I think many of us relate to having big dreams as a child. The lights of Hollywood were calling to us. Maybe some of us have children who dream about that now. LeBlanc School of Acting aims to help kids achieve the goal of acting for film and television. Located in Vancouver and operating online internationally, we connected with CEO Julian LeBlanc and Director of Operations Athena Russell to learn more.
What is your business called and what does it do?
ATHENA: LeBlanc School of Acting is the leading world-wide digital acting school for children and youth who specialise in film and television. We have an international presence, with online classes globally with students in over 16 countries, in addition to exclusive in-person training. At LeBlanc, we’ve developed an exclusive exploration method/approach to the work, which pinpoints innovative, engaging, and modern techniques in each class.
JULIAN: What sets us apart at LeBlanc is that we always have a brand new theme every term, where we target eight new techniques over eight classes. Themes have included facing fears, unlocking your potential, and breaking through to your own star quality—we’re big on being unique at LeBlanc. We believe no student is the same, and no student should be a carbon copy of another. So, we want to help them unleash their inner authenticity that helps make them shine.
What made you want to do this work?
JULIAN: For me, growing up in the foster care system has really placed a high level of value on my chosen family. One goal in creating LeBlanc School of Acting was to have a school that supports students, and in a way, feels like an extension of their family. The skills and techniques that we teach at LeBlanc are primarily focused on acting, but we want to help kids become more confident and collaborate with others. We want to empower the youth of today and tomorrow to be the best humans they can be.
ATHENA: As an artist and filmmaker there are educators that shaped me into the creative that I am today. My parents are teachers, so education has always been in my blood. With LeBlanc, Julian and I saw a need in the market when it came to film and television training for kids. We saw consistently that kids were burning out, which in large part we believe to be because people were approaching training for youth in the same way they do for adults. But that doesn’t work. Julian and I wanted to create a safe space for young actors to explore vulnerable and bold things when it comes to their acting, and allow child actors to become shining stars by arming them with the skills and techniques needed to not just be the strongest performers they can be but to LOVE what they do.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
JULIAN: We saw training relying heavily on scripts. Yes, script work is so important, and we value that, but we developed training that’s more exploratory and focused on modern-based technique, and young actors can apply those techniques to any script. So our actors are less likely to plateau. In fact, they grow fast because they’re learning new techniques every term. They also explore which techniques work for them, which teaches them to have a say in what can make their performance better. This gives them confidence and self-awareness. And even our students who choose not to become professional actors one day still leave with these tools.
ATHENA: There’s this myth that once you work, you don’t train. Kids would book a role, start working on set, and they’d stop training. But acting is a skill, and like all skills that skillset needs to be sharpened constantly. That’s why we keep things fresh: we never repeat a term, rotate instructors to emulate the on-set experience, and pinpoint specific techniques that these young actors can directly and immediately apply to their work so that actors who have been with us for years continue to grow and learn—even the ones consistently working. This approach and innovative style have allowed us to be deemed, “The Working Actors’ School For Kids +Teens”, something that our entire team is incredibly proud of.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
JULIAN: We’re headquartered in Vancouver and began teaching in-person, but we went online in April 2020 and have been growing internationally ever since. We have a North American division, a UK division, and an Australian division. Our school boasts over 1200 students in 16 countries. We’ve chosen to stay online because there’s a massive lack of competitive and industry-standard film and television training in most cities. That being said, we maintain in-person classes in Vancouver and international travelling workshops throughout the year.
ATHENA: Being online means we are accessible: people train with us from towns and cities that don’t have professional acting schools, or who have accommodation needs that make in-person classes difficult, or even from their trailers on-set. Our school firmly prioritises being inclusive and commits to having programs that cater to all abilities and needs. Everyone is welcome at LeBlanc, and everyone gets professional training.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
JULIAN: Our school provides term classes, private classes, camps, and workshops. We work to keep our offerings as affordable and flexible for our students as possible, offering instalment payment options and many scholarships. Athena and I also work in the industry ourselves and understand the need to work within production schedules. If one of our students in a term class books a role, we pause rather than cancel their remaining classes, so they can pick up again when time permits. For us, it’s kids first, and business second.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
ATHENA: Our main office is in Vancouver, but you can find us at workshops all around the globe! Our international reach is posted on our website: www.leblancschool.com
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
JULIAN: You might ask, “Why LeBlanc?” LeBlanc is so different, and our students’ parents rave about what we offer. We have over 50 five-star reviews, and we’re focused on adapting for the industry. We lead with the idea that you should be training to be an actor who loves what they do, and I think that’s a huge thing. Another thing that sets us apart is simply how we do what we do. When Athena and I were conceptualising LeBlanc, people would tell us that “acting training has been this way for a hundred plus years and this is how it works”, and we said, absolutely. But you know what? It can also be something else as well. No one else does it like we do. And really, our training is quite complementary with other training, as well
ATHENA: At LeBlanc we encourage our students to not place their sole focus on “booking” the job, but rather on “loving your craft”. We are artists and it’s this love for what we do that allows us to be the most powerful and authentic performers we can be in all of the peaks and valleys we may and (likely) encounter in our illustrious acting journey. If you love what you do, magic is sure to follow.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
ATHENA: We love seeing and being a part of our students’ dreams come true. We get to see kids and teens become more confident, empowered, empathetic, and collaborative not just as actors but also as humans. I will say it forever, we have the best job in the world. Period.
JULIAN: The worst part is when a student ages out of our school. Now that’s also a good thing because we know they’re moving on to great things as a young adult, but it’s hard to see students move into that next chapter when we’ve been in their lives for so long. We always say once you are a part of the LeBlanc family, you always will be, so this makes this transition all the easier as we still keep in touch with many of our alumni.
Where can we follow you?
Instagram!
LeBlanc School of Acting | Julian | Athena
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
JULIAN: I adore “Book Warehouse” in downtown Vancouver on West Broadway… It has the best collection of books of all kinds and is independently owned! I love getting lost in all the stories and books I could potentially pick when I walk there!
ATHENA: A good friend of mine Matt Mazur has a company called Freshfield, an ocean-saving supplement company helping reduce overfishing and plastic pollution from the nutrition industry in hopes of de-escalating climate change which is based here in Vancouver.
