Bow Street Academy Los Angeles to Make Its Home at The Lot At Formosa, One of Hollywood's Most Storied Studio Lots

Ireland's National Screen Acting School Plants Its First International Campus on the Same Ground That Birthed United Artists, Some Like It Hot, and West Side Story

LOS ANGELES, May 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Bow Street Academy Los Angeles, the first international campus of Bow Street Academy, Ireland's national screen acting school, today announced it will be based at The Lot at Formosa, one of Hollywood's most historic working studio lots.

The 11-acre campus in West Hollywood was originally built in 1912 and acquired in 1918 by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as Pickford-Fairbanks Studios, becoming the first studio lot owned and operated by a woman. Over the next century it operated as United Artists Studio, Samuel Goldwyn Studio, and Warner Hollywood Studios before taking its current name in 2007. Among the films made on the lot are The Thief of Bagdad (1924), The Gold Rush (1925), Scarface (1932), Wuthering Heights (1939), Some Like It Hot (1959), and West Side Story (1961), as well as recent series including Big Little Lies and Euphoria.

The choice of location is foundational to Bow Street's training philosophy. The Academy's process is screen-first from day one. Actors train on camera, in real production conditions, refining their work through direct visual feedback. They are trained to interpret rather than imitate, to author their own work, and to develop lasting on-camera fluency. Operating inside a working Hollywood studio lot, surrounded by active film and television production, is a direct extension of that ethos. 

"This lot was built by actors who were also producing, directing, and inventing the language of screen acting. That spirit is exactly what we teach. It is not nostalgia. It is a working environment where the craft is alive every day, and that is the right place to train screen actors." — Gerry Grennell, Co-Founder, Bow Street Academy Los Angeles

"There is something fitting about a school built on the work of actors finding its home on a lot that was built by actors. It was the start of a revolution when actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin established a sanctuary, an artist-driven alternative to the traditional studio system. Bow Street Academy aligns itself with that original spirit of autonomy, of artists taking charge of their craft again." — Kirsten Sheridan, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Bow Street Academy Los Angeles

"What started in Dublin has always been about giving artists a place to do the real work. We never wanted to simulate the industry, we wanted to operate inside of it. To see Bow Street now planting that flag on a lot like this one in Los Angeles is a remarkable moment for the school and for the artists who will train here." — Shimmy Marcus, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Bow Street Academy Los Angeles

"Bow Street Academy is a wonderful addition to our creative community. With the wide and vibrant blend of creatives here on The Lot, they couldn't be a more perfect fit. We're excited to have them with us." — Markley Lumpkins, President, The Lot at Formosa

At the center of Bow Street is Gerry Grennell, one of the most sought-after performance coaches in the film industry, whose career spans more than three decades of collaboration with some of the most acclaimed actors in international cinema, including Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, and Oscar Isaac. Grennell also collaborated extensively with the late Heath Ledger across multiple projects, including The Dark Knight and Brokeback Mountain. Oscar Isaac, who has worked closely with Grennell for more than a decade, is an official patron of the Academy.

Grennell is joined by co-founders Kirsten Sheridan, an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated writer, director, and producer (In America, August Rush, FX/Hulu's Peabody Award winning Say Nothing), and Shimmy Marcus, an award-winning filmmaker (Soulboy, Headrush) and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Bow Street Academy in Ireland.

Bow Street grew out of The Factory, founded in Dublin in 2010 as Ireland's first filmmakers' collective, whose members included Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin), Louisa Harland (Hamnet, Derry Girls), and Jack Reynor (Midsommar).

When Grennell joined the team, he brought with him a methodology forged through decades of professional coaching at the highest levels of the industry. The Gerry Grennell Method, the philosophy that underpins all training at Bow Street, focuses on present-moment expression, emotional ownership, and the actor's role as an interpretive artist working with the camera.

Bow Street's motto is simple: Our alumni work. Graduates of the full-time program include Peter Claffey (Gotham Award nominee, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Louis McCartney (Stranger Things: The First Shadow), Niamh Algar (The Iris Affair), and Ann Skelly (House of Guinness).

Bow Street LA offers short- and long-form programs ranging from foundational courses to advanced scene study. Finding raw, untapped talent is core to the ethos.

For more information, visit: bowstreetacademy.com/la

Media Contact for Bow Street Academy:

Rick Krusky, MWPR Inc.
[email protected]
818-521-8294

SOURCE Bow Street Academy