MOVIExperience was invented by David Shepherd, the forefather of professional improvisation and lifetime advocate of theater as a social resource. David’s innovative methods helped launch the careers of many beloved actors, including Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, and Elaine May. David’s model became the precursor of Second City, The Improv Olympics and Saturday Night Live. David took his improv theater method one step further by developing a process for creating improvised, instant movies. This process, called MOVIExperience, allows groups to create, cast, produce and film quality movies about issues that matter to them.
David’s partner, Nancy Fletcher, believed the MOVIExerience could be used to build confidence and character in adolescent girls and founded ACT NOW! in 2000. Since then, more than a thousand adolescents and adults have participated in MOVIExperiences and research has proven what Nancy suspected: participating in the MOVIExperience significantly increases self-esteem and leadership qualities in adolescent girls.
In 2010, ACT NOW! hired Eve Brown-Waite to be its Executive Director. Eve has a master’s degree in public health and over 20 years of experience designing and delivering creative health education programs for adolescents. Eve has forged relationships with charter schools and colleges to expand the applications of the MOVIExperience as an educational and transformative tool.
Miriam Shafer was hired by ACT NOW! in November of 2011 as the Program Coordinator. A recent graduate of Hampshire College, Miriam has worked with a number of local agencies and organizations with an emphasis on youth empowerment and media literacy.
To deliver our programs, ACT NOW! relies on the talents and skills of experienced theater, improv and movie professionals, many of whom have completed training to be MOVIExperience coaches and have been working with us for years. They include:
Eileen Collins, Television Producer
Virginia Goodale, College Professor
Kyle Zamcheck, Hampshire College Theater Graduate
V. Haddad, Actress, Producer, Director
Anne Lorda
Becca Green-Van Horn, Actress, Drama Therapist
Carlyn Saltman, Documentary Film-maker and Professional Videographer
Leslie Mason, Professional Videographer
ACT NOW! benefits from active and dedicated interns from Hampshire, Amherst and Mount Holyoke Colleges, as well as experienced and knowledgeable volunteers from the Retired Senior Volunteer Program.
We are guided by a Board of Directors that includes:
