DEFINING YOUR CASTING DNA™:
The Signature Scene Cohort
YOUR DEMO REEL
SHOULD OPEN DOORS.
Does yours?
If your materials don't fully capture what you can actually do — this cohort is how you change that.
You already have the talent. This process helps the industry see it.
This cohort is for you if...
You're planning to reach out to agents, managers, or casting in the next few months — and you know your current materials aren't ready.
You have demo footage, but it doesn't quite represent what you're capable of. Or you don't have footage at all and you're not sure where to start.
You're getting auditions but not booking — and you suspect your choices aren't landing the way you want them to.
You're a strong actor. You know it. But somehow, the industry hasn't fully seen it yet.
That's not a talent problem. It's a clarity problem.
Casting directors, agents, and managers make decisions in seconds. They're not watching your reel looking for potential — they're scanning to see if you fit. If your materials don't immediately communicate who you are and where you belong in the story, they move on.
Not because you aren't good enough.
Because your signal isn't clear enough.
This cohort is designed to change that.
This course is NOT for you if you have an agent you love, you're auditioning multiple times a week, and you're booking regularly. Go with God. You're doing something right. 🙏
Casting DNA™ is a 6-week live cohort
in which you do three things:
One
You get clear on who you actually are on screen. Not who you wish you were. Not who you've been told to be. Who you actually are — the qualities your presence carries, the roles your energy naturally supports, and where your real power lives in a story.
Two
You find two scenes that prove it. Scenes chosen strategically to show casting exactly who you are and what you're capable of. Not whatever you happened to book three years ago. Material chosen on purpose.
Three
You build and polish those scenes using a specific, repeatable system for preparing and performing material at the highest level. The same system that works for demo reels works for auditions. Because it's the same skill.
By the end of six weeks, you walk away with:
A clearly defined casting identity you can articulate to agents, managers, and casting directors
Two signature scenes — strategically chosen, fully polished, & ready to shoot
A shoot-day execution plan so the footage actually captures what you can do
A repeatable scene preparation system you can apply to every audition going forward
Not by reinventing yourself.
By finally showing the industry what was always true about you.
Why I built this…
Early in my career, I kept getting called in for the same types of procedural roles — often victim-driven.
On paper, they made sense. I could play them. The work was solid.
But I wasn't booking them.
What eventually became clear wasn't that I couldn't book victim roles. It's that I don't wear victim well.
My essence screams survivor. Fighter. Winner. Regal queen.
That's how I function in story.
So the moment I stopped trying to play "woe is me" and started playing those exact same characters through my actual casting essence — something shifted. The choices got braver. The reads got clearer. I started booking the victim.
Not because I finally learned to be more victimlike.
Because a regal queen who has been victimized is approximately one thousand times more interesting than a victim who is just... being a victim.
That shift didn't come from acting harder.
It came from understanding my casting identity — and refusing to abandon it even when the role seemed to require something else.
Casting DNA™ exists so you don't have to spend years figuring that out the hard way.
How the 6 weeks work
WEEK 1 — DEFINING YOUR CASTING DNA
Honing in on who you truly are and the archetypes you’re meant to play
We identify 3–5 actor prototypes that reflect how you naturally read on screen — the qualities your presence carries, the emotional function you serve in a story, and where you genuinely belong in the industry.
This becomes the compass for every creative choice that follows. In the room. On set. On tape.
WEEK 2 — CURATING YOUR SIGNATURE SCENES
Two scenes that communicate your casting identity instantly
With your prototypes established, we source two contrasting scenes that clearly illustrate who you are and where you're headed — not a reflection of past credits, but a signal of your full potential.
These scenes work as demo reel material. They become your signature scenes. The material that shows who you are and what you can do.
WEEK 3 — BUILD THE BLUEPRINT
Creating the foundation for your scene
This is where the technical and craft work begins. You build the inner architecture of each scene — the specific, concrete framework that gives your instincts structure to play freely within.
Actors build the inner architecture of each scene using:
Place
Relationship
Moment before
Conflict / Fight
Communication & Competition
This is a repeatable system. Once you learn it, you can apply it to every scene you prep for the rest of your career — especially your auditions.
WEEK 4 — MAKE IT HAPPEN
Real-time alchemy: breathing life, heart, and truth into your scene
This week is about presence and immediacy. Letting the scene actually happen moment by moment — not performing it, not indicating it, but genuinely living inside it.
This is the difference between an actor who is technically correct and an actor who casting can't look away from.
WEEK 5 — BAIT & SWITCH
The mischief that turns solid acting into riveting on-screen performance
This week is about nuance, contradiction, and magnetism.
You layer in the human complexity that makes performances impossible to ignore — opposites, mystery, secret, humor, resistance, mischief. The things that make casting lean forward.
This is what separates a good audition from a booking.
WEEK 6 — SHOOT DAY READY
Confident execution
You create a clear shoot-day plan and make smart, intentional choices about wardrobe, lighting, sound, eye-line, framing, props, and physical action — ensuring your performance translates clearly and powerfully on camera.
You leave with footage that finally shows the industry what you can actually do.
WHAT’S
INCLUDED:
A 6-Week Strategic Cohort ExperienceSix 2-Hour Live Cohort Sessions
Tuesdays, April 7 – May 12, 2026
4–6 PM PST on Zoom
Two Optional Friday “Open Studio” Office Hours
Live Q&A and scene troubleshooting sessions during the cohort
Friday April 10 + April 17
Detailed Onboarding + Personalized Casting DNA Review
Strategic intake form reviewed personally by Adria before Week 1
Private Cohort Facebook Group
Open to you as soon as you enroll
Collaborative prototype brainstorming + scene idea sharing
Active during the program and beyond
Members-Only Casting DNA GPT Access
A private tool trained on Adria's full methodology — for prototype refinement, scene testing, and positioning clarity
Preferred 1:1 Strategy Session Rate
60-minute private sessions available for $75 / hr (normally $100+)
Available to actors who enroll by April 1
Session Recordings + Student Resource Hub
Lifetime access — rewatch, reference, and revisit anytime
Casting DNA™ Signature Scene Cohort
Enrollment is now Closed
6 Weeks. 10 Actors. Clear Casting Identity. Two Signature Scenes.
10 Seats Only
NEXT COHORT ANNOUNCED SOON
Pay in Full
√ Secure one of 10 founding seats
√ 6 Live Zoom Classes (TBA)
√ 2 Live Office Hours (TBA)
√ Specially priced 1:1 coaching options
√ Lifetime access to session recordings
√ Immediate access to the Private Cohort Facebook Group
√ Immediate access to the Custom Casting DNA GPT
Flex Plan – 2 payments
√ Secure one of 10 founding seats
√ Full Cohort Access: 6 Live Zoom Classes (TBA)
+ 2 Live Office Hours (TBA)
√ Specially priced 1:1 coaching options
√ Lifetime access to session recordings
√ Facebook + GPT Access activated once paid in full
(Pay half now & second payment auto debited in 14 days)
This founding cohort is intentionally limited to 10 actors to allow for deep, individualized casting development. Once filled, enrollment closes.
Meet your guide
ADRIA TENNOR…
is a working actor, writer, and filmmaker whose career has been built on understanding how performers function in story — and how quickly those signals are read by the industry.
From her early breakthrough playing against type in Hal Hartley’s Amateur(which premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes), to scene-stealing television work like Joyce Darling on Mad Men, to her role in the Oscar-winning film The Artist, Adria has spent decades moving between characters who appear one way — only to reveal something else entirely.
She trained at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and with some of the most respected teachers in the industry, and later expanded her work behind the camera as writer, director, and producer of the award-winning film Pie. Across acting, writing, and directing, one question has stayed central: how do I best serve this writer and this material?
Casting DNA™ is built from Adria’s lived experience — helping actors begin to notice the patterns in how they’re perceived, who they are in the industry, and where their real power shows up on screen.
"It is truly a pleasure to manage Adria. Her positivity, gumption, intuitiveness and empathy always bring grounded and authentic performances. She is also a talented storyteller, who brings interesting and nuanced points of view to her narratives and characters. Her wonderful qualities as an actor, person, and creator all blend together making her a great coach as well, that we are proud to represent."
— Alan Mills and Lauren Kaplan, Mills Kaplan Entertainment
My student Lisa Su and I recently built two strategic demo reel scenes
from the ground up — applying the exact Casting DNA™ process.The goal: footage that immediately communicates who Lisa is on screen, for an agent campaign she was running.
Here's what happened.
"I wanted high quality video and realized that relying on my acting friends and my iPhone wasn't cutting it." — Lisa Su
We chose two contrasting scenes — one grounded dramatic piece, one sitcom comedy — designed to show completely different sides of Lisa's range while staying true to her casting identity.
On shoot day: "Easy! Everyone had great chemistry. I loved that we stayed focused but also had a relaxed environment. Because everyone was so confident in their own right, it made me more confident in my craft too."
Want to see this process in action?
The results?
"So satisfying. 20/10 quality." – Lisa Su
“These scenes are very different, but both very me.” –Lisa Su
That's the goal. Material that is undeniably, precisely, unmistakably you.
Cinematography by Quinn Hester
What’s it like studying
with Adria?
“ within about five seconds of meeting me, she completely read me, pinpointed what I needed to work, and what she suggested I shift in my work and in my mindset. Her comments really hit home for me. I was truly inspired.”
~Rebecca Rapoport-Cole
“Working with Adria on my audition prep completely shifted things. Her script analysis and pacing tools gave me the confidence to walk into the room grounded, present, and truly performing — not just reciting words.
~Elena Schick
“I have been in Hollywood for a very very long time and I have been through million acting classes and had a million coaches, and I have to tell you, Adria Tennor, in my opinion, is one of the best …
~Jesse Henecke
“Adria has super strong intuition and empathy when it comes to coaching. She really makes you think deeply, and she can read like a book, which is super helpful with whatever you’re struggling with because she can point you in the right direction and that is a skill that not many people have.”
~Sam Collins