Dustin Hoffman Wants to Teach You How to Act

David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen have been learning a lot from their talks with Dustin Hoffman on acting. But they’re not actors, or directors, or even journalists. They’ve also been learning a lot about tennis from Serena Williams, and about writing from James Patterson. Next on their plate is getting coached on stage performance from Usher, and brushing up on their photography with Annie Leibovitz. And they want you to joint them.

Rogier and Rasmussen are the entrepreneurs behind MasterClass, a program that taps into the emerging world of distance learning by giving students access to world-class performers and artists and professionals. And the “faculty” contribute not only canned video responses, but to one-on-one coaching—all over the magic of the Internet. “In my MasterClass, I try to unearth all the things I would have found useful when I was starting out. I have a career-long bank of tips and tricks, and now a perfect forum to share them with others,” said James Patterson. “I wanted to make my class feel as though you’re right there on the court with me. It’s like getting a private lesson,” said Serena Williams.

But Dustin Hoffman may have put it best: “We’re students. The first year. The first five years, the first 10 years. We’re students after 50 years. I never like to give advice, but I wanted to teach what I wish someone had taught me.”

Rogier and Rasmussen joined us recently to discuss how they met, how the idea got started, and how to start a major business and still maintain a friendship.

Paste Magazine: First, tell me about how the two of you met.
Aaron Rasmussen: A mutual friend set us up on a “friend date.” Our friend said that I was a creative guy with respect for business, and David was a business guy with respect for creative, and we should meet each other. We hit it off immediately.

Paste: How did the idea for MasterClass come about?
David Rogier: Aaron and I had wanted to start a business together for some time, but had not struck on an idea that was right for both of us. Neither of us had a great school experience growing up. I was always getting in trouble for asking too many questions, and Aaron kept running out of classes to take in the tiny town he grew up in. We wanted to make classes that we wanted to take—classes with riveting lessons taught by the world’s best.
Rasmussen: When we realized that this level of instructor also wanted to teach, we were amazed. What if we could make it so anyone in the world could learn from the absolute best? That idea really excited us.

Paste: Can you describe what a MasterClass, in its current iteration, will entail?
Rogier: A MasterClass is an online class where masters like Dustin Hoffman and James Patterson teach the things they wish someone had taught them. Each class includes 10-25 video lessons from the instructor, interactive exercises (like: act out scenes from Dustin’s class with other students), instructor Q&A, extra learning materials (like a copy of James’s original outline for his bestselling book The Honeymoon) and a workbook. Curriculums are developed individually by each instructor to reflect their own unique approach to their craft.
Rasmussen: Each MasterClass instructor also conducts office hours where they provide feedback on assignments and answer questions from some of their students. We actually just announced Dustin’s next office hours for June 2nd! Students taking his class can upload video of themselves doing scenes, and Dustin is going to select several to give feedback on and discuss with the class.

Paste: David, I know you have a background with angel investing; did you take the lead in finding the funding? You probably have the highest paid faculty in the country!
Rogier: (Laughs) We’ve never thought about it that way, but we probably have the most recognized faculty in the country. They’re really incredible people who have devoted their lives to their craft; it’s been amazing to be their student.