By Patty McCall
Faith Hibbs-Clark has traveled a lot of miles over the years, helping clients from a wide range of professional backgrounds, teaching what she’s always known intuitively, which is how to understand the nuances of communication. “I could read people from early on. I understood pretty quickly that this was a gift and not something everyone else could do. I also knew it could be used to help others.” Faith explains.
The gifted communicator’s journey started in a beautiful English Country-Side. Her family moved frequently, eventually making a home in America. “I’ve continued to travel as an adult. I’m a digital nomad, working with clients virtually from whichever state or country I might be in at the time.”
While Hibbs-Clark has worked with everyone from CEOs to politicians, her focus is now the film and television industry. She started teaching when establishing Good Faith Casting over 20 years ago. Her material was called Communication Method for Actors, and later, when she saw a need to separate the training from her casting, she named the new educational arm of the business, Communication Method for Actors: “There’s a whole process to what we’re doing. My approach is based in science with years of research behind it.”
She says that it’s important for new students to learn the basic scientific principles behind this unique film acting method, which can be done in her eight-week workshop and program or through private study. After this, the actor can continue into the master’s program where they can dial in on particular topics and study with her at a more advanced level.
Her work is highly collaborative, based upon the personality and needs of the client. So Faith has to first “baseline” the actor to get a sense of who they are and what would be natural and believable for them. Then she teaches them the scientific formulas to give that structure. “It’s important that I get to know my clients, so we can create solutions to help them.”
Hibbs-Clark also says that actors are sometimes too quick to think they’ve mastered everything, during her training when they book a few roles. “They think they have it,” she says. “Often, they come back to me later asking how they can level-up in their acting career.”
While she appreciates her skills when it comes to teaching others, Faith wishes that she could turn off her ability to read people’s body language: “Most people don’t know they are being lied to by reading others. Although it can be handy, because people lie a lot… so it can become particularly difficult and exhausting for me.”
However, the advantages of her gifts greatly outweigh any negatives for Hibbs-Clark. She’s there to serve, because she understands that actors go through a lot of rejection in their work:. “They get many no’s before they get booked. I love changing that for them. I love when actors send me emails or call up to let me know that they used my techniques and booked the role. It’s a good feeling and makes me love what I do.”
For more information, visit Faith at: www.cmfatraining.com