Tom Todoroff
TOM TODOROFF (producer, director, acting coach)
Tom Todoroff is an American producer, director, acting coach.[1] Over the course of a career spanning nearly four decades, he has worked with some of the most celebrated and respected names in theater, film and television including Peter O’Toole, Bob Hoskins, Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Goldwyn, Sasha Alexander, Dakota Johnson among many others. Tom produced on many TV shows and films. He also produced and directed WORKING SHAKESPEARE: RSC MEETS USA - the seminal record of the life-long work of renowned Head of Voice for the Royal Shakespeare Company - Cicely Berry.[2][3]
History
Tom was born in South Buffalo. He was raised in South Buffalo, Newport Beach, California and Clarence, New York.
He won full scholarships to Beloit College in Wisconsin and The Juilliard School (under Alan Schneider) at Lincoln Center. Later he trained with Edith Skinner, Cicely Berry and Kristin Linklater. He also trained with Stella Adler, at her invitation. Tom went on to play over fifty classical and contemporary roles at theaters around the world. In addition to full seasons at Baltimore Center Stage, The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, The Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts, and the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, he has also performed at UBU Repertory, Theater for the New City, the Riverside Shakespeare Company in New York, The Hangar Theater in Ithaca, and Yale.
Television appearances include the mini-series A WOMAN NAMED JACKIE (also co-writer, Emmy Best Mini-Series), and NORTH AND SOUTH PART III (also co-writer, starring Peter O’Toole). Episodic work includes ALL MY CHILDREN, LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, ARLI$$, and STAR TREK: VOYAGER (with Joel Grey). Film credits include; TURBULENCE, ETHAN FROME, LEAP OF FAITH, TIN CUP, PLAY IT TO THE BONE, DARK BLUE, EL PADRINO, EASY (TORONTO AND SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVALS) and HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE (with Harrison Ford).
Tom was one of the producers of, and acted in, COBB (with Tommy Lee Jones), which had a Benefit performance in Buffalo at Shea’s Performing Arts Center where the mayor presented him with the key to the city. He produced and directed WORKING SHAKESPEARE: RSC MEETS USA, (a broadcast series), featuring Jeremy Irons, Emily Watson, Lindsay Duncan, Toby Stephens, other members of the Royal Shakespeare with US actors Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson, Claire Danes, Blythe Danner, Robert Sean Leonard, Cherry Jones, Victor Garber, Diane Venora, and others. Tom also directed Jimmy Buffett’s worldwide concert tour for seven years.
His Executive Producing projects include: Telefilms for CBS; BORROWED HEARTS (the number one rated program for the week), starring Roma Downey, Eric McCormack, and Hector Elizondo, MONDAY AFTER THE MIRACLE with Ms. Downey, Billy Campbell, and Moira Kelly, THE TEST OF LOVE (the network’s top rated Wednesday film for 1999) also with Ms. Downey, SECOND HONEYMOON with Ms. Downey, Tim Matheson, and Michael Nouri, THE SONS OF MISTLETOE with Ms. Downey and Doris Roberts, and THE SURVIVORS CLUB with Ms. Downey, Jacqueline Bisset and James Remar.
Other feature films as Producer/Actor; NO VACANCY with Christina Ricci, Timothy Olyphant, Robert Wagner, Lolita Davidovich, Joaquim DeAlmeida and Patricia Velasquez (premiered at The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and subsequently; The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, The Festival do Rio de Janeiro (held over), Raindance (London), and The Moscow Film Festival; (First Place Best Debut Film), and for Showtime; NORIEGA: GOD’S FAVORITE, with Bob Hoskins, directed by Roger Spottiswoode.
Tom’s projects in development include numerous texts with writer/director Ron Shelton. Tom is a member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors Equity Association, The Producers Guild of America, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, The American Dialect Society, The Linguistic Society of America, The Voice and Speech Trainers Association, The Creative Coalition and The National Speakers Association.
Tom has lead numerous workshops for SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity nationwide. He currently coaches actors, directors and artists from all walks of life on a weekly basis, live, online in The Workshop on Saturdays and Mondays. He resides in New York City, Santa Monica, California and Weston, Connecticut. Tom is an avid surfer, cyclist, football fanatic, Beatlemaniac, Led Zeppelinite, rock & roll drummer and dog lover. He is left-handed.
Worked with Tom
Tom has coached, directed, produced and/or acted opposite:
Sasha Alexander, Joan Allen, Karen Allen, Shamier Anderson, Patricia Arquette, Michael Bent, Cicely Berry, Jacqueline Bisset, Jimmy Buffett, Kate Burton, Kerry Butler, Billy Campbell, Elpidia Carrillo, Nell Carter, Josh Charles, Susan Cowsill, Gavin Creel, Marcia Cross, Henry Czerny, Blythe Danner, Claire Danes, Daniel Davis, Lolita Davidovich, Joaquim DeAlmeida, Jeff “The Dude” Dowd, Roma Downey, Lindsay Duncan, Hector Elizondo, Scott Ellis, Harrison Ford, Darrell Foster, Victor Garber, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Perri Gilpin, Richard Gere, Brendan Gleeson, Tony Goldwyn, Topher Grace, Joel Grey, Bruce Greenwood, Lukas Haas, Marriette Hartley, Mariel Hemingway, Bob Hoskins, Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson, Bianca Jagger, Allison Janney, Cherry Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Dakota Johnson, Moira Kelly, Robert Lansing, Carl Lewis, Daniel Lindsay, Ray Liotta, Lucy Liu, Heather Locklear, Gabriel Mann, Eric McCormack, Dina Merrill, Sienna Miller, George Morfogen, James Naughton, Liam Neeson, Timothy Olyphant, Peter O’Toole, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Ricci, Doris Roberts, Keri Russell, Rene Russo, Bas Rutten, Josef Sommer, Jill St. John, Paul Stanley, Toby Stephens, Jon Tenney, Richard Thomas, Maria Tucci, Carmen Twillie, Diane Venora, Katie Wagner, Natasha Wagner, Robert Wagner, Emily Watson, Dar Williams, Robert Wuhl, Alex Wurman & Rachel York.
Technique
Tom Todoroff has codified the following set of essential concepts and tools, drawn from his time training with Stella Adler, collaborating with Michael Shurtleff, studying at Juilliard and directing, producing, coaching and acting in Hollywood, New York, London and abroad.
The Todoroff Acting Technique is all-encompassing and prescriptive, based on each individual’s specific needs. This work arms the actor with an “unshakable skill set” to master any material (classical theater texts, film and television) and any environment (last minute filmed audition to repertory theater performance).
The Technique rests on four pillars:
- Text Analysis: Shurtleff & Todoroff's Fifteen Guideposts
- Physical Awareness: The Six Viewpoints
- Vocal Awareness: Four Parts of Vocal Variation
- Work Ethos: Four Agreements, Three Tenets, Three Techniques
This approach has been proven over the nearly forty years Tom has been working with actors around the world.
Tom Todoroff Studio Founding
The Tom Todoroff Studio was founded in 1998 in Santa Monica, California when Tom first began to draw on his breadth of experience as an actor, director, producer, writer, voice & speech coach and dialectician. Over the course of his years in Santa Monica, Tom honed his method of instruction while coaching actors daily on stage, on TV and on film sets and in his studio classes. His coaching method for actors now provides a set of tools designed to address each individual's needs. The tools are as follows: The Fifteen Guideposts, Six Viewpoints, Four Agreements, Four Parts of Vocal Variation, Three Tenets and Three Techniques.
A New Yorker at heart, Tom returned to Manhattan in 2009 and founded the NYC Studio weekly class on Monday evenings. The NYC acting community responded enthusiastically to his return. The weekly class swiftly grew into a thriving community of actors, singers, dancers and performers of all kinds whose mutual love and support created an exceptional learning environment. Members of the NYC Studio are encouraged to take great risks, while maintaining the highest standards when it comes to work ethic and respect for the text. In the spirit of friendly competition, actors are constantly challenging themselves and each other to explore new material and new emotional terrain.
The flourishing NYC Studio inspired the Summer Intensive in New York City; a week-long conservatory-style training program where actors attend back to back classes from 9am-5pm daily in fundamental disciplines such as Voice, Speech, Movement and Alexander Technique, in addition to Acting. The first Summer Intensive took place in 2010 and the transformation over the course of just seven days was astonishing; a group of complete strangers at the start of the week were, by the end of it, moving, speaking, listening and sharing themselves with one another as though they had years of company experience.By popular demand the Summer Intensive continued yearly and has since expanded into more full time programs, including the Conservatory, The Core and The Workshop on Saturdays and Mondays.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
The Workshop
Over the years, colleagues and clients alike continually urged Tom to create a program for actors, where this training would be available on a full-time basis.
In Tom's words, "the most direct route to being a working actor is to study and train with those who have manifested professional work themselves." Training in the Workshop therefore combines technical skill with real world knowledge.
By studying with a faculty of accomplished artists and industry professionals, Workshop actors are exposed not only to the full complement of fundamental disciplines, but also to expert practitioners whose instruction is based both on rigorous technique and extensive first-hand experience.
Credits (partial list)
| Year | Title | Role/Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Working Shakespeare: RSC Meets USA | PRODUCER, DIRECTOR | |
| 1999 | No Vacancy | PRODUCER, ACTOR | |
| 2000 | Noriega: God’s Favorite | CO-PRODUCER, ACTOR | |
| 1994 | Cobb | ASSOCIATE PRODUCER, ACTOR, CASTING CONSULTANT | |
| 1997 | Borrowed Hearts | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | |
| 1998 | Monday After The Miracle | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, ACTOR | |
| 1984 | A Test of Love | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | |
| 2001 | Second Honeymoon | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, ACTOR | |
| 2001 | The Sons of Mistletoe | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | |
| 2004 | The Survivors Club | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | |
| National Tours | ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | ||
| 2003 | Hollywood Homicide | CASTING CONSULTANT, ACTOR | |
| 2002 | Dark Blue | CASTING CONSULTANT, ACTOR, DIALECT COACH FOR BRENDAN GLEESON | |
| 1999 | Play It To The Bone | CASTING CONSULTANT, ACTOR | |
| 1996 | Tin Cup | CASTING CONSULTANT, ACTOR | |
| 1997 | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | ACTING COACH FOR ROBERT WAGNER | |
| 1999 | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | ACTING COACH FOR ROBERT WAGNER | |
| 2002 | Austin Powers III: Goldmember | ACTING COACH FOR ROBERT WAGNER | |
| 1996 | Ransom | ACTING COACH FOR RENE RUSSO | |
| 1997 | Jungle 2 Jungle | ACTING COACH FOR LOLITA DAVIDOVICH | |
| 1996 | Harvest of Fire | ACTING COACH FOR LOLITA DAVIDOVICH | |
| 1994 | Touched By An Angel, “The Spirit of Liberty Moon” | VOICE AND SPEECH COACH FOR BAI LING | |
| 1991 | A Woman Named Jackie | CO-WRITER, ACTING AND DIALECT COACH, ACTOR | |
| 1994 | North & South – Heaven & Hell | CO-WRITER, ACTING AND DIALECT COACH, ACTOR | |
| 1994 | The Lion King: Circle of Life | VOCAL COACH | |
| 1992 | Leap of Faith | DIALECT COACH, ACTOR | |
| 2005 | Tarzan II | DIALECT AND VOCAL COACH | |
| 2002 | Peter Pan: Return to Neverland | DIALECT AND VOCAL COACH | |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | DIALECT AND VOCAL COACH | |
| 2008 | DELGO: A Hero’s Journey | DIRECTOR | |
| 1999 | No Vacancy | PRODUCER, ACTOR | |
| 1993 | Ethan Frome | DIALECT COACH, ACTOR | |
| 1994 | The Beans of Egypt Maine | DIALECT COACH | |
| 1991-1993 | Brooklyn Bridge, “The Last Immigrant” | DIALECT COACH | |
| 1983 | The Honorary Consul AKA “Beyond the Limit” | ACTING AND DIALECT COACH | |
| 2002 | The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler | DIRECTOR FOR LOLITA DAVIDOVICH & NELL CARTER | |
| 1995 | Seven Guitars by August Wilson | DIALECT COACH | |
| 1990 | The Sum of Us by David Stevens | DIALECT COACH | |
| 1979 | Macbeth by William Shakespeare | VOICE, TEXT, ACTING COACH | |
| 1982 | Oi! For England by Trevor Griffiths | SPEECH AND ACTING COACH, ACTOR | |
| Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw | DIALECT COACH | ||
| 1974 | Savages by Christopher Hampton | DIALECT COACH, ACTOR | |
| Billy Bishop Goes to War by Eric Gray | DIALECT COACH | ||
| The Foreigner by Larry Shue | DIALECT COACH | ||
| Godspell | DIRECTOR, ACTOR | ||
| Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen | RESIDENT ACTING, SPEECH, DIALECT COACH | ||
| Citizen Tom Paine by Howard Fast | RESIDENT ACTING, SPEECH, DIALECT COACH | ||
| 1989 | Daniela Frank by Alonzo Alegria | RESIDENT ACTING, SPEECH, DIALECT COACH | |
| Tale of the Wolf by Ferenc Molnar | RESIDENT ACTING, SPEECH, DIALECT COACH | ||
| Henry IV, parts I and II by William Shakespeare | RESIDENT ACTING, SPEECH, DIALECT COACH | ||
| 1994 | Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind” | DIRECTOR | |
| 1995 | Star Trek Voyager : Episode "Resistance" | DAROD |
References
- ^ "Acting Coach Tom Todoroff". University of Nebraska Omaha. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff: Movies, TV, and Bio". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Acting & Audition Master Class w/ Tom Todoroff". gov.texas.gov. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff". SEATTLE FILM SUMMIT. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff". Memory Alpha. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff Studio - Email Format | NeverBounce". www.neverbounce.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Todoroff, Tom 1957– | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Tom Todoroff". prod-www.tcm.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
External links
- Official website
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomtodoroff/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomtodoroff
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomtodoroffuniversal
- Tom Todoroff at IMDb
Tom's Coaching Reel: https://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWOHvUJKs18
Tom's Actor Reel: https://vimeo.com/428703211/7750d56c4e The Unshakable Skill Set: https://media.cmsmax.com/6j0m187z6e9h2yqesif6w/the-unshakable-skill-set.pdf