Chi was born and raised in Vietnam and moved to Australia on her own when she was sixteen to pursue the performing arts. Chi is a graduate of The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) where she received the Grace Marion Wilson Scholarship for Excellence in Acting.

Chi’s most recent TV credits are recurring roles Megan Vu in Amazon Prime’s original series Class of ’07, Jeanette Dao in Amazon Prime’s original series The Wilds, Tanya in Netflix’s VIDEOLAND and Juliana in ABC/Netflix’s FISK – for which Chi also co-developed two episodes with Kitty Flanagan. Chi also played Au Pair in Victoria Thane’s web series Sonia and Cherry and starred in the first ever Vietnamese-Australian comedy web series Phi and Me, which she is currently co-writing season 2 for under Screen Australia's support.

In the theatrical realm, some of Chi’s highlights include her Vietnamese dialogue writing credit and performance as Mum/Amber in Melbourne Theatre Company's LAURINDA (dir. Petra Kalive), for which was nominated Outstanding Performance by the Green Room Awards; River in Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s FAST FOOD (dir. Bridget Balodis); Doctor Tam (lead) in The Shift Theatre’s Hallowed Ground: Women Doctors In War (toured with Regional Arts Victoria and internationally to Edinburgh Fringe 2019) and Lead Player in Arena Theatre Company’s AIR RACE (dir. Christian Leavesley). Chi also worked on Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s FLAKE (dir. Ella Caldwell) as a co-creator and creative consultant for its premiere season in 2023.

In 2019, Chi wrote and performed a season of her debut solo comedy cabaret LOTUS (Nominated for Best Cabaret - Melbourne Fringe 2019) about her life as a Vietnamese immigrant in Australia, which was developed through her Artist Residency with City of Melbourne's SIGNAL. Currently, Chi is writing a new musical comedy series called Miss Saigon-Wrong, which thus far has received support from Creative Victoria and Brimbank Council’s Be Bold Artist Residency 2021.

Linda is a distinguished dialect coach whose expertise spans film, television, theatre, and corporate training. Her notable credits as a dialect coach include "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" (2016), "Jungle" (2017), "Shantaram" (2022), "Year Of" (2023), and "Wellmania" (2023). In theatre, she has worked on the Australian tours of "Shrek," "The Bodyguard," "We Will Rock You," "Legends," "The Rocky Horror Show," "Dirty Dancing," "Annie the Musical," and Opera Australia's "The Merry Widow." Holding advanced degrees from Charles Sturt University, NIDA, and Wollongong University, Linda has taught voice at NIDA and coached actors globally.

Zoe is a young, exciting and vibrant teacher who is loved by our younger students.

Holding a certificate III in Theatre and Screen Performance from the National Theatre and a Certificate IV in Music Theatre from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) Zoe is also a graduate of our Full-Time program.

While training at APS Zoe played roles such as, Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Directed by Francis Greenslade) Clytemnestra/Tyndarues in Electra.Heart.Orestes, and Ophelia in Der Hamletmachine (Both directed by head of course, Briony Dunn)

Zoe has written a number of self devised cabarets, and most recently had the pleasure of performing her solo cabaret, “Zoe is a Cabaret” at Chapel Off Chapel for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, under the guidance of cabaret legends, Melissa Langton and Mark Jones.

In 2015 Zoe was selected by Matthew Lee Robinson to perform his original material in Matthew Lee Robinson Presents: New Voices in Sydney and was thrilled in 2016 when she was selected again for the Melbourne season.

Zoe loves sharing her knowledge of acting for the stage and the screen with her students and helping them become the best storytellers they can be. Zoe is as passionate about her students’ craft as she is her own.

Martha originally trained as a secondary school drama and theatre studies teacher and taught in a school in London for a year, and directed multiple musicals and plays in Melbourne. She knew she had to move into special education when she facilitated drama activities with people with diverse needs on a camp. She was blown away by the depth of emotional knowledge and expression shown by people with disabilities.

Martha became a classroom teacher in a special needs school and taught for 5 years while studying a masters of special education. In her teaching practice she loves to design learning around the individual, cater environments to suit all needs and provide opportunities for individuals to be themselves, thrive, and develop a love of learning.

Martha is so excited to combine her passions of special education teaching and performance in AP studio’s new special needs screen and stage acting classes!

After graduating from the Centre for performing arts in Adelaide Mick worked with a number of professional theatre companies before a national tour brought him home to Melbourne.

Back at home Mick formed Rooftop Productions and staged sell out theatre events around Melbourne. Mick then gained a Directors residency at the famed Mietta’s, where he directed a number of highly acclaimed shows, including the Mietta’s tribute show, featuring a who’s who of Melbourne’s best-known Actors and performers.

Over his years working in theatre Mick was twice nominated for the prestigious Green Room Awards: Best Director 1999, Best Actor 2001.

Mick has regularly appeared in lead guest and on-going roles in all of Australia’s best known TV shows, including, Blue Heelers, Neighbours, Stingers, Rush, Marshal Law, State Coroner, MDA, Dr. Blake, Offspring, more than 30 commercials and two HBO movies of the week, Noahs Arc and the Klimes.

These days Mick runs a production company producing and directing TVC’s, short films, web-series and countless training and promotional videos.

Yiana Pandelis is an Australian actor, writer, artist and creative producer. They have been doing acting classes for 13 years, graduating from a Full-Time acting course at Acting Performance Studio, and trained at Stella Adler in Los Angeles, as well as 16th Street, TAFTA and several other schools. Yiana also attended film school at Swinburne University, and In 2019 made a debut as a leading actress in a film called Unsound, streaming on Netflix. Yiana was nominated Best Oceania Actress in Amsterdam for the Septimus awards Film Festival, as well as several other nominations across the globe.

Jamieson Pearce is an award-winning writer and director whose short films have played around the world. 

After working as an English teacher in Spain, Jamieson changed tack to study Directing at the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney. Straight out of film school, he was selected to direct a short film for Open Channel’s ‘Raw Nerve’ initiative and then worked as a Director’s Attachment to showrunner Peter Duncan on a season of the ABC Series Rake. 

He adapted a short story by celebrated Australian author Christos Tsiolkas to make his short film Adult which screened at the prestigious South by SouthWest Film Festival in 2017 and went on to play over twenty festivals around the world. Following this success, he won a Lexus Short Film Fellowship from Sydney Film Festival to make Strangers. With this film, he participated in Melbourne International Film Festival’s Accelerator Lab and the film has won a slew of prizes locally and internationally. His latest short, 'Thomas Rides in an Ambulance’, premiered at Flickerfest in 2022. 

He is currently developing a feature film and a mini-series. 

Taylor has been teaching singing, dancing and acting for 5 years and is now teaching from her home studio in Diamond Creek. She has worked as an assistant acting teacher for VCE Theatre Studies and on occasion volunteered as vocal coach for several high school productions. Taylor also has experience adjudicating singing and dance competitions and held an online competition for youth during Victoria’s COVID-19 Lockdown. Taylor choreographed her first show for Nillumbik Youth Productions last year and currently choreographing their 2021 production of We Will Rock You.

Taylor performed at Hisense Arena as a featured solo vocalist for the Victorian State School Spectacular (dir. Neil Gladwin), five years in a row. In 2016, Taylor graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) and was selected to feature as solo vocalist for Morning Melodies at Art Centre Melbourne. A few of Taylors theatre credits include Road/Two, The Seagull, The Hatpin, Little Shop of Horrors, 42nd Street and Spring Awakening.

My name is Charlton Schneider, I am an actor, writer, and director. I studied acting for Stage and Screen at Brave Studios where I worked with numerous field professionals in breathwork, movement, dialect, scene analysis, and performance. After graduating from an intensive year program I received management and have been put up for auditions both locally and internationally. I am also finishing my Bachelor's in Screen and Media at the Australian College of the Arts (COLLARTS) where I plan to move into a post-graduate and masters specializing in Screenwriting and Directing. I also have a production & media studio where myself and my business partner use narrative storytelling for commercials and music videos and are also working towards producing narrative films of our own. While studying I have also worked as a support worker for the NDIS where I have become well equipped and experienced with children of varying ages and capabilities. My life is the arts and all things creative and I love nothing more than to share this passion and joy with others around me.

Elizabeth Semmel. Tutor of Acting Performance Studio