Veteran acting coach Scott Rogers and the Actors Ohana are offering new on-camera classes for teens 12 to 17, beginning April 19. Some of the skills they'll learn include improvisation, text analysis, cold readings and audition techniques—great training for anything in life.

The Actors Ohana began as a production wing of the Academy of Film and Television, which Rogers started about 10 years ago. The group completes short films “;mostly for learning purposes,”; said Rogers, who added that everything is done on a threadbare budget (hey, their dues are $5 per month). They have a camera, and a Mac computer serves as the edit bay. “;You don't need a lot of money. But my thing is training. I train actors.”;

After a 25-year career producing 150 shows (mostly theater) and coaching celebrities for network television shows, Rogers moved back to Honolulu. For seven years he's also served on the board of the Screen Actors Guild. His wife, Jeanne Rogers, who studied under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York, teaches the children's (ages 7 to 11) and teen classes.

The three-month teen series costs $540; the popular summer session is $595. There are plenty of adult seminars as well. Visit www.americanfilmactor.com for prices and enrollment information ...

Will Smith is going to play President Barack Obama in a new movie, according to the Charlotte Observer. Smith will produce and star in “;A Man, a Dream,”; a biographical film—rumored to cost $150 million—about the new president. Here's the bad news: The article appeared in the North Carolina paper because the entire movie will be filmed there. Of course, they'll obtain some White House footage in Washington, D.C., but the Hawaii scenes will be shot around Lake Wylie. I know North Carolina is beautiful, but Hawaii ... on a lake? In the South? Ouch. Apparently, Smith plans to recruit a few local politicians to play the roles of former presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin—a challenging task for anyone following Tina Fey ...

In a nice showcase for theater performers, the Actors Group has added video interviews with actors and directors to its Web site. Because Romulus Linney's “;A Lesson Before Dying”; opens today through April 26, director Laurie Tanoura and cast members Chad Williams, London Stanton, Mary-Ann Shirley Gray and T. Mike Daze comprise the first set of Web interviews.

In what's billed as a “;mini 'Inside the Actors Studio,'”; the videos invite audiences to step backstage and understand the necessary components of creating live theater in Hawaii. “;A Lesson Before Dying”; is based on a novel by Ernest J. Gaines. Set in 1948 Louisiana, it follows a young African-American boy falsely accused of killing a white man.

“;It's going to be intense; it'll be heart wrenching, and it will make them talk to each other,”; said producer-director Tanoura. “;A good play always creates discussion, and I think the audience will have a lot to talk about.”; Listen to T.A.G. talks at www.taghawaii.net ...