Judith Weston has followed her love of storytelling and acting to a full, rewarding life as a sought-after coach and teacher to first-class filmmakers and actors around the world. She has written two books. Her beloved classic Directing Actors, a bestseller ever since it was first published in 1996, has now been released in a 25th Anniversary Edition, fully revised and updated. And a lightly revised and updated version of her second book The Film Director's Intuition is now available as an audiobook, narrated by Judith! These books bring hope and focus to directors, actors, screenwriters, and other film industry professionals. They are required reading at film studios, on the sets of television series, and at most film schools
Her students include thousands of successful and prolific directors, actors, writers, and producers. Her international presence includes 17 years of workshops at the Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam, as well as workshops in Berlin, Cologne, Dublin, Stockholm, Lund, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Milan, Strasbourg, Belgrade, Utrecht, Geneva, Zurich, Penzance, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, St. John’s, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, and Cape Town. She has been on the faculty of USC, the American Film Institute, and the Los Angeles Film School; she's been a guest lecturer at UCLA, Film Independent Project Involve, Tisch School of the Arts Asia, AFI DWW, Cal State Universities at Long Beach and Northridge, Cinewomen, and Women in Film.
After maintaining for 30 years a full schedule of classes, workshops, and special events, in 2015 Judith closed her Los Angeles studio. But she hasn't stopped giving support and guidance to filmmakers. She continues to offer one-on-one consultation for directors and writer-directors.
She's also been giving Zoom workshops for schools, festivals, and organizations—Tisch/NYU, Tallinn University (Estonia), UNCSA, UC Riverside, GA Southern U, FSU, Kings College London, Directors Guild of Canada, New Orleans Film Festival, Sony TV Diverse Directors Program, Film Hub/BFI, to name a few. If your organization is interested in organizing a zoom workshop with Judith, please contact john@judithweston.com.
Judith is married to John Hoskins: John is Judith’s secret weapon; nothing is possible without John. They share a home and garden in Venice, CA. Together they support Judith’s clients and stand ready at all times to celebrate the storytelling community.
For the longer version of Judith’s bio, including a full history of the evolution of workshops at her Los Angeles Studio, go to Extended Bio.