About the Instructor

Gerald Owens is an actor, director, acting teacher and filmmaker based in Miami, Florida. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Theatre from Wake Forest University in 1979, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting and Directing from Florida Atlantic University in 1986. Mr. Owens was also a 1983 graduate of The Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre Training (then affiliated with Florida State University), where he studied with Burt Reynolds, Charles Nelson Reilly, Dom DeLuise, Robert Walden, Nina Blanchard, Tony Shepard and others. He has worked in South Florida as a professional actor since 1982. He has appeared in plays, television series, industrial films, radio and television commercials, and feature films. Gerald is a member of Actors Equity Association, and the Screen Actors Guild. From 1986 until 1992, he performed with the legendary Mental Floss improv troupe in Miami, where he also served as a staff instructor for four years. From 1986 to 1991, he was Program Director of the Professional Actors Association of Florida (PAAF) Workshop in North Miami Beach, where he offered classes in scene study, cold readings, audition technique, monologues, script analysis, and improvisation.

He is now the president of the Laughing Gas Comedy Improvisation Theatre Company, which he helped found in 1992. Laughing Gas now performs at The Main Street Playhouse, 6766 Main Street in Miami Lakes on Friday nights at 11:00 PM. Gerald currently offers introductory classes in improvisation at Peaches School of Dance in North Miami Beach, every Thursday from 8:00 to 10:30 PM. The cost is $15 per session.

Most recently, he has begun writing and producing digital films, and his 5-minute short, Hot Pork, reached the finals in the 2003 Entertainment Industry Incubator Short Film Contest. His most recent project was the six-minute film, The Test, starring Andy Sottilare and Kimberly Cox. He also has a feature-length comedic screenplay ready for production.

Private Coaching

Gerald Owens also works as an acting coach, and is available for individual sessions with actors wishing to prepare audition material. Cost is $50 for up to two hours, and $25 per hour thereafter. Call 954-942-0375 or E-Mail to schedule an appointment.

Mr. Owens previously taught for four years at The Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre Training in Palm Beach County, where he offered classes in dialects, scene study, monologues, audition technique, and improvisation. He has also taught acting classes for The Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton, The Miami Actor's Studio, The Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, The Acorns Civic Theatre in Miami Beach, and The Jupiter Theatre. See Gerald Owens' Acting Resume

In 2003 and 2004, he taught at the John Robert Powers School, located in the City Place complex in West Palm Beach, offering classes in improvisation, scene study and monologue technique. In the Spring of 2004, he joined the faculty of Palm Beach Community College, where he taught Directing for the Film Department.

FAVES Click here to see a list of Gerald's favorite films. Click here to visit his MySpace page.