Judith Weston has followed her love of storytelling and acting to a full, rewarding life as a sought-after coach and teacher to first-class filmmakers and actors around the world. She has written two books. Her beloved classic, Directing Actors, a bestseller ever since it was first published in 1996, has now been released in a 25th Anniversary Edition, fully revised and updated. Meanwhile, a lightly revised and updated version of the original edition is available as an Audiobook, narrated by Judith. Her second book, The Film Director’s Intuition, is still a favorite for many readers. These books bring hope and focus to directors, actors, screenwriters, and other film industry professionals. They are required reading at film studios, on the sets of television series, and at most film schools. Her directing students include Alejandro Iñárritu (director of The Revenant, Academy Award winner for Best Director, and Birdman, winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture); Ava DuVernay (director of When They See Us, nominated for 16 Emmys, and Selma, nominated for a Best Picture Oscar); Steve McQueen (director of Small Axe and Best Picture Academy Award winner 12 Years a Slave); Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, Flight of the Conchords); Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Handmaid’s Tale, Mustang, nominated for Foreign Language Oscar); David Chase (creator/writer/director, The Sopranos). Judith’s international presence includes 17 years of workshops at the Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam. Other European cities where she has taught are Berlin, Cologne, Dublin, Stockholm, Lund, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Milan, Strasbourg, Belgrade, Utrecht, Geneva, Zurich, and Penzance. Plus, in Canada: Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, and St. John’s. And other cities of the world: Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, and Cape Town, South Africa. Directing Actors has been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Finnish, Korean, Greek, Polish, Kurdish, Farsi, Estonian, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. She has been on the faculty of USC, the American Film Institute, and the Los Angeles Film School; she has been a guest lecturer at UCLA, Film Independent Project Involve, Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Cal State Universities at Long Beach and Northridge, Cinewomen, and Women in Film. For 30 years Judith maintained a full schedule of classes, workshops, and special events in Los Angeles. Then in 2015 she closed her studio, but although she has stopped running a studio, she hasn’t stopped giving support and guidance to filmmakers. She offers one-on-one consultation for directors and writer-directors. Since the 2020 pandemic, she’s been doing Zoom workshops for schools, festivals, and organizations—Tisch/NYU, UNCSA, UC Riverside, GA Southern U, FSU, Kings College London, Directors Guild of Canada, New Orleans Film Festival, Sony TV Diverse Directors Program, Film Hub/BFI, Pixar. Judith is married to John Hoskins: John is Judith’s secret weapon; nothing is possible without John. They share a home and garden in Venice, CA. They create together; they support Judith’s clients together; they travel together.
