Life Is A Practice

Practice Like You Play

CREATE

Where Imagination Meets Action

PRODUCE

Where Vision Becomes Art

Community

Where Network Becomes Family

COMMITMENT

Where Your Success Is Our Success

REAL WORLD READY

Where Higher Education Is Elevated

CONNECT

About Us

MISSION

Our mission is to build safe, supportive, creative environments for aspiring artists to realize and maximize their potential, in both artistry and humanity. We are committed to fostering artists toward success by instilling work ethics of the highest standards, solidifying a strong foundation in craft, and providing the necessary tools and experience to transform students into professionals. Leading by example, making forthright commitment, preparation, and accountability the cornerstones of our daily practice, we are determined to aptly brand each graduate Real World Ready.

HIGHLY QUALIFIED EDUCATORS & PROFESSIONALS

The one constant in life is change. Our industries are constantly evolving, and now at unprecedented rates. For this reason, our educators must evolve with the times. The Practice is anchored by gifted instructors and entertainment professionals, who are current in the industry today.

ELEVATING HIGHER EDUCATION

There are seven different learning styles and we utilize them all. Especially two that are most often overlooked in higher education; kinesthetic and interpersonal. No two students learn the same, and our diverse, accelerated hands on approach leaves no one behind. We offer a truly unique opportunity, mutually beneficial to the students, the instructors, and the institution. We create content. The classroom doubles as a studio. A comparison would be teaching hospitals in the field of medicine. This sets The Practice apart from any postsecondary educational institution. No one is doing this and everyone should be.

CREATOR/FOUNDER

Gino Anthony Pesi

Born November 3rd, 1980, in Pittsburgh, PA, I grew up with an equal affinity for sports and entertainment. Being a blue collar kid from a small town, when I'd tell people I wanted to be an actor most of them told me that I couldn't. My senior year in high school, I took a drama class when a teacher, Julianna Van Arsdale, became the first person to tell me that I could. She saw something in me, encouraged me to pursue theater, and guided me through the college audition process. Her care and efforts paid off, as I received a partial performing arts scholarship to pursue my BFA at Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts. This was the moment I realized the importance of our educators. They can literally change the course of a student's life. At that point, I knew if I was ever in a position where I could give back, that I had a purpose to do so.

After college, I moved Los Angeles to pursue my career. While I found great value in the education I received, being in the real world was a wake up call that my education was only just beginning. I spent the first two years getting acclimated to the city, working three jobs, seven days a week, sometimes twice a day just to survive. There was a lot my expensive education didn't teach me. It was years before I booked my first television job. A few years after that, I began to make my sole living as an actor. I'd gone on to build over 50 professional film and television credits, including series regular roles on NBC's Shades of Blue, opposite Ray Liotta and Jennifer Lopez, and OWN's Ambitions opposite Robin Givens. I've recurred on The Vampire Diaries, Dallas, 9-1-1, Chicago P.D. and landed lead and supporting roles in big budget blockbusters like Battle: Los Angeles, 42, Hidden in Plain Sight, and self produced indie features like The Fare. While I'm not content or complacent with those accomplishments, I am fully aware that is a feat that most performers never attain. Still, I couldn't help but think that my career path could have been expedited, had I been offered more tools and resources.

I was always writing, and even had a couple of screenplays optioned for production. But it wasn't until my late twenties that I discovered my love for teaching and directing. Two skills I never imagined I'd be good at, turned out to be two of my greatest strengths. It was clear to me that when I began to teach actors, I needed to offer them the tools that I did not receive. Since then, I've dedicated a portion of my time to develop more effective ways to educate within the arts. A more intensive, accelerated, kinesthetic, and interpersonal approach to what, I believe, will be higher education's wave of the future. That wave is the concept, philosophy, and action of The Practice.

Gino's Website