My acting school closed the other day, after 40 plus years of teaching the craft of acting for film and television.
I find that I am oddly saddened by this.
The Van Mar Academy was the first acting school that I attended after moving to Los Angeles from Texas. Its founder and owner, Ivan Markota, was a dynamic, energetic, and at times, intimidating man.
I attended Van Mar for 8 years. I taught there for a few years, directed a series for the school, and learned a lot more than just acting. While I was there, the VMA seemed to be an institution that would go on even after Ivan's passing. He often talked of passing the school on to some worthy heir (in fact, for a while, I believe I was one of those on the list.)
There are a handful of students who have passed through the VMA that have moved on to fame and riches; of course, there are thousands who are still and will always be unknowns, but the VMA offered a home to us-- a place to meet, to laugh and cry together, and to grow as individuals. I remain in touch with and very close to many of my classmates from VMA; bonds that have remained intact for over 18 years. There is something special in that--other than high school, I have no deeper friends than those I made at the VMA.
Now, the school that helped forge those bonds is gone.
What I saw as an ongoing legacy to the life and efforts of a man I idolized at one time is now nothing more than a fading memory. What was to be the testament to man's life work will now be simply a recollection in the minds of those who attended. It is an unfitting end to an establishment that, like most of its students, had aspirations of greatness, of fame and riches, of immortality.
I am not privy to all the details behind the collapse of the school--I can surmise that there must have been some sort of fiscal mis-management that resulted in the eviction and subsequent closing of the school, and I'm sure when the dust settles my friends who are still involved with the school will provide more detail, but regardless of the events that transpired, nothing changes the fact that the school which provided the foundation of my professional aspirations in Hollywood is no more.
Farewell, Van Mar Academy of Motion Picture and Television Acting.
Your lessons will not soon be forgotten, nor the bonds of friendship forged in your classes soon severed, but you will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.
1 comment:
I attended school here as well and it was amazing due to the fact that at the time the Vice President of Post Production as Paramount Pictures had me go there. I learned so much from Ivan and he definitely was an intimidating man to me and Ive seen him make the toughest dude cry but at the end he taught us to withstand rejection and keep pushing forward. I was deeply saddened to know the school closed and his passing. He was a great man and truly had a love for the craft and will be missed. thanks for sharing this I ran into your post by chance as I was updating a resume for a job. Best wishes to you and your loved ones during these difficult days.
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