle Danner is an American acting coach at the Los Angeles Acting School who specializes in the Meisner, Strasberg, Adler, Hagen, Chekhov and Stanislavsky techniques. She is also the founding and artistic director of the Edgemar Center for the Arts.
Danner is the daughter of a former William Morris agent, and she currently works as an actor, director and acting coach.{{cite web|url=http://www.lamag.com/citythink/laarchetype/2012/11/01/acting-coach|title=Michelle Danner teaches amateurs and Oscar winners how to make believe|work=Los Angeles Magazine |date=November 1, 2012 |first=Brittany |last=Kyles |accessdate=June 17, 2013}}
Career
In 2006, Danner made her film directing debut with, How to Go Out on a Date in Queens, winning the LA Film Awards' Best Acting and Best Movie awards.{{cite web|url=http://metroseeker.com/los-angeles/felos/michelle-danner|title=Michelle Danner|work=MetroSeeker|accessdate=June 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315213750/http://metroseeker.com/los-angeles/felos/michelle-danner|archive-date=March 15, 2016|url-status=dead}} Michelle Danner’s 2013 film Hello Herman catalogs the effect that peer abuse, parental neglect and the general coarsening of society has on a typical high school student.{{cite web|url=http://www.smmirror.com/articles/Life-and-Arts/Santa-Monicas-Michelle-Danner-Does-It-Again-Directing-Her-Second-Film-Hello-Herman/32972|title=Santa Monica's Michelle Danner Does It Again Directing Her Second Film, 'Hello Herman'|work=Santa Monica Mirror|date=September 26, 2011 |accessdate=June 14, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/jun/07/hello-herman-20130607/|title=REVIEW Hello Herman|work=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette|date=June 7, 2013 |accessdate=June 17, 2013}} A New York Times review found that Danner's anti-bullying agenda freighted the movie.{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/movies/hello-herman-directed-by-michelle-danner.html?_r=0|title=So Many Culprits in a Teenage Rampage|work=The New York Times |date=June 6, 2013 |first=Jeannette |last=Catsoulis |accessdate=June 14, 2013}}
Danner has acted in and directed over thirty plays in Los Angeles and New York{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}, with her favorite acting credit cited as the Dramalogue award-winning Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo.{{cite web|url=http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/movies-toto/2011/may/13/interview-director-michelle-danner-hello-herman/|title=Interview: Director Michelle Danner ('Hello Herman')|work=The Washington Times Communities|accessdate=June 14, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mediamikes.com/2011/06/interview-with-michelle-danner/|title=Interview with Michelle Danner|work=Media Mikes|date=June 21, 2011 |accessdate=June 14, 2013}}
At Edgemar, Danner produced The Night of the Black Cat, winner of the 2005 Best Musical of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards. She directed the world premiere of Mental the Musical, winner of several 17th Annual TicketHolder awards for acting and musical score. Last year she wrote and directed You're on the Air, an improvisation-based comedy which is currently under development to become a movie.
She produced and acted in the award-winning short Dos Corazones, directed by Larry Moss, which won Best Cinematography and Audience Favorite at the Malibu Film Festival.
She was the acting coach expert on comedy on the WB show "The Starlet". She was voted favorite acting coach by Backstage readers. Once a year Danner directs for the industry at the multimedia event Scene Bites. She was featured coaching Andy Richter on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien in July 2009.
Danner, alongside Larry Moss, is the founder and Artistic Director of Edgemar Center for the Arts and The Edgemar Theatre Group. She raised $1.3 million in a Capital campaign which went to the construction of the two theatres and the art gallery. Her production company All In Films is in development for several film projects: You're on the Air, Starstruck{{Cite web |title=Starstruck - Cast {{!}} IMDbPro |url=https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt13327278/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=pro.imdb.com}} and The Italians.{{Cite web |title=The Italians - Cast {{!}} IMDbPro |url=https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt14278700/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=pro.imdb.com}}
In 2020, Danner reunited with Paul Sorvino for the horror film, Bad Impulse premiering at the TCL Chinese Theatre as part of the Golden State Film Festival.{{Cite web |date=2020-02-28 |title=Michelle Danner's "Bad Impulse" Premieres at Chinese Theatre |url=https://patch.com/california/santamonica/michelle-danners-bad-impulse-premieres-chinese-theatre |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=Santa Monica, CA Patch |language=en}} The film also starred Grant Bowler, Sonya Walger, and Dan Lauria.
In 2022, Danner directed Anne Archer in Ticket to the Circus, a one-woman play about the life of Norris Church Mailer.{{Cite web |title=A Ticket to the Circus - Production & Contact Info {{!}} IMDbPro |url=https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt16898982/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=pro.imdb.com}} The play will be streamed virtually in 2023.
Danner followed up Ticket to the Circus by producing and directing Miranda's Victim, an American biographical crime drama that depicts the origin of the Miranda warning. The film will star Abigail Breslin, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia and Donald Sutherland, Ryan Phillippe, Kyle MacLachlan, Mireille Enos, Taryn Manning, Emily VanCamp, Enrique Murciano, Brent Sexton, Josh Bowman, and Sebastian Quinn.{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=2022-05-27 |title=Abigail Breslin, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia & Donald Sutherland To Star In Courtroom Drama 'Miranda's Victim' From Director Michelle Danner |url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/abigail-breslin-luke-wilson-donald-sutherland-to-star-in-mirandas-victim-1235034527/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=2022-06-02 |title=Ryan Phillippe, Mireille Enos, Kyle MacLachlan & Taryn Manning Join Michelle Danner's Courtroom Drama 'Miranda's Victim' |url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/mirandas-victim-adds-ryan-phillippe-kyle-maclachlan-taryn-manning-more-1235037387/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=2022-06-08 |title='Miranda's Victim': Emily VanCamp, Sebastian Quinn, Enrique Murciano & More Round Out Cast Of Courtroom Drama |url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/emily-vancamp-sebastian-quinn-enrique-murciano-more-join-mirandas-victim-1235040748/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
In April 2023 it was announced Danner would be directing the sci-fi action thriller, Helios. {{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=2023-04-05 |title=Michelle Danner To Direct Outer Space-Set Sci-Fi Action Thriller 'Helios' |url=https://deadline.com/2023/04/michelle-danner-to-direct-sci-fi-action-thriller-helios-1235318792/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" |
| style="text-align:center;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role/Position ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |
| rowspan="1"|1998
|Dos Corazones |Producer/Actress |Film |
| rowspan="1"|2006
|How to Go Out on a Date in Queens |Director/Producer/Actress |Film |
| rowspan="1"|2009
|The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien |Herself |TV |
| rowspan="2"|2010
|Acting coach |Film |
| Father of Invention
|Acting coach |Film |
| rowspan="1"|2011
|Workshop |Actress |TV series |
| rowspan="1"|2011–12
|Actors Entertainment |Self |TV series |
| rowspan="1"|2012
|Producer/Director |Film |
| rowspan="1"|2016
|[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3671052/?ref_=nv_sr_1 The Bandit Hound] |Producer/Director |Film |
| rowspan="1"|2020
|Producer/Director |Film |
| 2021
|The Runner |Producer/Director |Film |
| 2023
|Miranda's Victim{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=2022-05-27 |title=Abigail Breslin, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia & Donald Sutherland To Star In Courtroom Drama 'Miranda's Victim' From Director Michelle Danner |url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/abigail-breslin-luke-wilson-donald-sutherland-to-star-in-mirandas-victim-1235034527/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}{{Citation |last=Danner |first=Michelle |title=Miranda's Victim |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14866108/ |type=Biography, Crime, Drama |publisher=Navesink River Productions, All in Films |access-date=2022-12-07}} |Producer/Director |Film |
| TBA
|Helios |Director |Film |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0200403}}
- [http://www.michelledanner.com/ Michelle Danner Acting Studio] Official Website
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Category:American acting coaches
Category:Film directors from Los Angeles