THOSE WHO CAN TEACH

April 18, 2023 - Faculty, Magazine

THE AMDA CLASSROOM IS JASON CHAET'S SPRINGBOARD FOR SUCCESS

ARMANDO RIESCO AND CLAUDIA MORCATE-MARTIN IN THE FEATURE FILM SENECA, DIRECTED BY JASON CHAET

Great teachers are always remembered by their students, often for their ability to instill confidence in everyone who steps foot in their classroom. For Jason Chaet, longtime faculty member at AMDA’s New York campus, inspiring future generations of artists has become a defining characteristic of his work, both onstage and off.

In addition to serving as AMDA’s Chair of the Camera Division, Jason brings a wealth of experience to AMDA’s new Acting for Camera program. Jason began his career in New York’s famed Ensemble Studio Theatre. There, he developed new works by notable playwrights, including David Mamet and Arthur Miller. Now Jason is recognized as an award-winning filmmaker, theatre director, producer and editor and accomplished acting teacher.

Jason’s multiple award–winning film Putzel has appeared in over 50 film festivals all over the world. More recently, his feature film Seneca had its world premiere at the HBO NY Latino Film Festival, going on to win multiple awards at other festivals, including the prestigious Ultra Indie Feature Prize at the Woodstock Film Festival and Best Picture and Best Director at the Phoenix Film Festival. Seneca is available to stream on HBO and HBO Max.

What are you most excited about for AMDA’s new Acting for Camera program?

It’s a tough choice because I love our on-camera acting classes so much, but if I have to pick one thing, it’s the content creation classes. It’s so important these days for artists to be multifaceted. To be able to inhabit someone else’s writing as a performer and also create your own work. It opens up so many different career paths and gives students an incredibly diverse skill set after they graduate. The chance to take multiple classes in screenwriting, basic film production, film and TV history and then eventually make your own short film — along with all the other performance opportunities — before you graduate is invaluable. It took me years after graduating from school to accumulate the skills we’ve packed into the content creation classes, and I’m really excited camera program students are getting it now.