IAA November - Beat Work: Acting That Breathes and Moves

IAA November - Beat Work: Acting That Breathes and Moves

Every great scene lives in its beats — the subtle shifts in thought, need, and energy that make a moment come alive. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn to identify, shape, and play beats with clarity and truth. Through guided exercises and scene work, actors will discover how to make performances dynamic, specific, and alive from moment to moment.

You’ll Learn To:

• Break down scenes into playable beats that drive action
• Use beat shifts to create truthful, spontaneous performance
• Turn script analysis into behavior that lives onstage or on camera
• Bring clarity and texture to auditions and self-tapes

Ideal For:
Actors with some training or stage/film experience who want to sharpen specificity and deepen their moment-to-moment work.

Takeaway:
Leave with a sharper eye for what’s really happening in a scene — and the tools to make every shift count.


About Coach Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty is a seasoned actor, coach, and filmmaker whose career spans film, television, and theater. His screen work includes appearances in House of Cards and Ozark (Netflix), The Gifted (FOX), The Resident (FOX), Chicago P.D. and Bluff City Law (NBC), The Inspectors (CBS), Killing Reagan(NatGeo), and independent features such as Columbus, Reparation, Sand Castles, Dead Draw(Showtime), Scalene, and Proxy.

As Chief Instructor for Online Actors Academy and Indy Actors Academy, Jim has coached actors who have gone on to book roles on The Mandalorian (Disney+), The Walking Dead (AMC), Empire (FOX), MacGyver (CBS), Stargirl (The CW), Chicago Fire (NBC), Chicago P.D. (NBC), Chicago Med (NBC), The Resident (FOX), Doom Patrol (HBO Max), Nashville (ABC), George & Tammy (Showtime), Black Lightning (The CW), Brockmire (IFC), and numerous award-winning festival films.

Jim’s coaching bridges performance craft with the practical realities of production, preparing actors to deliver consistent, camera-ready work take after take.