The Accidental Entrepreneur: The Humanities PhD Who Started His Own Business

Speaker(s): Andrew Wood

While working on a PhD. in German Studies at Stanford, Andrew Wood started a business teaching acting in San Francisco, using his training as a director at the Yale School of Drama.  He completed his doctorate and moved the business to Los Angeles, where it has been recognized by Backstage.com as a top Los Angeles acting school.  In this talk, Andrew will reflect on his experiences starting and growing the business, share the many lessons he learned, and talk about how his experience pursuing and attaining a doctorate has intersected with this process.
 
Biography: Andrew Wood is a graduate of the MFA Directing program at the Yale School of Drama, and he has a Ph.D. from Stanford University in literature.  In 2004, he founded his acting studio in San Francisco, and expanded it to Los Angeles in 2008. His students have appeared on acclaimed shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Homeland, The Office, Westworld, The Man in the High Castle, Animal Kingdom, Training Day, 13 Reasons Why and Chasing Life, among others. He contributes to Backstage as a Backstage Expert. He is the Artistic Director of Uranium Madhouse, a Los Angeles-based theater company which he founded in 2011. He has produced and directed four productions for Uranium Madhouse, including a production of his new, authorized translation of Bertolt Brecht’s A Man’s A Man, which was co-sponsored by the International Brecht Society and the Goethe Institut Los Angeles.  His blog has been recognized as a top blog for actors by Peer Hustle and Feedspot, and his writing has appeared on the acting website Stage Milk.  The Los Angeles lifestyle magazine Voyage LA recently profiled Andrew on its website.