In Person Only
Mondays: 12pm - 3pm
4850 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
A working theatre. Real opportunties.
Stop lying to the camera and yourself.
Take a stand. Find out what you believe. Find out who you are.
Be present. Be interesting.
Never serious, always sincere.
You get what you give. We'll hold you to a standard of work.
Zombie Joe is the creator and director of Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre in North Hollywood, a space known for fast, raw, no-frills performance. He’s spent decades building shows that rely on presence, commitment, and the strange energy that comes from putting actors and audiences in close quarters. His approach is simple: cut the excess, trust the performers, and let the work hit the room without decoration.
Rich Cassone is an actor, traffic reporter, and longtime ZJU regular who teaches from real experience instead of theory. He’s spent years on sets, stages, and backstage crews, and his coaching is built around getting actors on their feet every week, paying attention, and doing the work. His class is a working lab: show up, try things, fall on your face, fix it, and go again.
"Rich has a gentle, knowledgeable approach to guide one to achieve what is needed for an audience to have an experience with the actor who is telling the story. He’s definitely a leader who will teach one to win."
"Rich has a way of connecting the missing pieces. Bridging the gap between me being stuck inside my head and expressing my true emotions into acting. Constantly pushing me to dig deeper into what I am capable of."
"Rich's coaching gets right to the truth of what makes us tick in a positive and encouraging space where everyone thrives."
"Rich is a phenomenal acting coach, who is only interested in bearing your soul through your acting in a modern and practical way. He doesn't rely on gimmicks or irrelevant exercises, just grinding away on the work itself. Guiding you to change as a person on the inside, while developing your acting into something remarkable. I would have it no other way."
"Rich is hands down one of the best teachers I have had the pleasure of working with. I felt “seen” and appreciated in class. Rich listens and lets you play. He also challenges you and keeps you on your toes. I broke through some old, bad acting habits I had been relying on."
“Rich is such a passionate coach about the art of acting and really helped me tap deeper into my work and play! He possesses a great gift of intuition on how to blend your personal connection to the roles, characters and stories."
“After taking Rich's scene study class, I really understand the value in someone being fully present with you. The passion he has for acting and teaching really inspired me to connect to new levels of awareness with myself and the characters he assigned. This class has helped me to grow so much and I am forever grateful.”
"What I love about Rich’s class is that he strikes the proper balance between nurturing my strengths, but still challenging me to stretch myself to be more effective in my work. I’ve grown so much under his tutelage, and am happy to report that I have been booking jobs!"
“One of the most exceptional talent development classes I’ve taken. I can honestly say that I have never attended any class or performance that did so much to identify and tap into an actor’s inner skills, challenges, personal obstacles, etc. … and apply them to fine-tuning their acting craft. In just a short time I’ve noticed significant improvements in all of the class members (myself included). His style is welcoming, supportive, and soft-spoken.”