Michelle Danner is a film and stage director, an author, and a world-renowned acting
coach. She teaches her Golden Box Acting workshops in South America, Europe,
Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai, New York, Sydney and Australia. It was her father,
Alexander Valdez, who opened the very first William Morris Agency in Paris, France,
that instilled a strong passion and work ethic that has stayed with her throughout her
life.
Michelle has taught acting for the last 30 years and has worked with many
A-List Actors privately and on set including: Chris Rock, Gerard Butler, Seth
MacFarlane, Penelope Cruz, Melanie Brown, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Verne Troyer, Grant
Bowler, Kate Del Castillo, Michael Pena, Isla Fisher, Common, Jennifer Grant, Salma
Hayek, Chris Martin, Brian McKnight, James Franco, Marcia Cross, Christian Slater,
Catherine Bell, Zooey Deschanel, Gabrielle Union, Justin Chatwin, Jennifer Coolidge,
Justine Wadell, Rob Estes, Rick Fox, Henry Cavill, Michelle Rodriguez, Seychelle
Gabriel,Rita Ora and many others.
Voted favorite acting coach by Backstage readers. She was brought in for her
expert coaching on the WB show The Starlet and was featured with Andy Richter on
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.
Michelle trained extensively in Paris and New York with Stella Adler and Uta
Hagen. She was the Managing Director of the Larry Moss Studio since its inception in
Los Angeles for 20 years.
She is the Founding Director of the Creative Center for the Arts (formerly
known as the Edgemar Center for the Arts) and raised $1.3 million to construct the
two theaters and the art gallery at the Center. At the opening ceremony, Steven
Spielberg commented, “Here we have a venue that can turn out some extremely
experienced, daring and resourceful artists.” She served as Artistic Director of the
Edgemar Center for the Arts for the last 20 years, now Creative Center for the Arts, and
teaches ongoing classes at the Michelle Danner Studio and the Los Angeles Acting
Conservatory.
Michelle has directed and acted in over thirty plays and musicals in New York
and Los Angeles. Her favorite acting credits include Tennessee William’s The Rose
Tattoo , which garnered critic picks and awards including best actress; House of Yes ,
Bright Ideas , Ibsen’s Ghosts , and One White Crow .
Her highlights at Edgemar have been pioneering new works that include The
Night of the Black Cat , a world premiere and winner of the 2005 Best Musical of the
Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards, which had a revival as recently as 2016. She
directed the world premiere of Mental the Musical , winner of several 17th Annual
TicketHolder awards for acting and musical score. She wrote and directed the world
premiere of You’re on the Air , an improv based comedy which is in development to
become a movie. She directed the west coast premiere of Hello Herman by John
Buffalo Mailer and co-directed Jane Fonda in The Court of Public Opinion starring
Academy Award and Golden Globe Nominee Anne Archer. The play Vanya and Sonia
and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang won 5 Scenies, StageSceneLA Awards,
including for best actress in a Comedy for Michelle’s portrayal of Sonia.
Her acting film credits include playing the part of Alexandra, the psychic, in the
feature film Ovation directed by Henry Jaglom as well as Mrs. Mack in Reach directed
by Leif Rokesh.
Michelle also produced and acted in the award-winning short film Dos
Corazones, which premiered at the Nashville Film Festival and went on to win Best
Cinematography & Audience Favorite at the Malibu Film Festival.
In 2006, she made her feature film directing debut How to go Out on a Date in
Queens , which was nominated and won four L.A. Film Awards including Best
Director. It starred Jason Alexander, Esai Morales, Ron Perlman, Kimberly Williams,
Rob Estes and Alison Eastwood.
Her second film Hello Herman starring Norman Reedus (AMC’s The Walking
Dead), Martha Higareda, and Garrett Backstrom. The film premiered at the
Hollywood Film Festival and had its international premiere at the Monaco Charity
Film Festival where it won the award for social relevance. It opened theatrically
nationwide and was distributed by Warner Brothers.
The Bandit Hound, a family comedy starring Catherine Bell, Lou Ferigno, Judd
Nelson, Paul Sorvino, and Verne Troyer, was released in 2016. In 2017, Michelle shot a
short documentary about Mariana Rizo Sigueme, a transgender Mexican Woman with
a fascinating story to tell. The Documentary premiered at the Cinema At The Edge
Film Festival in 2018 and has since been shown in several prominent LGBT and Latin
Film Festival all across the US, including Indianapolis LGBT, Tampa Bay Latin and
OutFest Fusion in Los Angeles.
Michelle’s film, Bad Impulse, premiered in the US in December 2020 with a
wonderful cast including Paul Sorvino, Sonya Walger, Grant Bowler and Dan Lauria.
Bad Impulse is a psychological thriller that successfully played at many Film Festivals,
winning both Audience and Jury awards including: Audience Award for Best Feature
Film at the Golden State Film Festival, Best Director for a Feature Film at the Culver
City Film festival and Best Feature Film at the London International and Manhattan
Film Festivals.
Michelle’s film, The Runner, an action-thriller, is starring Cameron Douglas,
Elisabeth Rohm, Nadji Jeter, Eric Balfour, Kerri Medder, Jessica Amlee and Edouard
Phillipponnat and was released by Saban Films in 2022. This is a very personal story
about children getting lost in the war on drugs and paying the price for it. The Runner
premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival in March 2021 and screened at the Houston
WorldFest as well as Internationally at the Ischia Global Film Festival, winning Best
Independent Feature Film as well as best Cinematography at the Toronto Independent
Film Festival and Best Director at the Vancouver Film Festival, Paris Play Festival,
Milan Gold Award and L’age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival.
Her latest Film, Miranda’s Victim, was filmed in New Jersey in the summer of
2022 and will premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in early 2023
starring Abigail Breslin, Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Emily VanCamp, Mireille Enos,
Josh Bowman, Andy Garcia and Donald Sutherland. It’s a riveting true story of the
creation of the Miranda Rights told from the perspective of the victim.
She filmed the family comedy The Italians during the strike with a SAG interim
agreement, starring Matthew Daddario, Rob Estes, Perrey Reeves, Olivia Luccardi,
Lainia Kazan and Abigail Breslin.
She is in development for her next projects including the Rom-Com Under the
Stars and Starstruck, a Sci-Fi thriller, Helios and The Uninvited, a true story about
life and fame.
She is putting the finishing touches on her acting book, The Golden Box , which
will be released this year as well as the one-woman show A Ticket to the Circus,
starring Anne Archer, about the life of Norris Church Mailer, the wife of Norman
Mailer.
www.imdb.me/michelledanner
www.losangelesactingconservatory.com
www.michelledanner.com
www.creativecenterforthearts.com
www.allinfilms.com
www.cinemaattheedge.com