The most powerful, actor enabling, comprehensive Acting Program in India- and one of the top programs in the world.  

Whistling Woods International’s uniquely dynamic acting program Head is Hollywood acting guru Rob Reece, a lifetime member of the prestigious Actors' Studio in New York City and Los Angeles. With more than four decades of performing and teaching, Mr. Reece employs a system he has created from the method acting approach, as evolved from the techniques of Constantine Stanislavski, Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, and Eric Morris. WWI Actors' Studio is the first to introduce the method in India through a member of the Actors' Studio. 

The Actors' Studio is located in WWI’s main Mumbai campus in Film City. Actors' Studio students have the added benefits of being immersed in this filmmaking campus, being cast and acting in projects, as well as learning first-hand the crucial relationships they will have as professional actors with directors, producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, sound designers and others. 

As with every specialization, Mr. Subhash Ghai has master oversight of this program, continually assuring its curricula provides the optimal components of all aspects of the actors craft to prepare Actors' Studio members in becoming successful professional Actors.

The course is divided into 2 durations;

2 years full- time diploma in Acting:

This Program guides students from their beginning development as actors, through powerfully advanced craft tools, preparing them for preferential acting careers in film, television, theatre and voice-overs.  

Actors' Studio student learning is driven by eastern and western processes not found anywhere else. Its acting program is composed of advanced cutting-edge tools that free the actor’s instrument. Classes provoke a students’ shift of consciousness into a deeper perception of the human condition. Students develop through lectures, but primarily through work.  Experiential instrument and craft exercises guide actors into the most exciting uses of their talent.  

This work provides each actor an extensive variety of tools, enabling the exploration and discovery of their instrument, resources, and talent that stimulates and supports their ongoing professional growth.  

Real work that allows the actor to discover the genius of the human spirit. 

The training invites students to reveal the many complex layers of the vulnerable human soul, freeing the artist’s imagination to deal with the actor’s core challenge: tension. 

Processes used include improvisation, enabling the actor’s ability to surface a character’s life and behaviour when wanted – in film, takes after take, or in plays, performance after performance. These skills are practiced with monologues and scenes, from drama to comedy, in workshops, stage performance and film production. They learn to break down scripts, develop characters, and express interpretive choices while maintaining physical and emotional continuity. From basic acting techniques, movements, dance, fight and stunt work to diction and dialect; students emerge from the course trained to perform for the entire range of acting opportunities available to artists today.  
 

As soon as they are able, actors begin the fulfilling and revealing experiences of acting in films and high-definition projects, ranging from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. Student productions are sent to film festivals across the world, several gaining critical acclaim. 

The films in which the students act provide them with scenes for their personal reels to share with industry professionals as acting samples. 
 

The 2 year acting program is divided into 4 semesters of equal duration.  

1^st semester

Students will be taught the basics of acting skills along with training in filmmaking that will help them learn the finer nuances of their craft and sensitize them to the process. This semester will conclude with the students creating a 3 minute short narrative. 
 

2^nd Semester

Students will be trained to create truthful, believable characters and to instill the professionalism that will earn them the industry's respect and roles that they deserve. In preparation for the rigours of the industry, students undergo constant physical, voice and mind training. They will be constantly exposed to production experience and will enhance their skills to reading scripts and developing scenes. 

3^rd Semester

The third semester will instill the finishing required for every actor. Students will undergo specialized in-camera training which will hone their craft to act in front of the camera. Their learning will graduate to more complex scene study, improvisation and monologue exercises. They also learn specific techniques such as dubbing and voiceover to further explore their potential as an actor.

The semester provides solid production experience on analogue and 16mm formats in a student project with other specialization groups and a departmental production customized to the learning of Acting Students. 

4^th Semester

All acting students are part of a program-culminating into a Diploma Motion Picture production experience. Ranging from 30-seconds to 10 minutes, each film is a short narrative shot on either 16mm or 35mm Film stock or High Definition format. Each student is offered an opportunity to act in a substantial role in these productions. This is a unique opportunity for students to apply their education & skills learned over the past yr & a half, under supervision, and in an environment that simulates the real world of motion picture production. Several of the Whistling Woods diploma productions are sent to festivals across the world with many of them having gained critical acclaim. Students also learn to manage their careers via auditioning techniques, portfolio development and contract negotiation skills in this semester as part of their life skill and professional training before they graduate 
 

1 year full-time program in acting.

The 1 year program is divided into 2 semesters of equal duration.  

1^st semester

Students will be taught the basics of acting skills along with training in filmmaking that will help them learn the finer nuances of their craft and sensitize them to the process. This semester will conclude with the students creating a 3 minute short narrative. 
 

2^nd Semester

Students will be trained to create truthful, believable characters and to instill the professionalism that will earn them the industry's respect and roles that they deserve. In preparation for the rigours of the industry, students undergo constant physical, voice and mind training. They will be constantly exposed to production experience and will enhance their skills to reading scripts and developing scenes.