NATIVE HEARTSEED

SCOTT PLATE, MFA
AEA, AFTRA/SAG

www.nativeheartseed.com

Executive Summary

Scott is an award-winning actor, director, and educator who prioritizes empowerment and consensus. He has decades of experience as a leader, mentor, expressive therapist and coach. His students and clients work at the highest levels of the entertainment industry, and as counselors, clinicians, educators, and clergy.

Current position

Co-founder – Native Heartseed, LLC
Healing spaces and workshops for individuals, couples, and communities

• • Individual & couple mentoring sessions – promoting sovereignty within the self and integrity in relationships
  • 90 Seconds of the Truth ©. A series of full-day, six and 12-week virtual workshops that foster authentic communication
  • Kula. A community space supporting constructive conflict resolution in an atmosphere of listening and empathy. People who fundamentally disagree share what they think and feel in a safe space with no interruptions.

Relevant experience

2003-2020
Associate Professor of Music Theatre and Theatre & Dance, Department Chair
Baldwin Wallace University

Responsibilities included:

• • Oversight of a 300-major/minor department with 12 full-time and 10 adjunct faculty members serving five degree tracks: a BFA in Acting, and a BA with emphases in Acting/Directing, Acting/Movement, Stage Management, and Design/Tech.
  • Department management (budget supervision, facility management, class scheduling, faculty staffing, production calendar, promotion & tenure guidance)
  • Recruit and retain students
  • Overall coordination of Theatre & Dance academic advising
  • Teaching load – Acting (scene study, play analysis, stagecraft, monologue coaching, cold reading technique, acting on camera, and voice-over techniques); Directing (history of directing, research & conceptualization techniques, pre-production work, casting, rehearsal techniques, stagecraft).
  • Presentation coach in BW’s Center for Innovation & Growth Internship program
  • Assist in creating BFA Acting Showcase
  • Assist in mentoring BA Stage Management track
  • Create and oversee BA/BFA undergraduate directing track
  • Direct Mainstage production every academic year
  • Create and administer annual Master Class series for BFA and BA programs

1997 – 2005
Drama Therapist, Recovery Resources, Cleveland, OH

Drama Therapist with a community mental health outpatient day treatment center, specializing in
clients with dual disorders. Developed and coordinated curriculum (emotional awareness & expressivity,
assertive communication techniques, mind-body synthesis) with clinicians, case managers, and parole officers.
Adapted standard acting & directing pedagogy to a dual-diagnosis treatment modality.

1990-2018
Free-lance Actor, Regional Theatre - representative Acting roles

Teaching

2003-2020

Department Chair of Music Theater and Theatre & Dance, Baldwin Wallace University

Courses taught: Music Theatre Workshop, Directing, Advanced Acting, Acting on Camera,
Theatre Literature, Modern Theatre Literature, Script Analysis

2001-2005

Visiting Professor of Theatre, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH

Courses taught: Play Analysis; Introduction to Acting

1995-20

Adjunct Professor of Theatre, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Courses taught: Beginning and Intermediate Acting; Play Analysis; Theatre Appreciation,
Theatre Management & Planning.

1997-2005

Teaching Artist, Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, Cleveland, OH

Created original education residencies and workshops in theatre education, script
development, and student/teacher effectiveness and empowerment for Cleveland-area
schools.

1997-2005

Drama Therapist, Recovery Resources, Cleveland, OH

Drama Therapist with a community-based outpatient mental health day treatment
center, specializing in clients with chemical dependency and thought or mood
disorders. Adapted standard acting curriculum to dual-diagnosis treatment modality.

Management

4/97-1/2007

Wordsmith, Inc., Cleveland, OH
Founder and director of sole proprietorship specializing in the written word.
Generated funding proposals; created and developed corporate promotional
literature; translated, edited, and proofread copy.

8/93-6/98

Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc., Cleveland, OH
Assistant Manager with a 75 year-old concert artist management firm representing
organists and Anglican choirs. Secured concert dates and planned tours; negotiated
contracts.

8/93-9/94

Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, Cleveland, OH
General Manager of the only period-instrument orchestra operating between New
York and Chicago. Fundraising, marketing, finance, concert management, and board
development.

4/93-8/93

Project Open Hand, Atlanta GA
Assistant Director, Corporate Development with a prominent Atlanta non-profit,
feeding people with AIDS/HIV illness ($2.2 million annual budget). Designed and
implemented corporate sponsorship campaign.

9/90-4/93

The Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta, GA
Development Associate with a major LORT-B regional theatre ($10.3 million annual
budget). Generated public and private funding proposals, solicited and administered
corporate sponsorships, managed volunteers and staged special events.

Summers 1990-1991

The Lost Colony, Manteo, NC
Artistic Director of the Professional Theater Workshop, the Lost Colony’s Studio
Theatre. Coordinated all second-stage activities for a 150-member resident theatre
company. Mounted eight productions, a new play festival, and administered three
educational workshops in each of two three-month seasons.

9/88-5/90

The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Assistant to the Dean of the School of Theatre. Coordinated Soviet-American cultural
exchange initiatives and provided administrative direction for the Association for
Theatre in Higher education (ATHE), a national organization of theatre professionals.

10/85-9/88

National Theatre of the Performing Arts, Westport, CT
Program Manager with a leading producer of bi-lingual educational programs
touring nationally. Booked venues, negotiated labor contracts and secured visas for
foreign performers.

10-84-5/85

Macdonald-Stuart Foundation, Paris, France
Personal Assistant to art historian and painter Jean Palardy, O.C. Collected period
antiques and curios to refurbish the restored Manoir Jacques Cartier at St. Malô,
France.

Awards and Honors – Acting

Times Theatre Tribute Awards:

Violet, Gross Indecency: the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde - 2000
Old Wicked Songs – 2001
Visiting Mr. Green - 2002
Cherry Docs; Bat Boy: the Musical (Ensemble Performance) – 2003
The Last Five Years - 2005
Thom Pain…based on nothing – 2007

Scene Magazine – Best Actor

1998-99; 2001-02; 2010-2011; 2012, 2014

Scene Magazine – Best Performance by an Actor

Prior Walter, Angels in America – 1998
Oscar Wilde, Gross Indecency: the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde – 2000
Michael Downey, Cherry Docs, 2003
Thom Pain, Thom Pain…based on nothing – 2007
Leonard, Seminar - 2014
Cleveland Critics Circle Awards – Best Performance by an Actor
Leonard, Seminar - 2014

Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement, Best Ensemble Production 1998-99:

Angels in America, parts one and two

Awards and Honors – Directing

Cleveland Critics Circle Award – Superior Achievement

The Old Neighborhood, 2002; ‘Night, Mother – 2014

Spangle Magazine – Best LGBT Production

Speech and Debate – 2010

Times Theatre Tribute Award – Best Production

Take Me Out – 2007; Blackbird – 2009

Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement 2007-2008 – Honorable Mention

Take Me Out – 2007

Awards and Honors – Teaching

The Bechberger Award for Human Development – Baldwin Wallace University, 2020
Given to a faculty member who demonstrates exceptional ability to enrich the lives of students
as developing human beings outside the classroom.

Education

BA ENGLISH LITERATURE, with Distinction, McGill University, Montreal QC 1984
MFA THEATRE, Florida State University, Tallahassee FL 1990
VOICE, twenty-two years private study

Master classes and workshops

Theatre

Athol Fugard, José Quintero, Kenny Leon, Libby Appel, Irene Lewis, Fred Chappell, Sandra
Deer, Jairo Cuesta, James Slowiak

Writing

Archer City Story Center (Jacqui Banaszynski, Glenn Stout, Kim Cross, Eva Holland)
MISA West (Jacqui Banaszynski)

Healing

Advanced Practice Group (Ernest Morrow)