Local acting teacher helps others while pursuing own career

James Quattrochi "Goodfellas" director Martin Scorsese gave James Quattrochi a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card in 1990 and told him not to let it go to waste. Almost 10 years later, Quattrochi wrote, directed and starred in a movie that Scorsese saw. The director sent a letter to Quattrochi saying, essentially, that Quattrochi had put the SAG card to good use.

Quattrochi, an acting teacher at the Agoura Hills-based S&J Talent Network, is now wrapping a project he produced called "All In" that stars "Reservoir Dogs" Michael Madsen and Academy Award-winner Louis Gossett Jr. He's also developing a project with Academy Award-winning "Crash" producer Robert Moresco.

"I started as an actor," Quattrochi said. "I was always interested. I always did plays, I always did theater, but it was one winter when my mom read that they were looking for extras for 'Ghostbusters II.' So I went down and got my pictures taken and I was an extra on 'Ghostbusters II.'

"It was about 20 below zero. It was ridiculous and I swore I'd never do that again. . . . But somehow, I loved it. And now here I am."

After working on "Ghostbusters II," Quattrochi continued doing extra work in his native state of New York, including work on 1990's "Goodfellas" under director Scorsese. That was the pivotal moment in Quattrochi's career, when Scorsese gave him his SAG card. The card gave him the right to work in SAG union acting jobs.

Q u a t t r o c h i moved to Los Angeles in 1991 to get bigger parts in movies and TV.

He auditioned for TV shows. He acted in "Married With Children," "Melrose Place," "Days of Our Lives" and more. He took a major career step in 1995

when he produced "In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King."

"With 'Kingdom of the Blind,' I got my feet wet in producing," Quattrochi said. "From there-because it taught me how a film was put together-I was able to produce and direct 'True Friends.' That was a huge accomplishment and a huge stepping-stone in my

career."

Since stepping behind the camera, Quattrochi has found his true love. But he still enjoys acting--he'll play a small part in one of his movies every now and then-for fun, he said.

A rewarding moment in Quattrochi's career came about three years ago when he was producing and directing a movie called "Jesus, Mary and Joey."

"I had met Charles Durning in New York on Broadway years and years and years before," Quattrochi said. "He was a young, young actor. He looked at me and said, 'You have a great look, kid. Don't let them knock you out of the box.' In other words, 'Hang in there.'"

Almost 10 years later, in 2003, Quattrochi directed Durning in "Jesus, Mary and Joey."

"So we were in the middle of doing a scene, and I looked at him and said, 'Charlie, I didn't let them knock me out of the box,'" Quattrochi said.

"He just looked at me. And I said, 'You don't realize this, but you met me in New York and you said that to me and I hold those words dear to my heart.' He gave me a big hug and said, 'Wow, this is amazing.'"

Quattrochi keeps busy these days, but said he really enjoys teaching when he can do it. "It's fun for me to go in and meet new talent. A lot of talent I meet in my classes I hire in my movies. As a matter of fact, on my last movie I got about 15 or 20 of my students their SAG cards."

Quattrochi has been teaching at S&J for almost two months. Those in his classes include beginning actors and seasoned professionals of all ages. The class covers scene study, cold reading, auditioning, how to get an agent, how to get a manager and more.

"We really cover it soup to nuts," Quattrochi said.

Quattrochi said he also writes scenes for his classes. "I write it for the people. I personalize the writing-because I'm a writer-for the class."

S&J Talent Network opened in February.

"We bring in top actors, producers and directors to teach our students," said Stephanie Durrer, a founder of S&J. "There's so much talent in the Conejo Valley and Ventura County area and there aren't a lot of places where you can get quality training. . . . We just want to provide quality training. We want to point (students) in the right direction and we want to connect them with really great people."

Quattrochi is one of those "really great people," she said. "He's an unbelievable teacher. He's a great director and he's extremely connected with everybody in the business."

For more information about S&J Talent Network, go to www.sjtalent.net or call (818) 707-9900.

Right now, Quattrochi is working on various projects, including two films, "That's Amore" with Danny Aiello, and a modern day interpretation of "The Prince and the Pauper," which Quattrochi is developing with Moresco.

Quattrochi's movie "All In" premieres in Southern California on April 27.