The Creative Lab: SmartReels
Where Art Meets Craft
The Creative Lab is back with a brand-new format!
We’re relaunching as The Creative Lab: SmartReels, making the program even more accessible for those who are looking for coaching and fresh demo reel footage!
This intensive experience provides expert coaching and you leave with a tangible result: your cinematic, high-definition footage.
The Greenhouse launched the Creative Lab in 2016 as an intensive and unique workshop that gave committed artists the opportunity to conceive and create short films, all while being coached and mentored by accomplished industry professionals such as Abbie Cobb and Shun Lee. Since its inception, participants of the Creative Lab have created over 120 short films together.
With our new approach, you’re now able to get all the power of the Creative Lab concentrated into a single weekend. With Creative Lab: SmartReels, you get the opportunity to dive into original scripts, get expert coaching, and receive your edited high-definition footage in two days’ time – a great chance to upgrade your talent and your reel!
Each actor works in every class with personalized attention and with an emphasis on scene work with original scripts, all under the guidance of an experienced acting coaches.
On the first day of the lab, each actor will develop two scenes, dramatic and/or comedic, depending on the actor’s demo reel needs. The acting coaches will work one-on-one with each actor to approach the scenes with excellence and nuance, getting each scene ready to be shot.
On the second day, the actors will each have the opportunity to perform their scenes on a fully decorated set, utilizing a Blackmagic Pro camera in full 6K high-definition resolution. And after screening the scenes for the entire group that same day, the actors will receive their own edited high-definition footage, ready to incorporate straight into their reels for presentation to agents, managers, and casting directors!
And along with our program in Los Angeles, we’re also launching the Creative Lab: SmartReels for those of you in Atlanta. So register for the next Labs below, and let’s get creative!
The Creative Lab – Quick Links
Details
Benefits
Instructors
Testimonials
Space is Limited!
To provide the best mentoring and coaching, we can accept only 18 actors for each session.
Cost
– $ 449 –
regular
– $ 429 –
member
Upcoming Creative Lab Details
Benefits
Grow
The first part of this intensive course will focus on growing each lab participant’s individual pursuits. Actors will dive into scene analysis along with professional coaching to help each actor reach his/her full potential.
Develop
After applying specific acting notes and techniques through coaching, each Actor will have the opportunity to choose two scripts from original comedic and/or dramatic works and prepare them for performance in front of the camera.
Create
By the end of the SmartReels experience, each Actor will have two completed short films to screen for the rest of the lab. Each lab student will leave the course with a growing network of like-minded artists, newfound skills, and a better understanding of the creative process, as well as a copy of their edited demo reel footage, shot on a Blackmagic Cinema 6K Pro camera.
The Creative Lab Gallery
Instructors
Abbie Cobb
Primary Instructor
The Creative Lab’s primary instructor is Abbie Cobb. She has been seen in all sorts of films and television shows, including her recurring role on ABC’s Suburgatory, as well as roles on American Horror Story, NCIS: Los Angeles, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mentalist, and True Blood. She had recurring roles on 90210 and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and recently co-starred in two feature films, Moms’ Night Out and The Umbrella Man.
Growing up in Nebraska, she obsessively watched Shirley Temple movies and decided she’d love nothing more than to pursue acting. She performed in school plays and community theatre until she graduated, when she moved to L.A. Her first role was on Disney’s StarStruck, and she continued working on shows like Pair of Kings, Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!, Jonas, and Imagination Movers. She fills her weeks with work in TV, film, and theatre, and spends her spare time mentoring and coaching aspiring actors. She is a sought-after keynote speaker at creative conferences and workshops, where she shares her book, Stuck on a Ferris Wheel, to inform and encourage actors.
Shun Lee Fong
Executive Producer
Shun Lee is the executive producer of The Creative Lab and the director of many of its films. An accomplished actor, host, and writer, he has also directed nearly 30 films, including works like Silence, Madeline, Full Lockdown, To Save a Date, Sunshine Away, All’s Fair in Love and Acting, The Winter Sweep, and Patience. Additionally, he has written a number of films, including Angel, All Hours, Writer’s Block, Sunshine Away, and the award-winning Harvest.
A former attorney, he still teaches entertainment law at several colleges and universities across the country. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the President and Creative Director of The Greenhouse. He recently released his first book, The Saints and The Poets, which explores the intersection of creativity, faith, and leadership. He fills his free time with photography, performing music, speaking at creative conferences and other venues, and traveling the back roads of the country with his faithful dog, Jack. He is currently on the producing team of the new animated series The Dead Sea Squirrels with Mike Nawrocki, Steve Taylor, and Tom Bancroft, and is the executive producer of the feature film Sun Moon for Sony’s Affirm Films.