Hugh O'Gorman is an actor, director, author, and teaching artist, active in professional theatre for over 30 years. Since 2002, he has been the Head of Acting at California State University Long Beach where he oversees the BA, BFA, and MFA actor training programs. He is co-chair of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and a Faculty member of MICHA, the Michael Chekhov Association of America. He earned a BA from Cornell University and MFA in Acting from the University of Washington.

Since 2003, he has run his own private acting studio in Hollywood, California: The Praxis Acting Studio Los Angeles, an atelier that focuses on the work of the great Russian theatre artists Michael Chekhov and Constantin Stanislavski: Gesture & Playing Action. The objective of the studio is simple: to help the actor create vivid and memorable performances in as truthful, imaginative, organic, and dynamic a way possible. No one methodology or school of acting is slavishly adhered to, as the only thing that matters is that the student’s creative individuality shines through when they create a character.

Hugh's students have won Golden Globe and Emmy awards, booked series leads on prime-time television, guest star spots, national commercials, regional theatre, and Broadway. They have won entry into the Yale School of Drama, Juilliard Drama Division, NYU Graduate Acting, ACT, CalArts, UCSD, USC, University of Washington, Ohio State, DePaul, Brandeis, among many others.

Hugh is the author of the books “Acting Action: A Primer for Actors” and “The Keys to Acting”.

Hugh has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and at over a dozen of the nation's most respected Regional Theatres and Shakespeare Festivals. He is a founding member of New York City's Mint Theatre Company (2002 Drama Desk Award). For four years Hugh portrayed Jeff Singer on AMC's critically acclaimed, Emmy and CableAce award-winning show Remember WENN (SAG Award nomination). Other television: HBO's multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning John Adams, for CBS Still Standing, That's Life, and for NBC The 10th Kingdom, Law & Order, and ER. Film: Killers, Upstate, The Bend.

Hugh is married to French architect Nathalie Aragno, a partner of the Los Angeles Architecture firm Studio William Hefner. They have two daughters.

Desean K. Terry is an actor, director and educator. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and earned his MFA in Acting Pedagogy from CSULB. He is currently shooting The Morning Show, the flagship series from Apple, opposite Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carell. He is also the Artistic Director of Collaborative Artists Bloc, a Los Angeles-based theatre company dedicated to producing new works that promote social change.

“My studies at The Juilliard School laid the foundation of my training. However, soon after graduating, I learned that even studying at one of the top schools in the world didn’t give me all the tools I needed to work in our fast-paced, ever-changing industry. That is not a criticism of Juilliard, that is an encouragement to continually train - which I did. As I kept training, I was consistently frustrated by studios that centered the teacher, the technique, or the “trick." When confronted with any of my own acting challenges, if I could not find the answer in the teacher, technique, or "trick," often the explanation offered was that there was some inadequacy or lack of talent in me, the actor. But I have come to learn that issues concerning craft are not barometers of talent. Sometimes, they are personal, and buried deep in our psyche; but oftentimes the answers are simple, pragmatic tools. We just need to be introduced to them. That's why I believe in continual training. I'm always collecting more tools, even when I'm teaching.

To work on a film/tv set, we need a practice that is comprehensive and actionable, yet personal and authentic. It's a challenge. For most of us, it takes decades, so we have to be comfortable working as we grow. Being in-process works in our favor, because humanity is imperfect and the audience wants to see that. It's a dynamic task we are being asked to do, working on a movie set. We have to have our toolkit ready to go.

Though I am always striving to create an even more substantial résumé for myself as an actor and director, my teaching is the most personal part of my work. I hope to create a space where all types of people can feel seen and safe, and be granted permission to play and thrive.