JUDITH WESTON: Directing Actors

Creativity in Captivity

A sought-after coach and teacher for 35 years, to filmmakers and actors around the world, Judith is the author of two books. Her beloved classic Directing Actors, a bestseller ever since it was first published in 1996, has now been released in a 25th Anniversary Edition, expanded, revised and updated. Meanwhile, the original edition is available as an Audiobook, narrated by Judith. Her second book, The Film Director’s Intuition, is still a favorite for many readers. These books bring hope and focus to directors, actors, screenwriters, and other film industry professionals. Her directing students include Mexican filmmaker, Alejandro González Iñárritu (director of The Revenant, Academy Award winner for Best Director, and Birdman, winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture); Ava DuVernay (director of When They See Us, nominated for 16 Emmys, and Selma, nominated for a Best Picture Oscar); Steve McQueen (director of Small Axe and Best Picture Academy Award winner 12 Years a Slave); Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, Flight of the Conchords); Deniz Gamze Erguven, (Handmaid’s Tale, Mustang, nominated for Foreign Language Oscar) and David Chase (creator/writer/director, The Sopranos). Judith's international presence includes 17 years of workshops at the Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam. Other European cities where she has taught include Berlin, Cologne, Dublin, Stockholm, Lund, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Milan, Strasbourg, Belgrade, Utrecht, Geneva, Zurich, and Penzance. In Canada: Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, and St. John’s. In the southern hemisphere: Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, and Cape Town, South Africa. Judith has been on the faculty of USC, the American Film Institute, and the Los Angeles Film School. She has been a guest lecturer at UCLA, Film Independent Project Involve, Tisch School of the Arts Asia, and Cal State Universities at Long Beach and Northridge.