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Welcome to the ARIA Film Lab(s) Starting
in San Diego, and then branching into Orlando (for Disney),
from
1994 to 2010, the ARIA Film Lab was known as the place to get the
highest quality ACCELERATED training for professional work in the
motion picture industry. The reason was, and is once again, it is primarily engineered as
"on the job training" for actual working (shoots in progress) crew and
actors. There has also been spinoff training for support to related
industries, such as effects, makeup, and props.
And with the Spring of 2025, THE ARIA FILM LAB RIDES AGAIN!
This time the classes and lectures will now be given in our working
movie studio. In the past, because it was training for shows IN
PRODUCTION, we had a separate facility for the Labs to train folks on
the side while we worked our shows. This time we will actually need the
graduates from the labs to get our lineup of shows launched!
The ARIA (or SDSA) Stunt
School had a "ranch" we tought at, where dedicated high fall platforms and
landing areas were setup full time; a shooting range for weapon safety, and even a vehicle stunt training program (cars, trucks,
motorcycles, PWC, and boats). Then production made a shift to Florida
(staging for Caribbean production work) and the bulk of the training relocated there, but special event clinics remained in
San Diego, with the potential for week long seminars. In Florida, the
program was predominently for youth, due to Disney bound shoots needing extra training for their talent.
In 2011, classes were suspended for a final complete relocation of
both production and training into the Caribbean. They did not resume
until 2015, in the Spanish Virgin Islands, on the island of Vieques
(Puerto Rico). From 2015 to 2017, they were for crew, with a few
special one-on-one cases for talent cast to be part of, "The Efficiency Expert", and training the leading lady for "Final Trumpet".
However, in September of 2017, Hurricane Maria decimated our shcedule,
facilities, and ended production on island, due to loss of an entire
studio full of equipment. Training did not resume again until 2019, and
then very limited, up until 2022, through the filming of "Plane"
(Gerard Butler - yes we assisted with production facilitation at the
Ceiba Airport at the east end of the Puerto Rico mainland). Fllowing
the conclusion of that film, it was decided to start planning a
pull-out from the Caribbean, due to storm seasons getting worse.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
 The ARIA Film
Lab For Crew...
was the first training class ever offered under
the ARIA
Film Lab label. It's original intent was NOT to create a
commercial training "school",
offered to the public for training. No, not at all. The Film Lab was
started to
train new production crew specifically for OUR own production
operations! With this program design, new crew "worked" as interns and
had added training time on the side, until such time as they were
employable. They worked off their tuition, and the course was
professional level, streamlined for immediate work, and not based on
theory or taught by a teacher. They were taught by your potential boss,
who WANTED you to succeed at all costs! However, our problem was, our
training was SO GOOD, that our graduates
were immediately called up to Hollywood by larger productions
(producers associated with Paramount, Miramax, Lionsgate and so on)
once they knew what we were up to! And time and time again, we had
to start over with a new group! Because this kept happening
over and over, in later cases, students were eventually charged for
admission into the program, and the current version of The ARIA Film
Lab(s) have been the new industry standard, still unmatched
elsewhere.
 The ARIA Film
Lab For Screen Actors...
was initiated when ARIA was assisting another production company in the
casting of a horror feature ("Resident Evil - Terror In The Woods"). A few
minor character roles, and the leading role for a young girl, was
proving very hard to cast from talent sent down from Los Angeles, at
that time. Local San Diego screen talent was not all that skilled
either. So, ARIA's President (Chase Jazzborne), who was
known for excellent actor training in theater arts, put himself to the
task of creating an accelerated actor training program specifically for
screen. This program - The ARIA Film Lab - was the result. It
also boasted one of the highest professional actor placements of any
program in existence - at 80%+ success rate for acting talent the last
session. That's beyond HUGE for an acting program. Most programs see
10-15% at best, even if the training is for "waiting jobs"!
 The
ARIA Film Lab For Youth...
was born during a need to train a few children for
roles
in a feature film in Orlando, intended for Disney distrubution. From there the program expanded to an
enrollment platform of formal classes - these actually taught in a
specialized laboratory class environment (mock set) with twelve to
fifteen students. We have found, in over 20 years of production and
associated training experience, it is far easier to work with adults
right off the street, than it is to work with new children (who are
easily confused by the filming process when they have no prior
experience with it). This means the kids need to get some basic
training in to do well with the technology of filming. From there,
classes graduate to a real feature film setting, however, normally the
projects shot are written specifically for each class (roles written
for participants) and usually entail the shooting of a short film
subject. Crew requirements for the short film are actually filled by a
combination of students and their parents (parent participation is
voluntary). In this setting, parents receive free preliminary crew
training. It was the very last Youth class which spawned the feature
film: "Fallen".
 The ARIA Stunt School...
in it's normal format, is a very intensive weekend
workshop, with the opportunity to come back to "The Ranch" to do
workouts. It has been the most recognized program by the general
public, and news media world-wide. It was originally developed as an
introductory stunt class for "actors" wishing to have the skills needed
to do their own minor stunt work in roles where they would normally be
replaced by stunt performers during the execution of stunts. In many
cases, this makes the prospective actor that much more valuable in the
casting of the project, as only one person is needed to complete all
aspects of the role, instead of an actor/stunt person pair. As the
program progressed, so did the stunt performers, so additional training
was added as needed. Eventually high falls (up to three stories) and fire
stunts became common for the classes. There were even units in Jerk
Line and Air Ram. At the time the program was suspended, it had worked
up to the addition of precision driving for stunt work, in both automotive and marine
environments. Motorcycle stunts were always a part of the curriculum.
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Do you want to know why the ARIA film Lab is known as the best actor training in the world?
Click
the thumbnail photo for a YouTube archived video of a short five-week
(two-days-per-week) training session that netted a shy girl of the
street, the lead role in the movie: "Resident Evil - Terror In The
Woods", by New Moon Pictures...
The ARIA Film Labs are comprised
of
the following departments:
- The ARIA Film Lab For Crew
- The ARIA Film Lab For Screen
Actors
- The ARIA Film Lab For Youth
- The ARIA (SDSA) Stunt School *
* When held, The ARIA Stunt School is staffed by members of the San Diego
Stunt Association (SDSA). Currently we would need to rebuild the
platforms, pits, and other working areas for the school to open again.
So, if and when there is a demand, that school will start again.
One-day clinics are also given
for:
- Proper Industry Headshot and Resume
Formats
- Casting Session Do's and Don'ts
- How To Get Started In The Motion
Picture Industry
- So What Is The Stunt World Really
Like?
Starting in June of 2025...
the first three Film Lab sessions will begin. There will be two classes
of The Film Lab for Youth, which will be held in one of two sessions on
Saturdays at the ARIA Metro Philton Movie Studio in Ramona, California
(92065), and one adult evening class (unless demand forces a second
class). Adult classes are mid-week, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM.
Youth
students will attend, either the morning session, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM,
or the afternoon session, 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Obviously the class
length is three hours. The classes run in four-week modules, with a
fifth week/weekend off (this allows other activities without having to
miss a class). The schedule is fixed and posted on a calendar. The Basic Class is a full twelve weeks of classes, in fourteen weeks time.
To
be sure of maximum participation within the alloted timer frame,
student enrollment is limited to only TEN students per class! So,
spaces are filled quickly and are hard to get into once under way. More
often than not, students tend to keep going into the Intermediate, then Advanced, followed finally by "The Lab",
which is where it all comes together, and the goal by that point is to
shoot a real movie, or develop a TV show for film festivals or
commerical distribution.
Cost of the class is $200 per module (per month).
This (four x 3-hour classes) beaks down to a scant $16.67 per
hour! Where else on the planet can you get professional level training
for a tuition that cheap?
Why
so cheap??? Because ARIA is here to serve the community, this time
around. So, you will pay today, what our students did all the way back
in 1999...
Stay tuned and come back here to get updates as we near enrollment time and all those details.
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