Instrctor at Lone Star Actors Studio

Eleese Lester has been a working actress for over thirty years with credits in both film and broadcast. She has worked opposite stars such as Kyle Chandler, Dennis Hopper, Elizabeth Peña, Chuck Norris, Joshua Jackson, Jason Priestly, Mickey Rooney and Adrian Pasdar. Her credits include the starring role of Naomi in the hit television movieThe Book of Ruth as well as a recurring role on the NBC hit show, Friday Night Lights. She has performed in films such as Lone Star, named one of the ten best films of 1998 by New Yorker magazine, under the direction of legendary director John Sayles.  Eleese has also been the national voice for Centerpoint Energy, Wal-Mart and Chef Boyardee. 

 She has performed in hundreds of corporate training videos, national and local commercials and voiceovers for television and radio. Eleese has been coaching film, commercial and voiceover actors since 1989. She taught for over 16 years at the prestigious Houston School of Film and Theatre and served on its board of directors and as Executive Director of the School from 1997-2004. Since 1989 she has worked with well over 3,500 actors. Many are now working actors in Houston, New York and Los Angeles including Sterling Knight, teen star of Sonny with a Chance and Leven Rambin, two- time Emmy nominee of the daytime soap opera All My Children, One Tree Hill and as a guest star on scores of television shows including CSI Miamiand Desperate Housewives. Eleese credits her success as an acting coach to a love for the vulnerability and courage of actors and a desire to give them the tools that she wished she had in the beginning of her career.  Eleese Lester  is also a sponsor of the Miss Texas, USA™ and Miss Texas Teen, USA™ pageants. She has trained young women such as Crystle Stewart, Miss USA 2008 and Ana Rodriguez, Miss Texas 2011. She is also a proud member of WIFT, Women in Film and Television, and TXMPA, the Texas Motion Picture Alliance .

In 1995 Eleese created Authentic Communication, www.authentic-communication.com  a unique media-coaching firm in which she applies acting principles and communication skills to help serve the business community. She has become a top Houston media coach working with corporations like Shell, Compaq (HP) and Conoco as well as coaching business and civic leaders such as Houston City Councilman Peter Brown, Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, and Fox TV news anchor, Krystle Kaliszewski. 
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Chris Rivera is a working actor in film, theatre and commercials. He has worked in many film roles for SAG and independent films including Forgiveness, Periphery, The Cutting Room, Fright Fest, Hypernormalism, and Land of the Free. Rivera has acted in several commercials and industrial films for Whole Foods,  Silicon Labs, and No Place for Hate. He has worked with every major Houston Theater including the Alley Theatre, Theater Under the Stars, Stages Repertory Theater, Theater Lab, Unhinged Productions, Mildred’s Umbrella, and Talento Bilingúe de Houston. He was named Best Actor by critic Buzz Bellmont for his work in Hedwig and Angry Inch. Chris has also begun to travel to NYC to work as an actor and director. Chris graduated from the University of Houston with a BA in Acting/Directing. There, he studied Shakespeare with Sir Peter Hall and Dr. Sidney Berger. He also studied acting with Alley company members Todd Waite, David Rainey, Phillip Lehl, and Tony winner George Grizzard, playwrighting from Pulitzer Prize winners Edward Albee and Landford Wilson, and Musical theater from Stuart Ostrow and Melissa Hart. With the Tony award winning Alley Theater, he has taught after school programs for High School and Junior High, and has taught adults privately for many years. Chris also directs in film and theater. 
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