VALERIE ADAMI - Owner/Director Weist-Barron Acting for Film & Television Casting Director WB Casting. A Musical Theatre background changed into Voice-Over and Soap Opera work after she studied at Weist-Barron in the 1980’s. Valerie was asked to join the WB staff because of her excellent people skills and a genuine desire to help actors fulfill their goals. In 1985 Weist-Barron created WB Casting to expand the schools services and Valerie became the on-site casting dir. Although her principal job is running the school, she casts for corporate videos, commercial print, and the occasional student film. In 2006, Valerie was given ownership of Weist-Barron by Bob Barron’s widow. She considers it a scared trust to continue what Bob and his partner, famed announcer Dwight Weist were the first to create. Valerie also developed “Getting the Biz’ness” one of the first patented seminars dealing with the logistics of pursuing a career in Acting. In addition she teaches “Cold Reading for Film & TV” and directs the much- admired Weist-Barron Film & Television Showcases.

Weist-Barron has been training, guiding and show-casing actors specifically for work in Film and Television since 1956. Our goal is to make sure actors feel confident of their on-camera performance and understand how to direct their career path. Our courses are informative, rewarding and affordable (no membership fees) and are always free to visit. A short film about the school can be accessed on our very comprehensive website www.weistbarron.com

MEREDITH KAUNITZ - stage credits include Rosa in Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo, Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Elizabeth in Defying Gravity by Jane Anderson, has worked with notable theatre professionals including Clayton Phillips (currently Artistic Director of Barnstormers), Baayork Lee, currently choreographing the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, Peter Howard, a music arranger with more Broadway credits than could possibly be counted, Timothy Douglas, former Associate Artistic Director at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. Meredith has trained as a movement teacher with Karen Beaumont of Shakespeare & Company and has taught a variety of theatre skills classes to students aged 6 to adult. Currently, Meredith is a private Shakespeare and Acting Coach in New York City. On the Production side of theater, 6Meredith worked as a Production Intern with Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble for their 24th season, taking part in all aspects of producing. As a choreographer, her work has been seen at Theatre Three, the Virginia Shakespeare Festival and in The Little Theatre on the Upper West Side in New York City.  Meredith also worked as a Stage Manager for Woman vs. Superman in the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City, as Assistant Director under James Alexander Bond for the Virginia Shakespeare Festival’s production of The Comedy of Errors, and as Assistant Stage Manager for Turtle Shell Productions’ Loves Mortal’s in Folly. Meredith developed NYC’s first ever Japanese-English bi-lingual, bi-cultural comedic improv show with the help of Gotham City Improv.

In 2005, Meredith founded Home for Theater Performers out of a personal experience of the need for affordable classes that focus on the real needs of mid-career performers. Her goal is to create the first ever professional level comprehensive training and business center for active auditioners.

CHERYL KING is the director of her own theatre, Stage Left Studio, the only solo show repertory in NYC. She is Artistic Director of Sola Voce:Estrogenius at ManhattanTheatreSource. This year she premiers her Women at Work Festival, Sep 7-16 at Stage Left. She formed Cheryl King Productions in 2000, and has produced over 300 showcases and three years of V-Day events. She is resident acting coach for All My Children, ABC’s Emmy-winning drama series. She is a contributing writer to Glenn Alterman’s “Creating Your Own Monologue” and Soul of the American Actor. Her internationally acclaimed solo show, not a nice girl, has had runs Off-Broadway in NYC, in Los Angeles and Ft. Collins, CO. Her television credits include ABC's 20/20, Oprah! and TLC’s Faking It. Ms. King is a member of the Dramatists Guild.  In addition to private coaching in acting and writing, she directs the solo shows of Cyndi Freeman, Beth Bongar, Michelle Ramoni, Susan Little, Karen Thibodeau and Erica Herd.  Info: www.cherylkingproductions.com.

PAUL J. MICHAEL - Executive Director of The Network, is a veteran stage director, having directed numerous productions in New York City over the past 16 years.  Paul has worked at many Off-Broadway theatres, including Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep and The Actor's Playhouse.  Paul recently directed Harley Adams' Play %233, which was the winner of the Samuel French Festival, as well as Eugene Gyrgo's Graduation, which placed as a semi-finalist in the Strawberry Festival.  Some other directing projects include The Naive Artist based on a real life experience of Lanford Wilson, Heterosexuals in Crisis, The Cradle of Maybe, and Minus Some Buttons, which was also published by Samuel French as a result of that production.  Paul is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Olympia Theatre Company, which has produced numerous plays over the past decade. He has trained as a director at the MFA program at Mankato State University in Minnesota, CW Post University on Long Island, Daemon College, Circle Rep under Michael Warren Powell and extensively as a television director at Video Associates under Gordon Rigsby.  Paul holds a Master's degree in Directing from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

The Network is a place where Metropolitan area theatre and film artists and the agents, managers and casting directors looking to work with them can meet, communicate and connect in a safe and creative atmosphere. Through weekly seminars and Q&A sessions with some of New York's top entertainment professionals, we provide an opportunity for actors, directors and playwrights to get some "face time" with them, with the goal of harboring a working relationship. With an open door policy, The Network serves as a hub that can be used to seek out advice, information and coaching from our staff and associates.  We strive to maintain a level of integrity, honesty and a commitment to the needs and success of the individual that is unique to any other service of its kind.