ACTNOW! is dedicated to building confidence and character in young people, primarily adolescent girls. In our core program, the ACTNOW! staff helps players create their very own short movie in the course of one day. The players select a site, invent a story, create characters, improvise scenes on camera and screen the result within 24 hours. *
ACTNOW! uses MOVIExperience™, David Shepherd's** method of creating improvisational movies. Shepherd, whose role in producing professional improvisational theater in Chicago in the 1950's earned him the nickname "father of improv," is credited with launching the careers of Alan Alda, Elaine May, Mike Nichols and many more.
ACT NOW! is a non-profit organization supported by a multitude of people. Nancy Fletcher*** is the founder and executive director. The agency is governed by a board of nine directors, including David Shepherd, and guided by an international committee of 50 female E-visors.
The ACTNOW! staff also consists of a stable of female coaches and videographers who lead the programs and tape the movies. Interns from various colleges and volunteers augment the staff. Currently being organized is The Interactors, a group of people interested in movie making and improvisation who have participated in programs with ACT NOW! Inc. and/or with David Shepherd's Group Creativity Projects, Inc. Additionally, a number of prominent female actors who have lent their name to the effort comprise the Star Council.
*The brainstorm can take place one or two weeks prior to the shoot day.
** In 1955, David Shepherd revolutionized American Comedy as the original producer of professional improvisational theatre that launched the careers of Elaine May, Mike Nichols, Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Shelley Berman and others. That theater, COMPASS, marked the beginning of the Saturday Night Live type of humor. He has since developed many other formats that have positively impacted society, one of which inspired the Canadian Improv Games and has been used in over 350 Canadian high schools for over 25 years. Another is called MOVIExperience™ and is the basis for ACTNOW!
*** Nancy Fletcher drew on her diverse background to found ACTNOW! As Youth Activities Director for G. Fox, she conducted social service projects with teen girls for three years in Hartford, CT. She chronicled the benefits of single gender education for women when marketing Mount Holyoke College as its Public Relations Director. She also produced and directed over 20 video projects as owner of Equinox Documentary and Promotional Video. A founder of two successful businesses, Fletcher established the Women Business Owners Coalition. She has been featured in: The New York Times, Vogue, Connecticut Business Journal, New Haven Magazine and The Boston Globe.