Actors are shamans. Filmmakers are wizards.
You’re built different. You’re sensitive. You feel things others can’t, and you have a fiery ambition that others don’t — like the color Vermilion itself, a rare and dazzling shade of red that was used for centuries in ancient Rome, India, and China. If you’ve found your way to this community, it means you have important artistic work to do in the world. But even shamans and wizards need support. That’s why Vermilion exists. We safeguard your creativity and shepherd you through strong career choices and exquisite craft. The fact that you’ve made it this far means you’re ready to step into your purpose. Whether it’s film, TV, or multimedia, we’re here to help you fire up and start dazzling.
Welcome to the club.
"Misha is the mentor, teacher, and friend every artist needs. She’s encouraging, kind, inspiring, and unbelievably badass."
- Annelise Cepero, West Side Story
On-Camera Acting Technique
This course is for beginner and intermediate film actors, as well as all levels of stage actors, who are ready to hone their on-camera acting and audition skills. It will cover in-person and Zoom auditions, self-tapes, and thoughts on how you’re perceived from the other side of the audition table.
Actor Self-Care
A guide to the essential and oft-neglected subject of self-care, which all actors need if they want a long-term career in this demanding industry. This course encompasses mental, emotional, and physical health with written workbook exercises and guided audio to help you do bold, powerful work as an artist.
Self-Producing
A step-by-step practical and tactical guide to self-producing work in film and television and tapping into your full potential as a multi-hyphenate creator. From script to financing to crew to casting to post to distribution, this is the most essential part of film school without the student loan debt.
Hi, I’m Misha
I'm a writer-director working mostly in New York in both film and television. After 20 years as an actor, I got pretty fed up with “the industry” and how little control I seemed to have over my career. I started my own business completely unrelated to acting and built it into a successful company. That pause from acting allowed me to examine my limiting beliefs around money and "show business," and a year later a friend approached me asking to produce a few of my scripts. That moment changed my life, as I realized that my identity as an artist wasn't just acting, but writing, directing, and producing, which I had done as a child but somehow forgotten about.
Since then I've made a dozen short films, sold two series to networks, and am currently packaging my debut feature with a major production company. Along the way I have tweaked and refined my formula for creative success, which includes four basic pillars: mindset, craft, presentation, and strategy. What you see here is the culmination of all of my knowledge so far, because I don't want any artist to have to feel lost like I did. I hope you enjoy these courses as much as I enjoyed creating them for you.
The Masterclass Courses
Whether you're an actor, a writer-director, or simply wanting to explore the film and television industry and find out where your talents fit in, one of these courses will be a good fit for you. You can preview all of them and see what feels right.
