José Angel Santana

José Angel Santana is an actor who in 1984 was an acclaimed young performer. After recognizing that media violence harmed young people, he shifted in 1987 to full-time work with teenagers. He served as drama director at Jane Fonda's Laurel Springs Performing Arts Ranch, then co-founded Santa Barbara's City At Peace Youth Program and was its drama director, and was named a Santa Barbara Local Hero in 1999. He created You, and..., which blends the Meisner Technique and Viola Spolin improvisation with conflict resolution and mediation, and calls it the Performance of Mutual Understanding. He held a film professorship at Columbia University's graduate film school, taught The Art of Connecting at the School of Visual Arts, and led the acting department at the Tisch School of the Arts Kanbar Institute from 2008 to 2012. He trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater under Sanford Meisner, and The Ensemble Studio Theatre counts him as a lifetime member.