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Playhouse Northwest Acting School

Located in West Seattle - (206) 919-7407

Fundraiser by Lisa Skvarla


A group of people standing around in a room.A group of people standing around in a room.

Hi, I’m Lisa Skvarla, an actress, producer and school owner of Playhouse Northwest Acting School. I am helping to produce the feature film Blindfold, a sci-fi fantasy that will be released later this year, and I need a little help. Film making isn’t cheap, and we are in our final stages of preproduction and need to raise the final $5,000 for set design, insurance, and food expenses for the cast and crew.

This is the first movie I’ve produced since the pandemic shut us down and it’s a huge opportunity for actors to work again. Blindfold is a local film⎯made in Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho⎯and many local artists from the Pacific Northwest are involved and excited to get back to work again.

Would you please consider donating to this fundraiser? If everyone could give even $10 or $20, it would help make this movie a reality. Click here to donate.

About the Movie

On the Starship Incubator, the most important thing is not who you know, but to whom you are wed. Seventy-three years into their enterprise to find a more inhabitable planet, the generations of the Starship Incubator are more concerned with perpetuating the species than the social discord around them.

Central to the Incubator’s social and pragmatic life is the courtship ritual known as The Season in which young adults are matched, and married, through a dating app and a series of speed-dates. In order to “perpetuate the species,†each couple is required to have “1.2 children, in a manner of speaking.†Issues of fertility, gender, love, romance, technology and code take center-stage during the first half of the film.

The second half of the film has a sharp pivot, as issues of government control, class divisions, and lifting the veil to prove that things are not what they seem become central to the story.

About the Director

Misty Grace Shipman is an experienced director who has worked on several independent films, including the movie pilot PIXEL, a short film, TIGER LILY IS MY LITTLE SISTER, which covers the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, PARASOCIAL, a feature film, BOWSER’S CASTLE, a short film, and now, BLINDFOLD. She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Grant through the state of Washington for her work on PIXEL, and she was the recipient for a SAGA grant from Spokane Arts. She has received multiple awards for her writing, from the Barnes and Noble Katie Herzog Young Writers Award at the age of seventeen, to the prestigious Hemingway Fellowship in 2015. She is a Ph.D. student in Literary Studies at the University of Washington with an emphasis on film and is represented by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Thank you for supporting the arts. I appreciate it so much!
Professionally yours,

Lisa Skvarla

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Blindfold movie, Lisa Skvarla, Misty Grace Shipman, Starship Incubator

Playhouse NW’S Lisa Skvarla Produced and Directed Music Video


Music video “Feel it to Heal it†was released on YouTube in May 2019, in conjunction with Mental Health Month. The music video features artist Marc Silber (marksilber.com), and was filmed in Seattle, Spokane, and Coeur d’Alene. The video was produced and directed by Lisa Skvarla of Playhouse NW and edited by Kathryn Skvarla. Director of Photography was Aaron Castillo. You can see the video here:

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: "Feel it to Heal it", Aaron Castillo, Kathryn Skvarla, Lisa Skvarla, Marc Silber, Mental Health

Students Perform at Brookdale Assisted Living Home


On March 16, Masters Joe and Lisa Skvarla and several young students from Lee’s Martial Arts demonstrated Taekwondo and self-defense techniques at Brookdale Assisted Living Home. Lee’s Martial Arts takes great pride in giving back to the local community!

A group of people standing around in a room. A group of people standing around in a room. A group of people standing around in a room. A group of people standing around in a room. A group of people standing around in a room.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Brookdale Assisted Living Home, Community Service, Joe Skvarla, Lisa Skvarla, LMA

Divine Shadow Series nominated for Best Action Adventure


On March 18, Lisa attended the Vancouver Web Fest in Vancouver, B.C. Playhouse NW’s web series Divine Shadow Series got nominated for Best Action Adventure.

A group of people standing around in a room.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Divine Shadows Series, Lisa Skvarla, Vancouver Web Fest

Lisa Skvarla Visits Playhouse Pasadena


On March 5, Lisa traveled to Playhouse Pasadena to see the play “God looked Away” with Al Pacino and Judith Light. Afterwards she met and talked to a few of the actors, including  one of her favorite actresses, Judith Light.

A group of people standing around in a room.A group of people standing around in a room.A group of people standing around in a room.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Al Pacino, God Looked Away, Judith Light, Lisa Skvarla, Playhouse NW, Playhouse Pasadena

Kids Camp Movie Premier was a Smashing Success!


Fearless Movie 01 Fearless Movie 02 Fearless Movie 03 Fearless Movie 04 Fearless Movie 05 Fearless Movie 06 Fearless Movie 07 Fearless Movie 08
[Show thumbnails]

On Sunday, December 11 the Summer Kids Camp students had their movie premier of Fearless at Playhouse NW Acting School. It was screened by a full house of friends, families, cast, and crew members. The stars of the movie walked the red carpet in stylish attire.  The night included appetizers, drinks, the movie, and a Q&A session with the cast and crew. The movie was so popular that within minutes CDs were sold out. Additional CDs are being ordered just in time for Christmas.

Fearless was shot in August during the hottest days of the year. Lisa Skvarla, producer/director of the film, said:

It was particularly challenging because we had 16 kids, special effects, stunts, messy props, multiple locations, a car scene, and a large spider as a cast member.  The week of movie camp included auditions, casting, table reads and rehearsals. The actual filming took place in a day and a half. So we were moving rather quickly and the kids got a good dose of how non-glamorous filmmaking can be.  Kudos to all the kids for being such troopers and professionals.â€

Camera work and postproduction editing was done by Kathryn Skvarla. She is a recent film and TV graduate from Central Washington University. “It was really cool to work with my daughter on a production,” Lisa said. “She does such a great job and she is very much part of the reason this camp is so successful. She is highly creative and meticulous in her work. I am very blessed to have her on my team.”

What’s next for Playhouse NW? There are plans to submit our movies into kids’ film festivals, and Lisa is highly confident they would do really well. The kids’ acting is stellar in both this year’s and last year’s films.  The Fearless storyline is entertaining and the postproduction is on a professional level. We are very excited about what we offer and how well received our films have been. Thank you to all the parents for sharing their talented kids with us. It’s been fun!

Filed Under: camps Tagged With: Fearless, Kathryn Skvarla, kids camp, Lisa Skvarla, movie premier, red carpet

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  • Online Meisner Class (Spring Session) Starts May 22nd!
  • CDA/Spokane- Kids Acting and Action Day Camps! June 23rd-26th 2025
  • Online Meisner Acting Class Starting February 27th !
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Playhouse Northwest Acting School – (206) 919-7407
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
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Seattle WA 98106

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