ALAN ALDA:YOUNGARTS MASTERCLASS to Debut on HBO, 9/16

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), the non-profit organization that contributes to the cultural vitality of the nation by supporting the artistic development of talented young artists, today announces that the next edition of their three-time Emmy-nominated HBO Family Documentary Special will be Alan Alda: YoungArts MasterClass. Shot in New York City, the special features six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Alan Alda as he mentors six aspiring young actors and helps them find their voice through improvisation. Alan Alda: YoungArts MasterClass will debut on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 (7:30-8:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. It was produced and directed by Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, and is a production of Simon & Goodman Picture Company.

Since 2010, the inspiring YoungArts MasterClass program has chronicled the work of renowned artists sharing their craft, expertise and life experiences with YoungArts alumni. This all-new episode follows actor, director, screenwriter and author Alda and the students, YoungArts alumni-Nadia Alexander (2012 YoungArts Winner in Theater and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts), Analisa Gutierrez (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts), Nile Harris (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater), Connor Lawhorn (2012 YoungArts Winner in Theater), Juliana Sass (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater), and Justice Smith (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater)-throughout an intensive workshop.

"I think I saw their eyes opened to things they hadn't expected," stated Alda. "They got the connection between improvising and using improvising to play what's written. They got used to being playful with what's really happening."

ABOUT YOUNGARTS MASTERCLASS YoungArts MasterClass, produced by Executive Producer Lin Arison and documentary filmmakers Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, highlights the work of YoungArts, which nurtures the nation's most talented young artists and encourages them to pursue careers in the arts. Previous YoungArts MasterClassspecials have showcased young talents under the tutelage of singer and YoungArts alumni Josh Groban, vocalist Bobby McFerrin, playwright John Guare, actress Patti LuPone, photographer Bruce Weber, actress Kathleen Turner, architect Frank Gehry, opera singers Placido Domingo and Renée Fleming, dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones, artist/filmmaker Julian Schnabel, and others. In conjunction with Columbia University's Teachers College, YoungArts developed a Study Guide based on YoungArts MasterClass, which is distributed free to schools nationwide to help teachers use the arts as an education tool and encourage students to pursue their passions. For more on the show, visithttp://www.youngarts.org/youngarts-masterclass. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Alan Alda is an American actor, director, screenwriter and author who has starred in several films, best known for his roles as Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running television series *M*A*S*H and Arnold Vinick in The West Wing. Throughout his career, Alda has received 31 Emmy Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations, and has won seven People's Choice Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and three Directors Guild of America awards. In 2005, Alda received his first Academy Award nomination, for his role in The Aviator. He made his Broadway debut for his starring role in the musical The Apple Tree and was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for that role. He made his Hollywood acting debut in 1957 as a supporting player inGone are the Days! followed by Paper Lion, The Extraordinary Seaman, and The Mephisto Waltz. Alda frequently appeared as a panelist on the 1968 revival of What's My Line? In early 1972, Alda was selected to play the role of Hawkeye Pierce in the TV adaptation of the 1970 film *M*A*S*H. He was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards, and won five for the role. He took part in writing 19 episodes, including the finale, and directed 32. He won an Emmy Award for his work writing the show. In 1993, he co-starred with Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, and Anjelica Huston comedy/mystery Manhattan Murder Mystery. From the fall season of 1993 until the show ended in 2005, Alda was the host for PBS's Scientific American Frontiers. Nadia Alexander (2012 YoungArts Theater Winner and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) began her career in numerous stage productions throughout Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; before moving to New York City. A proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity, Nadia continues to work in theater and has expanded into screen work over the past five years. She has appeared in several TV shows, including Boardwalk Empire (HBO), The Mob Doctor (FOX) andLaw & Order (NBC). Nadia's film credits include Admission (2013), Jamie Marks is Dead (premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival) and the upcoming film Ten Thousand Saints (2015). She currently attends the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY: Lehman College, where she is a candidate for a Psychology and Physics degree. Analisa Gutierrez (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) is currently a student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the New Studio on Broadway: Musical Theatre program. She had the distinct honor of working with Anna Deavere Smith for HBO's YoungArts MasterClass. She is thankful to Alan Alda, the National YoungArts Foundation and Simon & Goodman Picture Company for creating wonderful opportunities she could have never imagined. Nile Harris (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater) is currently a student at University of North Carolina School of the Arts working towards his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. He is a recipient of a 2013 William R. Kenan, Jr. Excellence Scholarship. Although he is a trained as an actor, Nile is also a director and playwright. Nile's prized theatrical accomplishment is an adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, focusing on movement and the manipulation of images in a contained space instead of dialogue, which he presented in a series of public theatrical happenings throughout Miami in the summer of 2013. Connor Lawhorn (2012 YoungArts Winner in Theater) was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and currently attends Williams College in Massachusetts where he plans to major in Theatre and English. He was recently a member of the 2013 Williams College Summer Theatre Lab. In 2011, Connor was a winner of the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition. Connor's community and school theater credits include: Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead; Eddie in Fool for Love; Smirnov in The Bear; George Spelvin in The Actor's Nightmare; Guiderius in Cymbeline; and KJ in The Aliens. Juliana Sass (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater) recently completed her sophomore year at Harvard University studying Literature and Dramatic Arts. She is a leader in their Freshman Arts program, acts in productions with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club as well as in student films. Most recently, she played Calpurnia in Julius Caesar and the leading roles of Leila in Yellow Moon and Tare in Smoking Lesson. This summer she is participating in the Atlantic Theater Company's Summer Intensive. Justice Smith (2013 YoungArts Winner in Theater) is an actor living in Anaheim, California. His theater credits include producing and starring in his own production of Dog Sees God and starring in the Southern California premiere of The Watson's Go To Birmingham on the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham Church Bombing. Justice was privileged to work with both Anna Deavere Smith and Alan Alda on HBO's YoungArts MasterClass. Recently, he has been working with the Anaheim Arts Council to raise money to build a performing arts center in his hometown. ABOUT THE NATIONAL YOUNGARTS FOUNDATION The National YoungArts Foundation was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and support the next generation of artists and to contributeto the cultural vitality of the nation by investing in the artistic development of talented young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts. Each year, there are approximately 11,000 applications to YoungArts from 15-18 year old (or grades 10-12) artists, and from these, approximately 700 winners are selected. YoungArts provides these emerging artists with life-changing experiences and validation by renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition and other opportunities throughout their careers to help ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursuecareers in the arts. To date, YoungArts has honored more than 20,000 alumni, including Doug Aitken, Josh Groban, Desmond Richardson and Kerry Washington, with over $6 million in monetary awards; facilitated in excess of $150 million in college scholarship opportunities; and enabled itsparticipants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, such as Marina Abramovi?, Mikhail Baryshnikov,Plácido Domingo, Zaha Hadid, Robert Redford and Bruce Weber. In addition, YoungArts is working with world-renowned architect and YoungArts Artistic Advisor Frank Gehry to transform the recently acquired former BacardiTower and Museum buildings and three-and-a-half acre campus into its national headquarters, which will support expanded local activities in Miami andacross the country. For more information, visit youngarts.org, facebook.com/YoungArtsFoundation or twitter.com/YoungArts. To watch a brief video about YoungArts, clickhere.

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