INDEPENDENT DRAMA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Instructor at the Aerial Studio California
Austin is an instructor at The Aerial Studio California and has worked as aerial director, rigger, captain and stunt performer with the likes of Keanu Reeves, Orlando Bloom, Ralph Fiennes and Placido Domingo.
Job Titles:
- ID FIGHT CO - DIRECTOR / MASTER TEACHER - BRITISH ACADEMY of DRAMATIC COMBAT
Dan's film coordinating credits include Avengement with Scott Adkins, Marine: Close Quarters, for WWE studios, Accident Man, starring Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White and Ray Park, and Rise of the Footsoldier 3 and 4.
Theatre work includes productions appearing at The London Palladium, Her Majesty's Theatre, The National Theatre Shed, Soho Theatre, The Curve Theatre, Leicester, and more.
Dan was also on the stunt team for Vikings(seasons 5 and 6) and has performed fights in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Thor: The Dark World, Snow White and the Huntsman, and many more.
Job Titles:
- MOVEMENT & STAGE COMBAT TEACHER - BRITISH ACADEMY of DRAMATIC COMBAT
Dave originally trained as an actor at the Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin. After several years working as an actor and developing his craft through continued study, Dave moved into actor movement training.
Dave holds a master's degree in movement: directing and teaching, from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where he currently teaches on the Ma Screen Acting course. His work focuses primarily on long term process work developing the actor's body and expression through focus on fundamental body-work, form and awareness.
Job Titles:
- TEACHER - BRITISH ACADEMY of STAGE & SCREEN COMBAT
Jonathan is a BASSC Certified Teacher. He has been involved with the BASSC since 2012 and was elected to their executive committee in 2020.
Since joining ID Fight in 2016, Jonathan has become a veteran member of staff on BASSC courses and Combat Labs. Elsewhere he has worked and volunteered at the British National Stage Combat Workshop, Moving Body Arts, and various drama schools and universities in the UK.
Outside of stage combat Jonathan achieved a brown belt in judo, was a competitive gymnast, and is a certified gymnastics coach with over a decade of teaching experience.
Job Titles:
- ID FIGHT CO - DIRECTOR / MASTER TEACHER - BRITISH ACADEMY of STAGE & SCREEN
Ronin has directed action for +450 productions in the UK and overseas.
Sydney is in actor and fight director based in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 15 years of stage combat experience. She has trained with the Society of American Fight Directors, BASSC, Stage Combat Deutschland, and others.
Fight Directing credits include American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, B Street Theatre, and many others. She has performed nationally and internationally. Sydney teaches stage combat for the MFA students at ACT as well as various other locations throughout the Bay Area.
Job Titles:
- TEACHER - BRITISH ACADEMY of STAGE & SCREEN COMBAT
Taylor Chadwell has been a Certified Teacher for the BASSC since 2014 and is currently serving his second term as the organisation's Vice President.
He holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Catawba College, North Carolina, and an MFA in Physical Theatre from the Accademia dell'Arte in Arezzo, Italy.
Along various teaching assignments for ID Fight, Taylor has taught stage combat at The Royal Birmingham Conservatory, the Accademia dell'Arte, Simone Belli Combatimento Scenico in Milan, and The British National Stage Combat Workshop in London.
In addition, Taylor is a performer and fight choreographer for Flights of Angels Shakespeare Company in Italy, and has performed fights for stage and screen in Italy, France, the UK, the USA, and Russia.
Tom's skills have enabled him to get work on numerous productions where he has been blown up, thrown through the air, knocked over and generally hit the floor a lot whilst dying on everything from theatre stages to concrete.
Over the years Tom has designed his own system and series for teaching falls, in what he describes as a "From The Ground Up" approach that is designed for everyone from complete beginners to experienced performer.
Tom is an action performer with a background in various martial arts, mostly notably Aikido which he has been studying for 22 years and currently holds the rank of 2nd Dan.
Job Titles:
- TEACHER - BRITISH ACADEMY of STAGE & SCREEN COMBAT
Zhenya Leverett was classically trained as an actress in Russia, and worked in theatre and film in Moscow before moving to the UK. In London, she trained in stage combat with The British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat (BASSC). Having achieved an advanced level, she was soon able to put her combat skills to the test, as a Russian prisoner trading punches with Jodie Comer in the BAFTA winning TV series Killing Eve (2018).
Zhenya is a Certified Teacher with the BASSC and teaches at RADA, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Fourth Monkey and the Young Actors Theatre Islington.