The Instructors
Peachtree City Actor's Workshop Brings Hollywood Experience
Two veteran Hollywood actors have launched a new acting workshop in Peachtree City, offering eight-week courses grounded in practical technique and professional headshots — with a bigger vision for a full-time, year-round theater company.
Talent is overrated. Effort and technique are the keys to all of it.
Jeffrey Pierce
The first line of Jeffrey’s obituary is likely to mention his BAFTA-award nominated work as Tommy Miller in THE LAST OF US games and his subsequent role in the Emmy Award-winning HBO series of the same name. His career spans thirty years of theater, film, television, and video games, most recently starring alongside Robert Sean Leonard, Kerry Bishé, and Alec Baldwin in indie thriller INGRESS.
He has appeared in more than 120 hours of TV and streaming series, from Guest Stars to Recurring Guest Leads, to Series Regular roles and starred in video games including playing Jason Bourne in THE BOURNE CONSPIRACY, THE LAST OF US series, CALL OF DUTY: WWII and a host of others.
Prior to that he cut his teeth in regional theater, joining the Society of American Fight Directors where he mastered stage combat, hand-to-hand, rapier and dagger, broadsword, and quarterstaff, which he put to work touring the US and Canada for two years with The American Shakespeare Center's Shakespeare Express, followed by two years working, teaching, and choreographing violence for world-renowned Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts.
In 1996 he moved to Los Angeles and began his pursuit of a career on screen. His breakthrough role came as John F. Kennedy Jr, followed by playing opposite Academy Award winners Catherine Keener and Al Pacino in S1M0NE. He has worked non-stop ever since.
Throughout his time in Los Angeles, he mentored actors on career administration, helping them understand how to turn their dreams into practical daily pursuit of a career. He also continued teaching stage combat to actors and worked with Phillip at the Inner City Shakespeare Ensemble in South Central Los Angeles, choreographing fights for productions of OTHELLO and ROMEO AND JULIET.
Eleven years ago he came to Peachtree City to shoot four episodes of DROP DEAD DIVA. He fell in love with PTC and moved here with his family after shooting wrapped. He currently lives in The Bubble with his wife, daughter, and dogs when he’s not traveling for work.
Phillip Rhys Chaudhary
Phillip is an award-winning director and actor. Born in London to a mixed-race, inter family, he brings over 25 years of industry experience, with more than 100 hours of TV credits, including 24 (SAG nomination), Doctor Who, Nip/Tuck, BBC's Survivors, and FX's The Full Monty, based on the Oscar-nominated film. And yes, he was Proto-Zoa, the intergalactic rockstar in The Disney Channel’s iconic films Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century.
His early exposure to multiple cultures, global travel, and an "interesting family life" shaped his deep fascination with human behavior, emotion, and connection.
Drawing from diverse methods and mentors, Phillip has developed an intuitive, collaborative approach to working with actors—always in service of performance, truth, and storytelling.
As a director, he has helmed documentaries, theatre productions, and commercials for L'Oréal, as well as the hit ABC/Hulu medical drama The Good Doctor. He has co-written three feature films and is developing "The Scarecrow," a feature adaptation of his Tribeca Film Festival-winning short starring Sandra Oh.
An alumnus of the Sundance Institute and the Directors Guild of America Mentorship Program and a two-time ABC/Disney Directing Fellow, Phillip has worked with visionary talents, including Ryan Murphy, Al Pacino, Bret Easton Ellis, Steven Spielberg, and Dennis Hopper.
As a teacher, he has coached talent at all levels, including Emmy-nominated actors and Broadway stars. His goal is to inspire and motivate while providing a genuine understanding of what it means to be an actor in today's world.
As a father, he values the lasting impact of teachers who genuinely invest in their students' growth—and sees every class as an opportunity to continue learning himself.
A lover of cinema, tennis, food & travel. Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!
Gena Shaw
Gena Shaw is an actress with more than two decades of experience in television and film. A New Jersey native, she began her career as a teenager in the New York market before relocating to Los Angeles, where she continued building a diverse body of work across both mediums.
Her credits include series regular roles in television pilots, numerous guest-starring appearances, leading roles in independent films, and more than 40 national commercials. She has appeared in projects such as NCIS, Revenge, Cobra Kai, and Dopesick, with additional projects soon to be announced.
Beyond acting, Gena has long been interested in the collaborative work that happens behind the camera. Over the years, she has worked in a range of crew positions—including craft services, production assistant, costumes, and art department—experiences that have deepened her respect for the artistry and teamwork required to bring a production to life. She has also written and directed her own short films.
In 2018, she relocated to Atlanta for what was meant to be a one-year stay and quickly fell in love with the city. She continues to work as both an actress and set decorator, co-runs an animal welfare nonprofit, and creates distinctive “trash art”—a passion project best experienced in person.
Leticia Andrade
Leticia Andrade is the owner and photographer at Leticia Andrade Studio, just south of Atlanta, a space built on artistry and connection.
Born and raised in Brazil, she moved to the United States in the early 90s. She studied art history, spent a decade in fashion, then stepped away to raise her family before opening her own studio in 2016.
Leticia approaches photography as a craft, where every session starts with her connection with her subject, she believes the strongest images come from people who feel seen, not just photographed. That really matters when creating headshots, where one frame has to hold presence, range, and truth all at once.
She's a Portrait Masters Associate and the creator behind the Beauty is a Feeling™ campaign and The As You Are movement, with work featured in photography publications and guest appearances on business and self-care podcasts.
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