Tonight I was invited by Nikki Young of PrimaDonna Productions to sit on a panel of entertainment folks. We were there to provide feedback to her current crop of young acting students. There were six talented and charming kids who strutted their stuff. The panel included talent agent Brian Potts; actor, comedian, and all-around entertainer extraordinaire, Jade Esteban Estrada; and, well, myself.

I’ve been lucky enough to have Nikki reach out to me on several occasions to give feedback on her young acting students.

This time around, I think that of the six kids, I had only seen one before. Jordan is maybe eleven. She’s come very far. Nikki Young not only shows her students how to navigate the audition process and how to memorize and perform a script to make producers sit up and take notice, but she also connects with her students in a manner that makes them comfortable to express themselves. I’ve seen young people under her tutelage blossom into thoughtful and confidant young adults, comfortable in expressing themselves at a moment’s notice.

The others were equally as memorable as Jordan.

There were two older kids. True (short for Truman?) and Katy. They are both at that awkward period where they’ve recently experienced youthful growth spurts. I was happy to see the interesting ways each turned his and her awkwardness around to an advantage.

Emily, Marco, and Lizzie were all adorable, smart, and very talented. All the kids were delivering material (commercials and TV show scenes) which is the sort of stuff which kids this age do over and over again in commercials and on shows produced by Nickelodeon and Disney. This means that the material the kids were working with was rather fake and corny–but Nikki had done a great job showing each young actor a way to make these lines personal and all their own.

I had a great time! And I need to make a movie just to showcase these great kids!