Singers, dancers & actors invited to SC industry bootcamp | Arts & Entertainment

COLUMBIA — For those who always harbored dreams of being a star, a Columbia-based theater company is bringing in an Atlanta “starmaker” to coach folks on how to make those dreams a reality. 

This summer, WOW Performing Art Center will host AGI Entertainment’s weeklong and weekend industry bootcamps. The camps, one for children and one for adults, will be an intensive workshop aimed at building confidence, honing skills and introducing would-be stars to the nitty gritty of “The Industry.” 

“We’ve been doing that boot camp for the last 13 years-plus, and it launches careers, basically,” said Natarsha Garcia, CEO of AGI Entertainment and a decades-long entertainment industry vet in Atlanta. “So the purpose of the camp is to come and learn how to sing and dance, but not just that, building their confidence and giving them an opportunity to get in front of someone like myself and or an agent, casting director, so that it could change their lives.” 

Garcia partners with WOW (Walking on Water Productions) to host the camps, all with the intention of helping people in cities like Columbia — where opportunity for movies, television and commercial work are not a daily reality — find opportunities. It’s about dispelling the mystique of working in entertainment, and helping talent make smart decisions about where to audition. 

“Normally we ask people to maximize their current market. So if you’re in South Carolina, you should be doing whatever you can in South Carolina, and then getting to Atlanta and maximizing that market, right? And then going to L.A. when you’re booked to go.” 

Garcia said the rise of Atlanta as an alternative to New York City or Los Angeles opens the door for people who want to sing, dance or act professionally. In recent years, companies like Disney have set up shop in Georgia’s capital thanks to the state’s uncapped tax incentive program.

“A lot of parents have problems with their children being in the entertainment business, because they don’t want them to be a starving artist. And you don’t have to be that anymore.” Garcia explained. “The landscape has opened up so much with social media, becoming an influencer and what you can do from your own house.” 

One of Garcia’s top clients, Arischa Conner Frierson, was discovered at one of her first Columbia bootcamps. The Columbia resident has gone on to star in shows like “Dopesick” on Hulu and “BMF” on Starz. 

It’s an example of having an entertainment career without sacrificing small-town living, Garcia said. 

“My client that lives here, she doesn’t have to come to Atlanta to auditions,” Garcia said of Conner Frierson. “She tapes and sends it in. And if we’re interested or we want to book her, then she comes to Atlanta.” 

At the bootcamps, Garcia and her team run through choreography for the dancers, scenes for actors and vocal exercises for singers. It’s a demanding camp, she said, but it’s to test participants’ mettle.

For the first part of the camps, though, Garcia focuses on confidence. 

“You can be a good singer, you can be a good actor, you can be a good dancer. But if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will,” Garcia said. “So we spend a lot of time on mindset alone, (and) helping you to understand what is possible.”

Sign-ups for the youth and adult camps are happening now. For those interested, head to wow-pac.org for more information.