Student Highlight: Chris Schenk
Posted on November 25, 2013
Congratulations to BDS rockstar Chris Schenk for an amazing year!
Born and raised in Colorado, he moved to Boulder to study which is where he's resided for the last 13 ½ years up until this past year.
“I began working at the University of Colorado just after I graduated and engaged with academia for many years. I ended up teaching an upper-division Computer Science elective class for 4 years and decided to get my masters degree in Computer Science and am also a published author.”
Along with his academic accomplishments, Chris has become quite an accomplished actor as well.
In his junior year of high school, Chris decided to try new “crazy” things which is when he began singing, joined the swim team and even tried out for theater. He faced his fears and was cast in the role of Nicely Johnson in his high school's production of “Guys and Dolls” and also went on to land a small role in “Oklahoma”.
“Acting was always just a fun hobby and I had never considered it seriously. After high school, I continued with music performance singing in choirs and a capella groups for many years and decided to get back into acting in 2010. I performed plays for Hitching Post Theater in Boulder putting on 1 day plays where I had to write, rehearse, block and perform the plays all in a single day. I never had any formal training in any acting through all of it and just made it up as I went along. Truth inspires me, which is why I'm drawn to storytellling. The most powerful stories I hear are about people's struggles and overcoming them.”
Chris' desire at a young age to try new, “crazy” things led him to discover a new lifetime passion!
Academia and acting aren't Chris' only creative interests. He plays the piano, guitar, writes prose and poetry and composes and produces his own music at home. You can listen to some of his music at http://soundcloud.com/chrisschenk He's also an artist, draws and would like to learn more artistry like creating mosaics with tiles.
This has been a huge year for Chris. He booked work on the upcoming independent film “Dear Eleanor” with Luke Wilson and a Jeep commercial as well! Congratulations!
“I made the decision to truly pursue film acting in June 2013 after being on the set of “Dear Eleanor”. At that point, I had no idea what to do or where to go except Google to look for classes to train and I found Benjy Dobrin Studios. I had never had any formal acting training until I joined Benjy Dobrin Studios. There's no substitute for practice and that's what we do every week, and I'm incredibly grateful for the material that Benjy prepares for us every week, in a space that is very welcoming and community based. The work is the fastest and most direct way I've experienced to improve my preparation for auditions and since I've been with the studio, I've booked many film roles and a national commercial. I highly recommend Benjy Dobrin Studios to anyone who is looking to be prepared for auditions in the world of film and theater.”
Congratulations Chris and keep up the good work!