THE ACTORS GYM
NEW YORK
BOBBY MORESCO
Artistic Director
Academy Award winning writer, director and producer Bobby Moresco started out as an actor in New York City, where he was raised in the Hell's Kitchen district of Manhattan, three blocks and a world away from Broadway.
After studying acting with the widely respected Wynn Handman and Peggy Fuery, founders of The American Place Theatre and Loft Theatre, respectively, Moresco opened The Actor's Gym in New York and then moved the company to Los Angeles in 1978. Still running today, with locations in LA and NY, the "Gym" specializes in developing new work for stage, film and television. The works created in the Gym has gone on to Broadway and garnered many awards including Emmys, Oscars and Golden Globes.
AMANDA MORESCO VON LUMM
Co-Artistic Director
Amanda is a WGA writer who spent 15 years studying Aristotle and Joseph Campbell. She's written for television and has had two features produced, three in development. Directing being her true passion, she's directed three shorts and the next is slated for November 2022.
Amanda also offers expert consultation services for every stage of the screenwriting journey, providing a variety of both free and paid resources, including
See the link below for more of Amanda's services to grow your craft.
YLFA EDELSTEIN
Board Member
Co-Artistic Director of The Reading Series at Theater555.
Ylfa Edelstein was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her grandparents fled Nazi Germany in 1938, settling in Iceland after her grandfather was offered a position as a cellist with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. From an early age, Ylfa showed a proclivity for performance, in ballet, theatre and music. Her first role came at the age of 6 for Icelandic Television. She came to the United States, as a teenager, to study Theatre and never looked back. She resides in New York City. Ylfa is an actress, writer, and musician.
GABRIEL FURMAN
Board Member
Gabriel Furman, born and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, is an actor, writer, producer and comedian. Gabriel started off his career as a professional B-Boy aka "breakdancer" and DJ in the underground NYC dance scene.
In 2018 Gabriel wrote, produced and starred in the short film WONDER, about a young boy who dreams of being Wonder Woman for Halloween. The film went on to win 21 awards, including Urbanworld's Audience Award for "Best Short Film" and Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival's Jury Award for "Best Short Film", which qualified WONDER for Academy Award consideration and having it licensed by HBO and all of HBO's streaming platforms.
OCTAVIA CLAHAR
Coordinator
Award winning Screenwriter and Brooklyn native, Octavia's film-making journey began with the success of her viral animated series, Uneducated. Reaching over 1.2+ million YouTube views for the series finale, Clahar produced Uneducated as a live-action pilot. Since then, she's worked on indie films and Hulu's "The 1619 Project", while building a portfolio of pilots.
Octavia writes animated fantasy and dramas/comedy with leading BIPOC characters & Black female leads.