Actors Lab Tallinn
Actors Lab Tallinn is a meeting place for actors ready to step into the real world of casting and creation. Through hands-on workshops, you work directly with the professionals who shape film and TV—casting directors and filmmakers behind new projects.
This is where talent meets opportunity.
About us
Actors Lab Estonia
Our workshops connect actors with industry professionals—the casting directors and filmmakers who make casting decisions and develop new film and TV projects. Through practical work, participants gain insight into the realities of the industry, refine their craft, and build meaningful connections.This is where talent meets opportunity.
Previous workshops
Upcoming workshops
Ever wondered what casting directors and directors really look for?
A unique, hands-on workshop for professional actors. Limited spots. Held in Estonian.
No upcoming workshops at the moment.
We’re currently preparing the next workshops. Leave your email below and we’ll notify you when new dates are announced.
Ingrid Margus
Ingrid Margus is an actor and the founder of Actors Lab. Her work is centered on truthful screen acting, presence and helping actors develop performances that genuinely read on camera. Drawing from international workshops, on-set experience and close collaboration with directors and casting professionals, she created Actors Lab as a space where technique meets real industry practice — preparing actors not just to perform, but to be cast.
Actors Lab builds environments where actors can understand international expectations, improve how they present themselves on camera, and gain insight into what truly stands out in auditions and self-tapes. Not on theory, but on industry practice.
Teachers
Tanel Toom
Director
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Rain Tolk
Director
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Moonika Siimets
Director
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Oskar Lehemaa
Director
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Feedback
This is what participants say about their experience at Actors Lab Tallinn — from the atmosphere and organisation to the practical feedback and real on-camera work.
Contact
Get in touch to ask about upcoming workshops, registration, collaborations, or any other questions. We’ll be happy to help you find the right training opportunity and share more about Actors Lab Tallinn’s hands-on casting workshops and events.
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Tanel Toom
Tanel Toom is an Oscar-nominated Estonian director and screenwriter, a graduate of Tallinn University and the National Film and Television School in the UK. His short film The Confession won a Student Academy Award and earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short in 2011. His feature directorial debut, Truth and Justice (2019), became the most-watched film in Estonian cinema history, surpassing Avatar’s domestic box office, and was shortlisted for the 2020 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He followed it with the sci-fi thriller Last Sentinel (2023). Toom has also taught acting-for-directors workshops at the Ivana Chubbuck Studio in Los Angeles.
Rain Tolk
Rain Tolk is an Estonian director, screenwriter, and producer, and a co-founder of Kuukulgur Film, the company he has run since 2002/2003. His directing credits include Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse (2007) and Umbkotid (2012), both blending sharp satire with self-deprecating humor. His most recent feature, Aurora (2025), co-directed with Andres Maimik, marked a shift toward restrained, character-driven drama — made using character-based improvisation CBI. Aurora went on to earn strong acclaim, receiving a Best Film nomination at the Estonian Film and Television Award
Moonika Siimets
Moonika Siimets graduated as a film director from the Baltic Film and Media School and further trained in England at the University of Central Lancashire and in the USA in Judith Weston’s screenwriting and directing masterclasses.
Moonika’s first feature film “Comrade Child” (2018) received major recognition both in Estonia and internationally, winning numerous awards (the Busan Bank Award at the Busan International Film Festival; Best Debut at the Lübeck International Film Festival (2019); the Estonian Cultural Endowment’s Annual Award for Best Feature Film; the Estonian Film Critics’ Award “Neitsi Maali”; and at the Estonian Film and Television Awards 2019 – Best Feature Film, Best Director, among others).
Her second feature film “Black Hole” (2024) premiered at the USA’s leading fantasy film festival “Fantastic Fest,” won the Grand Prize in the “Free Spirit” program at the Warsaw Film Festival, and received the Best Director award at the “Go East” festival.
She has also made several award-winning short fiction and documentary films: “2 Hours to Happiness” (2022), “World Champion” (2009), “Fashion Dog” (2010), “The Secret of Salme” (2012), “Roots” (2018), “The Last Romeo” (2013), “Pink Sweater” (2014), and others.
Oskar Lehemaa
Oskar Lehemaa is an Estonian live-action and animation director and screenwriter, known for his genre-spanning work. His horror short Bad Hair (2019) played over 50 festivals, including Sundance, Fantasia, and Fantastic Fest. That same year, he made his feature debut with the stop-motion comedy The Old Man Movie, followed by the animated adventure The Mystery of Missing Socks (2023). He is currently developing Birth, an occult body-horror feature. Lehemaa is also active in the wider Estonian film community, having worked as a producer and partner across several production companies.