Uta Hagen. She was the Managing Director of the Larry Moss Studio since it was founded in Los Angeles from 1990-2010. She is the Founding Director of Edgemar Center for the Arts and raised $1.3 million which went to the construction of the two theatres and the art gallery at the Center. She is currently serving as Artistic Director and teaches ongoing classes at the Michelle Danner Studio, housed at Edgemar.
She teaches internationally in Europe, Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai, and New York. This year she will be teaching in Sydney, Australia and Capetown. Michelle was voted favorite acting coach by Backstage readers. She has directed the multi media event Scene Bites; was the acting coach expert on comedy on the WB show The Starlet; and was featured coaching Andy Richter on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien in July 2009. She has directed and acted in over thirty plays and musicals in New York and Los Angeles. Her favorite acting credits include Tennessee William’s The Rose Tattoo, which garnered LA Weekly Critic’s Pick and five Dramalogue awards, including Best Actress. Her highlights at Edgemar Center for the Arts have been pioneering new works include producing The Night of the Black Cat, a world premiere and winner of the 2005 Best Musical of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards.
She directed the world premiere of Mental the Musical, winner of several 17th Annual TicketHolder awards for acting and musical score. She wrote and directed the world premiere of You’re on the Air, an improv-based comedy which is under development to become a movie. She directed the West Coast premiere of Hello Herman by John Buffalo Mailer, and co-directed Jane Fonda in the Court of Public Opinion starring Anne Archer. This year she starred in a modern adaptation of Henrik Iben’s Ghosts. Last year she was awarded the Rainbow Award by Los Angeles Women in Theatre. Michelle produced and acted in the award-winning short film Dos Corazones, which premiered at the Nashville Film Festival and went on to win Best Cinematography & Audience Favorite at the Malibu Film Festival. In 2006 she made her feature film-directing debut How to go Out on a Date in Queens which was nominated and won four LA Film Awards including Best Director. It starred Jason Alexander, Esai Morales, Ron Perlman, Kimberly Williams, Rob Estes, and Alison Eastwood. It was theatrically released in 2006.
It aired nationwide on the Sunday Night Movie of the Week on Memorial Day weekend 2008. Her production company, All in Films, have several film projects in development: You’re on the Air, The Bandit Hound, and The Will To. In April 2011 she completed principal photography on the feature film Hello Herman starring Norman Reedus (AMC’s The Walking Dead), Martha Higareda, and Garrett Backstrom which premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival to a sold-out audience. The film will had its international premiere on May 11, 2013 at the Monaco Charity Film Festival. It will opened nationwide on June 7th, 2013 and be available on VOD in 100 million homes across the U.S. She has two books coming out in 2013, The Daily Ritual and The Golden Box.
