Kate Kennedy
Founder & Artistic Director
www.imdb.com - Kate Kennedy (I)

Established in 2005, PeachCraft Studios of Drama, Voice & Filmmaking (PDVF) offers professional training for actors, vocalists, dancers, musicians and filmmakers. A member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1991, Kate Kennedy, actor, writer, director and producer, has developed her own distinctive imagination based technique for inspired acting now used by the Members of the PeachCraft Studios of Drama, Voice & Filmmaking. Building upon the Russian based techniques of Constantine Stanislavski, Michael Chekhov and Stella Adler infused with Kennedy's own organized technique developed over two decades as a Casting Director working with Dreamworks, Paramount, Disney, Miramax, HBO, NBC, CBS as well as with A-list directors, actors and producers in film, television and stage. The PeachCraft Actors Studio advocates defining energies in order to absorb the tone of the writer which then informs the actor's senses on choices for the character's psychological and physical core. Kate's modern approach, inspired by the Masters of yesterday, brings to PeachCraft a new wave of professional actor training.

Kate Kennedy is a professional Film Producer who began her career in Film, TV and Stage as a Casting Director and Master Acting Coach with now over 25 years of experience in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. After graduating with a bachelors degree from Marymount Manhattan College, Kate began her acting career touring with San Francisco's famed Lilliput Players Theatre Troupe and made her television debut in NBC's “Midnight Caller.” Beginning with “JOY LUCK CLUB”, Kate amassed a distinguished strand of Casting Director credits from the Major Motion Picture Studios and TV Networks in Los Angeles. Her film, stage and tv credits can be viewed on the professional film database IMdb.com under Kate Kennedy I.

Since its inception, PeachCraft Studios has launched the acting, singing, dance and filmmaking careers of many talented actors, singers, broadway performers and filmmakers alike. Some lucky ones have worked along side Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kyra Sedgwick and many more. PDVF Film Studio has produced over 34 films, launching the acting, writing, directing, camera operating and singing careers of many young talented artists. The students have distinguished themselves by gaining entrance into the colleges, professional schools of their choices, being cast on film sets and festivals as well as being cast on some of the most glamorous and professional sets for TV,  New York stages.   PeachCraft's focus is on enhancing the artist's special abilities through focused training with the highest level of distinguished professional faculty in the industry.  Established in 2005,  artist development at PeachCraft Studios of Drama, Voice & Filmmaking is simply wonderful.

Jody Mullen, a classically-trained coloratura soprano, discovered her profound love for teaching after joining the PeachCraft Vocal Conservatory faculty in 2008. She graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, where she received the Ethel Stone LeFrak Prize in Music, and completed additional studies at CAP21 (the musical theater conservatory of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts) and the New York Opera Studio. Her performance credits include the role of Papagena in a concert version of Die Zauberflöte at Lincoln Center, a professional recital at 180 Maiden Lane (formerly the Continental Center), and ensemble work in a number of Off-Broadway plays. Ms. Mullen currently serves as a paid soloist and section leader at Grace Church Brooklyn Heights and studies voice with Christina Henson and Virginia Lindle. In addition to performing and teaching, she is a freelance writer specializing in magazine journalism, grant proposals, and public relations.

Ms. Mullen’s talented young student artists at PeachCraft frequently audition for Broadway and appear as soloists in their school musical productions, choral concerts, and gala events.

Since graduating from the University of Miami, where he studied piano, voice, and composition, Adam Gilbert has been actively involved in the music business as a singer, songwriter, composer, music director, producer, and private teacher. His two CD releases have received national airplay, as well as five-star ratings on iTunes. His latest music video enjoyed a feature on Fuse TV, and NeuFutur Magazine described his single “Break Through Today” as “a modern masterpiece of songwriting with an innovative sense of musical adventure; the resulting sound achieved by the track is something that has not previously been heard.” Mr. Gilbert's performance calendar includes engagements at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village, classical concerts, and producing/mixing gigs for venues like PBS.

Mr. Gilbert has served as a church music director in Vernon for five years and has recently accepted the role of music director at Centenary College in Hackettstown. His private high-school students have received admission to New York University, Montclair State University, William Paterson University, the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, Marywood University, and The College of New Jersey.

Mr. Gilbert frequently performs for charity events and community concerts. He currently is at work on his third album (double disc), due for release in March 2011. He is pleased to be a new member of the PeachCraft Vocal Conservatory faculty.

Craig Newman
Actor's Studio

Craig Newman holds a bachelor's degree in theatre studies and film studies from Emory University, where he was an active performer and award winning director. In addition to directing a number of short films, he was the recipient of an Award of Distinction for his direction of Sarah Kane's Cleansed and awarded a Research Grant for his documentary film on freight-train hoppers.

Since arriving in New York City in 2008, Mr. Newman has been cast in a variety of Off-Broadway productions while continuing his training in Chekhov technique. In January 2009, he began teaching this technique to members of the Michael Chekhov Theater Company in workshop settings and one-on-one sessions. A student of Leonard Petite, Mr. Newman joins Kate Kennedy in her commitment to the philosophy and foundation of the Michael Chekhov technique taught at PeachCraft Actors Studio Master Class.

Aimee Byers
Musical Theater
Guest Artist

PeachCraft is thrilled to have Aimee Barnes directing the Summer Musical Theater Conservatory. Aimee is a musical theatre performer, director, and teaching artist based in New York City. She recently originated the role of Dr. Carol in  Pieces,  a new musical with a contemporary theatre score, at the Turtle Shell Theatre in NYC. Other recent performance credits include New York productions of  A Christmas Carol ,  The Envelope Please  (a musical revue where she portrayed Miss Adelaide from  Guys and Dolls ),  A Midsummer Night's Dream , and  The Tamer Tamed  as well as performance work with the Puppetry Arts Theatre. She was also in a national tour of  Cinderella,  playing the role of the Fairy Godmother and in regional productions of  I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , and  A Christmas Carol . In addition, Aimee has experience developing and performing in cabaret shows. She sings in a variety of genres including musical theatre, classical, and contemporary styles.

A Phi Beta Kappa member, Aimee graduated magna cum laude from American University with her degree in Music Theatre. In the summer of 2010, Aimee was the educational director for a summer youth musical theatre workshop at the Lake Dillon Theatre Company in Dillon, CO. In this position, she directed their production of  Aladdin Kids!  as well as taught the 100 student participants voice technique, memorization skills, and acting challenges. Aimee also directed and taught at the Emma Willard School's performing arts program for three summers.

Aimee is currently teaching voice (specializing in musical theatre) and piano with Soyulla Artists. She has experience teaching many genres of music including Disney, Broadway, pop, and classical. She encourages her students to grow in their artistic abilities through warm-ups, technique, and challenging, appropriate, and enjoyable repertoire. She is thrilled to be now working with PeachCraft Studios of Drama, Voice & Filmmaking in the Vocal Conservatory.

Sandy Rustin
Actor's Studio
Guest Artist: Improvisation

Sandy Rustin is a Chicago native and graduate of Northwestern University's renowned theater department. Over the last decade she has worked professionally in New York City as an actress & improviser and can now say with certainty that acting is 95% improvisation and 5% knowing what to say and where to stand. She works with PeachCraft students on the improv part! At age 11 she was introduced to the freedom of improvisation by Joyce Piven, (the mother of Jeremy Pivin of Entourage) at the famed Chicago Piven Theatre Workshop. The endless opportunities to create characters & environments through improvisation, remain the greatest joy of her professional life.

Sandy improvises regularly in NYC at Upright Citizen's Brigade. She has toured the country playing "Sandy" in the Nat'l Tour of Grease! and starred in the Drama Desk Winning Musical, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." She has appeared in numerous plays, musicals, commercials and on TV (Law & Order; SVU, All My Children, & Guiding Light). In addition to performing and teaching, Sandy is a comedy writer. Her new show, "Rated P; An Exploration of Parenthood in 24 Scenes" is in development.

Sandy joins Kate Kennedy in her committment to her philosophy and foundation in PeachCraft Actors Studio for the necessity of the creative individual to "own one's freedom" in order to create and transform believably.

Adam Muskin
Guest Faculty, 2008-2009 (Acting Technique and Improvisation)

Adam Muskin was born and raised in New York City, where he graduated from LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts and Visual Art in 2000. Adam then journeyed to Moscow, graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School in 2005 with his fellow members of Studio Six, and staying on for two extra years at Moscow Art as an interpreter/teaching assistant with the A.R.T institute for Advanced Theater Training and Eugene O'Neil National Theater Institute abroad segments. During his time there, Adam worked with the Russian students as an assistant director as well.

After leading seminars at Skidmore University, assistant teaching/interpreting with the Moscow Art Theater Summer School in Cambridge, MA, and leading workshops at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in October, Adam is looking forward to officially continuing his studies at The Moscow Art Theater School as a candidate for an M.F.A. in acting and theater art with a minor in directing.

Adam has enjoyed acting on both continents, and hopes to actively continue Studio Six's activities as a unique cultural bridge between Russian and American art.

Jonathan Phillips
Co-Director, 2007-2008
PeformanceMedia Conservatory
www.imdb.com Jonathan Phillips (II)

Jonathan Phillips holds an M.F.A. in Dramatic Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, where he graduated with Honors under a full scholarship. He is a Founding Member of the Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati (ETC), where he taught the Michael Chekhov technique of Acting. As a working actor he believes that the craft comes from an inner knowledge of the actor's instrument. All training and technique stem from the gentle deepening and enriching of the actor's body and psychology. The tools at the actor's disposal are the same as those of the symphony conductor. It is the actor's skill and technique that informs him when to pound the drum or when to simply pluck the strings or yet when to wait for the silence between the notes.