The Playground Los Angeles - Gary Spatz Playground

Biography and Resume

Gary was born in New York and raised in New York and Miami then moved to Washington, DC to
attend American University before making the move to Los Angeles.

In LA, Gary Spatz continued his study of acting with Paul Sills. He was a company member (1978-
1985) of the respected American Theater Arts in Hollywood where he continued training, performing
and eventually teaching. For the fifteen years after that, he was a teacher at The Young Actors Space.

For seven seasons, Gary Spatz served as the on-set acting coach for "Roseanne". He went on to work
with Jonathan Lipnicki on "The Jeff Foxworthy Show", with Tia & Tamara Mowry on "Sister, Sister" and
later, with Tia and Tamara’s younger brother, Tahj, when he got the starring role on the WB series
"The Smart Guy". Gary Spatz was also the acting coach for several Disney Productions including the
feature film "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" as well as The Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club", on
which he also served as the creative consultant.

After completing work as the acting coach for the children on the Emmy award winning CBS sitcom
“Everybody Loves Raymond” Gary currently coaches Dylan and Cole Sprouse for The Disney Channel
series "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." He also regularly coaches actors for auditions and callbacks
for feature films, theatre and episodic television. Gary created the young actors' conservatory,The
Playground, in Century City, CA in 2005. He currently teaches classes as well as serving as director of
the conservatory program.

Gary’s former students have gone on to star in countless television and film projects including, but not
limited to the following:

Television:
"My So Called Life", "Felicity", "Malcolm in the Middle", "Wonder Years", “That 70s Show”, "Full House",
"Step By Step", "Growing Pains", "Beverly Hills 90210", "Scrubs", "City Guys", "Evening Shade", "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer", "Summerland", "Melrose Place", "The Nanny", "All That", "Recess", "The Suite
Life of Zach and Cody", “Lizzie McGuire”, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, "True Jackson, VP", "The
Secret Life of The American Teenager", and "Gossip Girl".
Film:
"Bratz", "Drillbit Taylor", Terminator Salvation", Jurassic Park", "Spy Kids", “Boys Don’t Cry”, "October
Sky", "Stuart Little", "The Believer", Planet Of The Apes", IMAX "The Magic Box", "Mighty Ducks II & III",
"Honey I Shrunk the Kids", "Phantoms", "Camp Nowhere", "Honey I Blew-Up The Baby", "Forever
Young", "Sleepless In Seattle", "The Brady Bunch", "M.I.III", "The Next Karate Kid", "Dutch", "Newsies",
"Great Expectations", "Radio Flyer", “Murder by Numbers”, “ Lord of the Rings”, “Dickie Roberts”,
“Beethoven I, II & III", “The Hunted”, "The Notebook" , “The Missing” and "Million Dollar Baby".

Gary Spatz's Resume

• EXPERIENCE
Currently teaching classes for beginning and professional child actors and coaching many young
actors for interviews, “callbacks”, and screen tests for feature films, theater and episodic television.

• TEACHER
The Playground – A Young Actors’ Conservatory (Owner/Director) / 2005 – present
Actorsite – Children and Adult Workshops – Scene Study / Improvisation / 2000-2003
Young Actors’ Space – Scene Study / Improvisation for Children (6-18) / 1985-2000
American Theater Arts Conservatory – Games / Improvisations for Adults / 1981 – 1985

• ACTING COACH
“The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” – The Disney Channel / 2004 – 2008
“Everybody Loves Raymond” – CBS / 2003 – 2005
“Triple Play” – (Pilot) – Disney Channel / 2004
“Magicbox” – (IMAX/3-D) – Director / Brett Leonard
“Sister, Sister” – Paramount / 1994 – 1998
“The Smart Guy” – Disney Television
“Roseanne” – Carsey / Werner / 1990-1997
“Jeff Foxworthy Show” – Brillstein / Grey / NBC
“Daisy Mom” – (Pilot) Director / Andy Weyman / ABC Production / 1996
“Mickey Mouse Club” – Disney Television / 1990-1995
“Davis Rules” – Carsey / Werner
“Honey, I Shrunk The Kids” – Disney Feature
Creative Consultant to The Disney Channel / 1990-1995

• References

Irene Dreayer – Executive Producer, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”
Bonnie Liedtke – VP, Head of Youth Division, William Morris Agency
Joe Johnston – Film Director, “October Sky”, “Jurassic Park 3”
Judy Savage – Judy Savage Agency
Jay Daniel – Executive Producer, “Cybill”, “The Naked Truth”
Danny Jacobson – Executive Producer, “Mad About You”
Danny Kallis – Executive Producer, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”
Gayle Mancuso – TV Director, “Friends”, “Dharma and Greg”
Howard Gould – Executive Producer, “The Jeff Foxworthy Show”
Cindy Osbrink – Owner, Osbrink Talent Agency
Bob Meyer – Executive Producer, “Roseanne”, “Cybill”
Patty Gary Cox – Producer, “Cory in the House”
Dava Savel – Executive Producer, “Ellen”, “That’s So Raven”
Phil Rosenthal – Executive Producer, “Everybody Loves Raymond”

Gary Spatz's Former Students

Christina Aguilera
Chad Allen
Penn Badgley
Elizabeth Berkley
Jessica Biel
Michael Bower
Jenna Boyd
Thomas Wilson Brown
Amanda Bynes
Brandon Call
Aaron Carter
Sarah Chalke
J.C. Chasez
Nikki Deloach
Stephen Dorff
Hilary Duff
Luke Edwards
Ethan Embry
Lindsey Felton
Michael Fishman
Dale Godboldo
Robert Gorman
Ryan Gosling
Brian Austin Green
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Nate Hartley
Rebecca Herbst
India Isley
Jadagrace Gordy
Christine Lakin
Maggie Lawson
Maggie Linderman
Jeremy Lelliott
Tony Lucca
Stephen Lungsford
Allison Mack
Kellie Martin
Christopher Masterson
Danny Masterson

Crystal McKellar
Danica McKellar
Matt Morris
Tahj Mowry
Tamera Mowry
Tia Mowry
Ashleigh Norman
Kay Panabaker
Danielle Panabaker
Nicholas Pappone
Janel Parrish
Sydney Tamiia Poitier
Lindsey Price
Cassidy Rae
Ariana Richards
Camilla Rosso
Becky Rosso
Keri Russell
Taran Noah Smith
Britney Spears
Dylan Sprouse
Cole Sprouse
Sadie Stratton
Paul Sutera
Hilary Swank
Jodie Sweetin
Madylin Sweeten
Sawyer Sweeten
Sullivan Sweeten
Justin Timberlake
David Tom
Heather Tom
Nicholle Tom
Alexa Vega
Scott Whyte
Elijah Wood
Marc Worden
Ahmet Zappa

About The Director: Gary Spatz

It has been Gary’s privilege and pleasure to work with some the best and brightest
kids in the world of entertainment over the past 20 years. This web site highlights
some of his adventures as a teacher, and as an on-set acting coach for several TV
series. Gary feels blessed to have had the opportunity to support the evolution of all
the young talent that has come his way and it has been very exciting process to
witness.

Whether his students become professional actors, writers, directors, musicians,
dancers, or painters, his goal as a mentor is to nurture the creative source and be a
positive influence

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About The Playground Los Angeles Director

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