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STUDENT TESTIMONIALS
“With the business program coming to an end, I find myself reflecting on how rewarding it has been. The years it would have taken to learn everything in the program, is just one reason why it’s worthwhile. I grew exponentially as an artist and as a professional.”
Makana Ching
“I’m so eternally grateful that this third year / business program exists! It has given me the perfect structure and tools to take my career to the next level. Charlie Sandlan should be proud of what this studio has put together.”
Seth Andrew Miller
“Kate knows practically everything there is to know about what’s going on in the Business on any given day. Her feedback is always tremendously helpful.”
Sean Kaufman
Most conservatories release their graduates into the industry with little understanding of how the business actually works or the expectations placed upon professional actors. As a result, many spend the first five to seven years of their careers making avoidable mistakes, learning through trial and error, and becoming slowly discouraged by an industry they were never taught to navigate.
The Maggie Flanigan Studio was determined to change that.
The Professional Actor Business Program was created to take years of confusion, frustration, and unnecessary struggle and condense them into nine months of focused, practical training in New York City. We believe an actor is the CEO of their own business, and that responsibility must remain separate from the artist. Just as seriously as we train craft, we prepare actors to build sustainable, professional acting careers.
Under the direction of Mackenzie Lansing, this advanced program is designed exclusively for graduates of the Maggie Flanigan Studio, as well as actors who have completed comparable conservatory or MFA training. This is not a collection of isolated workshops. It is a carefully designed progression that bridges the gap between conservatory training and the professional industry, providing actors with the knowledge, relationships, experience, and mindset necessary to build a lasting career.
Build Your Professional Identity
Throughout the year, students develop the professional foundation every working actor needs.
Working alongside experienced industry professionals, students refine their artistic identity while creating the materials that will represent them throughout their careers.
This includes:
Professional branding
Personal
website
Professional headshots
Professionally produced ReelArc demo reel
Resume and biography
Marketing
materials
Professional communication
Social media strategy
The goal is not simply to look professional. It is to communicate clearly who you are as an artist.
Master Today's Industry
Success in today's profession demands versatility.
Students receive practical training in every aspect of the modern audition process, learning to approach film, television, commercial, and theatrical auditions — as well as self-tape auditions for actors in New York City and beyond — with confidence and professionalism.
Topics include:
Self-tape
technique
Film and television auditions
Commercial acting auditions
Cold
reading
Professional etiquette
The casting
process
Representation
Contracts and unions
Financial
literacy
Career
strategy
Throughout the year, students learn directly from casting directors, agents, managers, producers, photographers, branding consultants, attorneys, financial professionals, and working actors, receiving practical insight into the realities of today's entertainment industry.
Create Professional Materials
Professional opportunities require professional materials.
Working in partnership with ReelArc, students rehearse, film, and produce professionally crafted demo reel scenes while continuing to strengthen their audition technique and on-camera performance.
Every element of the program is designed to ensure students leave with marketing materials that accurately reflect the quality of their work and present them professionally to the industry.
Develop the Professional Mindset
One of the defining qualities of the Professional Actor Business Program is its recognition that careers are built as much on resilience as talent.
Actors must learn to navigate uncertainty, rejection, comparison, inconsistency, and the emotional demands of the profession without losing their artistic integrity.
Throughout the year, students participate in specialized coaching focused on developing emotional resilience, professional accountability, confidence, and long-term career sustainability.
These conversations reinforce one of the Maggie Flanigan Studio's core beliefs:
A successful acting career is built upon discipline, preparation, emotional maturity, and an unwavering commitment to continued growth.
Learn from Working Professionals
The Professional Actor Business Program brings together an exceptional faculty of professionals actively working throughout theatre, film, and television.
Students receive direct mentorship from casting directors, agents, managers, filmmakers, photographers, branding specialists, publicists, financial professionals, attorneys, and established actors who provide practical insight into every stage of the profession.
The goal is not simply exposure.
It is preparation.
Mackenzie Lansing
Director, Professional Actor Business Program
Mackenzie Lansing is an actor, writer, teaching artist, and career coach whose professional experience gives her a firsthand understanding of what it takes to move from serious actor training into a sustainable career.
French-American and raised in France, Mackenzie moved to the United States in 2010 to pursue acting. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and The Barrow Group before completing her formative training at the Maggie Flanigan Studio.
Mackenzie began her career in theatre before establishing herself in film and television. Her credits include Red Oaks, Tell Me a Story, The Deuce, and the Emmy Award-winning Mare of Easttown, in which she played Brianna Delrasso opposite Kate Winslet. She went on to appear in The Creator, Allswell in New York, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and most recently, FBI: Most Wanted.
In addition to acting, Mackenzie is a writer developing work for theatre, television, and film. Her play Lost in Banlieuewas a semifinalist at the O'Neill playwriting competition, and she is currently developing her first feature film and television series.
As Director of the Professional Actor Business Program, Mackenzie brings something essential to the work: lived experience. She understands the discipline required to develop craft, but also the very different skills required to navigate the profession—auditioning, career strategy, professional relationships, resilience, and learning how to run the business of being an actor without allowing that business to corrupt the artist.
For Mackenzie, returning to the Maggie Flanigan Studio to lead this program brings that journey full circle. She is preparing the next generation of MFS actors to enter the profession with clarity, confidence, and a realistic understanding of what it takes to build a lasting career.
What You'll Leave With
By the completion of the Professional Actor Business Program, students will have developed:
Professional Materials
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Professionally designed actor website
-
Professionally produced ReelArc demo reel
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Professional headshots
-
Resume and biography
-
Branded marketing materials
Skills and Knowledge
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Strong audition and self-tape technique
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Film, television, and commercial audition training
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Industry knowledge and business literacy
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Understanding of contracts, unions, and representation
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Financial literacy and career strategy
Mindset and Resilience
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Emotional resilience and professional accountability
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Career strategy and professional confidence
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A deeper understanding of how to sustain a professional acting career
Relationships
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Direct relationships with working industry professionals
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Casting directors, agents, managers, and filmmakers
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A professional network built in New York City
Program Pricing
Package 1 — Professional Actor Training Program (2026/2027)
Paid in Full by September 1
Best value — single payment before the program begins
$13,600
Two Payments
September 1 and January 11
$13,800
12 Monthly Payments
$1,162 per month over the full program year
$14,000
The Maggie Flanigan Studio Difference
Most conservatories teach actors how to act.
We believe our responsibility extends beyond the classroom.
Our goal is to prepare artists to enter the profession with the same discipline, integrity, imagination, and craftsmanship that define their conservatory training.
The Professional Actor Business Program reflects our commitment to developing complete artists — actors who possess not only exceptional craft, but also the professionalism, business knowledge, resilience, and personal responsibility necessary to sustain a lifetime devoted to the art of acting.
We don't simply prepare actors to book their first job.
We prepare them to build a career.
CONTACT
Address:
147 W 25th St 5th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Phone:
Email:
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ACTING STUDIO NEW YORK NY
The Maggie Flanigan Studio is the leading acting studio in New York City where professional actors train for long careers. The acting programs at the drama school are based on the Meisner Technique and the work of Sanford Meisner. The two year acting program includes acting classes, movement classes, voice and speech for actors, commercial acting classes, on camera classes, cold reading, monologue, playwriting, script analysis and the Meisner Summer Intensive.
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