Would I return? No.
Am I glad I took 1 zoom class? Well, I got her book and I think her book could be a very useful tool. I always try to look at things through a positive lens, so I will file it away as "I learned a lot, even if it wasn't what I paid to learn". I will grow as a person from the experience. But honestly, if I could leave less than 1 star, I would.
I'm not here to bash the technique or Amy's talent. She has clearly worked and found success. But the experience was something I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Not until there is more respect invested into the participants and our time. I felt disrespected and I felt like everyone else in the class was being disrespected. I'm sorry but this was one of the most negative educational experiences I've ever had. Amy might have a history of career, but as a person, she wasn't kind, she was uninterested, and she was rude. There is a difference between confidence and cockiness, and she was egotistical and self-serving and cocky. I don't care what kind of credits or connections a person has if they're not a kind person at their core.
She says she cares about the students and getting them to their full potential, but no. She cares about stroking her own ego, inflating her own cockiness, and acts like she is God's gift to the business. The irony is, she talked about how important it is to be respectful and a good person when going to an audition. I can say from experience, she is not respectful, she is not selfless. She is selfish and self-aggrandizing and rude.
She openly told us "What you'll learn about me is that I always trying to do things the quickest, sometimes underhanded way. And my personal assistant is always having to remind me we have to do things legally,". She rolled her eyes, scoffed, and also made a comment about "sleeping your way to the top". Let me make this clear: she did NOT imply that her comments were related to her own experience, and I would never accuse someone of that, but for the comment to be made in general was outrageously unprofessional.
She berated and belittled someone in our zoom class for taking a bite of food when they were nauseous (we were at the very beginning of class during introductions and questions), then she proceeded to light up and smoke 3 cigarettes on camera, during our work sessions while working with us. It was like she couldn't be bothered to give us her full attention.
We had a student in our class who was Latino and had a bit of an accent, and during his work session, (he was doing fantastic) she stopped him to say "look, this isn't one of your telenovelas". I was shocked. She didn't make any comments about being in a "soap opera" to any of the white performers. It was unbelievable and I wouldn't be surprised if the performer was incredibly offended, because I was offended on his behalf.
And she doesn't let you talk or ask your questions. People would start to ask questions, and not even a sentence in, she would say "stop talking, stop talking, stop talking. I already know what you're going to say you don't need to keep talking. Stop," if people are paying you money, let them ask their damn questions. Let them talk. I don't care if you DO know the question. Let them talk. And for the love of God, at least pretend to enjoy the job. The whole time, it felt like she wished she was anywhere else but in the class.
Look, I don't need constant praise. I truly believe critique and criticism is very important to growth and learning as humans. But there is absolutely no excuse for treating people like they don't have worth. Period. I'm not angry, I'm disappointed and discouraged to know that people like this are establishing themselves as these pinnacles of the industry, but the truth is: there are so many other, successful, working actors out there who don't need to berate and belittle people just to make themselves feel better. I'd much rather learn from them.
Overall, don't waste your money. Maybe the book is worth a couple bucks, but the class isn't. read more
