ZBS Immersives
The ZBS Immersives is an in-depth, hybrid training spanning several areas of professional and artistic concentration throughout the year. Taught by the incomparable ZBS Faculty, who combine their extensive professional experience in film and television, with their experience at many of the great conservatories from around the world: Julliard, NYU, Suny Purchase, The Old Globe, Trinity Rep, American Conservatory Theater, The Actors Studio and so on.
The program weaves personal development, with artistic craft and industry needs resulting in actors who know themselves and the market and can consistently access what makes them grounded, indispensable, and creatively resilient.
The program meets 2-3 days/week, the classes are Hybrid (Online + In-person) and is structured with various entry points, allowing students to commit to 16 weeks or yearly increments. As the Immersive is primarily designed for working actors, specific accommodations are made to allow actors to work while in the program and pause their membership for larger bookings.
The Vertical Format Lab: Decoding the Future of Media Immersive
A 16-Week, 3-Times-a-Week Creative Immersive
The entertainment industry is shifting at lightning speed, and vertical “short-form” narrative storytelling is the new frontier. The rules of this medium haven’t been fully written yet—which means the creators who map them out right now will own the space.
The Vertical Format Lab is not a standard acting or writing class. It is a high-intensity, collaborative think tank and R&D lab designed for actors and writers who want to pioneer this space rather than just react to it.
Over 4 months, we operate as a real-time industry research and development team. Every 4 weeks, we dissect a traditional Hollywood genre and radically re-engineer it for the vertical screen:
- WEEK 1: THE BLUEPRINT | Deep-dive acting work on a traditional TV genre (e.g., procedural dramas like NCIS).
- WEEK 2: THE TRANSLATION | Deconstruct and adapt the acting process for that specific genre, shifting it to the unique pacing and framing of the 9:16 vertical screen.
- WEEK 3: THE WORK | High-volume writing, script polishing, and rehearsal continuing with that same genre in the vertical space.
- WEEK 4: THE INDUSTRY LAB | A live, in-room showcase of the work developed in that genre over the month. Heads of development from major vertical apps, showrunners, and casting directors enter the lab to see what we’ve created, workshop their own pipeline material with the room, and actively scout talent.
Why This Model Works: Industry leaders aren’t just coming to give feedback—they are entering the room because they want to see what we’ve discovered about the performance styles and pacing required for the 9:16 screen. By functioning as full, forward-thinking creators and solving these creative challenges together, participants build organic, deep-seated industry bonds rooted in active, live creation.
Please note: This program is offered for educational, training, and professional development purposes only. Participation is not a promise of employment, auditions, casting opportunities, agency or management representation, career advancement, or any specific professional result.
Entry points for the Immersive happen every few weeks so please see the schedule below, and contact us via email at info@zakbarnett.com for entry dates and availability. The Immersive details are as follows:
For Adults:
immersive Details:
Dates:
Begins – Jul, 13 2026 (16-weeks)
Schedule:
Every Mon, Wed & Fri – 10:30 AM to 1 PM PT (2.5 hours/day)
Format:
Class IS HYBRID (ONLINE & IN-PERSON)
Pricing:
$3500 (Class meets 3 DAYS/WEEK for 16 weeks)
ZBS GUEST STAR Immersive
In the ZBS Guest Star Immersive, actors develop a heightened sensitivity to tone, style, and character function, as they take a deep dive into the guest star and recurring roles across genres and networks. Attention is paid to making bold, smart choices consistent with the world of the show, and the function of their role within a particular genre, ie what is the function of a guest star in a procedural drama vs a serial drama? What about a single-cam vs. a multi-cam? The Immersive includes an in-depth study of the six major television genres: Single-Cam, Multi-Cam, Procedural Drama, Serial Drama, Sci-Fi, and Hybrid (a combination of genres). Actors will work on genre-based text analysis and self-tape and practice various live callback scenarios as they expand their skills, hone their craft, and empower their confidence. Like all of the immersives, the Guest Star Immersive can be taken online or in-person and can be taken by itself for the full 16 weeks, or in combination with either of the immersives that come before or after.
Entry points for the ZBS Guest Star Immersive happen every few weeks so please see the schedule below, and contact us via email at info@zakbarnett.com for entry dates and availability. The Immersive details are as follows:
immersive Details:
Dates:
TBD (16-WEEKS)
Schedule:
Mon, Wed & Fri – 10:30 AM to 1 PM PT (2.5 hours/day)
FORMAT:
CLASS IS HYBRID (ONLINE & IN-PERSON)
Pricing:
$3500 (3 DAYS/WEEK)
ZBS SUMMER CAMPS
Young professional Actors Camp (YPAC)
The key to each actor’s creative genius lies in their sense of play. Too often, we think that mining our pain will lead to our best performance – when what is most often overlooked is tapping into our joy. ZBS YPAC is 5 days a week, in-person summer camp at our studio, and an excellent program for Young Actors to fully immerse themselves in their craft. Taught by the incomparable ZBS faculty, we combine the meaningful, professional, and holistic training ZBS is known for, with some true summer fun! To know more about ZBS YPAC Summer Camp, reach out to us at info@zakbarnett.com.