Identity School of Acting

For other uses, see IDSA.
Identity School of Acting
TypeDrama School
Established2003
Students900
Address
21-25 Beehive Place, Brixton
,
London SW9 7QR
,
England
NicknameIDSA
WebsiteIdentity School of Acting
Identity School of Acting Los Angeles
Established2018
Students300
Address
Thymele Arts, 5481 Santa Monica Blvd
,
Los Angeles
,
CA 90029
,
U.S.

The Identity School of Acting (IDSA) is a part-time drama school that was founded in London, England by Femi Oguns in 2003. A second branch and campus opened in Los Angeles, California in 2018.

Identity School of Acting began in 2003 with 10 students at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney. Although open to prospective students of all ethnicities, Oguns founded the institution with the intent of reaching out to black and minority actors and promoting the diversity of the real world on stage and onscreen, as well as holding casting directors to account due to the lack of opportunity he had found in his own early acting experiences.[1] The school later moved to Holborn, and then again to Brixton, as well as offering online classes.[2][3] The school offers part-time acting training starting at age 16.

The school is affiliated with Identity Agency Group, which was established in 2006. However, the agency is a separate entity; not all students and alumni are necessarily represented by the agency, and not every actor represented by IAG is necessarily a student or alumnus of IDSA.[4]

The Los Angeles branch of Identity School was launched in 2018 with alumni John Boyega, Letitia Wright, Malachi Kirby, Damson Idris, and Melanie Liburd as patrons of the new faculty.[5] Oguns and Boyega launched a production arm of the institution, Identity Filmworks, in 2019.[6]

  1. ^ Chappet, Marie-Claire (20 June 2018). "Identity School of Acting: a London drama school like no other". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  2. ^ Laughland, Oliver (25 February 2012). "From Hackney to Hollywood: the stars of an all-black drama school". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  3. ^ Colleen Harris; Sadaf Maruf (4 August 2017). "The drama school out to break glass ceilings". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Identity Agency Group (IAG)". Identity School of Acting. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (20 September 2018). "John Boyega, Letitia Wright & Damson Idris Among Patrons Of New LA Drama School". Deadline. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. ^ Ritman, Alex. "Diversity-Focused Identity School Launches Production Arm". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 December 2019.