Coach Katie Actor, Director, Producer
Katie O’Grady is founder and owner of Acting for Kids & Teens, the Northwest’s premier acting studio, located in The Studio NW, that trains and launches young actors. She believes all kids should have a safe place to express themselves and explore their creativity.
Katie is also one of the Northwest’s most sought after actresses. She can be seen on NETFLIX, NBC, IFC, Showtime and more. She has shot in hundreds of commercials and made her way through the film festivals circuits many times with the indie films she has starred in. She is a working actor that loves being part of new projects.
Her passion for acting has taken her from Los Angeles to New York City to study with renowned coaches Susan Batson and Laurel Smith. Her TV credits include: 8 seasons of Portlandia, Leverage, and Grimm. She has shared screen time alongside Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Justin Long, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro. She played, Claire, in the film, I Was There (2016).
She also starred as Meris in The New York Times Critics’ Pick film, Rid of Me, which earned her a place on the Hollywood Reporter’s prestigious Oscar Watch List and a nomination alongside Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Sara Jessica Parker for the The Women’s Film Critics Circle Best Comedic Actress award.
Rid of Me is a hilarious, meticulously crafted and heart-felt little film, and features a true comedic star turn from actress Katie O’Grady. Francesca McCaffery, VIMOOZ.
In addition to being and actor and coach, Katie owns and runs Alcove Productions, LLC where she directs and produces films, commercials, music videos and children’s movies. Commercials include the Emmy Award winning “Growing Up Rip City” – Portland Trailblazers 50th anniversary commercial, Carrera Sunglasses, Plasmon Baby Food, BMW/Mercedes, to name a few. Films by Alcove Productions include:
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Hot in the Zipper, a 1940s screwball comedy, that premiered at Palm Springs Film Festival;
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Courage in a Time of Fear: A Practical Guide to Ending Bullying a short documentary/narrative about bullying and
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The Gift of Gravity, a short film about teen girls and bullying.
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Undeserved, a faith based feature film that won critical acclaim and was nominated for multiple awards at the International Christian Film Festival including Best Supporting Actress: Katie O’Grady. It also won Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Film at the Churches Making Movies Film Festival.
One must go on,
on ’til one can go no further…
and even go beyond that!
Coach Sonya Actor & Acting Coach
Sonya Davis is an award-winning writer, producer, director, and actor for over 15 years. She has appeared in television shows, independent films, and many commercials over this time. Recently, she starred in the short film “This Vast and Mysterious Ocean” working with a former student of hers!
Television credits include NBC’s Grimm, TNT’s The Librarians, and Amazon Prime’s Vindication. Sonya has worked extensively on commercials for companies such as Columbia Sportswear, Intel, Microsoft, Fiverr, Progresso Soup, Dell, Toyo Tires, Les Schwab, Osmo Little Geniuses, Kroger and Fred Meyer to name a few. Other film credits include independent features such as The Sugar Moon Tribe, The Virgins, Emily, Death Pool, Besetment, and The Butterfly Guard. Short films include the beautiful and heart wrenching true story “I Am Dust” where she played opposite the talented April Billingsley from The Walking Dead, Seattle sci-fi thriller “Alvin”, provocative and intimate “Side Order”, award-winning crime drama “Vengeance for Chloe Darling”, and “Details” directed by the one and only Jason Mewes to name a few.
Sonya hosts a podcast, “Swirled” and creates content for the Swirl Your Life channel on YouTube which features her travel show: Swirl World, production company Swirl Films, as well as other creative content.
She is a house team improviser at Curious Comedy Theatre in Portland and brings her experience from studios all over, including Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshops, UCB and Lonsdale-Smith Studios in Los Angeles to the students at Acting for Kids and Teens.
She received her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Oregon where she spent her final term in London for the Intensive Acting Program. She believes everyone with the drive has the ability to be an actor and this is reflected in her encouraging and inspired teaching style.
Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in.
Coach Kurt Film, TV & Stage Actor
Kurt Conroyd is a graduate of Willamette University and studied at Studio Magenia in Paris, France. He has performed with Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Miracle Theatre, and Portland Playhouse, among others. He has been awarded both the Drammy and OTAS awards for Outstanding Actor.
In 2010 Kurt moved to Chicago where he trained with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, working with actors such as, Amy Morton and K. Todd Freeman. He also worked closely with Second City founding father, the late Sheldon Patinkin. In Chicago, Kurt performed with The Gift Theatre, Pavement Group, Stage Left, Collaboraction, and Sideshow Project.
Kurt’s film credits include Wild, Wild Blue, Life and Death of Unhappily Married Man, Birds of Neptune, Zilla and Zoe, and recently filmed Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete. Kurt appeared in FrenchKissTV‘s comedy web-series The Hundredaires (creative producer David Cross). Currently he co-stars in the hit comedy web-series The Benefits of Gusbandry, which has received rave reviews from A.V. Club, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly.
The unknown is where we go to find new things
and intuition is how we find them.
Coach Eric Actor & Voice Over Expert
Eric Martin Reid has been acting professionally for over 15 years. He is a graduate of the Professional Actor’s Training Program at the Dell’Arte International School for Physical Theatre and has studied Advanced Meisner with Actor’s Avenue Studio. He was recently seen on stage as Watson in the Pulitzer Prize nominated play The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence. He also wrote the screenplay and played the lead in the film Six Nights, produced by Limbo Films.
Eric has taught many acting and storytelling workshops as well as with Playwrite Inc, Eric has worked on stage with Sojourn and Coho Theatres and in televison as a Guest Star on Grimm, Leverage, and a couple turns in Portlandia. Some of his commercial credits include Discover Card, Suzuki, Coors Light, Kroger and Oregon Lottery. As a writer/director Eric’s first short film Kidz won Best Comedy at the NW Short Film Festival.
Eric is also an experienced voiceover actor and coach with credits at Dell, Safelite, Microsoft, and Eddie Bauer as well as commercial, narration and audiobooks.
Only someone who is ready for everything, who doesn't exclude any experience, even the most incomprehensible, will live the relationship with another person as something alive and will then sound the depths of their own being.
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
Hailee More Front Desk, Actress
Hailee More is one of our friendly faces at The Studio NW Front Desk! She is an aspiring young actress, she loves to sing and write. She recently graduated from Wilson High school in Portland Oregon and will be attending University of Oregon in the Fall. She has worked on may sets as a Production Assistant and has been in Make-A-Movies such as Street Kids, The Facility. H?NT, and The Hallways.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they go right, and sometimes good things fall about so better things can fall together.”
- Marilyn Monroe
Kilee Rheinsburg AFK&T Social Media Marketing, Front Desk & Stage Actor
Kilee Rheinsburg trained at Willamette University, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, & Third Rail Repertory, fostering her passion and experience for the stage.
Kilee has worked with various companies in Oregon and Chicago ranging from Profile Theatre, Third Rail Repertory, Experience Theatre Project, and Theatre Unspeakable. Most notably, her love of physical sports has helped create a deep connection to ensemble-based performance; rooting herself in devising, physical work.
If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
- Roald Dahl
