Current Projects
Empowerhouse Acting Studio produces film and theatre projects under Melissa Thompson Esaia's production company, Kina'ole Pictures. Casting for projects is unique in that these productions consist of actors all professionally trained in the Meisner Technique.
Proof
Co-produced by Melissa Thompson Esaia, Alicia Mason, Joseph Walters and Brandon Michael Hall and co-directed by Melissa Thompson Esaia and David Lear, this production features an all Meisner technique trained cast.
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Catherine (Alicia Mason) has inherited her late father’s mathematical brilliance, but she is haunted by the fear that she might also share his debilitating mental illness. She has spent years caring for her now-deceased father (Joseph Walters), and upon his death, she feels left alone to pick up the pieces of her life without him. Caught between a new-found connection with Hal (Brandon Michael Hall), one of her father’s former students, and the reappearance of her sister, Claire (Melissa Thompson Esaia), Catherine finds both her world and her mind growing increasingly unstable. Then Hal discovers a groundbreaking proof among the 103 notebooks Catherine’s father left behind, and Catherine is forced to further question how much of her father’s genius or madness will she inherit.
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This production took place in January 2020 at the Un-Scripted Theater in San Francisco. Click HERE to read the review from Theatrius.
A Beginner's Guide to Saving the World
We are currently in post-production on our feature length documentary film, A Beginner's Guide to Saving the World, featuring musicians Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, The Cult, Velvet Revolver) and Michael Franti, and Ric O'Barry (The Cove, Flipper).
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We are currently seeking post-production funding. If you'd like to help get us complete and release this important film, please contact us!